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{{short description|British civil servant}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2013}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix =
| name = Sir Norman Marjoribanks
| honorific-suffix = [[Order of the Indian Empire|KCIE]] [[Order of the Star of India|CSI]]
| image =
| imagesize = 200px
| order1 = Governor of Madras (acting)
| term_start1 = 29 June 1929
| term_end1 = 11 November 1929
| governor_general1 = [[George Goschen, 2nd Viscount Goschen]]
| predecessor1 = [[George Goschen, 2nd Viscount Goschen]]
| successor1 = [[George Frederick Stanley]]
| order2 = Member of the Executive Council of the Governor of Madras
| term_start2 =
| term_end2 = 29 June 1929
| governor2 = [[George Goschen, 2nd Viscount Goschen]]
| premier2 = [[Raja of Panagal]],<br />[[P. Subbarayan]]
| predecessor2 =
| successor2 =
| birth_name = Norman Edward Marjoribanks
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1872|10|16|df=y}}
| birth_place = British India
| death_date = August 1939 (age 67)
| death_place = [[Ootacamund]], [[Madras Presidency|Madras]], British India<ref>{{cite news |title=Sir |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000619/19390823/401/0014 |access-date=4 February 2021 |work=Birmingham Daily Post |date=23 August 1939 |page=14}}</ref>
| nationality = British
| alma_mater = [[Trinity College, Cambridge]]
| profession =
| occupation =
}}

'''Sir Norman Edward Marjoribanks''' {{postnominals|country=GBR|KCIE|CSI}} (16 October 1872 – August 1939) was a British magistrate and civil servant in India who served as the acting [[Governor of Madras]] from 29 June 1929 to 11 November 1929.

Marjoribanks was born in 1872 into a Scottish family and was educated in India and the United Kingdom, where he spent most of his childhood. In 1891, he passed the Indian Civil Service exam and was allocated to the [[Madras Presidency]]. He served as the home member of the Governor's executive council in the 1920s and as the acting Governor of Madras until the arrival of Governor-designate, [[George Frederick Stanley]] from England. Marjoribanks also served in the committee which investigated the problems of Tamil indentured labourers in Sri Lanka.

== Early life ==

Norman Marjoribanks was born in India on 16 October 1872<ref name="toip822">{{cite book|title=The Times of India Directory and Year Book, Including Who's who|pages=822|publisher=Bennett, Coleman & Co.|year=1984}}</ref><ref name="oxforddnb">{{Cite ODNB |title=Colonial administrators and post-independence leaders in India (1616–2000) |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/theme/93241}}</ref><ref name="worldstatesmen">{{cite web|title=Provinces of British India|url=http://www.worldstatesmen.org/India_BrProvinces.htm#Madras|publisher=World Statesmen}}</ref> and received his early education at [[Bishop Cotton Boys' School|Bishop Cotton's School and College]], [[Bangalore]]. He received his higher education from [[Belfast Royal Academy]], [[Royal University of Ireland]] and [[Trinity College, Cambridge]].<ref>{{acad|id=MRJS891NE|name=Marjoribanks, Norman Edward}}</ref> He passed his [[Indian Civil Service]] examinations in 1891 and was appointed as Assistant Collector and magistrate.

== In the Civil Service ==

Marjoribanks served in Madras as Assistant Collector and Magistrate from 29 October 1893 to July 1901. In March 1900, he was appointed Officiating Under-Secretary of the Revenue Department. He served as a member on the Board of Revue and the Commissioner of Salt and Excise, Madras. He also served as the Home member in the executive council of the Governor of Madras, under [[George Goschen, 2nd Viscount Goschen]]. When Goschen's tenure came to an end, Marjoribanks was appointed acting Governor until the arrival of [[George Frederick Stanley]].

