Family #1001 Bandaranaike

According to Mahawansa (Chapter LXXX1X) Rajawaliya and other historic works, Siri Parakramabahu, or Parakramabahu V1 ascended the throne of Lanka in the year 1958 of the Buddhist era or according to some copies of the Mahawansa in the Buddhist era 1953.ie between the years 1410 and 1415 AD.

Jayawardenapura, the modern Kotte, was then the Capital of Lanka, which is 6 miles from Colombo.

An inscription in the Maha Saman Dewala of Sabaragamuwa says that a Brahamin in the name of Nilaperumal, a grandson Arya-Kamadewa, restored Saman Dewala, which was in ruins on the orders of the great monarch Parakramabahu. The inscription further goes on to say that the dewala was opened for the public in the reign of Kalikalasahitiya Sarvagna Pandita Parakramabahu,buddhist era 1796 or Christian era 1253. Jambudronipura or Dambadeniya was then Lanka's capital. It was in the 39th year of the reign of Parakramabahu,who reigned in Kotte,that the Sabaragamuwa Dewala was restored and the inscriptions were made. This was in the buddhist era 1997 or christian era 1454 or 201 years after the reign of Kalikalasahitiya Saravagna Pandita Parakramabahu. It appears that the Brahamin Arya Kamadewa was a high priest of the dewala, under the Sinhalese Monarchs, and the inscription above referred to say that his Grandson Nilaperumal was appointed to the same rank with the name of Bandaranayaka, in the buddhist era 1992 and 1997 or christian era 1449 and 1454 by Sri Parakramabahu, and further commanded that the office of Basnayaka of the Maha Saman Dewala of Sabaragamuwa be conferred on the descendents of Nilaperumal. The above account is gleaned from the inscription of the Maha Saman Dewala of Sabaragamuwa and from the Maha Wansa and other Historical works by H Sri Sumangala, High Priest of Siripada, Colombo November 1886.

Rama Chandra Brahamin (b approx 1430) came to Ceylon from India, about the year A.D 1454 and landed in Mattota (may be present day Matara). He married according to the existing customs from a noble kandyan family. He was appointed by the King, Nayaka Pandaram (Chief Record Keeper) of the Maha Saman Dewala in Senkadagala Nuwara, according to an old Sinhalese Manuscript and had a daughter.

With usage Pandara Nayake, the "P" was substituted with "B",thus Bandaranaike evolved. Pandarams of India are Brahmins, and keepers of Court and family records.)

Daughter(b approx 1452) ,married to Chief King "Dappulasena" of Mattota in the city of gods and had 2 children.

2 Sooriya Bandara (b approx 1464) married the youngest daughter of Chief of Mahaistawira of Wisidahagama and had a son.

1 Sooriya Bandara (b approx 1530), married and lived at Sitawaka.He had a son and a daughter.

1 Tennakoon Mudiyanselage (b approx 1565) ,Disawa of Matale, afterwards returned to India.

1 Son (b approx 1580) who was Maha Disawa of four Korales and married the Leuke family and had 1 son.

1 Son (b approx 1637) settled at Nickawella in Rattota,Matale as Bandaranayake Mudiyanselage and the Nickawella grant of several amunams was granted to him for distinguished services to the King. The village was subsequently given by the British Governtment to Dullewa, 2nd Adigar for openingup the Dambulla Road.-Vide Nickawella Sannas.

2 Son, settled in the sathara korale .A decendent of his was in 1844 Rate Mahatmaya of the Southern Division of Matale. Vide Ceylon Almanac of 1844.Wegodapola Bandaranayaka Mudiyanselage was the Rate Mahatmaya of Matale in the 1840's.

3 Son, settled at Malwana, a village in Kurunegala District. According to Dullewa Adigar, with antiquarian associations ,connected to Bandaranayaka family of the Western Province.

3 Son had a child Nawagomuwa Bandaranayaka Mudiyanselage Mohotti Appuhamy (b approx 1649). Governor Ryclof van Goens, writing on 22nd December 1663 to Jacob Hustaart, his successor states that Mohotti Appuhamy is of very highest family,and therefore very learned . He had 2 sons.

2 Mohotti Appuhami b:1649, (It may be assumed that during the Dutch period (1658-1796), they would have chosen to take Western Christian names and also changed their religion from Buddhism to Christianity). Mohotti Appuhamy by Sannas Ola of 11^th Feb 1664, received 6 Amunas of field in Nawagamuwa from the Dissawe P Dupont.

3 (2) Mohotti Mudiyanselage Domingo Dias Bandaranayaka (later became Mudaliyar), b:circa 1670 d:1733(Coraal of Hina Corale)Nawagomuwa + Dona Dominga, d:1723 (5 children)

4 (1) Don Balthazar Wijewickrema Dias Bandaranayaka bp:21/3/1707, (Mudliyar of Atapattu in 1739) + Hettimullage Johanna Dias of Galkissa, m:4 Mar 1731

5 David Balthazar Dias Bandaranayaka, b:4/5/1738 + Dona Maria of Panadura on M28/10/1753 and died in 1754

4 (3) Dona Louisa Dias Bandaranayaka, bp:14/12/1704 +Marappuli Appuhamilage Don Simon de Livera of Madurawela,m:15/8/1716 at Yala (3109)(Don Simon Aratchi)(father of Don Louis de Livera Samarasinghe Seneviratne,Mohandiram.)(Yala of Kalutara District)

5 (8) Don Marappuli Appuhamilage Don Louis de Livera Wijewickreme Seneviratne Tennakoon of Madurawela,Mudaliyaof Atapattu,bp19/1/1725-d20/3/1790 +Johanna Dassenaike

6 (1) Louisa de Livera b20/5/1753 +Paulis Samarakkody(m3/6/1770 (See Samarakkody family tree)

6 (2) Don Carolis de Livera Wijewickrema Tennekoon,b: circa 1760, Mudliyar of Attapattu 1800, with honorary rank of Maha Mudaliyar of the Gate (he was a son of Louis de Livera Wijewikreme Seneviratne Tennakoon mentioned above b1725) Fredrick North Governor gave a medal to Don Carolis de Livera Wijewickrema Tennekoon for long and faithful services, as Mudliyar of Attapattu in .A.D.1804 + Louisa de Silva Seneviratne (d/o Don Simon de Silva Jayathilake Seneviratne Maha Mudaliyar,) m:11^th Feb 1790.

7 David de Livera Wijewardena Tennakoon Mudaliyar of the Governors Gate (Muhamdiram, Hewagam Korale) and translator of Commissioner of Revenue office bp: 7^th Feb 1794 + Dona Louisa Dias Abeysinghe, m:2hd July 1821.

8 [6] Julias Earnest de Livera (Kachcherie Mohandiram Colombo)+ [5] Jane Maria de Livera (children see below)(d of Louis de Livera,Grand daughter of Carolis de Livera.)

8 [7] Franciscus de Livera, Mudliyar Alukuru Korale + [8] Charlott Fredricka de Livera (d/o Simon de Livera Mudaliyar of Hewagam Korale)

9 Dr Edwin de Livera b:25-May-1849, see pic below (Member of British Medical Association), Educated at Colombo Acadamy. In 1870 received Jijeebhoy scholarship Calcutta. In 1873 went to Glasgow and obtained MBCM.1878 Asst Colonial Surgeon Puttalam. 1900 Provincial Surgeon of NW province and Sabaragamuwa. Resided in Kandy. Colonial Surgeon + Alexandra Eliza Speldewine (Maartensz) from Batticaloa. b15/3/1868 (d of Dr JA Maartensz of Batticaloa.)

9 Walter de Livera, b:1863, (Royal College, Colombo), Police Magistrate & Commissioner of Requests at Chilaw and Marawila in 1898. Occupied similar positions since 1902 at Gampola and Nawalapitiya. Served as Private Secretary,first to Sir Harry Dias Bandaranaike and later to Sir Archibald Cambell Laurie. Walter de Livera’s home was in Veyangoda, and he was fond of Horticulture. Member of the Orient Club and Turf Club and also of the Ceylon Agricultural Society. + Elizabeth Dias Bandaranaike b 15/5/1867m:12/4/1898 (Sister of Soloman Dias Bandaranaike(Maha Mudaliyar) (1001)(d of Christoffel DB and Anna Philepsz Panditharatne.)

10 "Princess" de Livera (Joy), b:1900, d approx 1921 + Reginold Felix Dias Bandaranaike, b:1891, d:1951, m:28/8/1919 (1001)(Lawyer and Judge of the Supreme Court.)(After Princess de Livera's death RFDB has a 2hd marriage to Freda Dias Abeysinghe on 10/12/1924)(Son of Felix Reginold Dias Bandaranaike)

11 Reginold Walter Michael Dias Bandaranaike (Barrister QC) b3/3/ 1921-d17/11/2009 + Norah Hunter Crabb

(Reginold Walter DB was educated at Royal College and at Cambridge.While at Cambridge,during the world war 2,served in the home guard.After graduating,he joined the Royal Air Force.While at the Royal Air Force,he completed his legal studies and was called to the bar Inner Temple in 1944 and became a Barrister.Queens Counsel in 2002.Was an author of legal books.His wife Norah died in an air craft accident in 1980.)

7 Louis de Livera Samaranaike Tennekoon, Attapattu Mudaliyar bp: 8^thMay 1796 (Thombu Index shows he had properties in Kuda Buthgamuwa near Kollannawa Hendala and Nagoda)(May have married a Miss de Saram.)

8 [5] Jane Maria de Livera + [6] Julias Earnest de Livera (Mohandiram), (s/o Don David de Livera Tennakoon, Translator Colombo Kachcheri and Mudaliyar of the Governor's Gate, bp 7^th Feb 1794)

9 Don Edwin de Livera Wijewickrema Senewiratne Tennekoon, b approx 1878, Mohandiram Governor Gate,and Chief translator of Colombo Kachcheri.1901 appointed as Shroff Mudaliyar of Colombo Kachcheri. Educated at Stc.Mtl(1894-1897). Born at Attapattu Walauwa, Barber Street Colombo. Rescidence Deweni Maha Walauwa Wolfendhal.(The historic rescidence has been occupied by three successive Maha Mudaliyars of the de Saram family,who were Edwin de Livera's maternal ancesstors.)Administered his fathers properties, In 1897 he entered Govt Service and was appointed First Native writer of Colombo Kachcheri(Marriage 1) + Venitia Nillie Theodara Dassenaike. (b approx 1880,M in9/11/ 1900,d1910)

(sister of Louis Arthur Dassenaike, and d/o Henricus Louis Dassenaike -Mudaliyar) (3148)

12 Asita Perera (Stc)(1959-2013)(MP-1994)(Ambassador to Korea2006-2009,Ambassdor to Italy 2011) + Ishini Wickremasinghe (d of Shan Wickremasinghe)

10 (3) Merlyn de Livera Tennekoon +Arthur Lee Dassenaike b1903 (Son of Arthur Louis Dassenaike b1869)

11 Edwin Vernon Palitha de Livera Tennekoon (Canada)(Trinity)b1952 + Rasika Weerasinghe

11 Edwin Ajantha Sunil de Livera Tennekoon (Trinity)b1954+Devika de Livera Tennekoon nee Imbuldeniya (Justice of the Appeal Court)

9 Don Edwin de Livera Wijewickrema Senewiratne Tennekoon, b approx 1878, Mohandiram Governor Gate,and Chief translator of Colombo Kachcheri.1901 appointed as Shroff Mudaliyar of Colombo Kachcheri. Educated at Stc.Mtl(1894-1897). Born at Attapattu Walauwa, Barber Street Colombo. Rescidence Deweni Maha Walauwa Wolfendhal.Administered his fathers properties, In 1897 he entered Govt Service and was appointed First Native writer of Colombo Kachcheri,Member of the Turf Club & Poultry club (Marriage 2) + Grace Tillekeratne M1915

10 Oscar de Livera Tennekoon(approx)1920-1988, (STC Mt Lavinia,was in Miller boarding in 1935) (Was High Commissioner to Pakistan 1985) (was in the army)+ Helen de Saram, b approx 1921 d2015), d/o Lionel de Saram

Oscar de Livera contested for 1960 July General Election from Mahara from the UNP and obtained 8991 votes but was not successful.

11 Edwin Asela de Livera (Royal)(Chairman Koolair Pvt Ltd)b1951 + Shama Dassanaike

7 Maria de Livera bp: 21^st August 1791(d of Carolis de Livera) + Cornelis de Saram Mudaliyar.b1780(3126)

7 Petronella de Livera bp: 8^th May,1796 + Jehan Louis Perera, Kuruwe Mudaliyar, b:1775, d:23/2/1850

8 John Abraham Wijesekera Gunerwardena Maha Mudaliyar, m:19^th Nov 1847, d:1879

8 Caroline Perera, b:1808- d26/10/1873 + Johan Godfrid Cornelis Peiris Samarawira Siriwardhana Mohottiar. m:18/6/1834 (b16/3/1808- d15/5/1887)

8 Gertrude Charlotte Perera + Don Andris de Alwis Amarasiriwardhana Gunathileke Mudaliyar of the Gate.d21/9/1875

8 Eliza Perera + Johannes Adrian Peter Peiris Samarasinhe Siriwardhana Mohandiram, m:21/10/1847,b19/4/1811,d21/10/1877.

5 (9) Don Balthazar de Livera Wijewickrema Seneviratne, Mudaliyar Hewagam Korale. Atapattu Mudaliyar b 1739. Received medal from Governor Fredrick North for good services in 1803, + Dona Catherina Perera, m:1778

6 (1) Johanna Petrenella de Livera b:1780 + Don Solomon Dias Bandaranaike (Son of Daniel Dias Bandaranayaka)(Solomon's 1st marriage)(M17/6/1805)

6 (3) Justina Monika de Livera b:1786 + Abraham Petrus Dias Bandaranayaka (Son of Conrad Pieter Dias Bandaranayaka)m 19-Feb-1809

7 Don Thomas Dias Bandaranaike bp 3/8/1810.-d31/8/1878 +Johanna de Livera Seneviratne .M30/6/1845

8 Charlotte Johanna Dias Bandaranayake b1837 d feb1858 + Rev Abraham Dias Abeysinghe of Galle.

6 (5) [12] Simon de Livera b:1779 +(M1) [13] Elizebeth Dias Bandaranayaka (d/o Don Alexander Dias Bandaranayaka), (Grand daughter of Don Francisco Dias Bandaranayaka b:1720 Mudaliyar), (Francisco Bandaranayaka is the great great great grand father of SWRD Bandaranaike)

7 [10] Cornelius de Livera (b:1808) + [11] Isabella Petrenella Dias Bandaranayaka(b1825) (d of Bastian Fransiscus Dias Bandaranayaka)

9 Godwin de Livera (1876-d1921)Revenue officer + Charlot Samarakkody (1880-1970)daughter of Mudaliyar LCDFT Samarakkody. (3118)

10 Vaughn de Livera.1917-2003 (STC Mt Lavinia) + Chandra Pieris Deraniyagala.d2007

10 Louis Charles de Livera (Carl) (STC Mt Lavinia) Lawyer (1919-1969) + Gertrude Seneviratne (Eng.Inst.Kel.Uni) b:1931 (3108)

11 Jagath Manjula de Livera (STC Mt Lavinia), b:1960, (Accountant/Deputy Chief Internal Auditor, Urban Development Authority Sri Lanka, 1985-2005), migrated to Melbourne Australia in 2006 + Lakshmi Aulanandam (Lawyer) (5030)

11 2hd spouse of Lankika Erandathi de Livera + Sri Srikumar (Accountant) STC Mt Lavinia

6 2nd spouse of Simon de Livera b:1779 (M2) + Dona Florentina Abeysinghe

4 (4) Dona Francina Dias Bandaranayaka bp:6/8/1710 + (married at Malwana) to Don Alexander Abeykoon.Successively,Arachchi,Mohandiram,Mohottiar and Mudliyar Siyane Korale, m:Apr 4, 1726

4 (5) Dona Dinesia Dias Bandaranayaka bp:17 Mar 1700 settled in Kandy (married).

5 Bearnado bp:17 Aug 1738 + Dona Phillipa of Wewela, m:2 Dec 1759 (no issue)

4 (3) Don Francisco Dias Wijetunga Bandaranayaka, b:1720 Mudaliyar Hewagam Korale. He fled to Kandy in 1760 to join the Singhalese,in the struggle between the Dutch and the Kandyan King, and was rewarded with Mudaliyar for four Pattus. + (1)Dona Maria Perera, b:1722 (2)Dona Catherina Tillekeratne.(d of Don Simon Tillekeratne of Matara.)(10 children from 1st wife ,1 child from 2hd wife)(Dominga,Madalena,Conrad Pieter, Daniel,Alexander,Hendrick,Ana,Jacobus,

5 (1) Dona Dominga Dias Bandaranayaka bp:8th Dec 1740 (m1)+ Pascol de Livera Wirekon of Kelaniya.

5 (1) 2nd spouse of Dominga Dias Bandaranayaka bp:1740 + Samanakkody Mudaliyar

5 (2) Madalena bp:8 Dec 1740(m1) + Solomon de Livera Wirekon of Kelaniya, m:15^th Sep 1758

5 (2) 2nd spouse of Madalena bp:8 Dec 1740 + Paules Perera Ekanayake (Mudliyar)

5 (3) Johanna bp:23 Jan 1744 + Kohilawatte Hettimulle Guneratne Mudiyansalage Don Hendrick Appuhamy, m:17 Sep 1766

5 (5) Hendrick Dias Bandaranayaka (Mohandiram Siyane Korale 5/6/1794) bp:1 Sep 1752 + Elizebeth Pieris Siriwardena, bp:19/8/1763 (1005)(Who was the daughter of the son of Welhelmus Pieris.)had 2 chidren.

