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James Scorgie Meston was born in Aberdeen in 1865, and showed early promise at Aberdeen Grammar School and University. He trained further at Balliol College, Oxford, but had already been accepted into the Indian Civil Service, and was posted to the North Western Provinces and Oudh in 1885, and rose in office during several periods of economic crisis in the subcontinent. From 1905 to 1906 he worked in the Cape Colony, but returned to India and took up the post of secretary to the Finance Department, displaying a talent for explaining complex ideas clearly and well. By the outbreak of the First World War he was in Lucknow as Lieutenant-Governor of the United Provinces, and worked hard to prepare India for self-government. However, his career, which was still advancing well, was cut short by his failing eyesight, and he was forced to retire in 1919, when he was created Baron Meston of Agra and Dunottar, so that he could assist with Indian matters in the House of Lords. He also worked for the Liberal Party, and used there the talent which he also applied to international affairs with which he was concerned, a conciliatory attitude and financial acumen as well as an ability to work hard. He was instrumental in setting up the Royal Institute of International Affairs and was an office bearer from 1920 to 1926. He received an honorary degree from his own university as well as others in recognition of his achievements in India and in Great Britain, and also became Chancellor at Aberdeen in 1928. He held the post until his death in 1943, when he was succeeded as baron by his son.
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