George Goschen, 2nd Viscount Goschen
Encyclopedia
George Joachim Goschen, 2nd Viscount Goschen GCSI
GCIE
CBE
VD
PC
(15 October 1866 – 24 July 1952) was a British politician who served as Member of Parliament
for East Grinstead
from 1895 to 1906 and as Governor of Madras
from 1924 to 1929.
George Joachim Goschen, 2nd Viscount was the son of prominent Conservative politician and Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Joachim Goschen, 1st Viscount Goschen. He had his early education in the United Kingdom and served as Secretary to Victor Child Villiers, 7th Earl of Jersey, the Governor of New South Wales
in Australia
from 1890 to 1892. In 1895 and 1900, he was elected to the House of Commons from East Grinstead and served as a Member of Parliament from 1895 to 1906 and as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries
from March to June 1918. In 1924, he was appointed Governor of Madras, India and served as the Governor of Madras from 1924 to 1929 and acted as the Viceroy of India from 1929 to 1931. George Goschen died in 1952 at the age of 85.
Goschen was knighted in 1921 and made a GCSI in March 1924. He was also a member of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
.
.
Goschen fell in love with Lady Margaret Evelyn-Gathorne Hardy, the youngest of five daughters of the Gathorne Hardy, 1st Earl of Cranbrook
, who was eight years older than he was and desired to marry her. His father, the 1st Viscount, was, however, strongly opposed to their marriage and used his influence to get an appointment for his son as a Private Secretary to Lord Jersey, the Governor of New South Wales
in Australia
. Goschen calmly obeyed his father's orders and worked in Australia from 1890 to 1892. On his return from Australia, however, he married Margaret on 26 January 1893.
for the then East Grinstead constituency in Sussex and served as a member of parliament for two terms from 18 July 1895 to 25 January 1906. In July 1913, he was elected Chairman of the Council of the Corporation of Foreign Bondholders
which comprised some of he leading financiers in England. Goschen served as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries
from March to June 1918.
Goschen succeeded his father as Viscount
on the latter's death on 7 February 1907.
The Madras Presidency Radio Club started a radio transmission service in Madras, the first in the city, in 1924, under Goschen's patronage. This service lasted from 1924 to 1927. Goschen was also involved in the early stages of the Loyola College, Chennai
and presided over its first college day in 1928. The Children's Hospital at Mangalore
was refurbished and renamed as Lady Goschen Hospital while the SPG College, Trichinopoly was renamed as Bishop Heber College and Goschen presided over its diamond jubilee celebrations in 1926.
In November 1926, the Pykara
hydroelectric project across the Moyar river was conceived by Lord Goschen.
Goschen maintained friendly relations with the Raja of Panagal who was the Chief Minister of Madras Presidency. However, in the 1926 elections to the Madras Legislative Assembly, the Justice Party, to which the Raja belonged, was reduced to a minority winning only 21 out of 98 seats in the assembly. The Raja stepped down as Chief Minister and handed over his resignation to the Governor. Goschen invited S. Srinivasa Iyengar, the leader of the Swarajya Party which had won a majority, to form the government, but he refused as the acceptance of public posts would defeat the very purpose of the Swarajists to disrupt the working of the dyarchy. Goschen, therefore, made an independent, P. Subbarayan
, the Chief Minister, and nominated 34 members to the council to support him. As the government was setup by Goschen and all the members nominated by him, it functioned more or less like a puppet government.
Subbarayan's government was the subject of much controversy and survived a no-confidence motion on 23 August 1927. Its position became more precarious when the Simon Commission
arrived in India in 1928. The Swarajya Party moved a resolution exhorting a boycott of the commission and the Justice Party supported them. The motion was passed 65 to 50 with both of Subbarayan's ministers in favor of a boycott. Subbarayan responded by resigning his post. Goschen, however, mediated a settlement with the Raja of Panagal and appointed a Justice Party nominee, Krishnan Nair to the Executive Council. The Justice Party, immediately, withdrew their support to the resolution and welcomed the commission. Just before his retirement from active politics in 1925, the Justice Party insisted upon a gift of land to their leader Theagaroya Chetty
from the Madras government but Goschen stuanchly refused to make the grant.
on leave from July 1929. He appointed Goschen to act as the Viceroy during his absence. George Goschen's father, the 1st Viscount, had been offered the Viceroyalty of India by British Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone
in 1880 but had declined the offer.