5 (6) Ana Dias Bandaranayaka, bp:30 Aug 1754, died after May 3 1828 (m1)+ Don Simon Perera Ekanayake Mudaliyar

5 (6) 2nd spouse of Ana Dias Bandaranayaka b:1754 (m2)+ Don Balthazar de Livera Wijewickreme Seneviratne, Mudliyar Hewagam Korale, (no issue)

5 (7) Don David Dias Rajakaruna Seneviratne Bandaranayaka b1760(Mohandiram of Atapattu appointed 10/10/1791 + Juliana Sophiya De Saram Wanigasekera Ekanaike (3126)(sister of Christoffel de Saram 4th Maha Mudaliyar)(d of Domingo de Saram)

5 (8) Conrad Pieter Dias Wijewardena Bandaranayaka (Maha Mudliyar) Hina Corale bp:26/7/1747, Maha Mudliyar had received 3 Gold medals-(one for quelling a rebellion, another for planting a Cinnamon Garden and another for cutting a canal) (dutch medal received in 1792.from Governor of Ceylon William Jacob van der Graaff)+ Louise Jeronimus Atapattu (d of Phillip Jeronimus Atapattu + Louisa Atapattu

Ekanayake b:1753, (d/o Don Phillip Jeronymus Atapattu), m:4 Dec 1768 (9 children)(Cornelius,Jacobus,Abraham Petrus,Johannes Franciscus,Katharina Maria,Isabella Susanha,Cornelia and unmarried 2 daughters)

6 (1) Cornelius Dias Bandaranayaka b18/2/1772, d:1869 + Adriana Gertruda Henrietta Samarakoon (d/o Simon Samarakoon Wikremanayaka Mudaliyar)m 22/2/1800 (4 children)
7 (1) Gertruda Dias Bandaranayaka + (m:22/2/1850) Jhon Gerad Perera Mudaliyar Salpita Korale (his 2nd wife)

7 (2) Don John Dias Bandaranayaka d 25/3/1877 + (m28/6/1842)Gertruda Anganita Philepsz Panditharatne.(d of Phillip Panditharatne)

8 Cornelia Dias Bandaranayaka + John Cornelis(Martinus)Dias Bandaranayaka of Kelanimulla.

7 (3) Conrad Peter Dias Bandaranayaka (Interpreter Mudaliyar) b1825 d 9/10/1891 (unmarried)

7 (4) Robert Wilson Dias Bandaranayaka d12/5/1869 + (m18/5/1861)Louisa de Alwis of Kalutara.

8 Alice Louisa Dias Bandaranayaka,b7/9/1863 + James Perera of Molligoda Wadduwa.

6 (2) Jacabus (Jacobus?) Dias Wijewardena Bandaranayaka, b:14/6/1773-d1865, (Mudaliyar of Governor Gate & Translator of Supreme Court), d:1866 + Liyanage Catherine Philipsz Panditharatne, m:4/10/1806, (d/o of Phillip Philipsz Wijekoon Panditharatne, Maha Mudaliyar and Chief interpreter, & Dona Leonara)(10 children)(Jacobus is a son of CPDB b1747)(Samuel,Mary,John,Dorathea,Henrietta,Florence,Catherine,Anne,Sir Henry and Nancy.)

7 (1) [8] Rev Canon Samuel William Dias Bandaranayaka b26/8/1807-d8/4/1883 + [9] Cornelia Susanna Elizabeth Dias Bandaranayaka(widow of mudaliyar obeyesekere)m 29/9/1859.(4 children)

(In 1827 he went to Calcutta and entered Bishop's Collegeto study for the Ministry.Was made Deacon by Bishop Wilson on 26th /1/1833.And on 21/11/1834 Ordained a Priest.Was Chaplain for Galkissa and Moratuwa. He built the All Saints Church,Hulsdorph for the Sinhalese,and worked there from 1/11/1865,later was made Canon of the Cathedral.

8 (1) William Chapman Dias Wijewardena Bandaranayaka, b:9/6/1860-d28/6/1915 (nephew of Sir Harry Dias Bandaranaike and step brother of Sir James Peter Obeyesekere), Born in 1860. Educated at St Thomas' College and Royal College, Colombo.Qualified as a lawyer but took charge of the estates and plantation management (had estates in Veyangoda,Kadugannawa,Kalutara,Kurunegala and Matara.Lived at Buona Vista Mutwal). + Rachel Asmadale, m:1896 (Niece of T B Panabokke Rate Mahatmaya Gampola)

9 Samuel William Copleston.Dias Bandaranayaka b3/7/1897 (Cambridge University)+ Iddamalgoda Irene de Silva (M9/6/1927)(d of Gate Muhandiram George de Silva.)

10 Shelly Lakshman Dias Bandaranayaka b15/3/1928 -13/1/2016 (Dy Legal Draftsman)+ Manthri Amarasekere (3068)

10 George Randolph Tissa Dias Bandaranayaka b 30/8/1932+ Johanna Tworeck

10 Leelawathie Merl Ranjanee Dias Bandaranayaka b 19/1/1939 + Christopher E Pieris

8 (2) [17] Felix Reginold Dias Bandaranayaka, b:26-Jul-1861, d:30-Jan-1947, educated at St Thomas' College & Royal College (Colombo Academy), Went to England in 1882. Graduated from Cambridge and obtained BA, LLB. Later received the degrees of MA and LLM. Returned to Ceylon in 1888 and became advocate of local bar. Later became Police Magistrate. In 1897 he became District Judge Colombo. + [16] Annie Lucy (Florence) de Alwis, 1864-1920 (third daughter of James de Alwis and Florence DB) m:14-Apr-1890 (4 chidren)

9 (1) Dr Reginald Felix Dias Bandaranayaka,. b:17-Jan-1891, d:26-Oct-1951MA,LLDPusine Judge + (1) “Princess”Joy De Livera (d of Walter de Livera)

10 Reginald Walter Michael Dias Bandaranayaka b3/3/1921 (Barrister at Law,BA,LLB of Cambridge + Norah Hunter-Crabbe (UK)

9 (1) 2nd spouse of Reginald Felix Dias Bandaranayaka, Dr. (Bunny) b:17-Jan-1891, d:26-Oct-1951 + Freda Muriel Dias Abeysinghe (d of Nicholas Dias Abeysinghe of Galle.(M10/12/1924)

10 Felix Reginald Dias Bandaranayaka, b:5-Nov-1930, d:26-Jun-1985 (Minister of Public Administration,Local Govt,Home Affairs& Justice 1970-77) + Muthulakshmi Jayasundera

9 (2) Annette Lena Dias Bandaranayaka,b16/8/1894-1982 + J.Roland William Ilangakoon, First Sinhalese Attorney General, m:1914 (see pics below)(6 hildren)

10 (2) Nannette Christine Ilangakoon, d:Aug 5 2006 in Australia + Lyn (ECG) Wickremasinghe (3103), was the GM of Bank of Ceylon in the seventies, is a second cousin of Esmund Wickremasinghe, father of Ranil Wickremasinghe (UNP).

WICKREMASINGHE - NANETTE CHRISTINE (nee ILANGAKOON) widow of late ECG (Lyn) Wickremasinghe, beloved mother of Git and Ravi, mother-in-law of Una and Yasanthi, grandmother of Ramila, Charith and Roshana, sister of Hope, late Neil, Anthea, Philip and Glen, sister-in-law of Quintus and late Lynnette, Ine, Trissette, Gertrude, late Lota (Evelyn) and Lou, passed away on 05th August 2006. The funeral and thanksgiving service were held in Australia on 14th August 2006. DN Sep 7 2006

9 (4) Samuel James Felix Dias Bandaranayaka b22/11/1902, Agricultural Department + Esther Mary Ramkeesoon (Trinidad).M16/10/1928

10 (1) Gwendolyn Esther Dias Bandaranayaka,b16/12/1929 (Teacher at STC and later Principal Bishop's College)- died 2004 + Roland Dias Abeysinghe

10 (2) Sonia Rohini Dias Bandaranayaka b12/1/1932 + Dr. Digby William Hall (UK)

10 (3) Yasmine Malini Dias Bandaranayaka, b:22/12/1935, University professor, literary critic, editor, bibliographer, novelist, essayist, and poet. She received her education from Bishop's college and went on to graduate from the University of Ceylon in 1959. She also received a Ph. D in English Literature from Cambridge University in 1962. Gooneratne became a resident of Australia in 1972. In 1981 she was the first, and remains until now, the only person to receive the higher doctoral degree of Doctor of Letters ever awarded by Macquarie University. She now holds a Personal Chair in English Literature at Macquarie University, located in New South Wales. From 1989-1993 she was the Foundation Director of her University's Postcolonial Literatures and Languages Research Center. In 1990 Gooneratne became an Officer of the Order of Australia for distinguished service to literature and education and in that same year she was also invited to become the Patron of the Jane Austen Society of Australia. From 1994-95, she served on a committee appointed by the Federal Government to review the Australian system of Honors and Awards from 1994-1995. Since 1995, she has had positions on both the Australia Abroad Council and the Visiting Committee of the Faculty of Creative Arts at the University of Wollongong. In 1998, she became a member of Asialink. She has been a visiting professor or specialist at many different places around the world including the following: Edith Cowan University (Western Australia), University of Michigan (USA), Jawarharlal Nehru University (India), and the University of the South Pacific (Fiji). + Dr. Brendon Goneratne (Australia)

8 (3) Rosemond Dias Bandaranayaka b 20/9/1862-15/12/1944+ John Henry Illangakoon (Mudaliyar of Welgam korale Matara) (3169) m31/8/1881(b approx 1850)(8 children)

DE SARAM - MRS. R.M. (ROMI) nee TILLEKERATNE Daughter of the late O.C. Tillekeratne and the late Millicent (nee Ilangakoon), relict of C.J. (Bucky) de Saram, beloved mother of Christine, Christopher (formerly of the University of Moratuwa), and Siromi (University of Colombo), mother-in-law of the late J.M.G. (Gamini) Perera and the Rev. Duleep Fernando, loving grandmother of Ianthe, Rukshani, Ruwan and Avanka, expired. Cortege leaves residence No.14, Deal Place A, Colombo 3, on Wednesday 8th August 2007 at 4.00 p.m. for interment at General Cemetery Kanatte, Borella (Anglican Section) at 5.00 p.m. DN Tue Aug 7 2007

DE SARAM - CHRISTOPHER JOHN (CHRIS) DE SARAM - (Formerly University of Moratuwa). Son of the late Romi and C.J. (Bucky) de Saram, beloved brother of Christine and Siromi, brother-in-law of the late John (Gamini) Perera and Rev. Duleep Fernando, much loved uncle of Ianthe, Rukshani, Ruwan and Minoli, Avanka and granduncle of Savistha and Shanilka, expired. Cortege leaves residence 14, Deal Place A, Colombo 03 on Thursday 2nd August 2018 at 3 p.m. and cremation at 4 p.m. at the New Crematorium, General Cemetery Kanatte, Borella.085778

9 (2) J W Ronald Illangakoon + Annette Lena Dias Bandaranaike, 1894-1982 (d of Felix Reginold DB)(6 children)

10 (2) Nannette Christine Ilangakoon, d:Aug 5 2006 in Australia + Lyn (ECG) Wickremasinghe (3103), was the GM of Bank of Ceylon in the seventies, is a second cousin of Esmund Wickremasinghe, father of Ranil Wickremasinghe (UNP).

11 Githendra Wickremasinghe, b:1948 (Royal College, Colombo 1959-66) + Una (UK)

10 Michael Llewelyn Christopher Ilangakoon (former warden Stc Mtl 1977-1982) + Pathma Elikewela

9 (8) Carl Sepala Ilangakoon (Stc)(Planters Association)(b1923-d25/6/2009) + Sunethra Seneviratne

8 (4) Amy Dias Badaranayaka (b29/9/1865-d3/11/1944) + Walter Dias Bandaranaike (Mudliyar) m:8/9/1892.(Walter is a son of Abraham Edward DB)

9 (1) [21] Amy Estelle Dias Bandaranayaka b10/8/1893 + [22] James Peter Obeyesekere II, Maha Mudaliyar (3051)(M17/6/1914)

9 (2) Stephen Walter Dias Bandaranayaka b11/8/1895 Lieut.Cey.Light.Infantary+ Ethel Mildred Dias Abeysinghe (d of Nicholas Dias Abeysinghe,Proctor,Galle)M24/10/1918

Ethel Dias Abeysinghe was a founder member of the Old Girls Association of Ladies College in 1909.

10 Crystal Etinne Dias Bandaranayaka,b7/10/1927 +(M1)leonard Dias Bandaranayaka b13/1/1922 (Son of Harry Peter Dias Bandaranayaka)

11 Roshanara Dias Bandaranayaka + Sunil Bandaranaike (son of Kingsley de Saa Bandaranaike and Trixie Seneviratne.)

9 (3) Evelyn Muriel Dias Bandaranayaka (b approx 1901)+ George R de Silva ( MP)Barrister at Law (M21/7/1927)

7 (3) John Charles Dias Bandaranayaka b10/12/1810 -d 8/3/1877 Proctor of the Supreme Court + Fanny de Saram (No issue)

7 (4) Dorathea Dias Bandaranayaka b1814 + Hendrick de Alwis,Mudaliyar Kandy Kachcherie in 1840.

7 (6) Florence Dias Bandaranayaka b 4/10/1820-d10/4/1907 + Hon James de Alwis 1823-1878 (Member of the Legislative Council)(his 2hd marriage) m5/5/1855 (4 children)

8 (1) [16] Annie Lucy (Florence) de Alwis, 1864-1920 + [17] Felix Reginold Dias Bandaranayaka, m:Apr 1890, b:26-Jul-1861, d:30-Jan-1947, educated at St Thomas' College & Royal College (Colombo Academy), Went to England in 1882. Graduated from Cambridge and obtained BA, LLB. Later received the degrees of MA and LLM. Returned to Ceylon in 1888 and became advocate of local bar. Later became Police Magistrate. In 1897 he became District Judge Colombo. m:14-Apr-1890 (3 children)

9 (1)Reginald Felix Dias Bandaranayaka, Dr. (Bunny) b:17-Jan-1891, d:26-Oct-1951 + (1) “Princess” De Livera (3109)

10 Reginald Walter Michael Dias Bandaranaike (Royal College)(Barrister)3/3/1921-17/11/2009+ Norah Hunter-Crabbe (UK)

9 (1) 2nd spouse of Reginald Felix Dias Bandaranayaka, Dr. (Bunny) b:17-Jan-1891, d:26-Oct-1951 + Freda Dias Abeysinghe

10 Felix Dias Bandaranayaka, b:5-Nov-1930, d:26-Jun-1985 (Minister of Public Administration,Local Govt,Home Affairs& Justice 1970-77) + Muthulakshmi Jayasundera

9 (2) Annette Lena Dias Bandaranayaka, 1894-1982 + Roland William Ilangakoon, First Sinhalese Attorney General, m:1914 (see pics below)

11 Githendra Wickremasinghe b:1948 (Royal College, Colombo, 1959-66) + Una (UK)

9 (3) Samuel James Felix Dias Bandaranayaka, Agricultural Department + Esther Ramkeesoon (Trinidad).

10 (1) Gwendolyn Esther Dias Bandaranayaka,b16/12/1929 died 6/2/2004 (Principal Bishop's College)+ Roland Dias Abeysinghe

10 (2) Sonia Dias Bandaranayaka b12/1/1932 + Dr. Digby William Hall (UK)

10 (3) Yasmine Dias Bandaranayaka, b:22/12/1935, University professor, + Dr. Brendon Goneratne (Australia)

8 (2) [18 Ezline Maria de Alwis + [19] Solomon Christoffell Obeyesekere, MLC, b:12-Feb-1848, d:13-Oct-1927, educated at The Colombo Academy (later Royal College) and STC Mount Lavinia. m:1872 (4 children)

9 (1) [21] Daisy Ezline Obeyesekere, m:1898 + [20] Sir Don Solomon Dias Abeywickrema Jayatilleke Senewiratna Rajakumaruna Kadukeralu Bandaranaike (Maha Mudaliyar) b:22-May-1862, d:31-Jul-1946, Kt. Commander of the most distinguished order of St. Michael and St. George, Horogolla Walauwwa, St Thomas' College, Mohandiram 1882. Mudliyar Siyane Korale, After returning from UK, Governor Arthur Havelock awarded Maha Mudaliyar title and All Island JP. In 1897 went to UK as official representative for diamond jubilee celebration and received medal. In 1902 revisited UK. Received Coronation Medal and KCMG, m:Apr-1898

10 (1) Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike b:8-Jan 1899, d:26-Sep-1959, (Prime Minister of Sri Lanka 1956-59, Assassinated by a Buddhist Monk on September 25, 1959), St Thomas' College, educated as a lawyer in UK, University of Oxford. Became Secretary of Oxford Union in 1923, called to the bar in 1925, Member of the State Council in 1931, Formed the Sinhala Maha Sabha in 1937, Active in the UNP 1945-51 and established the SLFP after 1951, Prime Minister 1956-59, To solve the ethnic issue he signed the Bandaranaike-Chelvanaygam pact, which was repudiated due to a campaign led by the Buddhist Clergy. Made Sinhala the official Language + Sirimavo Ratwatta, b:17/4/1916, d:10/10/2000, m:2-Oct-1940 (First woman Prime Minister in the World, Prime Minister, 1960-65, 1970-77, 1994-2000) (3060) Wikipedia Account of Sirimavo

11 Chandrika Dias Bandaranaike, b:29/6/1945, Early education at St Bridgets Convent, Colombo, and graduated in Political Science at Sorbonne University in Paris, Formed the Peoples Alliance (PA) Party, President of Sri Lanka 1994-2005 + Vijaya Kumaratunga, Film Actor, Assasinated 1988

12 Dr Yasodhara Kumaratunga + Dr Roger Walker, m:Jun 2007 in UK (see wedding pics below)

11 Anura Dias Bandaranaike b: Feb-15-1949, Educated at Royal College, Member of Parliament 1977 to 2007, Minister Higher Education 1993, Foreign Minister 2005, Leader of the opposition, Speaker of the House, Minister of Tourism/Heritage 2007.(Unmarried)

10 (2) Anna Florentina Dias Bandaranaike b20/7/1900 + Abraham de Livera of Ampitigala,Kalutara District married on 23/6/1922.

