Conferencing the International

Attendees

List of profiled attendees at the Round Table Conference. For a full list of delegates to each session, see the British Library's Round Table Conference records page.


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John Coatman

Full nameProfessor John Coatman, CIE 1929, MA
Born05 Nov 1889, Stockport, United Kingdom
Died01 Nov 1963, Murcott, Islip, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
About

John Coatman grew up in Stockport and was educated at Manchester Grammar School and Manchester University. In 1910, at the age of 20, he joined the Indian Police Service. From 1914 to 1919 he served with the Frontier Constabulary, during which his exploits earned him the King’s Police Medal in 1916, to which a bar was added in 1921. He returned to Britain to study PPE at Pembroke College, Oxford, where he was Beit Prizeman. Upon graduating in 1926 he returned to India, where he served as a Member of the Indian Legislative Assembly and Director of Public Information.

Coatman acted as Secretary to the British Liberal delegation at the conference.

Pre-Conference

  • Coatman returned to the UK in 1930 to take up the new chair of Imperial Economic Relations at the University of London, maintained by the Empire Marketing Board, a post he held until 1934.
  • 19th March 1930: Irwin wrote to Benn recommending him to meet Coatman, who was returning home from India (to help on the writing of the Simon Report): "He knows as much about the situation as anyone, is intelligent, and I have talked with him freely. It occurs to me also, and I should like you to bear this in mind, that Coatman would probably I think be of very great value if he could have the entrée in some form to the Conference when it meets. The Moslems, Sapru and others would all be glad if he was there, as he can help them all, and he would probably be of great value to you in helping you assess their different personalities. He could sit behind your chair, along with our people, if, as I hope, you allow us to send one or two. This however is by the way but please don’t forget it.” Irwin also confirmed that Coatman had been 'feeding' stories to the Manchester Guardian. (BL. L.PO.6.49)
  • Summer of 1930: Having served as Director of Public Information under Viceroy Irwin, sent him regular updates on preparation for the conference
  • October 1930: Coatman and other liberal colleagues were less impressed than Reading by the Simon Report, being more willing to re-evaluate the Indian situation. (Moore, 1974:119) 

First Session

  • November 19th 1930: Coatman acted as secretary for regular meetings of the British Liberal delegation. He noted that Reading's fellow Liberals, Lothian, Hamilton and Foot, wanted to go as far as possible to meet Indian opinion. (Moore, 1974:152)
  • December 19th 1930: Coatman reported to Irwin that Peel was leaving the leadership of the Tory delegation to Hoare, who he suspected of being focused on his reputation within the Conservative Party, not on the conference itself. (Moore, 1974:156)
  • 23rd January 1931: Coatman delivered a lecture entitled “Constitutional Reform in India before 1919” at a joint meeting of the Royal Empire Society and the Society for the Overseas Settlement of British Women. The role of infrastructure and English as a common language was said to have created “a nation out of a bundle of scattered and unrelated territories” and to have set in motion the great forces of nationalism which no one could control.

Second Session

  • September 4th 1931: ahead of the second session Coatman met with Indian delegates in London. He reported them bringing a much worsened communal atmosphere with them from India, but that the larger princely states had realised the long term value of making concessions to join the federation (BL. E238.56.b)

Third Session

  • Summer 1932: ahead of the final conference session, Agatha Harrison of the “Indian Conciliation Group” sent a note to Horace Alexander and CF Andrews, outlining the difficult work of Indian delegates in London, and bemoaning the lack of skilled staff, due to the small size of the final session, who would previously have been able to "sense" the situation, and respond to it. Polak had written to Irwin and Reading, alerting them to the situation: 
    • “Then I had an interview with Coatman at the School of Economics. He as you know is closely in touch with the men Polak wrote to, and in the other conferences was very active in this ‘sensing’ work. I found he knew of the unrest, though rather inclined to say it was a small number. But Sapru has told me that several of the States people were also restive. This I told Coatman. He was disturbed and said he would at once go to the India Office and see Hoare, and talk again with Irwin, Reading and Lothian. If over the week end some of these men would have Sapru Jayakar and others quietly in their homes and see exactly what they are feeling, it mightbe possible to ease the tense feeling. But I have an uncomfortable idea that things may have gone too far. And it may be that the only thing that will rouse this country is some action like this. How stupid and unimaginative we are to what passes in other men’s minds. We deserve all we get for our crass stupidity.” (NMML. Harrison Papers)
  • 5th October 1932: LF Rushbrook Williams, himself a princely advisor and past advisor at the Round Table Conference, published a review of two of Coatman’s books, Years of Destinyand The Indian Riddle, both published in 1932. Coatman was said to have abandoned any attempt at objectivity: “The author buckles on his armour; draws his sword; steps boldly into the mêlée; and takes sides with zest. His enthusiasm for the Federal ideal dominates all his thought; and while he does not conceal from us all the difficulties he perceives (I do not think he sees them all), his faith carries him triumphantly onwards.”

Post-Conference

  • 1930–34: Professor of Imperial Economic Relations, University of London
  • 1934–37: Chief News Editor of BBC
  • 1937–49: North Regional Controller of BBC
  • 1941–45: Chairman of Convocation, Manchester University
  • 1949–54: Director of Research in the Social Sciences, St Andrews University
Sources

Sources used

  • British Library: IOR/L/PO/6/49; IOR/L/I/1/1340; IOR/Eur.Mss/E238/56.b
  • Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi: Alexander Harrison papers
  • R.J. Moore, The Crisis of Indian Unity, 1917-1940 (Oxford: Clarendon Press; 1974)
  • The Times, “Nationalism in India: Professor Coatman and World Influence” (24 Jan 1931), p. 14
  • L.F. Rushbrook Willimas, “An Apostle of Federalism” The Listener, Issue 195 (5 Oct 1932), p. xv

Selected publications

Secondary literature

  • Who Was Who: https://doi.org/10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U56556
  • The Times, “Mr. John Coatman”, Issue Number 55849 (4 Nov 1963), p. 14
  • The Guardian “Mr John Coatman” (4 Nov 1963), p.3
  • The Daily Telegraph “Prof. J. Coatman”, Issue 33759 (4 Nov 1963), p. 14

Online resources

Conferencing the International

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