 Madam Blavatsky and Colonel H. S. Olcott moved the headquarters of the Theosophical Society to Adyar in 1882. The society's most prominent figure was Annie Besant, who founded the Home Rule League in 1916. The Home Rule Movement was organised from Madras and found extensive support in the Province. Nationalistic newspapers such as The Hindu, the Swadesamitran and the Mathrubhumi actively endorsed the campaign for independence. India's first trade union was established in Madras in 1918 by V. Kalyanasundaram and B. P. Wadia.
