Neville Ness Wadia was an English

English people

The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...

 businessman, philanthropist

Philanthropist

A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...

 and a member of the Wadia family

Wadia family

The Wadia family is a Parsi family originally based in Surat.Lovji Nusserwanjee Wadia began the Wadia shipbuilding dynasty in 1736, when he obtained a contract from the British East India Company for building docks and ships in Bombay...

, an old Parsi

Parsi

Parsi or Parsee refers to a member of the larger of the two Zoroastrian communities in South Asia, the other being the Irani community....

 family which, by the 1840s, was one of the leading forces in the Indian shipbuilding industry, having built over a hundred warships for the British and having established trading networks around the world.

Born in Liverpool, Neville Wadia was educated at Malvern College

Malvern College

Malvern College is a coeducational independent school located on a 250 acre campus near the town centre of Malvern, Worcestershire in England. Founded on 25 January 1865, until 1992, the College was a secondary school for boys aged 13 to 18...

 and Trinity College, Cambridge

Trinity College, Cambridge

Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...

. He married Dina

Dina Wadia

Dina Wadia is the daughter of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founding father of Pakistan, and Rattanbai Petit.-Early life:Dina was born in London shortly after midnight on the morning of August 15, 1919...

, the daughter of Muhammad Ali Jinnah

Muhammad Ali Jinnah

Muhammad Ali Jinnah was a Muslim lawyer, politician, statesman and the founder of Pakistan. He is popularly and officially known in Pakistan as Quaid-e-Azam and Baba-e-Qaum ....

, the founder of Pakistan.

Although he was born a Parsi, his father renounced the Zoroastrian faith and converted to Christianity. Wadia converted from Christianity to Zoroastrianism

Zoroastrianism

Zoroastrianism is a religion and philosophy based on the teachings of prophet Zoroaster and was formerly among the world's largest religions. It was probably founded some time before the 6th century BCE in Greater Iran.In Zoroastrianism, the Creator Ahura Mazda is all good, and no evil...

 later in life.

During the late 19th century, his father, Sir Ness Wadia, played an important role in turning the city of Bombay into one of the world's largest cotton trading centres. In 1952, Neville Wadia succeeded his father as chairman of Bombay Dyeing

Bombay Dyeing

Bombay Dyeing is the flagship company of the Wadia Group, engaged mainly into the business of Textiles...

 and under his leadership the company became one of India's most successful and quality-conscious textile concerns. He was also heavily involved in the real estate business in Mumbai and he contributed to building new wings and upgrading several hospitals in Bombay founded by his family, he established a business school in Pune and a host of charitable trusts for Parsees.

After his retirement as chairman of Bombay Dyeing in 1977, he was succeeded by his son, Nusli Wadia

Nusli Wadia

Nusli Wadia is an Indian Parsi entrepreneur, a textile magnate and an important person in the real-estate business. He is the son of Neville and Dina Wadia. His mother Dina Wadia is the daughter of Muhammad Ali Jinnah....

. Neville Wadia died in Mumbai three weeks before his 85th birthday.