The first Indian Councils Act of 1861 set up the Madras Legislative Council as an advisory body through which the colonial administration obtained advice and assistance. The Act empowered the provincial Governor to nominate four non-English Indian members to the council for the first time. Under the Act, the nominated members were allowed to move their own bills and vote on bills introduced in the council. However, they were not allowed to question the executive, move resolutions or examine the budget and not interfere with the laws passed by the Central Legislature. The Governor was also the president of the Council and he had complete authority over when, where and how long to convene the Council and what to discuss. Two members of his Executive Council and the Advocate-General of Madras were also allowed to participate and vote in the Council. The Indians nominated under this Act were mostly zamindar

Zamindar

A Zamindar or zemindar , was an aristocrat, typically hereditary, who held enormous tracts of land and ruled over and taxed the bhikaaris who lived on batavaslam. Over time, they took princely and royal titles such as Maharaja , Raja , Nawab , and Mirza , Chowdhury , among others...

s and ryotwari

Ryotwari

The ryotwari system, instituted in some parts of British India, was one of the two main systems used to collect revenues from the cultivators of agricultural land. These revenues included undifferentiated land taxes and rents, collected simultaneously...

landowners, who often benefited from their association with the colonial government. Supportive members were often re-nominated for several terms. G. N. Gajapathi Rao was nominated eight times, Mir Humayun Jah Bahadur

Mir Humayun Jah Bahadur

Mir Humayun Jah Bahadur CIE was an Indian nobleman, politician, theosophist and Indian independence activist who served as a non-official member of Madras Legislative Council from 1866 till 1892. He was made a Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire on January 1, 1880, in the Queen's New Year...

 was a member for 23 years, T. Rama Rao

T. Rama Rao

Rama Rao Tatineni , also known as T. Rama Rao, is a prolific Indian filmmaker. He has directed 65 Hindi and Telugu feature films between 1966 and 2000....

 and P. Chentsal Rao

P. Chentsal Rao

Rajatantra Pravina Palle Chentsal Rao Pantulu CIE was an Indian civil servant who served as a member of the Madras Legislative Council from 1887 to 1892.- Biography :...

 were members for six years each. Other prominent members during the period included V. Bhashyam Aiyangar, S. Subramania Iyer

S. Subramania Iyer

Sir Subbier Subramania Iyer KCIE was an Indian lawyer, jurist and freedom fighter who, along with Annie Besant, founded the Home Rule Movement. He was popularly known as the "Grand Old Man of South India"....

 and C. Sankaran Nair

C. Sankaran Nair

Sir Chettur Sankaran Nair KCIE was the President of the Indian National Congress in 1897 held at Amraoti. Until present he is the only Keralite to hold the post.-Early life and education:...

. The Council met infrequently and in some years (1874 and 1892) was not convened even once. The maximum of number of times it met in a year was eighteen. The Governor preferred to convene the Council at his summer retreat Udagamandalam, much to the displeasure of the Indian members. The few times when the Council met, it was for only a few hours with bills and resolutions being rushed through.

List of members

This is the list of the official and non-official members 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...

 between 1861 and 1891. The number of members in the Council at a given point of time may vary due to differing appointment dates of the individual members.

