Charles Vincent Nelson : The Dental Surgeon came from a respectable Naidu family of Bengaluru. His father Varadarajuloo Naidu was a Landlord and his uncle Prof T.R. Venkataswami Naidu M.A., was the Assistant Inspector - General of Education of the Mysore State. The dental surgeon was educated at the Central College, Bengaluru and he is a graduate of the Madras University.
Charles Vincent Nelson : The Dental Surgeon came from a respectable Naidu family of Bengaluru. His father Varadarajuloo Naidu was a Landlord and his uncle Prof T.R. Venkataswami Naidu M.A., was the Assistant Inspector - General of Education of the Mysore State. The dental surgeon was educated at the Central College, Bengaluru and he is a graduate of the Madras University.
He spent a brief period in the Police Department before studying dental surgery. Charles Vincent Nelson set up practice in Coimbatore and he had become a convert to Christianity before his marriage to Miss Johnson who had been his good friend. Later on Mrs.Nelson passed her L.M.& S Examination in 1890 and was posted ( in charge ) at the Gosha Hospital in Coimbatore. Unfortunately Charles Vincent Nelson lost his loving wife by the year 1913. He used to command a good practice in the town and the district of Coimbatore. Nelson was an efficient dental surgeon during his times and perhaps the first to be a dental surgeon in the up coming city.
Dr.V.R.Narasaiya, L.S.M.F., : This Medical Practioner lived at 93, Raja Street at Coimbatore. His father was Ranga charier, an Ayur Vedic Medical Practioner. Narasaiya matriculated from the local Hindu College in 1909. His hereditary taste for the study of medicine impelled him to study medicine at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Kolkatta. He received his diploma in the year 1916. Having returned to Coimbatore, he set up practice as a surgeon and physician by the year 1916. His popularity as a medical man soon after the start of his career was a positive proof of his success in his profession. It must have been quite a task to go to Kolkatta during the times when lines of communication were nor great.
D.Sundaram, B.A : This gentleman was the son of Landlord C.Doraiswami Iyer in Coimbatore. He had been extensively devoting himself to the study of public questions and to social service for many years. D.Sundaram was educated at Coimbatore and the Presidency College Chennai. He took his B.A degree in the year 1905. He was the Secretary of the Literary Association, Coimbatore. He gave a new lease of life to the body by putting it in on a sound financial track. D.Sundaram took a lot of interest in the elevation of the depressed classes and even conducted a night school for the members of the Dalit community. A few of his friends played an important role in these endeavours. He contributed articles on literary, scientific, religious and social subjects to a number of leading Indian reviews and magazines. D.Sundaram had been a sincere social reformer.
W.V.Ramaswami Chettiar( 1831 - 1916 ) : He was a posthumous child and since he came from a poor family, he had little ancestral property to fall upon. After bearing a lot during infancy he came down with his mother and settled at Uppilipalayam, a village close to the town of Coimbatore. Along with his mother, he became a supplier of grains to the regiment. It was at this stage that his mother bought the ancestral house at Coimbatore and it was here that he opened his first grain shop. Thanks to his enterprising approach W.V.Ramaswami Chettiar made a decent sum of money and this enabled him to purchase a small house near his shop.
The income improved and in a few years it was possible for him to take up toddy contracts in the region. He used to operate in consonance with Nanjundapuram N.R.Karuppanna Nadar. It was due to his networking skills that it was possible to become the sole supplier of provisions to the Coimbatore Central Jail. Kandaswamy Chettiar, the son joined his business and it began to flourish. Their firm had become the number one grain business in the region.
The passing away of Kandaswamy dealt a blow to W.V.Ramaswami Chettiar he shut of all his other ventures except the banking business that had been founded in the year 1902. The banking business was known as Dravya Sahaya Nidhi. W.V.Ramaswami Chettiar left a number of endowments and his grandchildren were Dr.R.K.Shanmukham Chetty ( first Finance Minister of India ), R.K.Venkatachamam Chettiar ( industrialist ), R.K.Ramakrishnan Chettiar ( Founder, Central Studios ) and R.K.Kandaswamy Chettiar ( industrialist ). Vasantha Mills and a number of business entities used to be part of the family business empire.
