George Joachim Goschen, 2nd Viscount Goschen, (15 October 1866 – 24 July 1952), was a British politician who served as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for East Grinstead from 1895 to 1906 and as

Governor of Madras This is a list of the governors, agents, and presidents of colonial Madras, initially of the English East India Company, up to the end of British colonial rule in 1947. English Agents In 1639, the grant of Madras to the English was finalized b ...

from 1924 to 1929. In 1929 he was appointed the

Viceroy of India The Governor-General of India (1773–1950, from 1858 to 1947 the Viceroy and Governor-General of India, commonly shortened to Viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom and after Indian independence in 19 ...

. George Joachim Goschen, 2nd Viscount, was the son of prominent

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

(formerly

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

and

Liberal Unionist The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington (later the Duke of Devonshire) and Joseph Chamberlain, the party established a politic ...

) politician and Chancellor of the Exchequer,

George Goschen, 1st Viscount Goschen George Joachim Goschen, 1st Viscount Goschen, PC, DL, FBA (10 August 1831 – 7 February 1907) was a British statesman and businessman best remembered for being "forgotten" by Lord Randolph Churchill. He was initially a Liberal, then a Liber ...

. He had his early education in the United Kingdom and served as Secretary to

Victor Child Villiers, 7th Earl of Jersey Victor Albert George Child Villiers, 7th Earl of Jersey, (20 March 1845 – 31 May 1915) was a British banker, Conservative politician and colonial administrator from the Villiers family. He served as Governor of New South Wales between 1891 and ...

, the Governor of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

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 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. The title changed to Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry o ...

from March to June 1918. In 1924 he was appointed Governor of Madras, India, and served from 1924 to 1929, and acted as the Viceroy of India from 1929 to 1931. He died in 1952 at the age of 85. Goschen was knighted the grace of

Order of Saint John The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...

in 1921 and made a GCSI in March 1924. He was also a member of the Privy Council of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Early life

George Joachim Goschen was born to

, and his wife Lucy née Dalley on 15 October 1866. His ancestors had moved to the United Kingdom from

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. He was education at

Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. ...

, and Balliol College, Oxford. Goschen fell in love with Lady Margaret Evelyn Gathorne-Hardy, the youngest of five daughters of 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

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. He was a Major in the 2nd

Volunteer Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...

Battalion of The Buffs (East Kent Regiment), and from February 1901 served as an extra Aide de camp (unpaid) to Lord Roberts, Commander-in-Chief.

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

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 the leading financiers in England. Goschen served as the

from March to June 1918. Goschen succeeded his father as Viscount Goschen on the latter's death on 7 February 1907. In December 1910, he was appointed a deputy lieutenant of

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

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 is a private Catholic higher education institution run by the Society of Jesus in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It was founded in 1925 by the French Jesuit priest, Francis Bertram, along with other European Jesuits. It is an auton ...

, and presided over its first college day in 1928. The Children's Hospital at

Mangalore Mangalore (), officially known as Mangaluru, is a major port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bangalore, the state capital, 20 km north of Karnataka–Ke ...

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.

Encyclopedia of Political Parties An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles ...

, p. 189. The Raja stepped down as Chief Minister and handed over his resignation to the Governor. Goschen invited

S. Srinivasa Iyengar Seshadri Srinivasa Iyengar CIE (11 September 1874 – 19 May 1941), also seen as Sreenivasa Iyengar and Srinivasa Ayyangar, was an Indian lawyer, freedom-fighter and politician from the Indian National Congress. Iyengar was the Advocate-Genera ...

, 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 Diarchy (from Greek , ''di-'', "double", and , ''-arkhía'', "ruled"),Occasionally misspelled ''dyarchy'', as in the ''Encyclopaedia Britannica'' article on the colonial British institution duarchy, or duumvirate (from Latin ', "the office of ...

