Sir Robert Stanes and the Making of Coimbatore
No scriptWhen people call Coimbatore the "Manchester of South India", they are describing an industry that began with one mill in 1888. The man behind that mill, and behind one of the city's oldest schools, was Sir Robert Stanes. This is the second post in our series on the pillars who built Coimbatore. The first was G.D. Naidu, the Edison of Coimbatore.
A Teenager on a Ship
Robert Stanes was born in London on 13 May 1841. He arrived in India on 24 December 1858, aged 17, on his father's ship, the Trafalgar. He came to help his brothers manage the family's coffee estates at Coonoor in the Nilgiris.
The Nilgiris grew the coffee, but Coimbatore, at the foot of the hills, was where it could be processed and sent on. Stanes saw that early.
Coffee Curing in Coimbatore
About five years after he arrived, Stanes set up a coffee curing works in Coimbatore - described as the first inland coffee-curing plant in India. Curing (drying, hulling and sorting the beans) added value close to the estates, and it brought steady work to the town.
His business life was not smooth. In 1885 his business collapsed, and he later recalled that all he had left was 500 rupees. He started again.
1888: The First Textile Mill
His comeback changed the city. In 1888 Stanes founded the Coimbatore Spinning and Weaving Mills, with money from Nilgiris estate owners and European bankers in Madras. It was Coimbatore's first modern textile mill.
The mill showed that cotton grown on the Kongu plains could be spun locally, and others followed:
| Mill | Year |
|---|---|
| Coimbatore Spinning and Weaving Mills | 1888 |
| Mall Mills | 1900 |
| Kaleeswara Mills | 1906 |
| Ranga Vilas Mills | 1922 |
| Radhakrishna Mills | 1924 |
| Cambodia Mills | 1928 |
| Vasantha Mills | 1929 |
That chain of mills is the story behind Coimbatore, the Manchester of South India. Over the following decades his businesses also grew to include coffee and tea plantations, motor works and tyre retreading.
Stanes School, 1862
Even before the mill, Stanes had turned to education. In 1862 he started a school in a rented house near today's Kumaran Market, with two boys, two girls and two teachers. It grew into Stanes Anglo-Indian Higher Secondary School, now on a large campus in the centre of the city and run by the Sir Robert Stanes Educational Association. It follows the Tamil Nadu State Board syllabus. It appears in our guide to schools in Coimbatore.
Civic Life
Stanes was also active in running the town. When Coimbatore's city council was formed, he became its chairman. His work was recognised with the Kaiser-i-Hind Gold Medal in 1913, "for services to Coimbatore and to education", and he was knighted in 1920.
The Link to G.D. Naidu
One of Stanes's most important contributions was a person. In 1915, a young G.D. Naidu worked at a restaurant run by Stanes and learned English there. In 1921, Stanes helped Naidu start the bus service that became United Motor Service - the business that launched Naidu's career as an inventor and industrialist. The link between the old coffee-and-cotton businessman and the self-taught engineer is one of the turning points in Coimbatore's history.
Later Life and Legacy
Sir Robert Stanes died in Coimbatore on 6 September 1936, aged 95, and was buried at All Saints Church, Coonoor - back in the hills where his Indian life began.
His legacy in the city includes:
- The textile industry, which grew from his 1888 mill into the industry that defined Coimbatore for much of the 20th century.
- Stanes School, still running after more than 160 years.
- A model of local enterprise: processing what the region grew, close to where it grew.
Why He Matters Today
Coimbatore's later growth - pumps, motors, engineering and IT - was built on capital, skills and confidence from the textile era. You can trace that thread through the city's story in why Coimbatore is one of India's fastest-growing cities. Stanes was a British businessman in the colonial era, and that history has its complexities, but his role in starting Coimbatore's mills and one of its oldest schools is part of the record.
Next in this series: more of the people whose work built Coimbatore.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Who was Sir Robert Stanes?
Robert Stanes (1841-1936) was a British-born businessman who came to India in 1858 and spent most of his life in Coimbatore, where he founded coffee curing works, the city's first textile mill and Stanes School.
What was the first textile mill in Coimbatore?
The Coimbatore Spinning and Weaving Mills, founded by Robert Stanes in 1888. Its success encouraged other mills such as Kaleeswara (1906) and Ranga Vilas (1922).
When was Stanes School in Coimbatore founded?
In 1862, by Robert Stanes. Today Stanes Anglo-Indian Higher Secondary School follows the Tamil Nadu State Board syllabus.
How was Robert Stanes connected to G.D. Naidu?
G.D. Naidu worked at a restaurant run by Stanes in 1915, where he learned English, and Stanes helped him start his bus service, United Motor Service, in 1921.