10 (3) Alexandra Cornelia Bandaranaike b 26/8/1903, lived at "Samudragiri" Walauwa in Mount Lavinia + Leo G. De Alwis of Galkissa on 15/8/1923.(M)

12 (3) Charmaine Eheliyagoda, Attorney-at-Law, a member of the National Police Commission appointed by H.E.The President of Sri Lanka + Lakshman Madurasinghe, m:1979 held at All Saints Church Hulftsdorp in Aug 1979 + Professor Lakshman Madurasinghe, born in Galle, STC Prep School Kollupitiya 1959-1960 (LKG/UKG), STC Mount Lavinia 1961-72, Attorney at Law, Chartered Fellow CIPD UK: University of Brighton, Sr.International Governor AUGP USA and Chairman Medicina Alternativa.

13 Rosanth Lakshan Madurasinghe, a graduate of the University of London (England). + Nishani Fernando of Wennappuwa on July 7 2007; 14 Romaan Madurasinghe

9 (2) Ethel Mildred Obeyesekere + Dr William Christoffel Pieris Siriwardene b1867- d1945, Dr William Christoffel Pieris Siriwardena, b:1867, lived at 40,Silversmith Street Colombo. Educated at STC and later at Marischal College Aberdeen. He became a Senior medalist in Pathalogy and Bacteriology. He graduated in MBCM. He was a visiting Physician of General Hospital. Lecturer in clinical medicine at Medical College. District Medical Officer Haputale.Later Judical Medical Officer (see pic below) + Ethel Obeyesekere, (b:1885, d:1930), m:1915 (3051)(daughter of S.C Obeyesekere of Talpe Walauwa Galle.)

10 (3) Mahnil Lilette Ilangakoon + Roland Hugh Dias Abeysinghe (his 2hd Marriage)

8 (3) Edwin Robert de Alwis 1860-1920 + Cecilia Dias Bandaranayaka b1864 (d of Conrad Peter Dias Bandaranayaka)M1885

8 (4) Florence Ellen de Alwis 1858-1917 + Peter George de Saram (7 children)

10 Helen de Saram b1910-d4/7/2015 + Oscar de Livera Tennakoon(1905-1988)(Was high Commissioner to Pakistan 1985)(Was in the Army)

11 Edwin Asela de Livera (Royal)(Chairman Koolair Pvt Ltd)b1951 + Shama Dassanaike

7 (9) Henry Dias Bandaranayaka (Sir Harry), b22/8/1822-d24/6/1901, Barrister,Judge, Supreme Court. Member of Legislative Council, died unmarried. Born:22-Aug-1822. Education under Rev. Canon Dias, Royal Academy, Kings College (London). First Sri Lankan Barrister at Law. Member LC 1861-1864. Represented Ceylon at the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria. Awarded Gold Medal. First Ceylonese to act for C.J.Morgan 1879, 1888. Called to the Bar, Middle Temple, 1848. First Sinhala Judge of the Supreme Court 1885-1892. Knighted 1893. Died:24-Jun-1901(unmarried).Actg Cheif Justice 1888.

(p76 SF, says Harry's new purchase (H Dias)from Dr Misso,Siambalape Kurunduwatte for pounds 550 in 1857)

7 (10) Nancy Dias Bandaranayaka, b:30/1/1824-d25/6/1893 + Don Abraham Edward Dias Bandaranaike Proctor of Supreme Court.Married 23/6/1852

6 (3) Abraham Petrus Dias Bandaranayaka Mohandiram of Governor Gate b1783+ Justina Monika de Livera Seneviratne, (d/o Balthazar de Livera), m:19/2/1809.

7 Don Thomas Dias Bandaranayaka Mohandiram of the Gate, b March 1810 -d 31/8/1878 + Johanna de Livera Seneviratne M30/6/1845.(4 children)

8 Charlotte Johanna Dias Bandaranayake b1837 d feb1858 + Rev Abraham Dias Abeysinghe of Galle.

6 (4) Don Johannes Fransiscus Dias Bandaranayake (Mudaliyar of Governors Gate), b:13 Dec 1789-d:21 Jul 1862 + Frederica Agenitta Catherina de Saram (daughter of Louis de Saram, 2^nd Maha Mudaliyar & Leanora Phillipsz Mohandiram), b:1 Mar 1800, m:11-Jun-1815. (3126)(7 children)(Abraham,Katharine Cecilia,Johanna,David,Conrad Peter,Cornelia,Dr Abraham.)

7 (1) Don Abraham Edward Dias Bandaranayaka b27/3/1816-d5/1/1901 Proctor of Supreme Court. + Nancy Dias Bandaranayaka m23/6/1852.(10 children)

8 (1)Nancy Dias Bandaranayaka b 10/4/1853 d 27/2/1905 + Charles Dias Bandaranayake of Kelanimulla,Planterof Siembalape Estate (M8/12/1880)

8 (2) Louisa Dias Bandaranayaka,b 26/5/1854-d 6/2/1935 + John Henry Perera of Kuruwe Walauwwa. M16/11/1882.

9 John Henry Perera (b approx 1883)+Favorita Midred Dias Bandaranayaka b1891 1880)(Proctor)M1911 (Kuruwe Walauwa)(cousin of Evelyn DB)

8 (5) Walter Dias Bandaranayaka ,b12/5/1859-d6/8/1936,Gate Mudaliyar,+Amy Dias Bandaranayaka 29/9/1865-3/11/1944,(d of Cannon Samuel Bandaranayaka).M8/9/1892

9 (1) [21] Amy Estelle Dias Bandaranayaka,b10/8/1893 (M17/6/1914) + [22] James Peter Obeyesekere II, Maha Mudaliyar (3051)
10 James Peter Obeyesekere III (Late MP Attanagalla, Deputy Minister of Health and Finance and Senator 1960-65, Royal College, Cambridge. Qualified as a pilot, Batadola Walauwwe Nittambuwa, Royal College, Colombo 7, d:23 Oct 2007 + Sivagami Dassanaike (Siva Obeyesekere-Minister of Health 1970) Founder of Laksala

OBEYESEKERE - DESHAMANYA JAMES PETER (Late MP Attanagalla, Deputy Minister of Health and Finance and Senator), Only son of late Sir James Peter Obeyesekere Maha Mudaliyar and Lady Amy Estelle Obeyesekere, dearly loved husband of Siva, father of Peter and Chantal, father-in-law of Dijen de Saram, grandfather of Dhevan and Chiara. Remains will lie at Batadola Walauwe, Nittambuwa from 12.00 noon on Wednesday 24th to 12.00 noon on Thursday 25th October and in Colombo from 2.00 p.m. on Thursday 25th to Saturday 27th October. Cortege leaves "Maligawa", 19, Rajakeeya Mawatha, Colombo 07 at 1.00 p.m. Saturday 27th. Cremation at General Cemetery Kanatte at 2.00 p.m. DN Wed Oct 24 2007

9 (2) Stephen Walter Dias Bandaranayaka b11/8/1895+ Ethel Dias Abeysinghe (d of Nicholas Dias Abeysinghe of Galle) M24/10/1918

10 Etinne Dias Bandaranayaka(b7/10/1927) +(M1) Leonard Dias Bandaranayaka b1922(Son of Harry Peter DB)

11 Roshanara Dias Bandaranayaka + Sunil Bandaranaike (Son of Kingsley de Saa Bandaranaike and Trixie Seneviratne.)

9 (3) Evelyn MurielDias Bandaranayaka b4/7/1904+ George R de Silva( MP)(Barrister)(M21/7/1927)

8 (10) Charles Lorensz Henry Dias Bandaranayaka,b20/9/1869,Planter & Superintendent, Maligatenna Estate Veyangoda- Unmarried.

7 (2) Katherine Cecilia Dias Bandaranayaka b28/7/1818-d1/11/1873 M(1)Don David Jayatilleke Gooneratne (Mudliyar Galle0(M2-1852)Andrass Tennakoon.

8 Edmund Rowland Jayathilake Gooneratne, b:6/5/1845, educated at STC Mt Lavinia, Translator, later in 1896 became Mudaliyar, Joined govt service in 1865 as translator in Galle Kachcherie. Held the post of Asst.to AGA Matara.Police Magistrate Balapitiya. Registrar of Lands Galle.Retired in 1897 after 32 yrs of service. In 1883, in recognition of his services he was appointed Mudaliyar. In 1897, participated in Jubilee Celebrations in England, and was presented to Queen Victoria and the King. He owned several plantations in Galle,Matara and Hambantota. Translator later in 1883 became Mudaliyar + daughter of Mudaliyar J V Illangakoon in 1873. (3169)

                         8 2nd spouse of E R J Gooneratne, b:1845, educated at STC Mt Lavinia, Translator, later in 1896 became Mudaliyar, + Ms Tillakaratne (3 sons and 2 daughters)
                               9 Dr Valantine David Goonaratne, b:1874 STC (Surgeon Galle Hospital) + Clarice de Saram (d/o Peter de Saram 3126)
                             9 Miss Gooneratne + Abraham Dias Abeysinghe, b:1850

7 (3) Johanna Louisa Dias Bandaranayake b:12-Dec-1820-d2/9/1860 + John Martinus Paulus Pieris Siriwardena,b approx 1810 Mudaliyar, m:Nov-1851 (1005)

8 (1) Dr William Christoffel Pieris Siriwardena, b:1867, lived at 40,Silversmith Street Colombo. Educated at STC and later at Marischal College Aberdeen. He became a Senior medalist in Pathalogy and Bacteriology. He graduated in MBCM. He was a visiting Physician of General Hospital. Lecturer in clinical medicine at Medical College. District Medical Officer Haputale.Later Judical Medical Officer (see pic below) + Ethel Obeyesekere, (b:1885, d:1930), m:1915 (3051)(daughter of S.C Obeyesekere of Talpe Walauwa Galle.)

8 (3) Susana Elizebeth Pieris Siriwardena +Harry Willisford Dias Bandaranaike ,Mudliyar Siyane Korale b14/1/1861(Henry) m1893 -no issue.(Harry is a son of Conrad Peter Dias Bandaranayaka)

8 (5) Euginia Felicia Pieris Siriwardena +Edwin Vernon Gooneratne m1898 Mudaliyar

8 (7) John Louis Pieris Siriwardena (see pic below) b 1852 (educated at Royal College, Colombo) + Florence Elisa Bandaranaike born 22/9//1871-d16/8/1927, m:29/5/1895 (daughter of Conrad Peter Dias Bandaranaike b:1827) (1001) (ref: 20th Century impressions of Ceylon by Arnold Wright)(brother of Sir Paul Pieris)

9 Ethel Aexander Pieris (1895-1930)+ Lionel Welliington de Saram (See de Saram family tree)

8 (8) [23] Sir Paul E Pieris, b:16/2/1874-1955, educated at STC Mt Lavinia, Writer of Sinhala books and Historian, Barrister,Civil servant,Trinity Cambridge(He wrote the book Sinhalese families which was published in 1911.) + [24] Lady Hilda Obeyesekere

9 Paules Edward Pieris Deraniyagala 1900-1976 Director Museum, (Scientist,Zoologist)Harvard Uni + Prini Molamure (3117), m:28-Jun-1934

10 Siran Upendra Deraniyagala b1942 (Director General Archeology 1992-2001),STC,Trinity College Cambridge,Phd Harvard.)

9 Miriam Pieris Deraniyagala 1908-1999 + Robert de Saram (s/o F R de Saram) (3126)

9 Indrani Pieris b1909 +Ronald Doyne Seneviratne(1/7/1906-2/11/2001)m1936 (Director Medical Research Institute)STC,(Son of Abraham Isaac de Alwis Seneviratne,Mudliyar Wellaboda pattu Matara.)

9 [2] Chandra Pieris Deraniyagala b1921-d2007 + [1] Vaughn de Livera (3109) 1915-2003(STC Mt Lavinia)

7 (5) Conrad (Peter) Petrus Dias Wijewardena Bandaranayaka (Maha Mudliyar in 1857), b:24/2/1827-d14/7/1895.(Alukuru korale) Received medal from Governor Sir Arthur Hamilton Gordon for the period 1883-1890 (for friendship and assistance rendered) + Eliza Wijesekara De Saram b14/8/1834 (d of Valentine de Saram (m8/7/1852) (First owner of Pugoda Walauwwa)(13 children)(son of Johannes DB)

(David,Edwin,Henry Valentine,William,Henry Willisford,Johannes Franciscus,Eliza Cecilia,Anne,Venitia,Conrad Peter,Florence liza,Wilmot and Louis Edmund.)

8 (2) Edwin Valentine Dias Bandaranayaka,Mudliyar Siyane Korale,b1855-d4/11/1918,married on 1/5/1885,Matilda Magdalena Dias Bandaranayaka,no issue.

8 (4) William Cecil Dias Bandaranayake,b15/12/1859-d13/1/1925,(M1)Keppetipola Kumarihamy,(M2)Dangamuwe Kumarihamy-(m25/6/1885.)(5 children)

9 (1) Valentine Nilaperumal Dias Bandaranayaka b12/1/1894 +Elsie Bandaranayake (d of Peter Abraham Dias Bandaranayaka.(6 children)

9 (2) Luna Chandrawathie Dias Bandaranayaka,b15/11/1896 +RH Eheliyagoda (Registra) on 28/2/1928 M

9 (3) Indrani Dias Bandaranayaka,b6/4/1900 +(m1)A Bertram Pieris of Kalaniya -M1917,(m2)KB Halangoda

9 (4) Conrad Rama Chandra Dias Bandaranayaka,b19/2/1902 + Muriel Perera,d of John Harry Perera.

9 (5) Padmawathie Dias Bandaranayaka,b18/11/1904,+KB Alahakoon,Korale of Marasena Kandy on 6/6/1938.M.

8 (5) Henry Willisford Dias Bandaranayaka, b14/1/1861,Mudliyar of Siyane Korale,+ Susannha Elizebeth Pieris,(m30/6/1893) d of JMP Pieris.No issue.

8 (6) Johannes Franciscus Dias Bandaranayaka, b: 28/12/1862, He was educated at Royal College and St Thomas's College. He + M in 1902 Somawathi (daughter of Keppetipola Rate Mahatmaya of Matale). He managed the estates. Ref: 20th Century impressions of Ceylon page 525 of Arnold Wright. (9 children)

9 (4) Levania Dias Bandaranayaka,b25/12/1906 + Oswald Godwin Dias Bandaranayaka on 15/10/1931 M.

9 (5) Eliza Charmion Dias Bandaranayaka,b28/1/1909 + Albert Rienzie de Livera ,Inspector of Police,(m7/2/1935)(died of car accident in 1938)

10 Vivina de Livera (b approx 1936)+ Derek Walter Samarasinghe, b:1927 (John Keels)

                                              11 Suren Samarasinghe + Ruha Ratwatte b1960
                                                   12  Dharini Samarasinghe ( b1990)
                                                 12  Varunika Samarasinghe ( b1992)

11 Dr Ravindra Samarasinghe (1963-2007,) Leopard Conservationist Died in a car accident

9 (6) Chintamani Dias Bandaranayaka ,b18/3/1910 +(m1) Hellings H.W Ellawala,Excise Inspector.,divorced.(m2)Cyril Dissanayake ,Forest Ranger(m1945)

9 (8)Johannes Franciscus Dias Bandaranayake,b26/6/1914-d24/6/1944-unmarried.Shot dead by unknown person in Udunila Estate.

8 (7) Eliza Cecilia Dias Bandaranayake,b16/10/1864-d21/5/1930,(M1)Robert Edwin de Alwis-(1860-1920)(m18/12/1881),(M2)John Tillekeratne of Matara (m24/11/1884,(M3)James Samaradiwakara of Pelahela,(m19/9/1896)

8 (9) Venetia Dias Bandaranayake ,bJan 1868-d1943,(M1) Peter Abraham Dias Bandaranayaka,Mohandiram b10/11/1864,married 1889 (M2)James de Alwis of Panadura.

