page_title: Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon
section_title: Construction projects
hierarchical_section_title: Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon / Viceroy and Governor-General of India / Construction projects
caption_attribution_description: English: Freeman Freeman-Thomas
context_page_description: Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon GCSI GCMG GCIE GBE PC, was a British Liberal politician and administrator who served as Governor General of Canada, the 13th since Canadian Confederation, and as Viceroy and Governor-General of India, the country's 22nd.
  Freeman-Thomas was born in England and educated at Eton College and then the University of Cambridge before serving for 15 years in the Sussex Artillery. He then entered the diplomatic and political fields, acting as aide-de-camp to his father-in-law when the latter was Governor of Victoria and, in 1900, was elected to the British House of Commons. He thereafter occupied a variety of government posts, including secretary to the British prime minister and, after being raised to the peerage as Lord Willingdon, as Lord-in-waiting to King George V. From 1913, Willingdon held gubernatorial and viceregal offices throughout the British Empire, starting with the governorship of Bombay and then the governorship of Madras, before he was in 1926 appointed as the Governor-General of Canada to replace the Viscount Byng of Vimy, occupying the post until succeeded by the Earl of Bessborough in 1931.
context_section_description: It was also by Willingdon's hand, as Governor-in-Council, that the Lloyd Barrage was commissioned, seeing £20 million put into the construction of the barrage across the mouth of the Indus River, which not only provided labour but also brought millions of hectares of land in the Thar Desert under irrigation. Further, Willingdon established the Willingdon Airfield (now known as Safdarjung Airport) in Delhi and, after he was denied entry to the Royal Bombay Yacht Club because he was accompanied by Indian friends, despite his being the viceroy, Willingdon was motivated to establish the Willingdon Sports Club in Bombay, with membership open to both Indians and British and which still operates today.
  As he had been in Canada, Willingdon acted for India as Chief Scout of the Bharat Scouts and Guides and took this role as more than an ex-officio title. Convinced that Scouting would contribute greatly to the welfare of India, he promoted the organisation, especially in rural villages, and requested that J. S. Wilson pay special attention to cooperation between Scouting and village development.
caption: The Marquess of Willingdon in later life.
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