James Henry Spring Branson (11 June 1842 – 8 April 1897) was an officer of the Indian volunteer force and a lawyer, who was the acting Advocate General of the

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency, or the Presidency of Fort St. George, also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision (presidency) of British India. At its greatest extent, the presidency included most of southern India, including th ...

Career

Spring Branson was commissioned into the Indian volunteer force and served with the

Madras Artillery Volunteers Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

. As Commandant, his decision to allow "native gentlemen" to serve with the regiment almost caused a revolt amongst the

white White is the lightness, lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully diffuse reflection, reflect and scattering, scatter all the ...

soldiers.Mrinalini Sinha, ''Colonial Masculinity: The 'manly Englishman' and The' Effeminate Bengali' in the Late Nineteenth Century'' (Manchester University Press, 1995), 83. The Madras Government hastily rescinded Spring Branson's order and continued to enforce the ban on "native" volunteers. He resigned from the army as a lieutenant-colonel a few years later in order to practice as a lawyer. He was appointed first, Crown Prosecutor and then, Public-Prosecutor, Madras, 4 July 1885. In March 1887, he was appointed acting Advocate-General of Madras Presidency. Spring Branson served as a legislator in the

Madras Legislative Council Tamil Nadu Legislative Council was the upper house of the former bicameral legislature of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It began its existence as Madras Legislative Council, the first provincial legislature for Madras Presidency. It was initia ...

between 1886 and his death. He served as President of the Madras Bar Association. He died in 1897 and is buried in the Anglican St. Mary's Church, Chennai. Branson Gardens in

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of ...

are named after him.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spring Branson, J. H. 1897 deaths 1842 births Advocates General for Tamil Nadu

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

Members of the Madras Legislative Council British people in colonial India British lawyers Indian Defence Force officers