Year	Governor	Officials	Non-officials
1861-1862	William Thomas Denison William Denison Sir William Thomas Denison, KCB was Lieutenant Governor of Van Diemen's Land from 1847 to 1855, Governor of New South Wales from 20 January 1855 to 22 January 1861, and Governor of Madras from 1861 to 1866....	1) Thomas Sydney Smith Thomas Sydney Smith Thomas Sydney Smith was an Indian lawyer who served as the Advocate General of Madras from 1861 to 1863.- References :...   2) Thomas Pycroft Thomas Pycroft Sir Thomas Pycroft KCSI was a British administrator and civil servant who served as a member of the Madras Legislative Council from 1862 to 1867.- Early life :... 3) Charles Pelly Charles Pelly (civil servant) Charles Pelly was a British civil servant of the Indian Civil Service who served as the revenue member of the Madras Legislative Council from 1862 to 1866....	1) Robert Orr Campbell Robert Orr Campbell Robert Orr Campbell was a Madras businessman who served as a non-official member of the Madras Legislative Council from 1861 to 1865. He was a partner in the British firm of Binny and Co. and served as the President of the Madras Chamber of Commerce from 1854 to 1856.... 2) William Reierson Arbuthnot, Sr William Reierson Arbuthnot William Reierson Arbuthnot was a British businessman and legislator. He served as a member of the Madras Legislative Council from 1861 to 1864 and 1866 to 1870... 3) V. Sadagopacharlu V. Sadagopacharlu Vembaukum Sadagopacharlu was an Indian lawyer and politician who served as a member of the Madras Legislative Council from 1861 to 1863. He was the first native Indian to serve as a member of the council.- Early life :...
1862-1863	Edward Maltby Edward Maltby (British civil servant) Edward Maltby was a British civil servant of the Indian Civil Service who acted as the Governor of Madras from November 26, 1863 to January 18, 1864.- Early life :...  (acting Governor)	1) James Hope Grant James Hope Grant General Sir James Hope Grant GCB , British general, was the fifth and youngest son of Francis Grant of Kilgraston, Perthshire, and brother of Sir Francis Grant, President of the Royal Academy.-Military career:...   2) Thomas Pycroft 3) Charles Pelly 4) Thomas Sydney Smith 5) William Reierson Arbuthnot, Sr	1) William Reierson Arbuthnot, Sr 2) Robert Orr Campbell 3) V. Sadagopacharlu 4) John Bruce Norton John Bruce Norton John Bruce Norton was a British lawyer and educationist who served as the Advocate-General of Madras Presidency. He was the father of lawyer and Indian independence activist Eardley Norton.- Early life :... 5) Shurf-Ool-Omrah-Bahadur
1863-1864	William Thomas Denison	1) James Hope Grant 2) Thomas Pycroft 3) Henry Dominic Phillips 4) Charles Pelly 5) Sir Alexander John Arbuthnot Alexander John Arbuthnot Sir Alexander John Arbuthnot KCSI CIE was a British official and writer. Educated at Rugby School.Arbuthnot served in Madras as the director of Public Instruction ; he was a key force in the incorporation of Madras University ; he was the chief secretary to the Madras Government ; he was a... 6) John Bruce Norton	1) William Reierson Arbuthnot, Sr 2) Robert Orr Campbell 3) Shurf-Ool-Omrah-Bahadur 4) Gazulu Lakshminarasu Chetty Gazulu Lakshminarasu Chetty Gazulu Lakshminarasu Chetty CSI was an Indian merchant, Indian independence activist and political activist who founded the Madras Native Association and the first Indian-owned newspaper, The Crescent.... 5)Edward Maltby
