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Raymond Eustace Grant Govan, CBE[1] (known more often as R.E. Grant Govan and also as REG Govan; December 1891, in Croydon district[2] – 26 January 1940, in Hardwar, United Provinces)[3] was a British industrialist[4] based in Delhi and the first President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

Career

He was the Managing Director of Govan Bros. Ltd., a leading business house of the time.[5] The company was managing agents for a number of industrial enterprises. Grant Govan was a keen pilot[6] and the founder of Indian National Airways Ltd, an aviation company formed in 1933 under Govan Bros Ltd.[7][8] Apart from the airline, Govan Bros operated Delhi Flour Mills, set up Sugar Mills-Raza Buland at Rampur, Uttar Pradesh, and had a travel department, Govan Agencies (the Govan Bros Ltd businesses were sold in 1947 to the Ramkrishna Dalmia led Dalmia Group).[9] Apart from the airline, Govan had other interests in aviation, like the Delhi Flying Club which he founded in 1928.[6]

Govan was an avid sports enthusiast.[10] He founded the Roshanara Cricket Club in Delhi, named after the nearby tomb of Roshanara Begum, with a group of friends in 1922. The club was officially inaugurated by Marquess of Reading in December 1922.[11] Govan had the distinction of being both the founding President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in 1928, a position he held till 1933 and the Cricket Club of India (CCI) in 1933.[5][12] He, along with then BCCI secretary Anthony De Mello, was instrumental in getting the BCCI affiliated to the Imperial Cricket Conference (now International Cricket Council) in 1928.[13]

In 1931 BCCI with Govan at its helm invited the Marylebone Cricket Club to tour India for the first time, with the support of Lord Irwin, the then Viceroy of India.[14] When he died in 1940, Dr. P. Subbaroyan, then President of the (BCCI), issued a statement which read "In the death of Mr. Grant Govan, Indian Cricket has lost a friend ...".[15] After his death, a few of his friends set up the Grant Govan Memorial Homes in Delhi. These are meant to be retirement homes for Anglo-Indians with limited means and were inaugurated by Marchioness of Linlithgow, wife of the then Viceroy of India in October 1940.[16][17]

References

  1. ^ United Service and Royal Aero Club (Great Britain), Royal Aero Club of the United Kingdom, United Service and Royal Aero Club (1940). Flight International, Volume 37. IPC Transport Press Ltd.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)Page 30
  2. ^ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS.
  3. ^ National Probate Calendar, accessed through ancestry.com
  4. ^ Ramaswami, N. S. (1975). From Porbandar to Wadekar. Abhinav Publications. p. 224. ISBN 81-7017-015-X.Page 31
  5. ^ a b Vasant Raiji, Anandji Dossa (1987). CCI & the Brabourne Stadium, 1937-1987. Cricket Club of India. p. 114.Page 22
  6. ^ a b Johnston, E. A. (1995). To organise the air: the evolution of civil aviation and the role of Sir Frederick Tymms, the flying civil servant. Cranfield University Press. p. 271. ISBN 1-871315-46-8.Page 61
  7. ^ (London, England), East India Association (1957). Asian review. East & West Ltd.Page 105
  8. ^ Aeroplane directory of British aviation. Published by the English Universities for Temple Press. 1953.Page 458
  9. ^ Agarwala, Prakash Narain (1991). The role and impact of multinationals. Allied Publishers. p. 440. ISBN 81-7023-288-0.Page 175
  10. ^ Albuquerque, Teresa (1986). To love is to serve: Catholics of Bombay. Heras Institute of Indian History and Culture. p. 124.Page 92
  11. ^ Reed, Sir Stanley (1958). The Times of India directory and year book including who's who. Bennett, Coleman.Page 821
  12. ^ Dass, Jarmani (1969). Maharaja; lives and loves and intrigues of Indian princes: Volume 56 of Orient paperbacks. Allied Publishers. p. 342.Page 44
  13. ^ Advani, A.H. (2000). Business India, Issues 576-582.Page 103
  14. ^ Majumdar, Boria (2006). Lost histories of Indian cricket: battles off the pitch. Routledge. p. 145. ISBN 0-415-35886-8.Page 4
  15. ^ Natesan, G.A. (1940). The Indian review, Volume 41. G.A. Natesan & Co.Page 196
  16. ^ "Grant Govan Memorial Homes". Retrieved 30 March 2011.
  17. ^ "Midnight's Orphan". Outlookindia.com. Retrieved 30 March 2011.
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