9 Venetia Rowena Dias Bandaranayaka b28/5/1890 -d28/3/1943, +Jayasundera of Horana.

9 Favorita Mildred Dias Bandaranayaka(b 16/7/1891) +John Henry Perera (b approx 1883)(Proctor)M 16/2/1911 (Kuruwe Walauwa)(cousin of Evelyn DB)

11 Mahinda Perera -Engineer(b1949-d2015)(migrated to Australia)+Nirmalee Gooneratne

8 (10) Conrad Peter Dias Bandaranayaka,b17/9/1869-d16/7/1926.Muhandiram of the Guard and Siyane Korale,+ Orta Ekanayake of Matara on M 17/9/1909.(6 children)

9 (2) Eliza Hilda Dias Bandaranayaka,b 23/7/1912-d29/5/2011 + Donald Asoka Obeyesekere,Barrister at Law,ASP,M22/10/1942

9 (5) Samuel Dias Bandaranayaka,(MP)b1/12/1917-d3/6/2014+ Swarna Ekanayake (d of Maha Mudaliyar Ekanayaka),Superintendent Land Corps.(first elected to parliament in 1952)(Stc Mtl)(Madugas Walauwwa Yakkala)

8 (11) [15] Florence Elisa Bandaranayaka, b:22/9/1871-d16/8/1927 + [14] John Louis Pieris, Shroff Mudaliyar.M1895,b:1852, brother of Sir Paul Pieris

John Louis Pieris Siriwardena b 1852 (educated at Royal College, Colombo) + Florence Elisa Bandaranaike born 22/9//1871-d16/8/1927, m:29/5/1895 (daughter of Conrad Peter Dias Bandaranaike b:1827) (1001) (ref: 20th Century impressions of Ceylon by Arnold Wright)

9 Ethel Aexander Pieris (1895-1930)+ Lionel Welliington de Saram (See de Saram family tree)

8 (12) Wilmot Earnest Dias Bandaranayake,b14/12/1872-d27/8/1908 + (m13/9/1900) Evangaline Maud Dias Bandaranayaka,d of Dr Abraham William Dias Bandaranayaka.

9 Evangaline Mabel Dias Bandaranayaka, b12/8/1901 (M1)Henry de Saram (M2) Prithie Wijesinghe on 27/8/1942

7 (6) Cornelia Dias Bandaranayaka b25/4/1831-d30/12/1866 +(m8/7/1852)John Henricus Perera.

7 (7) Dr Abraham William Dias Bandaranayaka,MD,Stschool in Colombo.Andrews,Edinburg,Colonial Surgeon Colombo.b23/4/1837-d5/11/1911 (Henerathgoda) +(m28/12/1869) Elizebeth Eugine Jayatilleke of Kurunegala. He is a son of Don Johannes Franciscus DB 1789-1862 and Fredricka de Saram (7 children).(Eugine,William,Evangaline,Fredrick,Reginald,Henry and Mabel.)(photo down below)

8 (1) Eugine Amelia Dias Bandaranayaka b1/10/1870 (died at childbirth at fort Jaffna Ceylon d7/3/1897,(supposed to be buried in Jaffna) + George William Woodhouse (born in Ramboda ,Gampola)(b29/11/1867-d1949)(died at 82 years at St Heller Jersey,Channel Islands)(M.A,cantab,C.C.S married on 22/6/1896.(He was in the Ceylon Civil Service.)(Qualified from Cambridge,Circuit Court Judge in Ceylon.Retired in 1927.)(As the mother died at child birth, Eugine Amelia Woodhouse was brought up by one of the family.Later George William Woodhouse (m2) married Alice Jocelyn Benett in Ceylon,later emigrated to Jersy UK where he had a family.(George William Woodhouse with Alice Benett had 2 children namely ,Renee Beatrice Woodhouse and Gerorge H Woodhouse.)(George William Woodhouse's father was Edmund Woodhouse born in England in 1841,was a traveller ,Journalist and a tea planter.seems to have arrived in Ceylon in 1865)

9 Eugenie Amelia Woodhouse(b 7/3/1897) (As her mother had died at child birth in 1897, she was cared by possibly by George William WoodHouse and the Governess from 1897 to 1905. From 1905 onwards,looked after by her uncle Fredrick Hugh Dias Bandaranayake and his wife Maria Frances Senanayake.By 1905 she would have been 7 years,and may have been sent to Ladies College boarding school.(Maria Frances Senanayake was the sister of DS Senanayake,1st Prime Minister of Ceylon.)(Amelia lived many years in Melbourne but died in Darwin on 11/10/1987) + Benjamin John Viirco Trench PeterThiedeman(Surveyor) (b 15/11/1889)(married 12/9/1916 ,At St Michael's and All Angel's Church Colombo)(his parents are John James Thiedman -Inspector of Police-b1844-d1900 and Julia Argina Kelaart 1852-1921) (had 6 children)

10 (1) William Benjamin Viirco (Bunny) Thiedeman b10/9/1917-6/9/2004+Doreen Vivienne Claessen 31/12/1918-28/6/2013 (married 21/11/1942 at St Paul's church Milagiriya)(d of Basil Norman Classen ,Surveyor)

10 (2) Noble Eila Amy Thiedeman (Girlie) b:16/11/1918- d 5/9/2013+(M9/10/1940)(M1) Ansel Dharmaratne.

10 (3) Duke Orlando Trench Thiedeman b30/6/1920 (deceased)+ Rosemary Kataleen Joyce Enright(b19/4/1929)(married in Nuwara Eliya-1947)(children live in Victoria)

10 (4) Princesse Eugene Thiedeman b12/9/1923-(m16/9/1943) died 23rd June 2019 at 95 years + Lt Colonol Anthony Vernon Arnolda (b16/4/1916-d19/8/2009)(was in the army in SL)(Married 16/9/1943)(died at 93)(moved to Aus in 2003.

11 Jeanne Arnolda b4/8/1944 (Works at Embassy of Brazil in Canberra Australia as at 2019)(lives in Canberra Australia)+ Jose William Braulio Gomes b 23/5/1941--30/4/2006 (from Goa ,became a Brazilian National)

11 Barbara Joan Arnolda + Brian Frank Antony (Australian)(lives in Geelong Vic)(Barbara was the 1st to come to Australia after marrying Brian)

8 (2) William Clement Dias Bandaranayaka b 6/3/1872. Inspector of Police and a planter.+Nancy Dagmar Dias Bandaranayaka (m 7th July 1906.)(4 Children)

9 (1) William Dias Bandaranayaka,b4/4/1907,ASP +Dorathy Tagora Dias Abeysinghe,(d of Abraham Dias Abeysinghe,Proctor of Galle) M30/10/1929

10 Prof William Senaka Dias Bandaranayaka(Archeologist lecturer Kelaniya University.),b23/4/1938-d2/3/2015 + Manel Fonseka

9 (2) Panini Dunstan Dias Bandaranayaka ,b2/11/1908,+Mallika Abeykoon on 3/1/1942.

9 (3) Stella Dias Bandaranayaka ,b22/12/1910,+Felix Tillekeratne (Inspector of Police)M17/4/1931

8 (3) Evangaline Maud Dias Bandaranayaka b2/2/1874 + Wilmot Earnest Dias Bandaranyaka (M13/9/1900)(1872-1908)(Son of Conrad Peter DB 1827-1895)

8 (4) Fredrick Hugh Dias Bandaranayaka ,b14/11/1875-d3/11/1936 Planter Ambagahalanda Estate Mirigama,+ Mary (Maria) Frances Senanayake, daughter of Mudliyar Don Spater Senanayake.(M14/12/1905)(4 children)

9 (1) Effie Manthri Dias Bandaranayaka ,b24/11/1906,+Hon,Mr John Lionel Kotalawela (Minister of communication and works)M8/8/1928,later divorced.(Prime Minister of Ceylon12/10/1953-12/04/1956)

9 (2) Gwendoline Frances Anula Dias Bandaranayaka,b23/12/1907,+ Shirly de Alwis (Government Architect)

9 (3) Gladys Sitano Dias Bandaranayake,b20/8/1912,(m1)John Francis Seneviratne,divorced,(m2) Lt Jayawardena a school master.

9 (4) Fredrick William Rama Chandra Dias Bandaranayaka (Theobroma Estate Kotadeniyawa) b22/6/1914,+(m1)Constance Don Carolis-M28/3/1939 Divorced in 1945

9 (4) Fredrick William Rama Chandra Dias Bandaranayaka (Theobroma Estate Kotadeniyawa) b22/6/1914,(m2)+Miss Irene Muthukumaru(b approx 1925) (d 1/9/2005) M1947 (Ambagahalanda Walauwa Kotadeniyawa)

8 (5) Reginald Edward Dias Bandaranayake,b 4/3/1878 (STC)(Irrigation dept)(Surveyor),+Flora Ethel Tennakoon Kumarihamy of Kurunegala (M21/2/1906)(d of CE Tennakoon Rate Mahatmaya.)(5 children)

9 (1) Edward Reginald Dias Bandaranayaka,b11/11/1906 (Resides at Wariyapola) +Merlyn (d21/9/2007)

9 (2) Ethel Flora Leelawathie Dias Bandaranayake,b 6/2/1909,+Henry Arthur Wijesinghe (M30/10/1940)

9 (4) Ethel Rupawathie Dias Bandaranayake ,b13/7/1913,+Edward Neville Jayatilleke,(M-june 1944)

9 (5) Indrawathie Dias Bandaranayaka,b May,1922,+ J Arthur Amaratunga,M-Dec 1940.

8 (6) Henry Ernest Dias Bandaranayaka ,b3/2/1880,Proctor of the Supreme Court, and Assistant Commissioner of Excise,+Margret Clarice Dias Bandaranayake (d of Ernest Cornelis Dias Bandaranayake )(M18/11/1915)(3 children)

9 (1) Irene Margret Dias Bandaranayaka,b3/1/1917,+Walter E Samarasinghe,M-3/1/1942.

6 (5) Dona Maria Katherina Dias Bandaranayaka b1791 + Johannes Welhelmus Dias Abeysinghe Mohottiar (See Dias Abeysinghe family tree 3170

7 Dona Florentina Dias Abeysinghe b1790+m 29/11/1809 Marappulige Simon de Livera (son of Balthazar de Livera) (his 2hd marriage)

8 Fredrick John de Livera, bp:9/10/1813)(District Judge Matara,Tangalle)d1854 (Fredrick died of cholera at age 44 in 1854.)(educated at Baptists of Calcutta India.)

9 Fredrick de Livera (FJ de Livera district judge Tangalle 1880 ?)(Fred)+Amelia de Saram.

8 Johanna Petronella de Livera bp 6/3/1815 (daughter of Marappuli appuhamilage Don Simon de Livera.)(5 children)+Conrad Peter Dias Bandaranaike (Mohandiram)b 1830,M approx 1860 (Conrad Peter DB is a son of Don Solomon Dias Bandaranaike.)

9 (1) Annie Cornelia Dias Bandaranaike,b29/9/1861-18/4/1939,+ John Davd Perera,Gate Mudaliyar and Mudaliyar,Siyane Korale East,M22/8/1870

9 (2) Matilda Magdalena Dias Bandaranaike,b8/9/1863-d6/5/1899,+ Edwin Valentine Dias Bandaranaike,Gate Mudaliyar,M 1/5/1885.

9 (3) Peter Abraham Dias Bandaranayaka (Mohandiram),b10/11/1864-d11/1/1915 +Venitia Dias Bandaranaike (d of CP Dias Bandaranayaka Maha Mudaliyar.M1889

10 Favorita Mildred Dias Bandaranayaka(b 16/7/1891) +John Henry Perera (b approx 1880)(Proctor)M 16/2/1911 (Kuruwe Walauwa)(cousin of Evelyn DB)

12 Mahinda Perera (Engineer) (b1949-d2015)(migrated to Australia)+Nirmalee Gooneratne

7 Florentina Dias Abeysinghe bp 15/10/1795 + Phillip Wijekoon Panditharatne Mohandiram (3 children)

6 (8) Dona Isabella Susanah Dias Bandaranayaka b1793 + Paules Perera Ekanayake,Muhandiram of Hewagam Korale (Isabella is a daughter of CPDB b1747)

6 (9) Corneliya Bandaranayaka b1795.M1801 d4/1/1860.+ Jehan Godfred Phillipsz Panditharatne (3rd Maha Mudaliyar)

7 Phillipz Gysbertus Panditharatne Mohandiram + Florentina Dias Abeysinghe (d of JW Dias Abeysinghe)

7 2nd spouse of Phillipz Gysbertus Panditharatne Mohandiram + Angenitta Catherina (d/o Perera Ekanayake Mudaliyar)

7 Gertruda Auganita Phillipsz + John Dias Bandaranayaka Mohandiram(M28/6/1842, d25/3/1877)(Son of Don Cornelis Dias Bandaranayaka)

7 John Leonard Wijekoon Panditharatne Phillipsz Mudaliyar + Susana Illangakoon (d of Don David Illangakoon Maha Mudaliyar) (3169)

5 (9) Don Daniel Dias Wijewardene Banaranayaka (Mohandiram Siyane Korale) bap 16/2/1748 + Dona Clara Amarasekere, m:Jan-13-1773 (3068)(d of Samuel Amarasekera,Mudliyar of Hapitagam Korale)

                     6 (1) Don Solomon Dias Bandaranaike, Mudaliyar of Siyane Korale, 1^st Udagaha Mudaliyar,b:1774 d15/9/ 1859.(6 chidren)(Christoffel,Conelia Susanha,Harriet,Conrad Peter,Johanna and Elizebeth)
                        1^st married (m:17/6/1805) Johanna Petrenella de Livera bp6/9/1780 (d/o Balthazar de Livera Mudaliyar)
                        2nd married in 1839 Corneliya de Saram b1820 (d/o Phiepsz Panditharatne,Maha Mudaliyar)

d:Sep-15-1859, He assisted as interpreter on 10^th Feb 1815 when Sri Wickrema Rajasinghe the last King of Kandy was taken to Colombo, and then, who was later taken to India. He was present at the signing of the Kandyan Convention with the British on 2hd March 1815. Don Solomon Dias Bandaranaike was Mudaliyar for 2 Patthus of Siyane Korale East, near the Kandyan border. He received a Gold Medal and land grants in 1803 for his services. He marshaled labor through the Rajakariya System and built the Colombo Kandy Road. He received a gold medal from Governor Brownrigg in 1818. + Cornelia Philipsz Panditharatne de Saram b:1820, (grand-daughter of Susanna Scharff & Rev Henricus Philipsz), m:1839 (1002,1006)

7 (1) Don Christoffel Henricus Dias Abeywickrema Jayatilake Seneviratne Bandaranaike, b:1826 (Mudaliyar, Governers Gate, 2nd Udagaha Mudaliyar,Justice of the Peace)Siyane Korale b:1826 -d1/2/1890+ Anna Florentina Philipsz Panditharatne(6 children)(Cornelia Henrietta,Alice,Sir Solomon,Amy,Eliza and Charlotte.)

8 (1) [29] Cornelia Henrietta Dias Bandaranayaka (missie) b22/10/1855-d15/7/1935+ [30] James Peter Obeyesekere 1, Proctor of Supreme Court,and Member of the Legislative Council.Barrister,(son of Cornelia Sussana DB and DBF Obeyesekere)(4children)

9 (1) [24] Lady Hilda Obeyesekere + [23] Sir Paules Edward Pieris, (Civil Servent, Historian), b:16/2/1874-d1955, educated at STC Mt Lavinia, Writer of Sinhala books and Historian, (He wrote the book Sinhalese families which was published in 1911.)m1905, Barrister in 1895,Royal Asiatic Society.

10 Paules Edward Pieris Deraniyagala 1906-1976 Director Museum Ceylon, (Scientist,Zoologist) + Prini Molamure (3117), m:28-Jun-1934 ,STC ,Harvard Uni.

(It is believed that around 1950, he sold 4 acres of land to STC.and he had 4 acres balance in Mount Lavinia.)

11 Siran Upendra Deraniyagala b1942,(Director General Archeology 1992-2001,STC,Trinity College Cambridge,Phd Harvard.)

10 Miriam Pieris Deraniyagala 1908-1999 + Robert de Saram (s/o F R de Saram) (3126)

9 (2) ***[22] Sir James Peter Obeyesekere II, Kt, M.A, Maha Mudaliyar & Chief Interpreter to his Excellency the Governor of Ceylon. Barrister at-Law, Advocate of the Supreme Court, Justice of Peace, District Commissioner. 1879-1968, Educated at STC Mt Lavinia + [21] Amy Estelle Dias Bandaranaike (1001)b10/8/1893, M17/6/1914 (d of Walter Dias Bandaranayaka)

10 James Peter Obeyesekere III (Late MP Attanagalla, Deputy Minister of Health and Finance and Senator 1960-65, Royal College, Cambridge. Qualified as a pilot, Batadola Walauwwe Nittambuwa, Royal College, Colombo 7, d:23 Oct 2007 + Sivagami Dassanaike (Siva Obeyesekere-Minister of Health 1970) Founder of Laksala

9 (3) Donald Obeyesekere (1888-1964)(Member of the State Council and Legislative Council)(STC) Introduced Boxing.+ Johanna Ethel Perera (6 children)

10 (1) [27] Danton Obeyesekere(m19/5/1938) + [28] Ruby Grace Dias Bandaranaike(d of Harry Peter DB) b29/1/1919-18/12/2012 (sister of Alick Dias Bandaranaike, d:Aug 1 2007, see obit below, & Bernard DB, aunt of Arun DB)

11 Sita Cornelia Pieris d 13/4/2017+Cecil Perera (son of Mudaliyar Eric Perera) Sita could play the Piano.

(Wimala was a tennis player. Was the games captain at Ladies College.Migrated to USA.died in Washinton.)