C.P.Hariachar : The leading Chartered Accountant of the yonder era was the son of C.M.Padmanabhachar ( a leading advocate ). The grandfather Madhvanatha Swamigal (1834 - 1931 ) had become a monk during his later years. C.P. Hariachar was a dynamic auditor and encouraged a number of business ventures.
He was the Chartered Accountant who did the paper work connected with the promotion of Central Studios in the year 1936 for R.K.Ramakrishnan Chettiar and his partners. C.P.Hariachar was known to carry his type writer in order to do his paper work on the spot. Venkataramanachar, the grandfather of the grandfather of C.P.Hariachar had been close to Purnaiyya, the Diwan of Mysore. The family had migrated to Coimbatore in the year 1812 and had begun residing at the Telugu Brahmin Street.
Diwan Bahadur Rubgunday Raghunatha Rao ( 1831 - 1912 ) : His name was a by word for honest public life in the educated circles of India. This leading bureaucrat had served for some years in Coimbatore and was a guide to the socially minded Coimbatoreans all his life. He was one of those rare bureaucrats who was highly regarded by both, the native princes and their colonial masters.
This bureaucrat was appointed as the Revenue Minister of Indore by Maharaja Tukoji Rao Holkar and on the retirement of Sir T.Madhava Rao he was made the Diwan of Indore. He really impressed Edward VII , the Prince of Wales and he was presented with a Gold Medal . He reverted to British service but was once again requested to be the Diwan of Indore.
This bureaucrat who had cut his teeth in Coimbatore was responsible for the introduction on the Indore State Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure and the Civil Procedure Code. He left his position in 1888 and never took it up again in spite of repeated requests. He was granted a princely pension of Rs.5000 per annum by that time. After spending about six years in Chennai, he moved over to is native Kumbakonam.
Over the next three decades post his age of 57 years, Diwan Bahadur Rubgunday Raghunatha Rao rendered valuable services to the country in the political, social and religious fields of activity by contributions to the papers and public utterances on several topics. He took up the economic condition of the country, the land revenue system in the interest of the ryots. He worked for the separation of the judicial and executive functions.
He had lived for long. Ragunatha Rao was an asset for Coimbatrore all his life and a number of Coimbatoreans used to approach him in the interest of the city. He had also served as a Member of the Legislative Council. The bureaucrat who had worked in Coimbatore for a number of years had created history of sorts and he had even touched upon forest administration.
Rai Bahadur J.Solomon Gnaniyar Nadar , B.A., B.L ( 1859 - 1916 ) : This retired Sub ordinate Judge who had served well in Coimbatore was born in the year 1859. He hailed from a distinguished Christian family from Tirunelveli District. His father David Solomon had been one of the most brilliant students of Bishop Corrie's Grammar School before the establishment of the Madras University. J.Solomon received his early education at the C.M.S High School, Palayamkottai and after clearing his exams in 1873, he went to Chennai and studied at the Free Church Mission Institution ( which subsequently came to known as the Madras Christian College ).
In each of the college classes, he took a prize and was the best student. After taking his B.A., Degree he worked as an Assistant Master in the London Mission School and then in the Church of Scotland Institution in Chennai. He had also worked in Masulipatnam. He took his B.L Degree in the year 1888 and was the first Vakil among Tirunelveli Christians. J.Solomon practiced in Tirunelveli for a few years where he was a Municipal Councillor and Honouray Magistrate at Palayamkottai.
The bright Vakil turned Judicial person worked in Salem, Manamadurai and Nagapattinam. Later he was posted to Coimbatore as the Subordinate Judge and he became the Additional Sessions Judge. He was also a member of the Nilgiri Volunteer Corps. As a judicial officer, he was upright and conscientious in the discharge of his responsibilities. The Government bestowed upon him the title of Rai Bahadur in the year 1916. The noble gentleman had done much in Coimbatore and the rest of the Presidency. He had travelled all over India, Burma and Ceylon.