George Joachim Goschen, 2nd Viscount Goschen, (15 October 1866 – 24 July 1952), was a British Conservative politician who served as Member of Parliament for East Grinstead from 1895 to 1906, and as Governor of Madras from 1924 to 1929. In 1929, he was appointed acting Viceroy of India.
George Joachim Goschen, 2nd Viscount, was the son of prominent Conservative (formerly Liberal and Liberal Unionist) politician and Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Goschen, 1st Viscount Goschen. He had his early education in the United Kingdom and served as Secretary to Victor Child Villiers, 7th Earl of Jersey, the Governor of New South Wales in Australia from 1890 to 1892. In 1895 and 1900, he was elected to the House of Commons from East Grinstead and served as a Member of Parliament from 1895 to 1906 and as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries from March to June 1918. In 1924, he was appointed Governor of Madras Presidency, India, and served there from 1924 to 1929. He acted as the Viceroy of India from 1929 to 1931. He died in 1952 at the age of 85.
Goschen was knighted the grace of Order of Saint John in 1921 and made a Knight Grand Commander of Order of the Star of India in March 1924. He was also a member of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom.
Early life and family
Goschen was born to George Joachim Goschen, 1st Viscount Goschen, a prominent Liberal politician, and his wife Lucy née Dalley, daughter of Kent esquire John Dalley, on 15 October 1866 at St Leonards-on-Sea, Hastings. The Goschen family were eminent in both Germany and Britain; indeed, his grandfather, Wilhelm Heinrich von Göschen was co-founder of the merchant banking firm Frühling & Göschen and the son of Georg Joachim von Göschen. The family had moved to England in 1814 during the Napoleonic wars, from Leipzig, Kingdom of Saxony. He was educated at Rugby School, and Balliol College, Oxford.
Goschen fell in love with Lady Margaret Evelyn Gathorne-Hardy, the eldest of the five children of the Earl of Cranbrook, who was eight years older than he was, but still desired to marry her. His father, the 1st Viscount, was, however, strongly opposed to their marriage and used his influence to get an appointment for his son as a Private Secretary to Lord Jersey, the Governor of New South Wales in Australia. Goschen calmly obeyed his father's orders and worked in Australia from 1890 to 1892. On his return from Australia, however, he married Margaret in 1893.
He was a Major in the 2nd Volunteer Battalion of The Buffs (East Kent Regiment), and from February 1901 served as an extra Aide de camp to Lord Roberts, Commander-in-Chief during the Second Boer War. He fought in the First World War as Commandant of the 2nd/5th Battalion, East Kent Regiment.
Member of Parliament for East Grinstead
Goschen entered politics early in life. In 1895, he was elected to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom as a Conservative for the then East Grinstead constituency in Sussex and served as a member of parliament for two terms from 18 July 1895 to 25 January 1906. In July 1913, he was elected Chairman of the Council of the Corporation of Foreign Bondholders which comprised some of the leading financiers in England. Goschen served as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries from March to June 1918.
Goschen succeeded his father as Viscount Goschen on the latter's death on 7 February 1907. In December 1910, he was appointed a deputy lieutenant (DL) of Kent.
Governor of Madras
Goschen was appointed Governor of Madras in 1924 and he arrived at Madras in May 1924 to take charge. Goschen was awarded the Order of the Star of India (GCSI) in March 1924.
The Madras Presidency Radio Club started a radio transmission service in Madras, the first in the city, in 1924, under Goschen's patronage. This service lasted from 1924 to 1927. Goschen was also involved in the early stages of the Loyola College, Chennai, and presided over its first college day in 1928. The Children's Hospital at Mangalore was refurbished and renamed as Lady Goschen Hospital while the SPG College, Trichinopoly, was renamed as Bishop Heber College and Goschen presided over its diamond jubilee celebrations in 1926.
In November 1926, the Pykara hydroelectric project across the Moyar river was conceived by Lord Goschen.