Thomas Stanes (6 January 1837 – 30 January 1905) was an

Anglo-Indian Anglo-Indian people are a distinct minority group, minority community of mixed-race British and Indian ancestry. During the colonial period, their ancestry was defined as British paternal and Indian maternal heritage; post-independence, "Angl ...

businessman and philanthropist.

Early life

Stanes was the sixth of nine children of James Stanes, a glass and china shipping merchant of London, and his wife Sarah Poultney Worth. After education at College House, Edmonton, London, he arrived at Madras, Tamil Nadu, India on 26 June 1855 on the MS ''Hindustan''. He was the elder brother of the celebrated Anglo-Indian businessman Sir Robert Stanes. Both Thomas and Robert founded Stanes schools in Tamil Nadu, Robert at

Coimbatore Coimbatore (Tamil: kōyamputtūr, ), also known as Kovai (), is one of the major Metropolitan cities of India, metropolitan cities in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Noyy ...

in 1862 and Thomas at

Coonoor Coonoor (), is a taluk and a municipal town of the Nilgiris district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. As of 2011, the town had a population of 45,494. The town sits at the south-east corner of the Nilgiri plateau, and at the head of the Coonoo ...

in 1858. Stanes opened the Adderley Estate shortly after his arrival. He purchased the Colacumbie Coffee Estate in 1865. These two businesses eventually led to the formation of the company T. Stanes and Co. in 1886 by combining the interests of Robert and Thomas Stanes. The company expanded beyond the coffee business into manufacturing, agricultural machinery, agrichemicals and the motor trade. T. Stanes and Co. was still trading 125 years after its foundation, although it is no longer owned by the Stanes family.

Organisations started

* In 1858 Stanes started ''The Coonoor Day School'', popularly known as ''The Stanes School'' in

, India. The school is one of the oldest in India, still in existence. * In 1861 Stanes started T Stanes & Co along with his brother Robert Stanes.

Death

Stanes died after being thrown from his horse on 30 January 1905. His body has been buried at the All Saints Church,

References

Stanes School CoonoorT. Stanes & Co
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stanes, Thomas 1837 births 1905 deaths Businesspeople from British India Businesspeople in coffee People from Coonoor 19th-century British philanthropists British people in colonial India