Frank Sly

Sir Frank George Sly (1866 – 16 July 1928) was the first British governor of the Central Provinces of India and instrumental in the Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms.

Frank Sly was born in Salisbury 1866 to Thomas Sly and Clara Moore. He studied at Oxford University before entering the Indian Civil Service towards the end of 1887.

After joining the Indian Civil Service in 1887, Sly was appointed Under-Secretary in the Department of Revenue and Agriculture in 1894. He became officiating Secretary in 1896, before becoming Commissioner of Agriculture and Settlements and later Inspector-General of Agriculture. From 1908-1912 he was Commissioner of Berar Province where he was tasked with remodeling the administration of the province, to bring it in line with the other Central Provinces into which it had recently been amalgamated. In September 1912 he was appointed a member of the Royal Commission on the Public Services. After a brief spell as Commissioner of Nagpur, he was appointed Chairman of the Public Works Department Re-organisation Committee. Sly then went to Bihar and Orissa as Chairman of the Champaran Inquiry Committee. He was later appointed Deputy Chairman of Lord Southborough's Franchise Committee. In January 1920 Sly returned to the Central Provinces as Chief Commissioner, and later that year was appointed Governor of the Central Provinces.

Sly played a prominent part in shaping the Government of India Act, as a member of the India Office Committee and a witness before the Joint Parliamentary Committee, where he was a strong advocate of the 1919 changes which became known as the Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms.

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