Sir Robert Stanes (13 May 1841 – 6 September 1936) was a British businessman and philanthropist in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

who founded United Nilgiri Tea Estates (UNTE) in

Coimbatore Coimbatore, also spelt as Koyamputhur (), sometimes shortened as Kovai (), is one of the major metropolitan cities in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Noyyal River and surrounded by the Western Ghats. Coimbato ...

. Stanes was born in

Aldgate Aldgate () was a gate in the former defensive wall around the City of London. It gives its name to Aldgate High Street, the first stretch of the A11 road, which included the site of the former gate. The area of Aldgate, the most common use of ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, the eighth of nine children of James Stanes (12 March 1796 – 3 February 1880) and Sarah Poultney Stanes (''

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

'' Worth; 26 April 1806 – 15 July 1843). James Stanes was a glass and china shipping merchant who established the Stanes' presence in India by sending several of his sons to the country. In 1848, James Stanes junior (1830–1852), the second son, arrived in southern India and established the Runnymede Coffee Estate near

Coonoor Coonoor, natively spelt as Kunnur (), is a Taluk and a municipality of the Nilgiris district in the Indian State of Tamil Nadu. As of 2011, the town had a population of 45,494. Demographics According to 2011 census, Coonoor had a populatio ...

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 ...

. He was drowned in May 1852 while traveling near Kulhutty. Later that year, following the death of James Stanes junior, William Henry Stanes (12 May 1826 – 31 January 1865), his eldest brother, was sent to India. He was followed by the fourth son, Thomas Stanes (6 January 1837 – 30 January 1905), who arrived at Madras on the SS ''Hindustan'' on 26 June 1855. James Stanes senior visited his sons William and Thomas in Madras Presidency in 1855, accompanied by his third son, Henry Thomas Stanes (1835–1917), who ran the London end of the family's businesses. The greatest impact in India was made by Robert Stanes, the youngest son, who arrived in India on 24 December 1858 on his father's ship the SS ''Trafalgar'' while still a boy of seventeen. Robert immediately launched himself on a successful career as a

coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. S ...

planter in Coimbatore. Five years later he established the first inland coffee-curing plant in India, In 1885, Stanes & Co went out of business. Stanes recalled that "the firm suffered great losses and Messrs Stanes Watson failed in business, which led to the collapse of my firm. I had to begin all over again, all that I had was 500 rupees" (about £40 at that date). Failure in business was at that time a disgrace and Robert Stanes's son, Fred, who was five at the time, remembered both the shame and also having to return to England on a cargo boat. Stanes wrote that "my dear wife endured it all without a murmur and with the greatest patience". He started again and the business again prospered. By the time of his death he owned

cotton mill A cotton mill is a building that houses spinning (textiles), spinning or weaving machinery for the production of yarn or cloth from cotton, an important product during the Industrial Revolution in the development of the factory system. Althou ...

s, coffee and tea plantations, coffee curing plants, motor works and tire retreading plants; Coimbatore is still a major industrial city today, largely through Stanes's contribution. When Coimbatore City Council was formed, he became chairman. He set up the

Stanes School Stanes Schools are two schools in Coimbatore and Coonoor. History The schools were established by Sir Robert Stanes in 1862, with the Coimbatore branch starting with four children and two teachers.It started as a European and Eurasian school but ...

in the city in 1862. His elder brother, Thomas Stanes, had established the Stanes School in

, in 1858. In 1913, he was awarded the Kaiser-i-Hind Gold Medal for services to Coimbatore and to education and he was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

in the 1920 New Year Honours. Sir Robert died in Coimbatore in 1936 and is buried alongside his wife, Harriet Huntingdon Harris (1843–1901), at All Saints church, Coonoor.

Footnotes

References

*Obituary, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'', 8 September 1936 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stanes, Robert 1841 births 1936 deaths People from Aldgate Businesspeople from Tamil Nadu Businesspeople awarded knighthoods Knights Bachelor British philanthropists British planters Businesspeople in coffee Recipients of the Kaisar-i-Hind Medal