page_title: Francis Napier, 10th Lord Napier
section_title: Governor of Madras
hierarchical_section_title: Francis Napier, 10th Lord Napier / Governor of Madras
caption_attribution_description: English: w:Napier Bridge in w:Chennai
context_page_description: 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 Governor of Madras from 1866 to 1872. He also acted as the Viceroy of India from February to May 1872.
  Francis Napier was born on 15 September 1819 to William John Napier and had his early education through private tutors. He joined the Trinity College, Cambridge in 1835 but did not complete his graduation. Instead, he mastered foreign languages and served as a diplomat in foreign missions. In 1866, he was appointed Governor of Madras and served from 1866 to 1872. On the assassination of the Earl of Mayo, the then Viceroy of India in February 1872, Napier was appointed to act temporarily as the Viceroy of India and served from February to May 1872. Napier returned to the United Kingdom in July 1872 and in his later life, chaired the Napier Commission. Napier died at Florence, Italy on 18 December 1898 at the age of 79.
  Napier was made a Knight of the Thistle in 1864.
context_section_description: As soon as Napier took office as the Governor of Madras, he was faced with a severe famine in Ganjam District. He took the services of Florence Nightingale whom he had known in Constantinople. Napier undertook many major irrigation schemes during his tenure. The Pennar Dam was completed during his tenure and two other irrigation works, the Rushikulya Dam in Ganjam and the Mullaperiyar Dam were conceived during his tenure.
  Despite being at odds with different viceroys over financial issues throughout his tenure, Napier was able to resolve disputes in an amicable manner due to the friendly relations he had with Sir John Lawrence and well as his successor, Richard Bourke, 6th Earl of Mayo.  When the Earl of Mayo was assassinated in the Andamans on 8 February 1872, Napier was designated to act as the Viceroy of India and he served for a short time before being relieved by Lord Northbrook. For his creditable performance as Governor of Madras, Napier was created Baron Ettrick of Ettrick in the peerage of the United Kingdom.
  In 1869, Napier constructed the Napier Bridge across the Coovum River in Chennai. The Napier Park in Chennai and the Napier Museum in Trivandrum, Travancore were set up in his memory. Between 1866–72, he had partially restored the Thirumalai Nayakkar Mahal as well, which was earlier demolished considerably by Grandson of King Thirumalai Nayak.
  In addition there is a surgical ward in Stanley Medical College Hospital in Chennai, named in his honor. The ward was originally built with the help of donations by the Governor Napier.
caption: Napier Bridge in Chennai
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "<Samsung D70 / D75 / S730 / S750>", "Image Make": "Samsung Techwin", "Image Model": "<Samsung D70 / D75 / S730 / S750>", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "96", "Image YResolution": "96", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "708101", "Image DateTime": "2010:02:16 21:01:43", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image Copyright": "COPYRIGHT, 2007", "Image ExifOffset": "302", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "1", "Thumbnail YResolution": "1", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "31054", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "4711", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/180", "EXIF FNumber": "53/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "80", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2010:02:16 21:01:43", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2010:02:16 21:01:43", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "50779/24576", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "763/100", "EXIF ApertureValue": "0", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "207/50", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, auto mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "137/10", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1024", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "768", "EXIF RelatedSoundFile": "RelatedSound", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "30918", "EXIF ExposureIndex": "1", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "0", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "81", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal"}