A Period of Rapid Progress (1827-1859)
History of Madras
Chapter – 16

The Governorship of S. R. Lushington (1827 — 1832)
- Following the sudden death of Sir Thomas Munro, Mr. Henry Sulivan Graeme became the acting Governor for a few months.
- Mr. Stephen Rumbold Lushington, who was a member of Parliament and the Privy Council, took up the Governorship permanently.
- Lushington had previously served in the Madras Civil Service as Secretary to the Board of Revenue and Private Secretary to his father-in-law, Lord Harris, who was the Commander-in-Chief during the last Mysore war.
- Lushington left the Company’s service in 1807, entered Parliament that year, and rose to become Chairman of Committees in the House of Commons and Joint Secretary of the Treasury from 1824-27.
- Lushington served as Governor for five years, later re-entering Parliament after his retirement.
- Lushington wrote a life of his father-in-law, Lord Harris, and lived to an old age.
- During Lushington’s Governorship, the Madras Club was founded in 1832, becoming the finest residential European club in India.
- The Madras Club has maintained its pre-eminence successfully.
- An observer described the Madras Club as “the Ace of Clubs” and “the best Club in India.”
- The club is so large that parts of it are believed to be unexplored by some, and it is said to be the only Club in the Presidency that is considered a convenience rather than an institution or a duty.
- The club’s size makes it so that no one knows or cares whether you are present.