1864-1865	William Thomas Denison	1) John Gaspard Le Marchant  2) Thomas Pycroft 3) Henry Dominic Phillips 4) Charles Pelley 5) Sir Alexander John Arbuthnot 6) John Bruce Norton 7) Robert Stanton Ellis Robert Stanton Ellis Robert Stanton Ellis CB was a British civil servant of the Indian civil service who served as a member of the Madras Legislative Council.- Early life and education :...	1) Robert Orr Campbell 2) Shurf-Ool-Omrah-Bahadur 3)Gazulu Lakshminarasu Chetty
1865-1866	Lord Napier Francis Napier, 10th Lord Napier Francis Napier, 10th Lord Napier and 1st Baron Ettrick, KT, PC , was a Scottish polyglot, diplomat and colonial administrator. He served as the British Minister to the United States from 1857 to 1859, Netherlands from 1859 to 1860, Russia from 1861 to 1864, Prussia from 1864 to 1866 and as the...	1) John Gaspard Le Marchant 2) Thomas Pycroft 3) Henry Dominic Phillips 4) Charles Pelly 5)Sir Alexander John Arbuthnot 6) Robert Stanton Ellis	1) A. F. Brown A. F. Brown Alexander Forrester Brown was an Indian industrialist who served as a member of the Madras Legislative Council from 1865 to 1867.Brown began his career as an employee of Parry before being appointed as a director of the Devalah Central-Gold Mines. In 1880, he was appointed Director of the Oriental... 2) John Young John Young -Sports:* John Young , American baseball first baseman* John Young , English cricketer* John Young , English cricketer* John Young , soccer player... 3) Shurf-Ool-Omrah-Bahadur 4)Gazulu Lakshminarasu Chetty
1866-1867	Lord Napier	1) Lt Gen William Anson McCleverty William Anson McCleverty Lieutenant-General William Anson McCleverty was a British soldier who served as the Commander-in-chief of the Madras Army from 1867 to 1871.- Early life :...   2) Henry Dominic Phillips 3) Sir Alexander John Arbuthnot 4) Thomas Clarke 5) Robert Stanton Ellis 6)John Bruce Norton	1) Alexander Forrester Brown 2) William Reierson Arbuthnot, Sr 3) Gazulu Lakshminarasu Chetty 4) Mir Humayun Jah Bahadur Mir Humayun Jah Bahadur Mir Humayun Jah Bahadur CIE was an Indian nobleman, politician, theosophist and Indian independence activist who served as a non-official member of Madras Legislative Council from 1866 till 1892. He was made a Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire on January 1, 1880, in the Queen's New Year...
1867-1868	Lord Napier	1) Lt. Gen. William Anson McCleverty 2) Henry Dominic Phillips 3) Sir Alexander John Arbuthnot 4) Thomas Clarke 5) Robert Stanton Ellis 6) John Bruce Norton 7) V. Ramiengar	1) William Reierson Arbuthnot, Sr 2) Mir Humayun Jah Bahadur 3) John Charles Loch 4)G. N. Gajapathi Rao
1869-1870	Lord Napier	1) Lt Gen William Anson McCleverty 2) Sir Alexander John Arbuthnot 3) James Duncan Sim James Duncan Sim James Duncan Sim CSI was a British civil servant of the Indian civil service who served as a member of the Madras Legislative Council from March 1870 to March 1875.- Early life and education :... 4) Robert Stanton Ellis 5) J. B. Norton 6) V. Ramiengar	1) William Reierson Arbuthnot, Sr 2) Mir Humayun Jah Bahadur 3) John Charles Loch 4)G. N. Gajapathi Rao
1870-1871	Lord Napier	1) Lt Gen William Anson McCleverty 2) Sir Alexander John Arbuthnot 3) James Duncan Sim 4) Robert Stanton Ellis 5) John D. Mayne John D. Mayne The Rt. Hon. John Dawson Mayne P.C. was a British lawyer and legal expert who practised largely in the Madras Presidency. He is largely remembered as the author of Mayne's Hindu Law regarded as a classic and the most authoritative book on the subject.- Life :Mayne was born on December 31, 1828 to... 6) V. Ramiengar	1) Mir Humayun Jah Bahadur 2) G. N. Gajapathi Rao 3) A. F. Browne 4) A. Mackenzie 5) Venkata Sanjeeva Rao