Goschen acted as the Viceroy of India from 29 June 1929 to 18 April 1931. He was succeeded by the Earl of Willingdon on 18 April 1931.
. This group was in favor of an Indian federation. Goschen served as the first President of the union. Goschen also wrote a chapter titled "Provincial Autonomy" in the 1934 book India from a Back Bench where he criticized the dyarchy system regarding it as a failure based on his experience as an administrator in India.
Order of the Star of India
The Most Exalted Order of the Star of India is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria in 1861. The Order includes members of three classes:# Knight Grand Commander # Knight Commander # Companion...
GCIE
Order of the Indian Empire
The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria in 1878. The Order includes members of three classes:#Knight Grand Commander #Knight Commander #Companion...
CBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
VD
Volunteer Decoration
The Volunteer Officers' Decoration was created by Royal Warrant under command of Queen Victoria on 25 July 1892 to reward 'efficient and capable' officers of the Volunteer Force who had served for twenty years...
PC
Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...
(15 October 1866 – 24 July 1952) was a British politician who served as Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for East Grinstead
East Grinstead (UK Parliament constituency)
East Grinstead was a parliamentary constituency in the Kingdom of England, the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the United Kingdom. It first existed as a Parliamentary borough from 1307, returning two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons elected by the bloc vote system...
from 1895 to 1906 and as Governor of Madras
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
from 1924 to 1929.
George Joachim Goschen, 2nd Viscount was the son of prominent Conservative politician and Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Joachim Goschen, 1st Viscount Goschen. He had his early education in the United Kingdom and served as Secretary to Victor Child Villiers, 7th Earl of Jersey, the Governor of New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
from 1890 to 1892. In 1895 and 1900, he was elected to the House of Commons from East Grinstead and served as a Member of Parliament from 1895 to 1906 and as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries
Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries
The Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries was a junior ministerial office in the British government, serving under the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries...
from March to June 1918. In 1924, he was appointed Governor of Madras, India and served as the Governor of Madras from 1924 to 1929 and acted as the Viceroy of India from 1929 to 1931. George Goschen died in 1952 at the age of 85.
Goschen was knighted in 1921 and made a GCSI in March 1924. He was also a member of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
Early life
George Joachim Goschen was born to George Joachim Goschen, 1st Viscount Goschen and his wife Lucy Dalley on 15 October 1866. His ancestors had moved to the United Kingdom from GermanyGermany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
Goschen fell in love with Lady Margaret Evelyn-Gathorne Hardy, the youngest of five daughters of the Gathorne Hardy, 1st Earl of Cranbrook
Gathorne Hardy, 1st Earl of Cranbrook
Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 1st Earl of Cranbrook GCSI PC , known as Gathorne Hardy until 1878, was a prominent British Conservative politician...
, who was eight years older than he was and desired to marry her. His father, the 1st Viscount, was, however, strongly opposed to their marriage and used his influence to get an appointment for his son as a Private Secretary to Lord Jersey, the Governor of New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Goschen calmly obeyed his father's orders and worked in Australia from 1890 to 1892. On his return from Australia, however, he married Margaret on 26 January 1893.
Member of Parliament for East Grinstead
Goschen entered politics early in life. In 1895, he was elected to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom as a ConservativeConservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
for the then East Grinstead constituency in Sussex and served as a member of parliament for two terms from 18 July 1895 to 25 January 1906. In July 1913, he was elected Chairman of the Council of the Corporation of Foreign Bondholders
Corporation of Foreign Bondholders
The Corporation of Foreign Bondholders was a British association established in London in 1868 by private holders of debt securities issued by foreign governments, states and municipalities...
which comprised some of he leading financiers in England. Goschen served as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries
Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries
The Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries was a junior ministerial office in the British government, serving under the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries...
from March to June 1918.
Goschen succeeded his father as Viscount
Viscount
A viscount or viscountess is a member of the European nobility whose comital title ranks usually, as in the British peerage, above a baron, below an earl or a count .-Etymology:...
on the latter's death on 7 February 1907.
