Sir George Frederick StanleyGCSIGCIECMG (14 October 1872 – 1 July 1938) was a British soldier and Conservative Party politician who served as a member of the UK Parliament for Preston and, later, Willesden East. He also served the Governor of Madras from 1929 to 1934 and as Acting Viceroy of India in 1934.
Stanley was appointed Governor of Madras on 26October 1929 at an annual salary of ₹ 1,20,000.[1] He arrived in India and took over as governor on 12November 1929.[2]
Stanley assumed the governorate at a critical juncture. The Great Depression had just begun, and the economy was deteriorating. The Premier P. Subbarayan resigned after the 1930 elections when his party was voted out. The Swaraj Party boycotted the elections as a part of the Civil Disobedience Movement and the Justice Party was voted to power in the 1930 and 1934 elections. B. Munuswamy Naidu served as Premier from 1930 to 1932, but he had to resign in 1932 due to the strong opposition of landowning elements in the party. Naidu was succeeded by Ramakrishna Ranga Rao of Bobbili whose administration soon became notorious for mis-governance.
During his tenure as governor, Stanley was responsible for implementing the Mettur Dam across the Kaveri River.[3][4][5] The project's inauguration, on 21August 1934, was attended by people from all parts of the Presidency.[3][4] The reservoir created by the Dam was named Stanley Reservoir in his honour. On 17January 1930, Stanley laid the foundation stone of a Gaudiya Math and a temple at Royapettah, Madras.[6] The first service of the Madras suburban line of the South Indian Railway Company was flagged off by Stanley from Chennai Beach railway station on 2April 1931.[7] In 1933, Stanley inaugurated the five-year medicine and surgery diploma course at the Royapuram Medical College. On 2July 1938, the school was renamed Stanley Medical College in his honour. In 1931, he had received Ignatius Elias III, the Patriarch of Antioch, on his way to Malankara.
Commemoration
The Government Stanley Medical College in Chennai (Madras), Tamil Nadu, India is named in memory of Stanley. The Diploma in Medicine and Surgery program was inaugurated here in 1933 by Stanley when he was the Governor of Madras. The college formerly known as Royapuram Medical School was renamed Stanley Medical School on 27 March 1934 in his honour. It was renamed to Stanley Medical College in 1938.
Notes
^Frederick Martin; John Scott Keltie; Isaac Parker Anderson Renwick; Mortimer Epstein; Sigfrid Henry Steinberg; John Paxton (1933). The Statesman's Yearbook, Volume 20. St. Martin's Press. p. 162.
^The India office and Burma office list. India Office. 1931. p. 43.