1871-1872	Lord Hobart	1) Sir Frederick Paul Haines Frederick Haines Field Marshal Sir Frederick Paul Haines, GCB, GCSI, CIE was a British army officer.-Military career:Haines was commissioned into the 4th Regiment of Foot in 1839. Haines served in the Crimean War and as the senior officer at the Battle of Inkerman in 1854 held the barrier for six hours...   2) James Duncan Sim 3) Robert Stanton Ellis 4) H. S. Cunningham H. S. Cunningham Sir Henry Stewart Cunningham KCIE was a British lawyer and writer who served as the Advocate-General of Madras Presidency from 1872 to 1877.- Early life and education :... 5) William Huddleston William Huddleston William Huddleston was a British colonial administrator who acted as the Governor of Madras from May 24, 1881 to November 5, 1881.- References :* , Worldstatesmen.org... 6) Sordon Sullivan Fordes 7) V. Ramiengar
1872-1873	Lord Hobart	1) Sir Frederick Paul Haines 2) James Duncan Sim 3) William Robinson 4) H. S. Cunningham 5) William Huddleston 6) V. Ramiengar	1) V. Sanjiva Rao 2) A. F. Browne 3) Mir Humayun Jah Bahadur 4) G. N. Gajapathi Rao 5) William Reierson Arbuthnot, Sr
1873-1874	Lord Hobart	1) Sir Frederick Paul Haines 2) James Duncan Sim 3) William Rose Robinson William Rose Robinson Sir William Rose Robinson KCSI was a British civil servant of the Indian civil service who acted as the Governor of Madras from April 28, 1875 to November 23, 1875.- Early life and education :... 4) H. S. Cunningham 5) David Fremantle Carmichael 6) V. Ramiengar	1) G. N. Gajapathi Rao 2) William Reierson Arbuthnot, Sr 3) Mir Humayun Jah Bahadur
1874-1875	Duke of Buckingham and Chandos Richard Temple-Grenville, 3rd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos Richard Plantagenet Campbell Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville, 3rd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos GCSI, PC , styled Earl Temple until 1839 and Marquess of Chandos from 1839 to 1861, was a British soldier, politician and administrator of the 19th century...	1) Sir Frederick Paul Haines 2) William Rose Robinson 3) R. S. Ellis 4) H. S. Cunningham 5) David Fremantle Carmichael 6) V. Ramiengar 7) William Huddleston	1) G. N. Gajapathi Rao 2) Mir Humayun Jah Bahadur 3) J. G. Coleman J. G. Coleman James George Coleman was an Anglo-Indian soldier, businessman and philanthropist who served as a member of the Madras Legislative Council from 1879 to 1883.- Career:... 4) P. Macfadyen P. Macfadyen Patrick Macfadyen was a British businessman, banker and politician. He committed suicide in 1906 due to the crash of Arbuthnot & Co.- Early life :...
1875-1876	Duke of Buckingham and Chandos	1) Sir Neville Bowles Chamberlain Neville Bowles Chamberlain Field Marshal Sir Neville Bowles Chamberlain GCB GCSI was a British soldier who served in India.-Military career:...   2) William Rose Robinson 3) R. S. Ellis 4) H. S. Cunningham 5) V. Ramiengar 6) William Huddleston 7) D. F. Carmichael	1) G. N. Gajapathi Rao 2) J. G. Coleman 3) P. Macfayden 4) Mir Humayun Jah Bahadur
1876-1877	Duke of Buckingham and Chandos	1) Sir Neville Bowles Chamberlain 2) William Rose Robinson 3) William Huddleston 4) D. F. Carmichael 5) V. Ramiengar 6) Patrick O'Sullivan	1) G. N. Gajapathi Rao 2) J. G. Coleman 3) Mir Humayun Jah Bahadur
1877-1878	Duke of Buckingham and Chandos	1) Sir Neville Bowles Chamberlain 2) William Huddleston 3) D. F. Carmichael 4) Patrick O'Sullivan	1) G. N. Gajapathi Rao 2) J. G. Coleman 3) Mir Humayun Jah Bahadur 4) Raja of Pittapore Gangadhara Rama Rao Gangadhara Rama Rao was an Indian politician and zamindar of Pittapore in the Madras Presidency who served as a member of the Madras Legislative Council from 1878 to 1881.- Biography :... 5) A. Seshayya Sastri 6) Alexander Mackenzie