Tenure as Governor of Madras
Goschen was appointed Governor of Madras in 1924 and he arrived at Madras in May 1924 to take charge. Goschen was awarded the GCSI in March 1924.The Madras Presidency Radio Club started a radio transmission service in Madras, the first in the city, in 1924, under Goschen's patronage. This service lasted from 1924 to 1927. Goschen was also involved in the early stages of the Loyola College, Chennai
Loyola College, Chennai
Loyola College is a Jesuit institution in Chennai, India. The college admits undergraduates and post-graduates and offers degrees in the liberal arts, sciences and commerce. It is an autonomous institution affiliated with the University of Madras.-History:...
and presided over its first college day in 1928. The Children's Hospital at Mangalore
Mangalore
Mangalore is the chief port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located about west of the state capital, Bangalore. Mangalore lies between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghat mountain ranges, and is the administrative headquarters of the Dakshina Kannada district in south western...
was refurbished and renamed as Lady Goschen Hospital while the SPG College, Trichinopoly was renamed as Bishop Heber College and Goschen presided over its diamond jubilee celebrations in 1926.
In November 1926, the Pykara
Pykara
Pykara is a river located 19 km from Ooty in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The Pykara is considered very sacred by the Todas. The Pykara river rises at Mukurthi peak. It passes through hilly tract, generally keeping to North and turns to West after reaching the Plateau's edge...
hydroelectric project across the Moyar river was conceived by Lord Goschen.
Goschen maintained friendly relations with the Raja of Panagal who was the Chief Minister of Madras Presidency. However, in the 1926 elections to the Madras Legislative Assembly, the Justice Party, to which the Raja belonged, was reduced to a minority winning only 21 out of 98 seats in the assembly. The Raja stepped down as Chief Minister and handed over his resignation to the Governor. Goschen invited S. Srinivasa Iyengar, the leader of the Swarajya Party which had won a majority, to form the government, but he refused as the acceptance of public posts would defeat the very purpose of the Swarajists to disrupt the working of the dyarchy. Goschen, therefore, made an independent, P. Subbarayan
P. Subbarayan
Paramasiva Subbarayan was an Indian politician, freedom fighter and diplomat and was the Chief Minister of Madras Presidency, India's ambassador to Indonesia and Union Minister of Transport and Communications in Jawaharlal Nehru's government. He is the father of General P. P...
, the Chief Minister, and nominated 34 members to the council to support him. As the government was setup by Goschen and all the members nominated by him, it functioned more or less like a puppet government.
Subbarayan's government was the subject of much controversy and survived a no-confidence motion on 23 August 1927. Its position became more precarious when the Simon Commission
Simon Commission
The Indian Statutory Commission was a group of seven British Members of Parliament that had been dispatched to India in 1927 to study constitutional reform in Britain's most important colonial dependency. It was commonly referred to as the Simon Commission after its chairman, Sir John Simon...
arrived in India in 1928. The Swarajya Party moved a resolution exhorting a boycott of the commission and the Justice Party supported them. The motion was passed 65 to 50 with both of Subbarayan's ministers in favor of a boycott. Subbarayan responded by resigning his post. Goschen, however, mediated a settlement with the Raja of Panagal and appointed a Justice Party nominee, Krishnan Nair to the Executive Council. The Justice Party, immediately, withdrew their support to the resolution and welcomed the commission. Just before his retirement from active politics in 1925, the Justice Party insisted upon a gift of land to their leader Theagaroya Chetty
Theagaroya Chetty
Sir Pitti Theagaraya Chetty KCSI was an eminent lawyer, industrialist and a prominent political leader from the erstwhile Madras province. He was one of the founders of the Justice Party in 1916 along with C. Natesa Mudaliar, Dr. T. M. Nair...
from the Madras government but Goschen stuanchly refused to make the grant.
As Acting Viceroy of India
Lord Irwin, the Viceroy of India, left for LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
on leave from July 1929. He appointed Goschen to act as the Viceroy during his absence. George Goschen's father, the 1st Viscount, had been offered the Viceroyalty of India by British Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone FRS FSS was a British Liberal statesman. In a career lasting over sixty years, he served as Prime Minister four separate times , more than any other person. Gladstone was also Britain's oldest Prime Minister, 84 years old when he resigned for the last time...
in 1880 but had declined the offer.
Goschen acted as the Viceroy of India from 29 June 1929 to 18 April 1931. He was succeeded by the Earl of Willingdon on 18 April 1931.
Later life
In 1933, a group which called itself the Union of Britain and India was formed in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. This group was in favor of an Indian federation. Goschen served as the first President of the union. Goschen also wrote a chapter titled "Provincial Autonomy" in the 1934 book India from a Back Bench where he criticized the dyarchy system regarding it as a failure based on his experience as an administrator in India.