Robert Stanes
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| Sir Robert Stanes | |
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| Born | 13 May 1841 London, U.K. |
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| Died | 6 September 1936 (aged 95) Coimbatore, India |
| Occupation | Founder, T Stanes & Company; industrialist; educationalist. |
| Spouse | Harriet Huntingdon Harris |
Sir Robert Stanes was the founder of United Nilgri Tea Estates (UNTE). He arrived in India in 1858 while still a young boy of seventeen. Robert Stanes immediately launched himself on a career that was a remarkable blend of entrepreneurship and philanthropy. He had already been in India fifty five years before UNTE was formed, by which time he had been Knighted in recognition of his generous contribution to society. Those fifty five years also saw Robert Stanes grow from a diffident boy into the dynamic head of a business empire. Cotton mills, coffee plantations, tea, coffee curing, motor works and tire retreading made up the diverse interests of his business. Robert Stanes was also a man with a commendable sense of social responsibility, when the City Council for Coimbatore was first formed, he took on the Chairmanship. He set up the Stanes School in 1862, the city's premier educational institution till date. His elder brother Thomas Stanes had established the Stanes School www.stanescoonoor.com in Coonoor, in 1875. For his contribution to society Robert Stanes was also conferred the title of Kaiser-e-Hind'
In 1885 Stanes & Co went out of business. Robert 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]. Later, in 1913, he was to be awarded the Kaiser-I-Hind gold medal for services to Coimbatore and to education. His subsequent citation for a knighthood in 1920 (cf. the citation below) refers to the ‘high sense of honour’ demonstrated when he assumed responsibility and paid off the whole liabilities of the company to which he had formerly belonged. Failure in business was at that time a disgrace and Robert’s son, Fred, who was five at the time, remembered both the shame and also having to return to England on a cargo boat. Robert put it on record that ‘my dear wife endured it all without a murmur and with the greatest patience.’
He started again and the business again prospered. The Stanes textile mill he started in Coimbatore is the forerunner to the huge textile industry of world repute which Coimbatore has today
Citation for the Honour of Knight Bachelor (1920)
‘Mr Stanes first came to India fifty-seven years ago and joined a commercial firm. Owing to financial difficulties the business had to be wound up and Mr Stanes started business on his own account. His ability and enterprise have been shown by the high position which he has won for himself in commercial circles and the high sense of honour which has always distinguished him was signally demonstrated at the outset of his career he assumed responsibility for and paid off the whole of the liabilities of the company to which he formerly belonged. His firm are the proprietors and agents of a large number of commercial undertakings in Coimbatore including the important Coimbatore Spinning and weaving Company and are also intimately connected with the planting industry. Throughout his long career Mr Stanes has taken a keen and generous interest in education more especially that of the domiciled community [sc.the Anglo-Indians]. Shortly after his arrival in India he founded a school in Coimbatore for the education of poor European and Eurasian children. The school now has about two hundred children and Mr Stanes continues to manage it and undertake all financial responsibility. A similar school is maintained by him at Coonoor and he is also Chairman of the Trustees of the Breeks memorial school at Ootacamund, which is one of the most important European schools in the Presidency. His interest in education is not however confined to the domiciled community; fot many years he served as Secretary of the committee of Coimbatore College, an institution which including the connected High School has about seven hundred pupils on its rolls. The success of the College has been largely due to his capacity and generous financial assistance and he is a life member of the Committee. All movements in connection with the war work and for the benefit of soldiers and convalescents stationed in the Nilgiris have found in him a warm and generous supporter. Mr Stanes is universally respected by all sections of the community and his ability, integrity and unostentatious benevolence have won for him a unique position in the districts with which he has been connected.’
