James George Coleman was an Anglo-Indian

Anglo-Indian

Anglo-Indians are people who have mixed Indian and British ancestry, or people of British descent born or living in India, now mainly historical in the latter sense. British residents in India used the term "Eurasians" for people of mixed European and Indian descent...

 soldier, businessman and philanthropist who served as a member of the Madras Legislative Council

Madras Legislative Council

Tamil Nadu Legislative Council is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It began its existence as Madras Legislative Council, the first provincial legislature for Madras Presidency. It was initially created as an advisory body in 1861, by the British...

 from 1879 to 1883.

Career

Coleman was born in 1824 in India and was initially in the Marine Service. Later, he started a business in partnership with one Mr. McDowell and eventually rose to become the sole proprietor of the business. Coleman was successful as a businessman and amassed a huge fortune.

Public life

Coleman was involved in philanthropic activities right from the beginning and strove to uplift the Anglo-Indian community. He joined the Volunteer Movement and rose to become Lieutenant-Colonel in the Duke's Own Artillery Corps. He was also a member of the Madras Municipal Corporation. In 1879, he was nominated to the Madras Legislative Council and served from 1879 to 1883.