== Commission on the situation of Plantation Tamils of Ceylon ==

Following protests against indentured labour by activists of the [[Indian independence movement]], the [[Government of India]] aPpointed a commission under [[Charles George Todhunter]] to investigate the condition of the [[Indian Tamils of Sri Lanka|plantation Tamils of Ceylon]].<ref name="plantationtamilsp111">[[#Plantation Tamils of Ceylon|Plantation Tamils of Ceylon]], Pg 111</ref> On 22 October 1916, the [[Madras Presidency|Government of Madras]] overruled the decision of the Indian Government and replaced Todhunter with Marjoribanks.<ref name="plantationtamilsp111" /><ref name="plantationtamilsp110">[[#Plantation Tamils of Ceylon|Plantation Tamils of Ceylon]], Pg 110</ref> C. E. Low, the Secretary of the Department of Commerce and Industry, Government of India, complained to Sir George Barnes over the "bad behaviour" of the Madras Government.<ref name="plantationtamilsp111" /> He suspected the abilities of Marjoribanks, saying "he is not quite class enough, socially and from the point of personality, to do us well".<ref name="plantationtamilsp111" /> Barnes then conveyed his strong opposition to the [[India Office]]. However, the Governor of Madras, [[John Sinclair, 1st Baron Pentland|Lord Pentland]] gave Marjoribanks his full support:

{{quotation|He is careful, generally well-informed, and will be thoroughly master of his subject. He is eminently of cool temperament and sound judgement: and to a keen and critical intellect and the giver of clear and concise expression he adds the advantage of a long Secretariat experience<ref name="plantationtamilsp112">[[#Plantation Tamils of Ceylon|Plantation Tamils of Ceylon]], Pg 112</ref>}}

The Emigration Bench examined his service record and approved his candidature saying that "his record looks as if he is a pretty good man".<ref name="plantationtamilsp112" /> Eventually, a delegation comprising Marjoribanks and A. K. G. Ahmad Thambi Marakkayar<ref name="plantationtamilsp112" /> left for Ceylon on 19 November 1916 and spent six months gathering information from the planters and the Government of Ceylon.<ref name="plantationtamilsp113">[[#Plantation Tamils of Ceylon|Plantation Tamils of Ceylon]], Pg 113</ref> The team prepared a report which was submitted at a conference held at London in May 1917.<ref name="plantationtamilsp113" /> In the final report, the team pointed out the defects of the existing ''kangani'' system.<ref name="plantationtamilsp113" /> But strangely, the report did not examine indentured labour on the whole.<ref name="plantationtamilsp113" /> As a result, when the report was made public, it was criticized by Indian nationalists.<ref name="plantationtamilsp113" />

== As Acting Governor of Madras ==

Marjoribanks served as the Home member in the Executive Council of Governor George Goschen. When Goschen's term came to an end in July 1929, Marjoribanks was appointed as acting Governor of Madras until the arrival of governor-designate, George Frederick Stanley from England.<ref name="oxforddnb" /><ref name="worldstatesmen" /> Marjoribanks served as Acting Governor of Madras from 29 June 1929 to 11 November 1929.<ref name="oxforddnb" /><ref name="worldstatesmen" />

== Later life ==

On the expiry of his term, Marjoribanks retired to [[Ootacamund]], the summer residence of the Madras government. He died in 1939.

== Honours ==

Marjoribanks was made a [[Order of the Indian Empire|Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire]] in 1919 and later promoted to a Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire.<ref name="toip822" /> He was made a [[Order of the Star of India|Companion of the Order of the Star of India]] in 1922.<ref name="toip822" />

== Notes ==

{{reflist}}

== References ==

* {{cite book | title=The India List and India Office List| last=Great Britain India Office| year=1905| publisher=Harrison and Sons| location=London|pages=561|ref=India Office List 1905}}
* {{cite book|title=The Plantation Tamils of Ceylon|first=Patrick|last=Peebles|publisher=Continuum International Publishing Group|year=2001|ISBN=978-0-7185-0154-9|ref=Plantation Tamils of Ceylon}}

{{s-start}}
{{succession box | title=Home Member of the Executive Council of the Governor of Madras | before= | after= | years=}}

{{succession box | title=[[Governor of Madras]]<br />(acting) | before=[[George Goschen, 2nd Viscount Goschen|Lord Goschen]] | after=[[George Frederick Stanley]] | years=29 June 1929 – 11 November 1929}}
{{s-end}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marjoribanks, Norman}}
[[Category:1872 births]]
[[Category:1939 deaths]]
[[Category:British civil servants in British India]]
[[Category:Indian Civil Service (British India) officers]]
[[Category:Governors of Madras]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire]]
[[Category:Companions of the Order of the Star of India]]
[[Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Bishop Cotton Boys' School alumni]]
[[Category:British people in colonial India]]

Norman Marjoribanks - Revision history

imported>Lancepark at 17:11, 14 July 2024