11 Henry Sri Mevan Pieris b:1946 (Bsc,Msc,MBA,FPRI(uk)(cricketer STC-1964/65 & Sri Lanka) + Dr Nirmala Gunathilake

10 (3) Asoka Obeyesekere (Barrister &ASP)+ Eliza Hilda Dias Bandaranayaka,b23/7/1912- d:28th May 2011 (d of Conrad Peter DB)
OBEYSEKERE - ELIZA HILDA - Wife of the late Asoka, mother of Stanley, mother-in-law of Nelun, grandmother of Hasha, Asoka and Anouk, sister of Sam (SD) Bandaranayake and the late Peter, Hector, Ann and Edwin Dias Bandaranayake, expired. Cortege leaves residence11/5, Rajakeeya Mawatha, Colombo 7 at 4.15 p.m. on Tuesday 31st May, Cremation at General Cemetery, Kanatte at 5.00 p.m. DN May 30 2011

12 Anouk Chanmugam (Golf) + George Ajit Zal Chitty (SL Rifle Shooting Team at Olympics)

8 (2) Alice Dias Bandaranaike b3/5/1860-1910 + John Louis Perera ,Proctor of Supreme Court.

8 (3) [20] Sir Don Solomon Dias Abeywickrema Jayatilleke Senewiratna Rajakumaruna Kadukeralu Bandaranaike, b 22/5/1862-d 31/7/1946 (Maha Mudaliyar)(K.C.M.G)(JP) b:22-May-1862, d:31-Jul-1946, Kt. Commander of the most distinguished order of St. Michael and St. George, Horogolla Walauwwa, St Thomas' College, Mohandiram 1882. Mudliyar Siyane Korale, After returning from UK, Governor Arthur Havelock awarded Maha Mudaliyar title and All Island JP. In 1897 went to UK as official representative for diamond jubilee celebration and received medal. In 1902 revisited UK. Received Coronation Medal and KCMG + [21] Lady Daisy Ezline Obeyesekere (d/o S.Christoffel & Lady Obeyesekere) m:Apr-1898

9 Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike b:8-Jan 1899, d:26-Sep-1959, (Prime Minister of Sri Lanka 1956-59, Assassinated by a Buddhist Monk on September 25, 1959), St Thomas' College, educated as a lawyer in UK, University of Oxford. Became Secretary of Oxford Union in 1923, called to the bar in 1925, Member of the State Council in 1931, Formed the Sinhala Maha Sabha in 1937, Active in the UNP 1945-51 and established the SLFP after 1951, Prime Minister 1956-59, To solve the ethnic issue he signed the Bandaranaike-Chelvanaygam pact, which was repudiated due to a campaign led by the Buddhist Clergy. Made Sinhala the official Language + Sirimavo Ratwatta, b:17/4/1916, d:10/10/2000, m:2-Oct-1940 (First woman Prime Minister in the World, Prime Minister, 1960-65, 1970-77, 1994-2000) (3060) Wikipedia Account of Sirimavo

10 Chandrika Dias Bandaranaike, b:29/6/1945, Early education at St Bridgets Convent, Colombo, and graduated in Political Science at Sorbonne University in Paris, Formed the Peoples Alliance (PA) Party, President of Sri Lanka 1994-2005 + Vijaya Kumaratunga, Film Actor, Assasinated 1988

11 Yasodhara Kumaratunga + Roger Walker (UK), m:Jun 2007 in UK (see wedding pics below)

10 Anura Dias Bandaranaike b: Feb-15-1949, d:Mar 15, 2008, Educated at Royal College, Member of Parliament 1977 to 2007, Minister Higher Education 1993, Foreign Minister 2005, Leader of the opposition, Speaker of the House, Minister of Tourism/Heritage 2007

9 Alexandra Cornelia Dias Bandaranaike b26/8/1903, lived at "Samudragiri" Walauwa in Mount Lavinia + Leo G. De Alwis (M15/8/1923)

11 (3) Charmaine Eheliyagoda, Attorney-at-Law, a member of the National Police Commission appointed by H.E.The President of Sri Lanka + Lakshman Madurasinghe, m:1979 held at All Saints Church Hulftsdorp in Aug 1979 + Professor Lakshman Madurasinghe, born in Galle, STC Prep School Kollupitiya 1959-1960 (LKG/UKG), STC Mount Lavinia 1961-72, Attorney at Law, Chartered Fellow CIPD UK: University of Brighton, Sr.International Governor AUGP USA and Chairman Medicina Alternativa.

12 Rosanth Lakshan Madurasinghe, a graduate of the University of London (England). + Nishani Fernando of Wennappuwa on July 7 2007; 13 Romaan Madurasinghe

9 Anna Florentina Dias Bandaranaike b 20/7/1900 + Abraham de Livera of Ampitigala Kalutara District.(M23/6/1922)

8 (4) Amy Clara Dias Bandaranaike b17/12/1866-d16/5/1946+ Edwardo Roversi, m:1891 in Italy.

8 (5) Elizabeth Mary Dias Bandaranaike b15/5/1867-d12/41898+ Walter de Livera, CCS,Dy Fiscal Colombob:1863, (Royal College), Police Magistrate in 1898), m:12/4/1898

10 Reginold Walter Dias Bandaranaike 3/3/1921-17/11/2009 + Norah Hunter Crabb d1980

8 (6) Charlotte Matilda Dias Bandaranaike, b:18/11/1869-d29/4/1896 + Solomon Seneviratne, (see pic below) b:1860, educated at Queen's College and The Colombo Academy (later Royal College, (s/o Don Hermanis Seneviratne, Mohandiram of Siyane Korale,later Atapattu Mudaliyar, grandson of Don Carolis Seneviratne, Mudaliyar of Kalutara, great grandson of Don Louis Seneviratne, Modaliyar of the same place.), m:1885 (3108)

7 (2) Corneliya Susanna Dias Bandaranaike b22/9/1827 -d14/5/1896+ (First Bed) Don Bastian Ferdinandus Obeyesekere (3051) of talpe pattu Galle (m1842)

8 (1) [19] Sir Solomon Christoffeild Obeyesekere, b:12 Feb 1848, d:13 Oct 1927), MLC,Royal & STC Mt. Lavinia, Sinhalese representative in the Legislative Council ,Knited in 1911+ [18] Lady Ezline Maria de Alwis (d of James de Alwis and Florence DB)(4 children) (Town rescidence hill castle Badulla)

9 (1) [21] Daisy Ezline Obeyesekere, b:1898 + [20] Sir Don Solomon Dias Abeywickrema Jayatilleke Senewiratna Rajakumaruna Kadukeralu Bandaranaike (Maha Mudaliyar) b:22-May-1862, d:31-Jul-1946, Kt. Commander of the most distinguished order of St. Michael and St. George, Horogolla Walauwwa, St Thomas' College, Mohandiram 1882. Mudliyar Siyane Korale, After returning from UK, Governor Arthur Havelock awarded Maha Mudaliyar title and All Island JP. In 1897 went to UK as official representative for diamond jubilee celebration and received medal. In 1902 revisited UK. Received Coronation Medal and KCMG, m:Apr-1898

10 Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike b:8-Jan 1899, d:26-Sep-1959, (Prime Minister of Sri Lanka 1956-59, Assassinated by a Buddhist Monk on September 25, 1959), St Thomas' College, educated as a lawyer in UK, University of Oxford. Became Secretary of Oxford Union in 1923, called to the bar in 1925, Member of the State Council in 1931, Formed the Sinhala Maha Sabha in 1937, Active in the UNP 1945-51 and established the SLFP after 1951, Prime Minister 1956-59, To solve the ethnic issue he signed the Bandaranaike-Chelvanaygam pact, which was repudiated due to a campaign led by the Buddhist Clergy. Made Sinhala the official Language + Sirimavo Ratwatta, b:17/4/1916, d:10/10/2000, m:2-Oct-1940 (First woman Prime Minister in the World, Prime Minister, 1960-65, 1970-77, 1994-2000) (3060) Wikipedia Account of Sirimavo

12 Yasodhara Kumaratunga + Roger Walker, m:Jun 2007 in UK (see wedding pics below)

11 Anura Dias Bandaranaike b: Feb-15-1949, d:Mar 15, 2008, Educated at Royal College, Member of Parliament 1977 to 2007, Minister Higher Education 1993, Foreign Minister 2005, Leader of the opposition, Speaker of the House, Minister of Tourism/Heritage 2007

10 Alexandra Camelia Bandaranaike,b26/8/1903 lived at "Samudragiri" Walauwa in Mount Lavinia + Leo G. De Alwis (M1923)

13 Rosanth Lakshan Madurasinghe, a graduate of the University of London (England). + Nishani Fernando of Wennappuwa on July 7 2007; 14 Romaan Madurasinghe

9 (2) Ethel Obeyesekere (b1885,d 1930,m1915 (d of SC Obeyesekere)+ Dr William Christoffel Pieris Siriwardena, b:1867, lived at 40,Silversmith Street Colombo. Educated at STC and later at Marischal College Aberdeen. He became a Senior medalist in Pathalogy and Bacteriology. He graduated in MBCM. He was a visiting Physician of General Hospital. Lecturer in clinical medicine at Medical College. District Medical Officer Haputale.Later Judical Medical Officer (see pic below)

9 (3) Forester Augustus Obeyesekere,7/8/1880-26/12/1961(Speaker) (State Councillor)Captained Royal College Cricket team. + Isabel Sykes

                         10 Surangani Illangakoon
                         10 Panini Illangakoon (MP)(M1)+ Effi Samarakkody (3118)
                               11 Pani Illangakoon (2)
                          10 Panini Ilangakoon (MP forWeligama)(M2) +) Lily Goonasekere
                              11 Dr Gamini Ilangakoon + Deepthi
                                       12 Sanka Ilangakoon
                                       12 Sulakna Ilangakoon

8 (2) [25] James Peter Obeyesekere I + [26] Corneliya Henrietta Dias Bandaranayaka b22/10/1855-d15/7/1935 (Missie)(d of Chrisstoffel Dias Bandaranayaka)(4 children)(JPO 1 Premature deceased)

9 (1) [24] Lady Hilda Obeyesekere + [23] Sir Paules Edward Pieris, (Civil Servent, Historian), b:1853, educated at STC Mt Lavinia, Writer of Sinhala books and Historian, (He wrote the book Sinhalese families which was published in 1911.)

10 Paules Edward Pieris Deraniyagala 1900-1976 Director Museum, (Scientist,Zoologist) + Prini Molamure (3117), m:28-Jun-1934

10 Miriam Pieris Deraniyagala 1908-1999 + Robert de Saram (s/o F R de Saram) (3126)

9 (2) ***[22] Sir James Peter Obeyesekere II, Kt, M.A, Maha Mudaliyar & Chief Interpreter to his Excellency the Governor of Ceylon. Barrister at-Law, Advocate of the Supreme Court, Justice of Peace, District Commissioner. 1879-1968, Educated at STC Mt Lavina + [21] Amy Estelle Dias Bandaranaike (1001)

9 (3) Donald Obeyesekere (1888-1964)(Member of State Council and Legislative Council)(STC)+ Johanna Ethel Perera

10 (1) [27] Danton Obeyesekere(m19/5/1938)(1895-1974) + [28] Ruby Grace Dias Bandaranayaka(d of Harry Peter DB) 29/1/1919-18/12/2012 (sister of Alick Dias Bandaranayaka, d:Aug 1 2007, see obit below, & Bernard DB, aunt of Arun DB)

11 Henry Sri Mevan Pieris b:1946 (Bsc,Msc,MBA,FPRI(uk)(cricketer STC-1964/65 & Sri Lanka) + Dr Nirmala Gunathilake

10 (3) Asoka Obeyesekere (Barrister &ASP)+ Eliza Hilda Dias Bandaranaike,23/7/1912- d:May 2011 (d of Conrad Peter DB0
OBEYSEKERE - ELIZA HILDA - Wife of the late Asoka, mother of Stanley, mother-in-law of Nelun, grandmother of Hasha, Asoka and Anouk, sister of Sam (SD) Bandaranayake and the late Peter, Hector, Ann and Edwin Dias Bandaranayake, expired. Cortege leaves residence11/5, Rajakeeya Mawatha, Colombo 7 at 4.15 p.m. on Tuesday 31st May, Cremation at General Cemetery, Kanatte at 5.00 p.m. DN May 30 2011

12 Anouk Chanmugam (Golf) + George Ajit Zal Chitty (SL Rifle Shooting Team at Olympics)

7 (2) 2nd spouse of [9] Cornelia Susanna Elizabeth Dias Bandaranayake 1827-14/5/1896 + [8] Rev. Canon Samuel William Dias Bandaranayaka (Colombo)(m29/9/1859)(4 children)

8 (1) William Chapman Dias Wijewardena Bandaranayaka b:9/6/1860 -28/6/1915 (nephew of Sir Harry Dias Bandaranaike and step brother of Sir James Peter Obeyesekere), Born in 9/3/1860. Educated at St Thomas' College and Royal College, Colombo. Took charge of the estates and plantation management. + Rachel Leelawathie Asmadale, m:12/2/1896 (Niece of T B Panabokke)(2 children)

9 Samuel William Copleston.Dias Bandaranayaka, b:3/7/1897 + Irene de Silva, m:9/6/1927 (d of Gate Mudaliyar George de Silva)

10 (1) Shelly Lakshman Dias Bandaranayaka (legal draftsman)(Barrister at-law) b15/3/1928- d14/1/2016+ Manthri Amarasekera (3068)(d of Johanna Amarasekere and Don Johannes Dassenaike)

10 (2) Tissa Dias Bandaranayaka (Supreme Court Judge) ,Ambassodor to Indonesia,Played cricket for STC, b30/8/1932-d1/6/2001+ Johanna Tworeck

8 (2) Felix Reginald Dias Bandaranayaka, b:26-Jul-1861, d:30-Jan-1947, educated at Royal & St Thomas’ College), Qualifications Cambridge BA,LLB degree. Became District Judge Colombo in 1897, Legal profession + Annie Lucy (Florence) D' Alwis (third daughter of James de Alwis) m:14 Apr-1890 (3 children)

9 (1) Reginald Felix Dias Bandaranayaka, Dr. b:17-Jan-1891, d:26-Oct-1951(Judge) + (1) “Princess” Joy De Livera (d of Walter de Livera)(m28/8/1919)

10 Reginald Walter Michael Dias Bandaranayaka (Royal College)(Barrister,at Camridge,home guard of the Royal Air Force.)3/3/1921-17/11/2009+ Norah Hunter-Crabbe (UK)

9 2nd spouse of Reginald Felix Dias Bandaranayaka, Dr. b:17-Jan-1891, d:26-Oct-1951 +(2) Freda Muriel Dias Abeyesinghe (d of Nicholas Dias Abeysinghe of Galle)m10/10/1924

10 Felix Dias Bandaranayaka, b:5-Nov-1930, d:26-Jun-1985 (Minister of Public Administration,Local Govt,Home Affairs& Justice 1970-77) + Muthulakshmi Jayasundera

9 (2) Annette Lena Dias Bandaranayaka, 16/8/1894-1982 + Roland William Ilangakoon LLB,Attorney General of Ceylon,(3169)(m10/4/1914)

10 Nannette Christine Ilangakoon, d:Aug 5 2006 in Australia + Lyn (ECG) Wickremasinghe (3103), was the GM of Bank of Ceylon in the seventies, is a second cousin of Esmund Wickremasinghe, father of Ranil Wickremasinghe (UNP)

9 (3) Samuel (Sammy) James Felix Dias Bandaranayaka, 1902-1969, Agricultural Department + Esther Ramkeesoon (Trinidad).(3 children)

10 (1) Gwendolyn Esther Dias Bandaranayaka,(Bishop's College Principal) b 16/12/1929 died 7/2/2004 + Roland Dias Abeysinghe (Son of Abraham Dias Abeysinghe and Eva Gooneratne)

10 (3) Yasmine Dias Bandaranayaka, b:22/12/1935, University professor Pacific (Fiji). + Dr. Brendon Goneratne (Australia)

8 (3) Rosamund Dias Bandaranayaka b20/9/1862-d15/12/1944 + John Henry Illangakoon (Mudaliyar Welgam Korale) (3169),b approx 1850, M31/8/1881.(8 children)

9 (2) J Roland William Ilangakoon (25th Attorney General appointed in 1936),(3169)+Annette Lena Dias Bandaranayaka 1894-1982(d of Felix Reginold DB)

                                      11 Michael Illangakoon + Shivani Wanniarachchi
                                           12 Deshan Ilangakoon
                                           12 Yasara Ilangakoon
                                   10 Merril Ilangakoon + Gertrude
                                      11 Gihan Ilangakoon
                                9 (4)   Carl Sepala Ilangakoon (Planters Association) STC (1923-2009) + Sunethra Senevratne
                                      10 Yevindra Ilangakoon + Ymara Dharmaratne
                                           11 Yenushka Ilangakoon
                                           11 Yovan Ilangakoon
                                      10 Riyanjani Ilangakoon+Dhamitha Perera
                                            11 Shamitha Perera
                                            11 Preshith Perera
                                            11 Rishan Perera

                                9 (5) Blanche Illangakoon
                                9 (6) Hilda Illangakoon
                                9 (7) Opatissa Illangakoon + Yolande Obeyesekere
                                9 (8) S. William Illangakoon (chin) Mudaliyar + Lillian Obeyesekere
                                   10 Surangani Illangakoon
                                   10 Panini Illangakoon b26/11/1919 MP for Weligama (m1)+ Effi Samarakkody (3118)
                                       11 Pani Illangakoon (2)
                                      10 Panini Ilangakoon (MP forWeligama)(m2) + (2) Lily Goonasekere
                                           11 Dr Gamini Ilangakoon + Deepthi
                                            12 Sanka Ilangakoon
                                            12 Sulakna Ilangakoon

8 (4) Amy Dias Badaranayaka (29/9/1865-3/11/1944) + Walter Dias Bandaranayaka (Gate Mudliyar), m:8/9/1892 (3 children)

9 [21] Amy Estelle Dias Bandaranayaka,b10/8/1893 (M17/6/1914) + [22] James Peter Obeyesekere II, Maha Mudaliyar (3051)1879-1968
10 James Peter Obeyesekere III (Late MP Attanagalla, Deputy Minister of Health and Finance and Senator 1960-65, Royal College, Cambridge. Qualified as a pilot, Batadola Walauwwe Nittambuwa, Royal College, Colombo 7, d:23 Oct 2007 + Sivagami Dassanaike (Siva Obeyesekere-Minister of Health 1970) Founder of Laksala

9 Evelyn Muriel Dias Bandaranayaka b4/7/1904+ George R de Silva (MP)(Barrister)(M21/7/1927)

9 Stephen Walter Dias Bandaranayaka b11/8/1895+ Ethel Dias Abeysinghe (Ladies College) (d of Nicholas Dias Abeysinghe of Galle) M24/10/1918 (3 children)

10 (3) Crystal Etinne Dias Bandaranayaka b7/10/1927+(M1) Leonard Dias Bandaranayaka(Son of Harry Peter DB)

11 Roshanara Dias Bandaranayaka + Sunil Bandaranayaka (Son of Kingsley de Saa Bandaranayaka and Trixie Seneviratne)

7 (4) Conrad Peter Dias Bandaranaike (Mohandiram) b approx 1830,M approx 1860+Johanna Petronela de Livera (daughter of Marappuli appuhamilage Don Simon de Livera.)(5 children)(Annie,Matilda,Peter Abraham,Martha and James.)

