Sir Charles Alexander Innes (27 October 1874 – 28 June 1959) was a British civil servant and colonial administrator who served as
Governor of the British Crown Colony of Burma from December 1927 to December 1932. He was also formerly chairman of the
Mercantile Bank of India
The Mercantile Bank of India, London and China, later Mercantile Bank Ltd (), was an Anglo-Indian bank with business focus in the Far East. It was founded in Bombay in 1853 as the Mercantile Bank of Bombay; and later in 1857 was renamed to Mer ...
.
Early life and education
Innes was born in
Secunderabad
Secunderabad, also spelled as Sikandarabad (, ), is a twin cities, twin city of Hyderabad and one of the six zones of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Telangana. It ...
,
Hyderabad
Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...
, to Deputy Surgeon-General Charles Alexander Innes, and Jessie Mary Arnold (''née'' Marshall). His mother was born in Madras to General Hubert Marshall of the old Madras Army. Innes Jr. was educated at
Merchant Taylors' School and
St. John's College, Oxford. He passed the
Indian Civil Service
The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947.
Its members ruled over more than 300 million ...
examination in 1897.
Career
Innes was sent to the
Madras Presidency
The Madras Presidency, or the Presidency of Fort St. George, also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision (presidency) of British India. At its greatest extent, the presidency included most of southern India, including the ...
because of his family connections. He worked as a settlement officer in
Malabar
Malabar may refer to the following:
People
* Malabars, people originating from the Malabar region of India
* Malbars or Malabars, people of Tamil origin in Réunion
Places
* Malabar Coast, or Malabar, a region of the southwestern shoreline o ...
, where he helped provide material for ''
The Imperial Gazetteer of India
''The Imperial Gazetteer of India'' was a gazetteer of the British Indian Empire, and is now a historical reference work. It was first published in 1881. Sir William Wilson Hunter made the original plans of the book, starting in 1869.< ...
'', and worked as a deputy secretary to the Government of India. In 1916, he was appointed Director of Industries and Controller of Munitions in Madras. Following the war, he was made Foodstuffs Commissioner with the Government of India. He was appointed secretary in the Commerce Department in 1920, which also oversaw railways.
Innes became head of the Commerce Department in 1921. His tenure was noted for two achievements: separating the railway budget from general finance budget, and forming the policy of "discriminating protection," which gave India more independence over fiscal policy. He was also credited with forming a Tariff Board to make inquiries, which provided significant help to the burgeoning iron and steel industry in India, which provided significant and essential aid to the allies in the World War II.
In December 1927, Innes became Governor of Burma, succeeding Sir
Harcourt Butler
Sir Spencer Harcourt Butler (1 August 1869 – 2 March 1938) was an officer of the Indian Civil Service who was the leading British official in Burma for much of his career, serving as Lieutenant-Governor (1915–17 and 1922–23) and later Gov ...
, serving until 1932.
In 1933, he joined the board of the Mercantile Bank of India in 1933 and served as chairman of the bank from 1938 to 1952. He was also chairman of Mysore Gold Mining company and was on the board of the
Oriental Telephone and Electricity Company.
Honours
He was appointed a Companion of the
Order of the Indian Empire
The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria on 1 January 1878. The Order includes members of three classes:
#Knight Grand Commander (GCIE)
#Knight Commander ( KCIE)
#Companion ( CIE)
No appoi ...
in the
1919 Birthday Honours, for meritorious services connected with the
war
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
, and a Companion of the
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 (GCSI)
# Knight Commander ( KCSI)
# Companion ( CSI)
No appointments ...
(CSI) in the
1921 Birthday Honours. He was invested as a Knight Commander of the Order of the Star of India in the
1924 New Year Honours.
Personal life
In 1900, Innes married Agatha Rosalie (née Stevenson), daughter of Colonel Kenlie Stevenson of the Indian Army. They had one daughter and four sons. She was awarded the
Kaiser-i-Hind
The Kaisar-i-Hind Medal for Public Service in India was a medal awarded by the Emperor/Empress of India between 1900 and 1947, to "any person without distinction of race, occupation, position, or sex ... who shall have distinguished himself (o ...
Gold Medal in 1933 and died in 1956. Sir Charles was descended from the Inneses of Drainie.
The line has multiple descendants extant. On the distaff side, his daughter, Rosalie, married
Thomas Wynford Rees
Major General Thomas Wynford Rees, (12 January 1898 – 15 October 1959) was a Welsh officer in the British Indian Army during the First World War, the interwar years and the Second World War
Early life and military career
The son of the Rever ...
(1888–1959), who served as Sir Charles' private secretary while Innes was Governor of Burma (1927–1932). Rees was a highly decorated officer in the British Indian Army, who would eventually attain the rank of Major General. Together, Thomas Wynford Rees and Rosalie Innes had one son,
Peter Wynford Innes Rees, Baron Rees (1926–2008), a prominent lawyer and Conservative Member of Parliament.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Innes, Charles Alexander
1874 births
1959 deaths
Administrators in British Burma
Knights Commander of the Order of the Star of India
Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire
British civil servants
People from Secunderabad
British colonial governors and administrators in Asia
People educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood
Alumni of St John's College, Oxford
Indian Civil Service (British India) officers
Members of the Council of the Governor General of India