Andrew Geddis (July 1886 – 23 February 1976) was a leading businessman and sports enthusiast in

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

in the decades leading up to independence.

Biography

He was Chairman of the

Royal Western India Turf Club Royal Western India Turf Club Ltd. (RWITC) is an exclusive Indian sports club for horse racing, established in 1800. Which runs the Mahalaxmi Racecourse in Mumbai and the Pune Race Course. History The Royal Western India Turf Club has a his ...

(1931–1939) and instigated Mumbai Races's A.Geddis Plate. His extensive business interests included a directorship of the

Bank of India Bank of India (BoI) is an Indian public sector bank headquartered in Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai. Founded in 1906, it has been government-owned since nationalisation in 1969. BoI is a founding member of SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Inter ...

Ltd and co-founding Geoffrey Manners & Co. Ltd., which became a leading distributor and manufacturer of Consumer Healthcare products and Pharmaceuticals across India until its amalgamation in April 2003 with the

Wyeth Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Inc. was a pharmaceutical company until it was purchased by Pfizer in 2009. The company was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1860 as John Wyeth and Brother. Its headquarters moved to Collegeville, Pennsylvania, a ...

Corporation, formerly known as American Home Products (AHP), one of the largest

pharmaceutical companies The pharmaceutical industry is a Medicine, medical industry that discovers, develops, produces, and markets pharmaceutical goods such as medications and medical devices. Medications are then administered to (or Self-medicate, self-administered b ...

in the world. He left Bruntsfield Place in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

for Bombay in 1907 to work for James Finlay & Co. Ltd. and went on to become extensively involved in the Ahmedabad textile industry becoming a Director of the Ahmedabad Jubilee Spinning & Manufacturing Co., Ltd. and the Ahmedabad Manufacturing & Calico Printing Co. Ltd., as well as Director of the India Cotton Association and the Chairman of Mill Owners' Mutual Insurance Association Ltd from its inception. His wider interests included, as well as co-founding Geoffrey Manners & Co. Ltd., directorships of the Tata Hydroelectric Power Supply Co., Ltd., the Indian Radio & Cable Communications Co.and the Bank of India Ltd. He was a member of the G. 1. P. Railway Advisory committee for 13 years and was appointed to the Board of Trustees for the Bombay Port Trust in 1920.. A keen horse racing enthusiast, as well as his chairmanship of the Western India Turf Club was also Chairman of the Turf Club House, Poona. Other interests included being Chairman of the Bombay Scottish Orphanage Society and Chairman of the Caledonia Society of Bombay. On his arrival in India he stayed in the Pali Hill ''Chummery''. After his marriage to Jean Gunn, daughter of Dr Alexander Gunn of Edinburgh in 1915, he moved to Dharbanga Masions on Cumballa Hill before finally moving to the fourth floor apartment on the left below the penthouse in the iconic art deco Kamal Mahal building, originally called Sethna House, on

Carmichael Road Carmichael Road is an upmarket residential street of Mumbai, India. Situated on a ridge in South Mumbai, it is now officially called Mahadev Laxman Dahanukar Marg. It has many old style bungalows and apartment houses, such as the art deco '' ...

in South Mumbai, which together with the adjacent Altamont Road was rated the tenth dearest address in the world in a in 2009 survey. He also had a beach house at

Juhu Juhu (Pronunciation: ͡ʒuɦuː is a suburb of Mumbai. It is known for the sprawling Juhu Beach. It is surrounded by the Arabian Sea to the west, Versova to the north, Vile Parle to the east and Santacruz to the south. Juhu is among the most ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Geddis, Andrew 1886 births 1976 deaths History of Mumbai British people in colonial India Businesspeople from Edinburgh Scottish people of the British Empire 20th-century Indian businesspeople 20th-century Scottish businesspeople