1878-1879	Duke of Buckingham and Chandos	1) Sir Neville Bowles Chamberlain 2) William Huddleston 3) D. F. Carmichael 4) V. Ramiengar 5) Patrick O'Sullivan	1) G. N. Gajapathi Rao 2) J. G. Coleman 3) Mir Humayun Jah Bahadur 4) Raja of Pittapore 5)A. Seshayya Sastri 6) Patrick Macfadyen
1879-1880	William Patrick Adam William Patrick Adam William Patrick Adam, CIE, DL was a British colonial administrator and Liberal politician. He was twice First Commissioner of Works under William Ewart Gladstone and also served briefly as Governor of Madras between 1880 and 1881.-Background and education:Adam was the son of Admiral Sir Charles...	1) Sir Neville Bowles Chamberlain 2) William Huddleston 3) D. F. Carmichael 4) Patrick O'Sullivan 5) Robert Davidson	1) G. N. Gajapathi Rao 2) J. G. Coleman 3) Mir Humayun Jah Bahadur 4) Raja of Pittapore 5) Patrick Macfadyen 6)C. V. Runganada Sastri C. V. Runganada Sastri Calamur Viravalli Runganada Sastri was an Indian interpreter, civil servant and polyglot who was known for his mastery over Indian and foreign languages.- Early life :...
1880-1881	Mountstuart Elphinston	1) Sir Frederick Sleigh Roberts Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts Field Marshal Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts, Bt, VC, KG, KP, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCIE, KStJ, PC was a distinguished Indian born British soldier who regarded himself as Anglo-Irish and one of the most successful British commanders of the 19th century.-Early life:Born at Cawnpore, India, on...   2) William Huddleston 3) D. F. Carmichael 4) Patrick O'Sullivan 5) Robert Davidson 6) Henry Edward Sullivan	1) Mir Humayun Jah Bahadur 2) Raja of Pittapore 3) G. N. Gajapathi Rao 4) J. G. Coleman 5) Patrick Macfadyen 6) Tumalapalli Rama Rao
1881-1882	Mountstuart Elphinston	1) Sir Frederick Sleigh Roberts 2) D. F. Carmichael 3) Henry Edward Sullivan 4) Patrick O'Sullivan 5) C. G. Master C. G. Master Charles Gilbert Master CSI was a British civil servant who served as a member of the executive council of the Governor of Madras from 1884 to 1889.- Early life and education :... 6) Robert Davidson	1) Mir Humayun Jah Bahadur 2) G. N. Gajapathi Rao 3) J. G. Coleman 4)A. Seshayya Sastri 5) Alexander Mackenzie 6) Tumalapalli Rama Rao
1882-1883	Mountstuart Elphinston	1) Sir Frederick Sleigh Roberts 2) H. E. Sullivan 3) C. G. Master 4) Patrick O'Sullivan 5)Edmund Foster Webster 6) John Heron Maxwell Shaw-Stewart 7) W. H. Cornish	1) Mir Humayun Jah Bahadur 2) A. Seshayya Sastri 3) Alexander Mackenzie 4) G. N. Gajapathi Rao 5) Tumalapalli Rama Rao
1883-1884	Mountstuart Elphinston	1) Sir Frederick Sleigh Roberts 2) H. E. Sullivan 3) C. G. Master 4) Patrick O'Sullivan 5) Edmund Foster Webster 6) John Heron Maxwell Shaw-Stewart 7) W. H. Cornish	1) T. Rama Rao 2) Mir Humayun Jah Bahadur 3) Maharaja of Vizianagaram Pusapati Ananda Gajapati Raju Pusapati Ananda Gajapati Raju was a Rajah of the Vizianagaram kingdom in North East Coastal Andhra Pradesh, India.-Royal Family:... 4) Alexander Mackenzie 5)S. Subramania Iyer S. Subramania Iyer Sir Subbier Subramania Iyer KCIE was an Indian lawyer, jurist and freedom fighter who, along with Annie Besant, founded the Home Rule Movement. He was popularly known as the "Grand Old Man of South India"....
1884-1885	Mountstuart Elphinston	1) Sir Frederick Sleigh Roberts 2) H. E. Sullivan 3) C. G. Master 4) Hale Horratio Shepherd 5) John Heron Maxwell Shaw-Stewart 6) William Wilson 7) Richard Wellesley Barlow	1) Mir Humayun Jah Bahadur 2) Maharaja of Vizianagaram 3) S. Subramania Iyer 4) John Alexander Brown 5) T. Rama Rao
