In a big album with worn-out green binding and yellow-with-age pages is the history of Coimbatore, 150 years ago. K.S. Hegde, Managing Director of T. Stanes and Company Limited, turns the pages and recounts how the Stanes family, particularly Sir Robert Stanes, left an indelible mark on the city and the region.
In 1861, he set up the Stanes Coffee Curing Works, the first of many companies in Coimbatore.
And, 150 years later, the company gears up to celebrate. Twelve members of the Stanes family are travelling all the way from England to be present on the occasion.
In 1858, when Robert first landed on the shores of Chennai in a sailing vessel called Trafalgar, belonging to his father James Stanes, he was only 17. The trip to India was meant to be a holiday. But he stayed on till 1936 when, at the age of 95, he died and was buried at All Saints Church in Coonoor. The Stanes family already owned large coffee estates in the Nilgiris. So, young Robert headed straight out of the steamy plains of Chennai upon arriving from England.
He took off in a train to Katpadi after which a combination of bullock carts and horseback bore him off to the hills.
The family was in the business of converting land into tea and coffee estates that it ran for a while before selling them off. In fact, says Mr. Hegde, most of the big tea plantations in the Nilgiris today were started by the Stanes. The coffee from their plantations was lugged to Mettupalayam on horse back. From there, bullock carts would carry it to Calicut (now Kozhikode) — an expensive journey.
So, Robert, along with his brother Thomas, decided to start a coffee curing centre right here in Coimbatore. And thus, their first company, the Stanes Coffee Curing Works, was born in 1861.
A big yard, some trees and a tall chimney still stand. You can see a sepia likeness of the scene taken all those years ago in the album. Of course, there is no coffee anymore. Though in 1956, India’s first instant coffee plant was installed as a subsidiary of T. Stanes & Co. Ltd.
The school Robert started in 1861 when he was just 21, still stands tall. The Stanes School in Coimbatore was followed a few years later with the Stanes School in Coonoor in 1875.
Convinced about the great potential of Coimbatore, Robert decided to diversify.
He set up Southern India’s first textile mill, the Coimbatore Spinning and Weaving Mill. He was also the first chairman of the Municipal Council in Coimbatore. Robert bequeathed the spirit of entrepreneurship to the city. Even after his death, the company continued to grow.
In 1961, the Stanes company, a 100 years old then, was taken over by S. Anantharamakrishnan and it became part of the Amalgamations group.
A two-day function commemorates the sesquicentennial celebration. On July 8, A. Krishnamoorthy, Chairman, T. Stanes & Company Limited will unveil the bust of S. Anantharama krishnan. N. Venkataramani, Chairman and Managing Director, India Pistons Limited, will unveil the bust of A. Sivasailam. A photo exhibition will be opened by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of TAFE Limited, Mallika Srinivasan.
Former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam will release a book, Friends of the Earth - The Stanes Story by V. Sriram at a function here on July 9 to mark the sesquicentennial celebration. British Deputy High Commissioner, South India, Mike Nithavrianakis will receive the first copy.
The function will be held in Stanes House, the gracious old bungalow where Robert Stanes lived.
‘Friends of the Earth’
The company’s interests now include bio-fertilizers and bio-control agents for organic farming; and manufacture of Ayurvedic formulations, herbal teas and a range of allied products.
The company prides itself on being ‘Friends of the Earth’, with a deep commitment towards restoring the balance of Nature.
It has a research and development cell that constantly works towards the health of both man and mother earth and devises ways of protecting the fragile eco-system.
