>Tilt2k at 21:06, 9 December 2020

2020-12-09T21:06:00Z

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[[File:Sir Frank Sly.jpg|alt=Sir Frank Sly|thumb|Sir Frank Sly]]

'''Sir Frank George Sly''' (1866 – 16 July 1928) was the first British governor of the [[Central Provinces and Berar|Central Provinces of India]] and instrumental in the [[Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms]].

== Early life ==
Frank Sly was born in [[Salisbury]] 1866 to Thomas Sly and Clara Moore. He studied at [[University of Oxford|Oxford University]] before entering the Indian Civil Service towards the end of 1887.

== Career ==
After joining the [[Indian Civil Service]] in 1887, Sly was appointed Under-Secretary in the Department of Revenue and Agriculture in 1894. He became officiating Secretary in 1896,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19280730.2.73.aspx|title=Newspaper Article – SIR FRANK SLY.|website=eresources.nlb.gov.sg|access-date=2016-09-13}}</ref> before becoming Commissioner of Agriculture and Settlements and later Inspector-General of Agriculture. From 1908–1912 he was Commissioner of [[Berar Province]] where he was tasked with remodeling the administration of the province, to bring it in line with the other Central Provinces into which it had recently been amalgamated. In September 1912 he was appointed a member of the [[Royal Commission on the Public Services in India|Royal Commission on the Public Services]]. After a brief spell as Commissioner of [[Nagpur]], he was appointed Chairman of the Public Works Department Re-organisation Committee. Sly then went to [[Bihar]] and [[Odisha|Orissa]] as Chairman of the [[Champaran#Gandhi and the Champaran Satyagraha|Champaran Inquiry Committee]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TWEkVfiIo_gC|title=Provincial Legislatures and the National Movement: A Study in Interaction in Central Provinces and Berar, 1921–37|last=Pateriya|first=Raghaw Raman|date=1991-01-01|publisher=Northern Book Centre|isbn=9788185119588|language=en}}</ref> He was later appointed Deputy Chairman of [[Francis Hopwood, 1st Baron Southborough|Lord Southborough]]'s [[Southborough Franchise Committee|Franchise Committee]]. In January 1920 Sly returned to the [[Central Provinces and Berar]] as Chief Commissioner, and later that year was appointed Governor.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/08/140803-tiger-hunt-1924-india-maharaja-safari/|title=Tiger Hunting in India 1924|date=2014-08-03|access-date=2016-09-13}}</ref>

In January 1922 Sly hosted [[Edward VIII]] when he visited Nagpur on his tour of India.<ref>{{Cite book|last=O’mealey M.|url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.207095|title=His Royal Highness The Prince Of Wales Tour In India (1921-1922)|date=1923}}</ref>

== Advocate for reform ==
Sly played a prominent part in shaping the [[Government of India Act 1919|Government of India Act]], as a member of the India Office Committee and a witness before the Joint Parliamentary Committee,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/gandhispassionli00wolp|url-access=registration|title=Gandhi's Passion: The Life and Legacy of Mahatma Gandhi|last=Wolpert|first=Stanley|date=2002-11-28|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780199923922|language=en}}</ref> where he was a strong advocate of the 1919 changes which became known as the [[Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=frasAgAAQBAJ|title=Road to Pakistan: The Life and Times of Mohammad Ali Jinnah|last=Nanda|first=B. R.|date=2013-07-03|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781136704772|language=en}}</ref>

== Family ==
Sly married Sophie Louisa Dane on September 4, 1900 at [[Christ Church (Shimla)|Christ Church, Simla]] in Bengal.{{citation needed|date=October 2016}} Dane was born in India where her father [[Sir Richard Morris Dane]] worked in the Indian Civil Service and was in charge of export. They had one child, Joan Clara Sophia Sly, born in 1902. On 28 July 1910, Sir Frank was granted a divorce from Dane on the grounds of "adultery with Hubert Druce".{{citation needed|date=October 2016}} Sly's daughter Joan joined him in India, where she met her future husband John Ray Geddes.

=== Daughter's suicide ===

Joan Sly and John Ray Geddes committed suicide on 8 August 1924 at Gordon Street Chambers on [[Jermyn Street]], London.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article63787322|title=TRAGEDY IN LONDON FLAT – Husband and Wife Shot {{!}} LONDON, Today.|work=The Mail|location=Adelaide|date=9 Aug 1924|via=Trove|access-date=2016-09-13}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16179674|title=GENERAL CABLE NEWS. – LONDON, Aug. 8.|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=11 Aug 1924|via=Trove|access-date=2016-09-13}}</ref> The inquest into their deaths noted that the couple had taken out extensive loans to fund their wedding and subsequent honeymoon, and had run into financial troubles.

== Death and memorials ==
Following his daughter's suicide Sly tendered his resignation and returned to London leaving Nagpur on 26th January 1925.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=British Library India Papers|url=http://searcharchives.bl.uk/IAMS_VU2:IAMS040-002296961|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-12-09|website=Diary of Effie Geraldine Dick 1925}}</ref> He died in London on July 16, 1928.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2507&dat=19280718&id=hqdAAAAAIBAJ&sjid=eaUMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4121,2496796&hl=en|work=The Glasgow Herald|via=Google News Archive Search|access-date=2016-09-13|title=The Glasgow Herald - Google News Archive Search}}</ref> and is buried in [[Kensal Green Cemetery]].

He inaugurated [[Nagpur Junction railway station|Nagpur Railway Station]] on 15 January 1925.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nagpurtoday.in/90-years-of-nagpur-station-building/01142300|title=90 years of Nagpur station Building|website=www.nagpurtoday.in|access-date=2016-09-13}}</ref> A plaque at the station bears his name.

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sly, Frank}}
[[Category:1866 births]]
[[Category:1928 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Salisbury]]
[[Category:British civil servants]]
[[Category:Central Provinces]]

Frank Sly - Revision history

>Tilt2k at 21:06, 9 December 2020