. Goschen, therefore, made an independent, P. Subbarayan, the Chief Minister, and nominated 34 members to the council to support him.

, p. 190. As the government was set up 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.

, p. 191. 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 favour of a boycott.

, p. 192. 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 Sir Pitti Theagaraya Chetty KCSI (27 April 1852 – 28 April 1925) was an Indian 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. ...

from the Madras government but Goschen staunchly refused to make the grant. A block named "Goschen Block" was constructed in the Govt Estate (presently Omandurar Estate) in Mount Road. This had a number of houses allotted to Govt officials and later to MLAs (Mr P. Kakkan, Minister in the Kamaraj Govt, lived in one). Goschen Block was demolished when construction of the new Assembly building (now a hospital) started. During his tenure, the

Yanam Yanam (Telugu: ''యానాం'') is a town located in the Yanam district in Puducherry. It has a population of 35,000 and is entirely surrounded by Andhra Pradesh. It was formerly a French colony for nearly 200 years, and, though united ...

-Neelapalli bridge was constructed. Yanam was then a French colony. He laid the foundation stone for the bridge on 10 December 1927.

As Acting Viceroy of India

Lord Irwin Edward Frederick Lindley Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax, (16 April 1881 – 23 December 1959), known as The Lord Irwin from 1925 until 1934 and The Viscount Halifax from 1934 until 1944, was a senior British Conservative politician of the 19 ...

, the

, left for

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

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 ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-conse ...

in 1880 but had declined the offer.

Later life

In 1933, a group which called itself the Union of Britain and India was formed in

. This group was in favour 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

system regarding it as a failure based on his experience as an administrator in India.

Personal life

Goschen married Lady Margaret Evelyn-Gathorne Hardy (d. 11 July 1943), daughter of the

Earl of Cranbrook Earl of Cranbrook, in the County of Kent, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, created in 1892 for Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, Baron Medway. The family seat is Great Glemham House, near Saxmundham, Suffolk. The title remains held by t ...

. Lady Goschen gave her name to the Viscountess Goschen Government Girls (Muslim) High School in Tharanallur,

Tiruchirappalli Tiruchirappalli () ( formerly Trichinopoly in English), also called Tiruchi or Trichy, is a major tier II city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with bei ...

, Tamil Nadu. They had three children: *Lt. Hon. George Joachim, 7th Btn E Kent Regiment (18 November 1893 – 16 January 1916) died of wounds received in action at the

Siege of Kut The siege of Kut Al Amara (7 December 1915 – 29 April 1916), also known as the first battle of Kut, was the besieging of an 8,000 strong British Army garrison in the town of Kut, south of Baghdad, by the Ottoman Army. In 1915, its population ...

*Hon. Phyllis Evelyn, Lady-in-Waiting to Her Royal Highness the

Princess Royal Princess Royal is a style customarily (but not automatically) awarded by a British monarch to their eldest daughter. Although purely honorary, it is the highest honour that may be given to a female member of the royal family. There have been se ...

1948–1965 (5 August 1895 – 27 May 1976), married Lt Col. Francis Cecil Campbell Balfour *Hon. Cicely Winifred (29 April 1899 – 1980), married Maj. Melville Edward Bertram Portal, son of Sir Bertram Percy Portal Goschen died on 25 July 1952 at the age of 85. His title passed to his nephew John Goschen.

References

Sources

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Goschen, George 2nd Viscount Goschen Goschen, George Goschen, 2nd Viscount Goschen, George Goschen, 2nd Viscount Governors of Madras Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Goschen, George Goschen, 2nd Viscount Goschen, George Goschen, 2nd Viscount Goschen, George Goschen, 2nd Viscount Goschen, George Goschen, 2nd Viscount UK MPs 1895–1900 UK MPs 1900–1906 UK MPs who inherited peerages English people of German descent Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment) officers Deputy Lieutenants of Kent Military personnel from Kent George Goschen, 2nd Viscount Goschen George 2