1885-1886	Robert Bourke, Baron Connemara	1) Charles George Arbuthnot Charles George Arbuthnot Sir Charles George Arbuthnot GCB was a British Army officer. He served in the Royal Artillery in the Crimean War and rose to become a lieutenant general in British India....   2) H. M. Sullivan 3) C. G. Master 4) Philipp Perceval Hutchins 5) R. W. Barlow 6) Patrick O' Sullivan 7) H. E. Stokes	1) John Alexander Boyson 2) T. Rama Rao 3) Mir Humayun Jah Bahadur 4) Maharaja of Vizianagaram 5) S. Subramania Iyer
1886-1887	Robert Bourke, Baron Connemara	1) Charles George Arbuthnot Charles George Arbuthnot Sir Charles George Arbuthnot GCB was a British Army officer. He served in the Royal Artillery in the Crimean War and rose to become a lieutenant general in British India....   2) C. G. Master 3) P. P. Hutchins 4) H. E. Stokes 5) J. H. Spring-Branson J. H. Spring-Branson James Henry Spring-Branson was a British lawyer who served as the Acting Advocate-General of the Madras Presidency.- Career in law :... 6) John Ord Haspard	1) Mir Humayun Jah Bahadur 2) Maharaja of Vizianagaram 3) S. Subramania Iyer 4) Stewart Robertson Turnbull
1887-1888	Robert Bourke, Baron Connemara	1) Charles George Arbuthnot 2) C. G. Master 3) H. E. Stokes 4) J. H. Spring-Branson 5) John Frederick Price 6) James Grose 7) Vembakkam Bashyam Iyengar	1) Rajagopala Krishna Yachendra of Venkatagiri Rajagopala Krishna Yachendra of Venkatagiri Sir Rajagopala Krishna Yachendra GCIE KCSI was an Indian nobleman and politician. He was the zamindar of the estate of Venkatagiri in Nellore district from 1878 to 1916.... 2) John Alexander Boyson 3) Mir Humayun Jah Bahadur 4) P. Chentsal Rao
1888-1889	Robert Bourke, Baron Connemara	1) Charles George Arbuthnot 2) H. E. Stokes 3) J. H. Garstin 4) J. F. Price 5) James Grose 6) Vembakkam Bashyam Iyengar 7) J. H. Spring-Branson	1) Mir Humayun Jah Bahadur 2) Rajagopala Krishna Yachendra of Venkatagiri Rajagopala Krishna Yachendra of Venkatagiri Sir Rajagopala Krishna Yachendra GCIE KCSI was an Indian nobleman and politician. He was the zamindar of the estate of Venkatagiri in Nellore district from 1878 to 1916.... 3) J. A. Boyson 4)C. Sankaran Nair C. Sankaran Nair Sir Chettur Sankaran Nair KCIE was the President of the Indian National Congress in 1897 held at Amraoti. Until present he is the only Keralite to hold the post.-Early life and education:...
1889-1890		1) Charles George Arbuthnot 2) H. E. Stokes 3) James Grose 4) Henry William Bliss 5) J. F. Price 6) J. H. Spring-Branson	1) C. Sankaran Nair 2) Mir Humayun Jah Bahadur 3) Rajagopala Krishna Yachendra of Venkatagiri Rajagopala Krishna Yachendra of Venkatagiri Sir Rajagopala Krishna Yachendra GCIE KCSI was an Indian nobleman and politician. He was the zamindar of the estate of Venkatagiri in Nellore district from 1878 to 1916.... 4) George Hamnett 5) V. Bhashyam Aiyangar 6) John Alexander Boyson
1890-1891	Beilly Baron Wenlock	1) James Charlemagne Dormer James Charlemagne Dormer Lieutenant General James Charlemagne Dormer KCB was a British army officer who served as the Commander-in-chief of the Madras Army and thus, a member of the Madras Legislative Council....   2) H. E. Stokes 3) J. H. Garstin 4) J. F. Price 5) James Grose 6) H. G. Wedderburn	1) Mir Humayun Jah Bahadur 2) Rajagopala Krishna Yachendra of Venkatagiri Rajagopala Krishna Yachendra of Venkatagiri Sir Rajagopala Krishna Yachendra GCIE KCSI was an Indian nobleman and politician. He was the zamindar of the estate of Venkatagiri in Nellore district from 1878 to 1916.... 3) George Hamnett 4) Vembakkam Bashyam Iyengar 5) J. A. Boyson 6) C. Sankaran Nair