Andrew Geddis (jurist)
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Andrew Geddis (July 1886 – 23 February 1976) was a leading businessman and sports enthusiast in
Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second-m ...
in the decades leading up to independence.


Biography

He was Chairman of the Royal Western India Turf Club (1931–1939) and instigated Mumbai Races's A.Geddis Plate. His extensive business interests included a directorship of the
Bank of India Bank of India (BOI) is an Indian public sector bank headquartered in Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai. Founded in 1906, it has been government-owned since nationalisation in 1969. BoI is a founder member of SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Inter ...
Ltd and co-founding Geoffrey Manners & Co. Ltd., which became a leading distributor and manufacturer of Consumer Healthcare products and Pharmaceuticals across India until its amalgamation in April 2003 with the
Wyeth Wyeth, LLC was an American pharmaceutical company. The company was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1860 as ''John Wyeth and Brother''. It was later known, in the early 1930s, as American Home Products, before being renamed to Wyeth in ...
Corporation, formerly known as American Home Products (AHP),one of the largest
pharmaceutical companies The pharmaceutical industry discovers, develops, produces, and markets drugs or pharmaceutical drugs for use as medications to be administered to patients (or self-administered), with the aim to cure them, vaccinate them, or alleviate symptoms. ...
in the world. He left Bruntsfield Place in
Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...
for Bombay in 1907 to work for James Finlay & Co. Ltd. and went on to become extensively involved in the
Ahmedabad textile industry The textile industry of the city of Ahmedabad in the state of Gujarat in India dates back to the 19th century, when the city and the industry was established under the British raj. Textile mills employed thousands of people from across the state, ...
becoming a Director of the Ahmedabad Jubilee Spinning & Manufacturing Co., Ltd. and the Ahmedabad Manufacturing & Calico Printing Co. Ltd., as well as Director of the India Cotton Association and the Chairman of Mill Owners' Mutual Insurance Association Ltd from its inception. His wider interests included, as well as co-founding Geoffrey Manners & Co. Ltd., directorships of the Tata Hydroelectric Power Supply Co., Ltd., the Indian Radio & Cable Communications Co.and the Bank of India Ltd. He was a member of the G. 1. P. Railway Advisory committee for 13 years and was appointed to the Board of Trustees for the Bombay Port Trust in 1920.. A keen horse racing enthusiast, as well as his chairmanship of the Western India Turf Club was also Chairman of the Turf Club House, Poona. Other interests included being Chairman of the Bombay Scottish Orphanage Society and Chairman of the Caledonia Society of Bombay. On his arrival in India he stayed in the Pali Hill ''Chummery''. After his marriage to Jean Gunn, daughter of Dr Alexander Gunn of Edinburgh in 1915, he moved to Dharbanga Masions on
Cumballa Hill Cumbala Hill (also spelled Cumballa) is a hill and upmarket neighbourhood in South Mumbai flanked by the sea on the West, Altamount Road on the East, Malabar Hill on the South and Mahalaxmi on the North. The hill is at an elevation of . Along ...
before finally moving to the fourth floor apartment on the left below the penthouse in the iconic art deco Kamal Mahal building, originally called Sethna House, on Carmichael Road in South Mumbai, which together with the adjacent
Altamont Road Altamount Road, also known as India's Billionaires’ Row, is an affluent neighbourhood in Mumbai, India. The area is notable for some of the most expensive residences in the world consisting of ultra-luxurious residential skyscrapers, constru ...
was rated the tenth dearest address in the world in a in 2009 survey. He also had a beach house at
Juhu Juhu (Pronunciation: ͡ʒuɦuː is a posh and upmarket neighbourhood of Mumbai. It is known for the sprawling Juhu Beach. It is surrounded by the Arabian Sea to the west, Versova to the north, Vile Parle to the east and Santacruz to the south ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Geddis, Andrew 1886 births 1976 deaths History of Mumbai British people in colonial India Businesspeople from Edinburgh Scottish people of the British Empire 20th-century Indian businesspeople 20th-century Scottish businesspeople