8 (1) Annie Cornelia Dias Bandaranaike,b29/9/1861-18/4/1939,+ John Davd Perera,Gate Mudaliyar and Mudaliyar,Siyane Korale East,M22/8/1870

8 (2) Matilda Magdalena Dias Bandaranaike,b8/9/1863-d6/5/1899,+ Edwin Valentine Dias Bandaranaike,Gate Mudaliyar,M 1/5/1885.

8 (3) Peter Abraham Dias Bandaranayaka (Mohandiram),b10/11/1864-d11/1/1915 +Venitia Dias Bandaranaike (d of CP Dias Bandaranayaka Maha Mudaliyar.M1889

9 Favorita Mildred Dias Bandaranayaka(b 16/7/1891) +John Henry Perera (b approx 1880)(Proctor)M 16/2/1911 (Kuruwe Walauwa)(cousin of Evelyn DB)

11 Mahinda Perera (Engineer) (b1949-d2015)(migrated to Australia in 1990)+Nirmalee Gooneratne

8 (4) Martha Sisera Dias Bandaranaike,b 20/6/1865-d23/1/1904,+John Harry Perera,(Son of Maha Mudliyar J Perera.)

7 (6) Elizabeth Dias Bandaranaike + J M Paulus Pieris Siriwardena (See Pieris Deraniyagala family tree)

                    6 (2) Don William Adrian Dias Bandaranaike b:1776, (Interpreter to the British when King Sri Wickrema Rajasinghe was captured in 1815)(Mohandiram of the Governor's Gate)+Johanna Elizebeth Amarasekera
                         7 Adrian Dias Bandaranaike, b:1800
                              8 Johanna Dias Bandaranaike, b:1830 + J J de Silva Gravet (Mohandiram)
                                   9 James Alexander de Silva b:1867

7 Don Johannes Peter Dias Bandaranayaka b approx 1820,d25/9/1901+ daughter of Revd Dias of Hanwella.

8 James Solomon Dias Bandaranayaka ,(M1)Miss Silva, (M2)Miss Amarasekara,and was residing at Walpitamulla near NaiwalaVeyangoda and had 9 children.

6 (3) Lieutenant Suwithan Dias Bandaranaike (Commanding officer of the Sinhalese Regiment (unmarried)

6 (5) Dona Florentina Dias Bandaranaike +Don Hendrick de Alwis,Mudaliyar of Kandy Kachcherie (b approx 1772),M 30/6/1811

7 Sieckbertus Daniel de Alwis,bp 7/8/1814 + Depanchy de Saram (sister of Leonard de Saram b1814)

9 Daniel Albert de Alwis b approx 1840-d30/8/1903+Grace Rosalin Bandaranayaka b 4/10/1876-d21/2/1923

10 (3) Leonard de Alwis + Alexandra Dias Bandaranayake b26/8/1903(M15/8/1923(3 children)(d of Sir Solomon Dias Bandaranaike)lived at Samudragiri walauwwa

13 Rosanth Lakshan Madurasinghe, a graduate of the University of London (England). + Nishani Fernando of Wennappuwa on July 7 2007; 14 Romaan Madurasinghe

6 Louisa Dias Bandaranaike b:30/1/1785 + Johannes de Livera, (son of Marappuli Appuhamilage Hendrick de Livera), m:21-Jun-1812 (3109)

5 (10) Don Alexander Dias Bandaranayaka, bp:6 Sep 1751+Anganita Pieris (d of Welhelmus PierisSamarawira Siriwardene,Mohandiram of the Guard.)(2 children)

6 (1) Elizebeth Dias Bandaranaike,(b approx 1785) m:1^st Nov 1807, (d/o Don Alexander Dias Bandaranaike), (Grand daughter of Don Francisco Dias Bandaranaike b:1720 Mudaliyar), (Francisco Bandaranaike is the great great great grand father of SWRD Bandaranaike) + Marappulige Don Simon de Livera Samaranayake Senewiratne Mudaliyar, bp: 4^th May 1779, Mudaliyar Hewagam Korale, 3^rd Attapattu Mudliyar,

(Elizebeth de Livera nee Bandaranaike may have died around 1808 or 1809,after the birth of Cornelius de Livera bp1808. As a result Simon de Livera has a 2hd marriage on 29/11/1809.)

By the year 1808,Balthasar de Livera had his 2hd marriage to Ana Dias Bandaranaike.Ana de Livera nee Bandaranaike adopts,Simon de Livera's son Cornelius de Livera.By Ana de Livera nee Bandaranaike,will dated 3/5/1828 she gives lot of property to Cornelius de Livera.)

7 [8] Charlotte Fredricka de Livera + [7] Franciscus de Livera, Mudliyar Alukuru Korale

8 Dr Edwin Simon Ernest de Livera b:25-May-1849, see pic below (Member of British Medical Association), Educated at Colombo Acadamy. In 1870 received Jijeebhoy scholarship Calcutta. In 1873 went to Glasgow and obtained MBCM in 1877.And in 1894 he was senior medical officer in EP, Ceylon. 1900 Provincial Surgeon of NW province and Sabaragamuwa. Resided in Kandy. Colonial Surgeon + Alexandra Eliza Speldewine (Maartensz) from Batticaloa. b15/7/1863.(Eliza Maartinsz in her 1^st marriage with Francis Speldewine (b31/3/1849-d30/5/1887) had by him 6 children.)

8 Walter de Livera, b:1863, (Royal College, Colombo), Police Magistrate & Commissioner of Requests at Chilaw and Marawila in 1898. Occupied similar positions since 1902 at Gampola and Nawalapitiya. Served as Private Secretary,first to Sir Harry Dias Bandaranaike and later to Sir Archibald Cambell Laurie. Walter de Livera’s home was in Veyangoda, and he was fond of Horticulture. Member of the Orient Club and Turf Club and also of the Ceylon Agricultural Society. + Elizabeth Mary Dias Bandaranaike b:15/5/1867, m:12/4/1898 (Sister of Sir Soloman Dias Bandaranaike(Maha Mudaliyar) (1001)

9 "Princess" de Livera (Joy), b:1900 + Reginold Felix Dias Bandaranaike, (Bunny) b:1891, d:1951, m:1921 (1001)RFDB was a lawyer and a Judge.Was educated at Royal and Cambridge.

10 Reginold Walter Michael Dias Bandaranaike (Barrister QC) b3/3/ 1921-d17/11/2009 + Norah Hunter Crabb

7 Cornelius de Livera (bp:27/11/1808)(Mudaliyar Pasdum Korale) + Isabella Petronella Dias Bandaranayaka (1001)b1825-d24/2/1894 (Cornelius de Livera,received from the will of Ana Dias Bandaranaike,wife of Balthasar de Livera,a Walauwa at Wolfendhal, land at Hendala and Hanwella.Will date-3/5/1828)(Isabella DB is a daughter of Don Bastian Franciscus Dias Bandaranayaka)

8 James de Livera (lawyer)b approx 1850 + Fredricka Dias Abeyasinghe (Sister of Rev Abraham Dias Abeysinghe)(d of Abraham Dias Abeysinghe Wijewardene Mudaliyar b1820-Guard Mudaliyar)

12 *****Richard de Zoysa (Journalist/Actor),1958-1990 STC Mt Lavinia (assasinated)

9 (4) Albert Dunstan Egbert de Livera (District Engineer Puttalam)b approx 1870+(Married in Mutwal 10/2/1902)Louisa Alexandra Seneviratne b approx 1882-d 11/9/1964 (d of Alexander de Alwis Seneviratne b1849-STC,member of legislative council,District Judge and Louisa Jayatilleke m 1881,Louisa Alexandra his 1st marriage child )(Albert.D.E de Livera M approx 1900)

10 Albert Rienzi de Livera, (b approx 1905)d:1939, Inspector of Police(Mt Lavinia)died of car accident + Elizebeth Charmion Dias Bandaranaike 28/1/1909-1987 (1001)(M7/2/1935)(d of Johannes Franciscus Dias Bandaranayaka.)

11 Vivina de Livera (b approx 1936)+ Derek Walter Samarasinghe, b:1927 (Diretor John Keels)

                                        12 Suren Samarasinghe + Ruha Ratwatte b1960
                                              13  Dharini Samarasinghe ( b1990)
                                              13  Varunika Samarasinghe ( b1992)

12 Dr Ravindra Samarasinghe*** (1963-2007, see below for appreciation) Leopard Conservationist Died in a car accident.

10 Louisa Inyce de Livera had Oosha from (Thamyrajah)Sabdharatnajyoti Saravanamuttu.1898-1957 (cricketer,military officer,criminal lawyer,politician)

11 Oosha de Livera b1931-d 24/6/2019 in Bombay (ballet dancer)(studied at Bishops College Colombo) + (M1)Sepala Goonetilleke M1949.Kala Suri Award 2005.

12 Kumudini Saravanamuttu b1957 (Bishops College)(Asst Governor Central Bank SL)

10 Louisa Inyce de Livera met Lewellyn John Thorne (Jack)around 1941/42 during world war 2. Jack was a Petty officer in the British air craft carrier HMS Hermes, which was bombed by the Japenese in Trincomalee on 9/4/1942.Jack survived the disaster.(307 were killed and 70 survived) Louisa had Gillian from Thorne.

11 Jennifer Gillian Thorne b18/11/1942 in Bombay.(studied at Ladies College Colombo) (She participated in a beauty pageant and was crowned Miss Ceylon in 1960,but was eliminated on a technical issue - parents from two races-Biracial)(Later did modelling,and migrated to UK)

11 Jennifer Gillian Thorne + (M1 around 1962) Andrew Granville Douglas Gordon b13/8/1942 (Son of Lord Douglas Claude Alexander Gordon with connections to the Scotish Royal Family.)

10 Louisa Inyce de Livera met Middleton an officer in the army in Bombay around 1943,and Crystal was born.

9 (5) ****Edmund de Livera, (wrote the St.Thomas’s College, college song in 1916)(b approx 1870 d approx 1935)(Lawyer,Journalist,Editor Times of Ceylon)

9 (6)Ronald de Livera + Nellie (Nellie de Livera president pass pupils association St Bridgets Convent.1935/1936)

10 James Ronald V.de Livera (Ronnie), 1934-1980 + Chandrani Tillekaratne, 1931-2004 (d of Edmund Tillekeratne)

11 [1] Gehan de Livera, Royal,(Planter) + [2] Malkanthi Samarakkody (d of Solomon Samarakkody & Iole de Livera)

10 (1) Michael de Livera, STC Mount Lavinia (Served in World War 2 in Singapore)+ Margie Irugalbandara.

12 Druvindra de Livera, St. Peter's College, Colombo 4, Sri Lanka (Ceylon), McKinnon Secondary/University of Melbourne/Deloitte Aus.

12 Erange de Livera, St. Peter's College, Colombo 4, Sri Lanka (Ceylon), McKinnon Secondary/University of Melbourne

11 Desmond Chrishantha de Livera b25/9/1946-d1993(2hd Lieut in 1972.became major in SL Army)(Chief of Security at Airport Aviation)(Saved his son and relative from drowning in the Negambo Sea, but suffered a heart attack and died soon after.) + Suwineetha Nanayakkara

10 (4) Douglas Ivan de Livera b1916 d1979 (Lieutenant Commander Royal Ceylon Navy-Participated in World war 2-Burma Campaign,ship-MFV185-The retake of Arakan and Rangoon in 1945.)(He was also the commanding officer of the Sri Lanka Navy’s 1^st gun boat the “Parakrama”)(Migrated to Melbourne Australia in the 1970's) + Carmen Inez Van Cuylenburg (3109)

10 (6) James Henry(Jim) de Livera.(24/3/1912-19/10/1985) + Sumana Obeyesekere (1/1/1916-28/6/2000)(d of Hope Obeyesekere + Edith Ganegoda)

10 (9) Oswald Christopher Tillekeratne de Livera (Ossie)+ Doreen Virginia Christine Fernando

10 (3) Kingsley de Saa Bandaranaike + Trixie Seneviratne (d of Abraham Isaac Seneviratne and Alice de Saram)

11 Sunil Bandaranaike + Roshanara Bandaranaike (d of Leanard Bandaranaike and Ettine Bandaranaike.)

9 (9) Godwin de Livera (1876-1921), Revenue Officer, (Polonnaruwa District). (Thamankaduwa, Polonnaruwa was the capital from 846AD-1277AD and there after abandoned,and re-discovered in 1820AD.From 1870 onwards lot of archaeological research and development had taken place.) Was later promoted to Asst Govt Agent, but died of pneumonia aged 45 years. He had a good knowledge of wild elephants in the area(see sportsman diary in internet) (also refered as Muhandiram in some records in 1908) + Charlotte Samarakkody (1880-1970), daughter of Louis Charles de Fonseka Samarakkody Mudaliyar under Governor's Gate 1883. Mohandiram Alukuru Korale (3118)

10 (4) Iole de Livera b approx 1914 (d21/3/1966)+ Solomon Samarakkody (Lawyer)(1910-1981)

11 (1) Dr Srikumar Samarakkody (STC Mt Lavinia)(b31/5/1940-d21/12/1987)+ Nanda Jayasinghe (no children)

                                 11 (2) Srivanka Samarakkody(STC Mt Lavinia) + Chitra Welagedera
                                         12 Lalinda Yohan Samarakkody(Stc Mtl)+Anuradha Sumanapala
                                         12 Dulanga Samarakkody (Stc Mtl)+Oshini Jayasinghe

11 (3) Rajan Samarakkody(STC Mt Lavinia)b1942 + Irani Alahakoonb1942 m1967
12 Dilukshan Samarakkody + Janaki Perera

11 (4) Sriyani Samarakkody + Gamini Jayaweera d2001
12 Dushantha Jayaweera (Pilot)+ Nimanthi

                                 11 (7) Indrajith Samarakkody (STC Mt Lavinia) + Jayanthi
                                         12 Arinda Samarakkody
                                         12 Navodya Samarakkody

10 (5) James Godwin Vaughn de Livera.1915-2003 (STC Mt Lavinia), (Communication officer civil aviation.Served in 2hd World War in England.)

11 Anil Guanendra (Gayan) de Livera (STC Mt Lavinia) died unmarried(1954-1982)(Civil Aviation Dept)

10 (6) Louis Charles de Livera (Carl) (STC Mt Lavinia) Lawyer (b6/5/1919-d19/7/1969), had a large legal practice related to real estate and land matters.Lawyer for 25 years.(Had a law office in hulftsdorf Colombo and Homagama).Able to sing and play the piano accordian.(M26/12/1955)

+ Gertrude Hemawathi Seneviratne (Senior English Instructor Kelaniya University 1971-1992) b:12/4/1931 (3108)Degree from Peradeniya University.

11 Sunil de Livera (STC Mt Lavnia) Musicion,(piano &drums) died unmarried (13/9/1956-d 2003)

11 Manjula de Livera (STC Mt Lavinia), b:1960, (Accountant/Deputy Chief Internal Auditor Urban Development Authority Sri Lanka, 1985-2005), migrated to Melbourne Australia in 2006 + Lakshmi Arulanandam (Lawyer), b:1965 from Batticaloa, md:12/5/1993 (5030)

11 **Lankika Erandathi de Livera, Journalist b:18/2/1964, d:9/4/2011 (Bishops College)(was able to sing and play the piano.) (M1990)+ Prasanna Panditharatne (STC/Royal College)d2009

11 2hd spouse of Lankika Erandathi de Livera + Srikumar (Accountant, STC Mt Lavinia)(M2003)

6 (2) Don Bastian Franciscus Dias Bandaranayake b approx 1786 ,M(1)+ Miss Dassenaike ,M(2) Perera Ekanayake (7 Children)(Johanna,Isabella,John,William,Engalitina,Charles and Levergina.)

