George Frederick Stanley Lieutenant - Colonel Sir George Frederick Stanley ( 14 October 1872 – 1 July 1938 ) was a British soldier and Conservative Party politician who served as a member of the UK Parliament for Preston and later , Willesdon East . He also served the Governor of Madras from 1929 to 1934 and as Acting Viceroy of India in 1934 . The sixth son of Frederick Stanley , 16th Earl of Derby , Stanley was educated at Wellington and at Woolwich . In 1903 he married Lady Beatrix Taylour , CBE CI , youngest daughter of the 3rd Marquess of Headfort . He entered the Royal Horse Artillery in 1893 and was promoted to Captain in 1900 . He served in the Second Boer War in 1899 – 1900 and was Adjutant with the Honourable Artillery Company from 1904 – 1909 . He later served in World War I and was mentioned in despatches and awarded the CMG in 1916 . He was Conservative Member of Parliament for Preston from 1910 – 1922 and for Willesden East from 1924 – 1929 . He held office as Comptroller of the Household from 1919 until 1921 , as Financial Secretary to the War Office from 1921 – 1922 , Parliamentary Under - Secretary of State for the Home Department from 1922 – 1923 , Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Pensions from 1924 – 1929 . He was Governor of Madras from 1929 – 1934 . He was appointed a Privy Counsellor in 1927 and made a Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire ( GCIE ) in 1929 and a Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India in 1934 . As Governor of Madras . Stanley was appointed Governor of Madras on 26 October 1929 at an annual pay of Rs . 1 , 20 , 000 . He arrived in India and took over as Governor on 12 November 1929 . Stanley assumed the governorate at a critical juncture . The Great Depression had just broken out and the economy was deteriorating . The Premier P . Subbarayan resigned after the 1930 elections when his party was voted out . The Swaraj Party boycotted the elections as a part of the Civil Disobedience Movement and the Justice Party was voted to power in the 1930 and 1934 elections . B . Munuswamy Naidu served as Premier from 1930 to 1932 but he had to resign in 1932 due to the strong opposition of landowning elements in the party . Naidu was succeeded by Ramakrishna Ranga Rao of Bobbili whose administration soon became notorious for mis - governance . During his tenure as Governor , Stanley inaugurated the Mettur Dam across the Kaveri River . The inauguration which took place on 21 August 1934 , was attended by people from all parts of the Presidency . The reservoir created by the Dam was named Stanley Reservoir in his honour . On 17 January 1930 , Stanley laid the foundation stone of a Gaudiya math and a temple at Royapettah , Madras . The first service of the Madras sub - urban line of the South Indian Railway Company was flagged off by Stanley from Chennai Beach railway station on 2 April 1931 . In 1933 , Stanley inaugurated the five - year medicine and surgery diploma course at the Royapuram Medical College . On 2 July 1938 , the school was renamed as Stanley Medical College in his honour . Commemoration . The Government Stanley Medical College in Chennai ( Madras ) , Tamil Nadu , India is named in memory of Stanley . The Diploma in Medicine and Surgery program was inaugurated here in 1933 by Stanley when he was the Governor of Madras . The college formerly known as Royapuram Medical School was renamed Stanley Medical School on 27 March 1934 in his honour . It was renamed to Stanley Medical College in 1938 .