Andrew Geddis
Andrew Geddis (July 1886 – 23 February 1976) was a leading Bombay businessman and sports enthusiast before India’s independence. He chaired the Royal Western India Turf Club from 1931 to 1939 and helped create the A. Geddis Plate at Mumbai Races.
In business, Geddis was a director of the Bank of India and co-founded Geoffrey Manners & Co. Ltd., a major distributor and maker of consumer healthcare products and pharmaceuticals across India. The company later merged with Wyeth (formerly American Home Products) in 2003.
Geddis left Edinburgh for Bombay in 1907 to work for James Finlay & Co. He became heavily involved in Ahmedabad’s textile industry, serving as director of several textile firms and as chairman of the Mill Owners' Mutual Insurance Association Ltd from its start. He also held directorships with Tata Hydroelectric Power Supply Co., Indian Radio & Cable Communications Co., and the Bank of India, and he served on the GIP Railway Advisory Committee for 13 years and on the Bombay Port Trust Board of Trustees from 1920.
A sporting and social figure as well, Geddis chaired the Turf Club House in Poona and led charitable groups such as the Bombay Scottish Orphanage Society and the Caledonia Society of Bombay.
On arrival in India he stayed at Pali Hill Chummery. He married Jean Gunn in 1915 and lived at Dharbanga Mansions on Cumballa Hill, then at the Kamal Mahal building on Carmichael Road, one of Mumbai’s most famous addresses. He also had a beach house at Juhu.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 21:07 (CET).