7 (2) Isabella Petronella Dias Bandaranayake b1825-d24/2/1894 +Cornelius de Livera,Mudliyar Hewagam Korale (Son of Simon de Livera)

10 Louis Charles de Livera 6/5/1919-19/7/1969 (Carl)Proctor +Gertrude Seneviratne b1931

7 (3) John Cornelius (Martinus)Dias Bandaranayake b1828-d16/7/1896 + Cornelia Dias Bandaranayake (d of Don John Dias Bandaranayake)(6 Children)

8 (1) Ernest Cornelius Dias Bandaranayaka,b29th August,head cleark Galle Kachcherie,+ Agnes Tillekeratne (sister of C Tillekeratne.)had 9 children.

9 (1) Dionysious Abraham Dias Bandaranayaka,b 10/6/1893. + Johanna May Perera on 30/10/1919.

9 (2) Margaret Clarice Dias Bandaranayaka, b16/10/1894-d27/2/1922 + Henry Ernest Dias Bandaranayaka,Asst Commissioner of Excise on 18/11/1915.

9 (5) Edward Wilfred Dias Bandaranayaka,b29/6/1899 +Zelda Dassenaike on 22/6/1927.(m)

9 (6) Oswald Godwin Dias Bandaranayaka, b15/10/1900 + Lavana Dias Bandaranayaka (d of Johannes Franciscus Dias Bandaranayaka) M15/10/1931.

9 (7) Grace Esther Dias Bandaranayaka, b8/5/1904 -d8/5/1940 + John Rupert Perera on 26/9/1923. (by 2hd marraige 3 sons & 2 daughters)

8 (2) Robert Christoffel Dias Bandaranayaka,b 8/1/1869 -dMay 1941 +Miss Samarasinghe -no issue.

8 (5) Nellie Matilda Clara Dias Bandaranayaka,b 13/3/1877-d20/9/1923,+Eugine Dassenaike (Proctor)

7 (4) William Alexander Dias Bandaranayake +Miss Grace Seneviratne of Malwana.(6 children)

8 (1) Alexander Solomon William Dias Bandaranayake,b4/4/1873-d12/11/1921 Muhandiram of Siyane Korale (unmarried)

8 (2) Agnes Harriet Dias Bandaranayaka ,b 28/10/1874 + John H.P Dassenaike of Bellana,Pasdum Korale

8 (3) Grace Rosalind Dias Bandaranayaka,b4/10/1876-d21/2/1922 + Daniel Albert de Alwis of Galkissa.b1840-d 30/8/1903

9 Leonard de Alwis (Leo) b approx 1880 + Alexandra Camelia Bandaranaike b26/8/1903-(M1923)(sister of SWRD), lived at "Samudragiri" Walauwa in Mount Lavinia. 10 Shirlene De Alwis + Earle Jayawardena

12 Rosanth Lakshan Madurasinghe, a graduate of the University of London (England). + Nishani Fernando of Wennappuwa on July 7 2007; 13 Romaan Madurasinghe

8 (4) George Abraham Dias Bandaranayaka ,b1/11/1877-d19/11/1922- Unmarried.Mudliyar Hewagam Korale.

8 (5) Harry Peter Dias Bandaranayaka,b15/2/1881 + Rene May Dassenaike (d of Edmund Dassenaike.)(m1916)

9 Edmund Henry Alexander Dias Bandaranayaka,b11/10/1917 -d1/8/2007 ,+Delicia Goonetilleke

9 Ruby Grace Dias Bandaranayaka,b 29/1/1919- d 18/12/2012,+Danton Gamunu Obeyesekere,Barrister at Law,Trinity College Cambridge,Assesor Income tax dept (m19/5/1938)

+ Etienne Dias Bandaranayaka, d:14 Feb 2004 (grand daughter of Walter Dias Bandaranayaka)

10 Rosanara Dias Bandaranayaka b1953 + Sunil Dias Bandaranayaka (Son of Kingsley de Saa Bandaranaike and Trixie Seneviratne)

8 (6) Reginald Edward Dias Bandaranayaka b1886-d 31/12/1941 + (M2/1/1931)Vimala Rambukpotha (d of Rambukpotha Rate Mahatmaya.)

7 (6) Charles Dias Bandaranayake d18/2/1902 + Nancy Dias Bandaranayaka( d of Abraham Edward Dias Bandaranayake)m 8/12/1880 (7 children)

8 (1) Nancy Dagmar Dias Bandaranayaka,b19/11/1881 +William Clement Dias Bandaranayaka on 7/7/1906.

8 (2) Charles Edward Dunstan Dias Bandaranayaka,b 21/1/1883 Post Master GPO (unmarried)

8 (3) Reginald Felton Dias Bandaranayaka,b1/7/1884,Planter Puswelbokke Estate,Bentota+Letitia Tillekeratne (Sister of Edmund Tillekeratne of Bentota)(4 children)

9 (3) Leita Ione Dias Bandaranayaka,b28/5/1917-d 12/8/2011,+Clarence Perera,Excise Inspector.(M8/7/1943)

8 (4) Roland L Bandaranayaka,b21/1/1886, Muhandiram Siyane Korale,(died approx 1950) unmarried.(He wrote a Bandaranayake Geneology book around 1948)

8 (6) Edgar Bandaranayaka,b 14/5/1890,B.A Cantab,Secretary,to judge of Supreme Court.

4 2nd spouse of Don Francisco Dias Wijetunga Bandaranayaka, b:1720 Mudaliyar Hewagam Korale + Dona Catherine Thilakaratne Abeysiriwardena (daughter of Don Simon Tillekeratne Abeysiriwardena, Mudaliyar of Kandaboda Pattuwa, Matara) from Galkissa

Translation of a sinhala paragraph from page 32 in Paul Pieris's book goes as follows:-

"Dona Catharina from Galkissa, was the 2nd wife of Don Fransiscus Dias Bandaranayaka. They had a daughter named Dona Corneliya. baptised on 3/12/1775, Don Davith was the son of Liendran de Saram Karunaratne and Johanna Maria Perera. On 24th October 1790 Dona Corneliya married Davith de Saram Karunaratne. On 12th November 1790 Dona Corneliya had died of an illness."

5 (11) Dona Corneliya Bandaranayaka, b:1775, bp:3 Dec 1775, d:12 Nov 1790 after suffering an illness + Davith de Saram Karunaratne b1771-d1792,M24/10/1790(s/o Liendran de Saram Karunaratne and Johanna Maria Perera), m:24 Oct 1790 (3126)(Cornelia is a daughter of Francisco Dias Wijetunga Bandaranayaka,b1720)

d) Catherine Ceciliya Dias Bandaranaike 2nd marriage to Dionysius Andreas Tennekoon Appuhamy on 8/7/1852

e) Charles Fredrick de Saa Bandaranaike Mohandiram Md Dona Maria Florentina Tennekoon Hamine

6- Geneolgy of Dias Bandaranayaka by Roland L Dias Bandaranayaka Published approx 1948.

The Kandyan convention was signed with the British on 2hd March 1815. Don Solomon Dias Bandaranaike Mudaliyar, Adrian Jayawardena Tombi Mdaliyar, Abraham de Saram Mudaliyar were present, with others.

DIAS BANDARANAIKE - ALICK Brother of late Leonard, expired August first. Burial took place on August 2nd. He is survived by his wife Delicia (Dela) and son Arun and sister Ruby Obeyesekere. Friends and relatives, please accept this intimation. 49, Kelanimulla, Angoda

DE SARAM - ROMI (MRS R.M.) nee Tillekeratne Daughter of the late O.C. Tillekeratne and the late Millicent (nee Ilangakoon), relict of C.J. (Bucky) de Saram, beloved mother of Christine, Christopher (formerly of the University of Moratuwa), and Siromi (University of Colombo), mother-in-law of the late J.M.G. (Gamini) Perera and the Rev. Duleep Fernando, loving grandmother of Ianthe, Rukshani, Ruwan and Avanka, expired. Cortege leaves residence No.14, Deal Place A, Colombo 3, on Wednesday 8th August 2007 at 4.00 p.m. for interment at General Cemetery Kanatte, Borella (Anglican section) at 5.00 p.m.

DIAS BANDARANAYAKE - MERLYN Beloved wife of late Edward Reginald, loving mother of Sarath (Seylan Bank), Manohari (U.K), mother-in-law of Nirmala, Leonard, grandmother of Shihara, Dilup, passed away. Funeral at 4.30 p.m. on Saturday 22nd Sep. 2007 at St. Judes Church Cemetery, Indigolla. 74/06/E, Indigolla, Gampaha.

The Bandaranaikes from the House of Nilaperumal
by James T.Rutnam with Additional Notes - 18 July 2002

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SWRD Bandaranaike & Sirimavo Ratwatte-Bandaranaike, Chandrika Dias Bandaranaike-Kumaratunga, Sunethra Dias Bandaranaike, Anura

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CBK with Presidents George W Bush Snr & Bill Clinton, CBK with Chinese PM, CBK with Mahinda

Statue of SWRD at Galle Gace CBK at SAARC 2004

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A genealogical research paper authored by James Thevathasan Rutnam (1905-1988) on the origins of Bandaranaike clan in the colonial Ceylon. James Rutnam’s paper originally appeared in the Colombo Tribune weekly of July 19, 1957. When the paper appeared in print, SWRD Bandaranaike (1899-1959) was the prime minister of Ceylon.

Our former prime minister's (S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike's, 1956-58) direct male ancestor, of whose connection some members of his family used to take pride (see Twentieth Century Impressions of Ceylon edited by Arnold Wright, (1907) p. 525) was Nilaperumal aka Kalukapuge, a Tamil from south India who arrived in Ceylon in the late fifteenth or early sixteenth century. He was described as a `high priest' of a temple in Ceylon. He was the first Kapurala in his family of the Nawagomuwe dewale, with the fortunes of which the Bandaranayakes were long associated. Kalukapuge was a name which the family used to affect in the past. It is the Sinhalese version of Nilaperumalage, the ge name of the Bandaranayakes.

Don Francisco (Franciscus?) Dias Wijetunga Bandaranayake, Mudaliyar of the Hewagam korale, who was born about 1720, was a direct descendant in the male line of Nilaperumal. He was one of those who supplanted the `original Mudaliyars,'' when the latter `fled to Kandy' in 1760 to join the Sinhalese in the struggle between the Dutch and the Kandyan King. The reward for this defection was the office of Mudaliyar of the four Pattus.

Francisco first married Dona Maria Perera. They had six sons and four daughters. Their fourth son was Coenrad Pieter Dias Bandaranayake Snr, Maha Mudaliyar, who was the grandfather of another Maha Mudaliyar of the same name (except for Pieter being spelled Peter), who served under the British. Francisco's fifth son was Daniel Bandaranayake, Mohandiram of Siyane korale. He was baptised on February 16, 1748 and married on January 13, 1773. He was the father of Don Solomon Dias Bandaranayake, Mudaliyar of Siyane Korale.

Don Solomon married a grand-daughter of Susanna Scharff, who died on June 15, 1781 and was buried in the Dutch (formerly Portuguese) church in the Fort at the site of the present Gordon Gardens, but whose tombstone now lies in the Wolfendhal Dutch Reformed Church, Colombo. The coat of arms of the Scharff family is engraved on this tombstone, the distinguishing mark of which is a `right arm holding a sabre.' This is part of the heraldic arms of the Bandaranayakes. Susanna Scharff was a daughter of a lieutenant, Jan Christoffel Scharff, who served under the Dutch East India Company.

The names of the Scharff family are given in the journal of the Dutch Burgher Union, Volume VIII, (p. 6.). J.C. Scharff hailed from Sangerhausen, Upper Saxony, Thuringia, in Germany. He married, at Colombo on March 21, 1734, a lady by the name of Elizabeth de Saram. Susanna was baptised at Colombo on December 1743 8, and married, in Colombo on November 4, 1759, the Reverend Henricus Philipsz (1733-1790), a Sinhalese Christian minister of the Dutch Reformed Church in Ceylon. An account of this minister appears in De Bruyn's History Of The Reformed Church In The Dutch East Indies, written in Dutch. He died on May 19, 1790. His tombstone now lies in the Wolfendhal Dutch Reformed church, but not beside his wife Susanna 's tombstone, by whom, evidently, it was originally erected at the church in Fort, Colombo.

Rev. H. Philipsz, who had his education in Holland, was a learned and outstanding Christian scholar. He was a son of a Maha Mudaliyar under the Dutch, and a grandson of a schoolmaster of Cotta by the name of D. Philippe. Rev. Philipsz's brother Abraham Philipsz too was a Maha Mudaliyar under the Dutch. It was Abraham's son Johannes Gottfried Philipsz, one of Chief Justice Sir Alexander Johnston's proteges and interpreters, who was appointed the first Sinhalese member of the first legislative council of Ceylon in 1743. He died on July 1800. I have a long and somewhat obsequious letter written by Johannes Gottfried Philipsz to Sir Alexander Johnston whom he addresses as `my lord and protector.' I discovered it among the collection of the Johnston papers which I obtained in England in 1954.

It is interesting to note that Philipsz's colleague, A. Coomaraswamy, a Tamil interpreter under the British who became the first Tamil member of the same legislative council, was a son of Arumugapillai, an immigrant from South India who came to Gurudavil in the Jaffna peninsula. A. Coomaraswamy was the father of Sir Muttu Coomaraswamy and of Sellatchi, the mother of the Ponnambalam brothers, Coomaraswamy, Ramanathan and Arunachalam.

It has been said that Governor Maitland `feared' the Mudaliyars. But the word `fear' in this context, has apparently been used in a special sense. For the evidence of contemporary records shows that there was no class of people in Ceylon so addicted to fawning, flattering and sycophantising (sic) in its relationship with its masters as that of the Mudaliyars. It must of course be borne in mind that the times in which they lived were different from ours. There was no middle class. There were the exploiters and the exploited, the foreign masters and their native subjects, the rulers and the oppressed. Into this pattern of political and economic society entered the Mudaliyar, using all the craft and cunning, the art and artifice of the adventurer and social climber, with his stock-in-trade of jealousy-ridden hypocritical flattery and sneaky ways. Little wonder then that we find most of the Mudaliyars `professing Christians,' because no one was qualified to hold office unless he was a Christian. And little wonder too if the authorities saw through this hypocrisy, and `feared' the machinations of the enemy within their gates.

In this connection, in Hugh Cleghron's `minute' or memorandum on the administration of justice and of revenue in Ceylon under the Dutch government (1799) written at a critical period of our history, at the very time when Dutch rule had ended and British rule begun, is worthy of note. Cleghron observed: "If the poverty and indolence of the natives of this country were to be traced to their true cause, these would be found to originate in the insecurity of their little property, which is at the mercy of the Moodeliar, (sic). That few or no appeals have been made against his decisions is to me a stronger proof of the dread of his oppression, than of respect for his justice."

Governor North too has left for posterity his observations on the Mudaliyars in his letter to Marquis Wellesley dated October 27, 1798, the original of which is among the Wellesley manuscript in the additional manuscripts section of the British museum in London. Governor North stated, "the Maha Moodliar is always resident near the person of the governor. He never sits down in my presence, nor appears before me in shoes, but is in fact the grand vizier of Ceylon. Every order I give him is immediately executed, and whatever takes place on the island is communicated by him to me. The only pecuniary reward which he and the inferior Moodliars look to from the government are small `accomodessans.' Their great object is to gain marks of distinction, such as sabres, gold chains, medals, etc., of which they are highly vain and by which the Dutch governors well knew how to secure their attachment." (Journal of the Ceylon branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, New Series, Volume 3 (1953), p. 143 n. 20).

The above is a faithful contemporary description of things as they were. Although these medal-collecting Mudaliyars went without shoes and bowed times without number before their governors, the Mudaliyars too in turn exacted, without any compunction or human consideration whatsoever, a cringing servility from the inarticulate masses of the people, between whom and the rulers they placed themselves as permanent barriers. Indeed they would seem to have donned jackboots when they went out and trampled on the rights of the dumb masses.

The people were forced to approach these recently exalted brown slave-drivers, using the most self-degrading and abject terms of address. A relic of this barbarism can still be detected in certain households, happily fast disappearing, the members of which delude themselves into believing that they had sprung from a highborn, low-country Sinhalese aristocracy which we now know was neither high-born nor Sinhalese.

Some of these misguided souls still insist on being addressed as "hamu" by their servants. Handsomely are these servants paid for this performance. Unfortunately the nouveaux riche and members of other rival social groups and castes (which the earlier hamus despised) too appear to have entered into this competitive trade of self-laudatory hamu--making, with disastrous results to all contestants. Hence the slow disappearance of the hamu in the present social set-up.

As in other feudal societies, the Ceylonese masses of the time had no rights. Generally they were led, like dumb-driven cattle. When the Madrasi Dubashes made themselves obnoxious during the brief period when the East India Company administered Ceylon from Madras, the displaced local mudaliyars seized the opportunity to whip up a feeling among the people that, after all, the known devil was better than the unknown.

There were, however, Mudaliyars and Mudaliyars.. The Philipsze's had a tradition of learning inherited from their humble, nonetheless much esteemed, pedagogic origins, and a consequential understanding of true human values. They were also fortified by genuinely religious Christian convictions, unlike most of their fellows who were bogus Christians who sold their conscience for messes of pottage. With these qualities ingrained in their character, the Philipsze's contributed not a little to raise the tone of the small coterie of courtiers that danced attendance, albeit barefoot, round the gubernatorial throne.

It is this tradition of public service, which was born apparently of the best in east and west and which distinguished the Philipszes, that has enriched the blood and lent lustre to the lineage of our prime minister, Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike.

