Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (1874-1965) was a British statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945, during the Second World War, and again from 1951 to 1955. As a young soldier, Churchill sailed for India on 11 September 1896 and was garrisoned inRead More →
George Nathaniel Curzon was a British Conservative statesman who served as Viceroy of India from 1899 to 1905. He was the second Viceroy to visit the Nilgiris, in 1902. The Viceroy reached Ooty on August 13. On his departure on August 16 a public farewell was given at Charing CrossRead More →
Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (1809-1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria’s reign and remains one of the most popular British poets. Tennyson wrote “The Brook” in 1886, just six years before his death. The poem is a ballad in which theRead More →
Sir Richard Francis Burton (1821 – 1890) was a British explorer, scholar and soldier. He was famed for his travels and explorations in Asia, Africa, and the Americas, as well as his extraordinary knowledge of languages and cultures. According to one count, he spoke twenty-nine European, Asian, and African languages. Burton was inRead More →
Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800-1859), 1st Baron Macaulay, was a British historian and politician. Macaulay, as Law Member of the Governor General’s Council was in Ooty from June to August 1834 to take part in the swearing in of Lord Bentinck as the Governor General of India. Lord Macaulay left Madras in theRead More →
James Andrew Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie, also known as Lord Dalhousie (1812-1860 was a Scottish statesman and colonial administrator in British India. He served as Governor-General of India from 1848 to 1856. Lord Dalhousie spent about nine months in the Nilgiris for rest and recuperation. Sir William O’ Shaughnessy,Read More →
Lieutenant General Lord William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck , known as Lord William Bentinck (1774- 1839), was a British soldier and statesman. He served as Governor-General of India from 1828 to 1835 In 1834, the British Parliament’s new Charter for the East India Company abolished its trading functions. Instead, the Company becameRead More →
Freeman Freeman-Thomas, Ist Marquess of Willingdon (1866-1941) was distinguished liberal politician and administrator. He was Governor General of Canada and Viceroy and Governor General of India. Earlier, he was Governor of Bombay and Madras. Lord Willingdon was a sportive person and a good cricketer. On his death, the British parliamentRead More →
Beilby Lawley, 3rd Baron of Wenlock(1849-1912) was a British soldier and a liberal politician. He was the Governor of Madras from 1891 to 1896. Wenlock was a popular governor and many hospitals in the Madras Presidency were named after him. He also laid the foundation stone of the present MadrasRead More →
Sir William Thomas Denison (1804-1871) was a Governor of Tasmania and New South Wales before becoming the Governor of Madras in 1861. He was briefly the Governor General of India in 1863. His initial years in Madras were taken up by reforms in the Indian army following the 1857 rebellion.Read More →
Field Marshall George Hay, 8th Marquees of Tweeddale (1787-1876) was a Scottish soldier and administrator. In 1842 Hay was appointed governor of Madras by the Duke of Wellington, Commander in Chief of the Madras Army. As Governor of Madras, Tweeddale paid only one visit to Nilgiris in 1846. He arrived in Ooty onRead More →
Stephen Rumbold Lushington ( 1776-1868) was an officer of East India Company and served as Collector of Ramnad and Tinneveli before assuming power as Governor of Madras in 1828, on the death of Sir Thomas Munro. His reign was controversial, marked by a running feud with Sullivan, but he didRead More →
John Sullivan Esq (1788-1855) was an officer of the Madras Civil Service of the East India Company. He was the Principal Collector of Coimbatore District from 1815 to 1830, when the Nilgiri hills were a Taluk of that district. While the Collectors before him dreaded to explore the lofty hills,Read More →
Sir Thomas Munro (1761-1827) was a Scottish soldier and an officer of the East India Company. He was the Governor of Madras Presidency from 1820 to 1827. A liberal and progressive administrator, Munro laid the foundations of the present revenue, police and educational systems. He originated the present Ryotwari (landRead More →