The Reverend Henricus Philipsz and Susanna Scharff were the parents of some eight children, the eldest of whom was also a Christian minister by the name of Reverend Gerardus Philipsz. There is a reference to him in Cordiner's Ceylon, Volume 1 page 88. He married Johanna Adriana, the eleventh child of Petrus van Dort, son of Cornelius van Dort and his wife Johanna Paulus. Some of the sketches done by J.L.K. van Dort were recently published by Lady Hilda Pieris, wife of Sir Paul E. Pieris.

The sixth child of Susanna Scharff and Rev. Henricus Philipsz, Johanna Elizabeth Philipsz, was born in 1772 and married on September 15 1799, Diederich Wilhelm Spittel, the father of Gerardus Adrian Spittel, whose son Frederick George Spittel was the father of our well-known surgeon and author, Richard Lionel Spittel. Diederich Wilhelm Spittel's father, John Lourens Spittel also came, like the Scharffs, from Germany, from Weimar in Saxony.

Another daughter of Susanna Scharff, her third child, being the name of Cornelia Honrica (Henrietta?) married firstly at Colombo on the July 27 1789, Adolf Martin Heyman, an ensign in the Dutch service, a native of Leuwenstein. A silver tobacco box belonging to this lady, with the name `Heyman' inscribed on it, was in the possession of Sir Paul E. Pieris. This lady lost her husband sometime afterward and married secondly, Christoffel de Saram, fourth Maha Mudaliyar, the holder of a new office then created by the British to exalt their interpreter who worked in the office of the commissioner of revenue. A son of this union was Johannes Henricus de Saram who at the age of fourteen was taken by Governor Maitland to England in 1811 to study for the Christian ministry.

He was described in a letter written by his companion Balthazar de Saram, a member of a different family of Sarams, one attuned by family upbringing to western ways and habits, "having been from his infancy reared up in his own family whose only deviation from the manners, language and costume of the Dutch was his father's native dress." I have seen this correspondence in the original at the public record office in London. Cornelia Henrica (Henrietta) de Saram, nee Philipsz, who died on April 9 1824, is also commemorated by a tombstone at the Dutch Reformed church at Wolfendhal.

Before he left England, the young Christian minister Rev. Johannes Henricus de Saram, married an European lady, Frances Treherne. The marriage was solemnized in London in the church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields on June 9, 1820.

It was this young man's sister Cornelia, a grand-daughter of Susanna Scharff, who married Don Solomon Dias Bandaranayake, Mudaliyar of Siyane korale.

Don Solomon's branch of the family of Bandaranayakes from now onwards appear to spell its name as Bandaranaike. Don Solomon lived to a ripe old age. It should be recorded here that he was a great servant of the British crown. It was this Solomon Dias Bandaranaike who received a government grant of one hundred and eighty acres of land. He was also the recipient of a medal from Governor Brownrigg with the citation "as a reward for eminent service during the Kandyan rebellion, AD 1818. Don Solomon's photograph appeared in volume two of Tennent's Ceylon. He died on September 15, 1859.

Don Solomon's son, Don Christoffel Henricus Dias Bandaranaike, who was born in 1826, succeeded his father. He married a Kingswoman, Anna Florentina Philipsz, daughter of Philipsz Gysbertus Panditaratne and granddaughter of Johannes Gottfried Philipsz, whose family had by then adopted for general use the cognomen Panditaratne. To this couple was born an only son, who later became famous in the service of successive British governors. He has recorded an account of his intimate associations with kings, princes, dukes and governors and men and women distinguished in various orders of chivalry, in his autobiography Remembered Yesterdays. But unfortunately his book does not make us any the wiser about his own family story.

With remarkable extravagance of language he styled himself Sir Don Solomon Dias Abeywickrema Jayatilleke Senewiratna Rajakumaruna Kadukeralu Bandaranaike, knight commander of the most distinguished order of St. Michael and St. George. He was born on 22 May 1862 and married Daisy Eslin Obeyesekere (d/o Christoffel & Lady Obeyesekere) in April-1898. He passed away on 31 July 1946.

To this Christian Knight of St. George, a scion of the house of Nilaperumal (aka Kalukapuge) and a cadet of the families of Phillipsz and Scharff, was born, Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike, on Jan 8 1899, who went on to become the prime minister of Ceylon in 1956, and who determined for himself a new course in Ceylon history. It is said that the first known ancestor, Nilaperumal. having divested himself on the habits and habiliments and religion of his own immediate forebears. arrived from South India in the late fifteenth or early sixteenth century. He was also the High Priest of a Temple in Ceylon. Was the first Kapurala in his family of the Nawagomuwe Dewale. The family is also known by the Singhalese name of Kalukapuge. The family later adopted a variation f the name "Bandara" & "Nayake", which was the title of an office held by the Devale Chiefs.

Sir Don Solomon Dias Bandaranaike, was a heavy hitting civil servant whose ancestral home was in the south of the island in Horagolla, Veyangoda. He was also the advisor to a succession of British Governors and was closely involved in organizing the visit, to Sri Lanka, of the Duke & Duchess of York, who went on to become King George V and Queen Mary.

In his day, he was a keen aficionado of thoroughbred racing and regularly attended meetings at the Colombo Turf Club, where on his death in 1946, the Sir Solomon Dias Bandaranaike cup became an annual feature. The Bandaranaike family had long been a part of the upper echelons of Ceylonese society. The family continued to farm vast tracts of land in Attanagalla and Balangoda, that had been passed down through their generations over hundreds of years.

His son, Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike, who in later years and even today is referred to by his initials, "SWRD", was born of two intellectual parents. Young, SWRD, was always expected to become something and did not disappoint. His early formal education was at St Thomas' College in Colombo, where the future Prime Minister achieved outstanding results. His parents and teachers believed that he possessed the right attributes to pursue a career in medicine or law. Sir Solomon hoped that his son may follow him into the Diplomatic Corps. Eventually SWRD went on to become a product of the elite Oxford University in the UK. He was a close associate of Anthony Eden, who later went on to become the Prime Minister of Great Britain. He was also Union Secretary and later Junior Treasurer, of the prestigious Oxford Union and acclaimed as a highly vocal and respected orator and was later given the nickname "Golden Tongue".

On SWRDS's return to Ceylon, in 1925, he took to the bar and began practicing law while pursuing hobbies such as horse riding, archery and devouring upwards of ten books each week, "my father simply absorbed books", recalls his daughter Chandrika, later became a Member of the State Council and wrote his own first-hand account of his days at Oxford, later published in the Ceylon Causerie. He first joined the United National Party (UNP), the largest political party in Ceylon at that time, which had emerged as an umbrella nationalist party during the final decades of the Colonial era. It was similar, in some respects, to the Indian national Congress and was referred to humorously as the "Uncle-Nephew Party" because of the kinship ties within its hierarchy. SWRD and Don Stephen (DS) Senanayake, both went on to serve Sri Lanka as Prime Minister in later years. Senanayake (DS) was born on Oct 20 1884 in the Hapitigama Korale of the Western District of Negombo and was some fifteen senior to SWRD. Although the pair may have been a generation apart in years but they formed an ideological partnership that modern observers have compared to the Blair-Brown axis in Britain today (2006). Although fissures did appear in this relationship in later years, yet, during Ceylon's passage towards independence in the 1920's and the 1930's, this Senanayake-Bandaranaike partnership was a very significant and powerful political force.

The political period in Ceylon, from 1931 until the end of the Second World War, represented a significant step towards self governance for the emerging nation. The State Council consisted of 50 elected representatives with a further three British Officers and Seven Lankan Ministers, forming a Cabinet. Even though the British appointees retained control of the key portfolios for Defence, External Affaires, Finance & Legal Affairs, the State Council now functioned in both an Executive and Legislative capacity. This defining time also saw new political parties begin to emerge, including several left leaning groups, such as the Labor Party, founded in 1931 by A E Gunasinha, and the short lived Ceylon Equal Society Party, the Bolshevik Leninist Party, and the Communist Party of Sri Lanka.

The different communities and sects were, for the first time, able to form their own representative parties, including The Burgher Political Association in 1938, The Ceylon Indian Congress in 1939, and The All Ceylon Tamil Congress in 1944. From the outset, the latter party pressed the case for a Tamil Kingdom as the only acceptable form of constitutional reform in Ceylon. Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam, founder of The Tamil League, stated, "... the Tamil League consider that our aims should be to keep alive and propagate the Tamil ideals, which have through ages past made the Tamils what they are. We should ... promote the solidarity of what we have been proud to call - Tamil Eelam (the name of the proposed Tamil State in the North and the East of the Country)".

On the other side of the ideological divide amongst the Sinhalese majority a form of broad nationalism arose centering around Buddhism and its core values. The strongest association was the Greatest Council of the Sinhalese or Sinhala Maha Sabha (SMS), founded by SWRD in 1937, and as the party's founder he was immediately thrust center-stage. Some historians have condemned this party as being somewhat radically Buddhist, but its leader never wrote or spoke a word that was anything less than conciliatory towards he many communities that were present in Ceylon. A typical example of his approach came in a speech delivered by SWRD to the annual party congress staged in Veyangoda on Sep 5 1942 during which he stated that the SMS's purpose was twofold, viz, to unite the Sinhalese and to work in cooperation with other communities.

SWRD was speaking during a time of international crisis and creeping change that would transform Ceylon forever. WWII raged on. Singapore had fallen to the Japanese in Feb 1942 and after this disaster for the allies, Sri Lanka became HQ for British Operations in South East Asia. Trincomalee Port, so often a Portuguese, Dutch, and British prize in Colonial times, was now of strategic importance for the defense of the Indian Ocean and the entire region. Ceylon's strategic placement meant that it was also a high-level Japanese target. The British fought several desperate air battles over Colombo and Trincomalee, but Ceylon was never seriously threatened.

In 1944, after a period of discussion within the Board of Ministers in Ceylon, Bandaranaike introduced into the State Council the Constitution Bill, more commonly known as "The Sri Lankan Bill". Predictably, State Council Members representing SMS supported a bill that was kind to a Sinhalese majority, but SWRD and his allies were consensus builders, and, support in the State Council was broad ranging and drawn from all communities. Other party blocks supporting the bill were the Muslim League and the Ceylon National Congress, while one member of the Ceylon Tamil Congress also supported this effort. The bill was passed by a large majority but was torpedoed by the British. SWRD's SMS Executive Committee protested to London but the British had their own plans for Ceylonese independence and local complainst held little sway in London.

As the cessation of WWII hostilities approached, the Constitution was amended to incorporate a provision that gave Ceylon dominion status within the British Empire. A British model became central to the Ceylonese Bill, implementing a parliamentary system with a bi-camarel legislature. This created a House of Representatives directly elected by popular vote that would, with British input, nominate the members of an Upper House. Britan's Soverign would then appoint The Governor General on the advise of the powerful person in the Ceylonese Government - The Prime Minister.

The Second World War had ultimately been beneficial for Ceylon. The rich ground of her plantations had been utilized for rubber production, which enabled the country to save a surplus in hard currency and speculate on future revenues from this ready-made industry. Elsewhere on the island, the British had spent millions building hospitals and modern amenities. These were originally intended for Britain's own Colonial and Military use, but when the Japanese eventually surrendered, these facilities became surplus to requirements and were bequeathed to the country. This inherited infrastructure went a long way to improving the standard of living in post-war Ceylon.

Ceylon was now prime for independence and the movement towards a new political system was inescapable. SWRD was now one of the most distinguished democratic leaders in the island, was preparing to take his place in history as a fundamental part of that process.

Johanna Louisa Dias Bandaranayake, a direct descendant of Nilaperumal and Scharff, was married to John Martinus Pieris. Of this union was born the well-known historian and author of several books on `Sinhalese Families,' Sir Paul E. Pieris. Sir Paul's grandfather Johan Louis Pieris was the mace-bearer at the supreme court, when it was presided over by the great chief justice, Sir Alexander Johnston. Johan Louis Pieris was the son of Wilhelmus Pieris, who died on August 24, 1816. Wilhelmus Pieris' father was Louis Pieris, a proponent in the Dutch Reformed Church. Louis Pieris had a brother, Dernigellege Pauloe Pieris Samarasinghe. Louis Pieris's father (Manuel?) hailed from Attidiya near Colombo. He as a member of the Lascarins (Sinhalese foot-soldiers) under the Dutch, and was the recipient of several paraveni lands as a reward for his services. He (Manuel) has a brother by the name of Deringellege Joan (John?) Fernando, whose grandson Abraham Pieris was also a proponent in the Dutch Reformed Church.

One of S.W.R.D.Bandaranaike’s nieces and academics, Yasmine Gooneratne nee Bandaranaike, wrote a readable book, Relative Merits: A Personal Memoir of the Bandaranaike Family of Sri Lanka (C.Hurst & Co, London, 1986). I quote the following two paragraphs from its foreword, entitled, ‘Ancestors’.

“…an Indian officer ‘of high standing’ who, serving under the Kings of Kandy and bearing the name Neela Perumal, was made high priest of the Temple of the God Saman, and commanded to take the name of Nayaka Pandaram (Chief Record Keeper) in 1454. If this tradition has truth in, we may surmise that the Indian name of Nayaka Pandaram came in time to adopt the form of Pandara Nayaka. By the time it had turned into the Sinhalese Bandaranaike, the Hinduism of its bearers had been replaced by Buddhism; just as we know, from written genealogical records dating back to the early seventeenth century, that Buddhism was itself replaced in the family by Christianity in its Catholic and later in its Protestant forms. However, the occupations of scribe seems to have descended in the family down the centuries, together with a tradition of service to the Court.

The pandaram of India are a Brahman sub-caste of genealogists and keepers of Court and family records, and the retinues of Indian princesses who came to the island in early times, to be married to a King or Prince in Kandy, must have included many such among the ‘nobles as well as commoners duly absorbed in the vast statecraft of the Kingdom and in the hierarchy of the Court and palace personnel’. From very early times Mantai, or Mantota, had been the port of entrance to arrivals in Sri Lanka from South India…” (pages 3-4)

Yasmine Gooneratne had cited the original research of James Rutnam in her bibliography. But unlike Rutnam, she has presented a soothing positive spin on the mind set of her ancestor Mudaliyars who served the colonial Dutch and British masters by converting to Christianity to grab lands from the Sinhalese commoners. I also find her job description of her ancestral Sinhalese Mudaliyar class in the 17th to 19th centuries as far from accurate. In one ornamental paragraph of the same foreword on her ancestors, Yasmine Gooneratne has written:

“The title of Mudaliyar seems to have distinguished leaders of groups of fighting men from a particular district who shared common bonds of caste. Such leaders, by virtue of their place in the social structure of their time and country, were necessarily influential in their ancestral villages. They were able soldiers and resourceful diplomats, accustomed to be first among equals, and would probably have had a long and well-known tradition of family loyalty to their sovereign. The military duties traditionally carried out by them were continued during the intermittent warfare that marked the period of Portuguese rule in the island. At the close of that period, the role of the Mudaliyars was still military in character, but the confidence of their superior officers and the experience they had gained in participating in the administration of what had been, in fact, a military regime, together with their new interests as landlords and cultivators of large tracts of property, are all factors likely to have made them ready for administrative responsibility.” (page 6)

One should note that Yasmine Gooneratne has not identified the caste name in the first sentence of the above paragraph. Politically correct indeed. Paying obeisance to one’s ancestors is a time-honored practice among the Orientals. But, exaggerating and embellishing the roles played by one’s ancestors is hardly acceptable in academic research. The Sinhalese Mudaliyar class was no “able soldiers and resourceful diplomats”. Rather, they were cowardly weather-vanes, political turn-coats and servile fart-catchers to the colonial masters of Ceylon. It is also a puzzle for me, how come the descendants of Nilaperumal, a pandaram Brahman sub-caste, demoted themselves to ‘fighting men’ of military caste (?) in a few centuries.

If I’m not wrong, Yasmine Gooneratne is a specialist in English literature and not in Tamil literature. In the glossary she has provided at the end of her book, she has described the term ‘Mudaliyar, Modeliar’ as a Sinhalese word referring to Sinhalese official of high rank. The origin of the now commonly used Sinhalese terms Mudaliyar and Mudalaali lies in the Tamil root word, Mudal, which means capital in terms of ‘property wealth’ and not ‘the seat of government’. Thus, the word Mudaliyar refers to a person endowed with capital wealth, and Mudalaali (Mudal = capital; Aali = ruler) refers to a person who rules the capital wealth. ‘Number One’ person is another variant of the Tamil root Mudal. Thus, it could have meant ‘Number One’ fart catcher of the ‘sovereign’, and not reflected any of the military merits attributed to the Mudaliyar class by Yasmine Gooneratne.

Three story extracts

'Into Battle', from Relative Merits: A Personal Memoir of the Bandaranaike Family of Sri Lanka

As we made our way back to Colombo through deserted and littered streets with the Hensmans, their two children, and their hurriedly packed suitcases in the car, we learned that Menike, a Sinhalese friend, had warned them that their house was to be attacked that night. The attackers? The Sinhalese neighbours with whom they had been living until the rioting began - in such seeming amity. Ordinarily a man of peace, Dick Hensman had decided to greet any uninvited visitors with petrol bombs rather than abandon his home or see his family hurt and humiliated. It appeared that Daddy - of all people! - had managed to convince him that no good would come of this attitude.

The Hensman family stayed with us at Maha Nuge Gardens for the duration of the riots. Life during that period had its problems for us all. Dick, for instance, had to simplify his political and philosophical ideas so that my parents could follow them, and Daddy had to tone down his communal jokes. But it was, all in all, a remarkable experience, and the only time in my life that I have seen my father get the better of his own readiness to march, all guns blazing, into the thick of the fiercest battle.

"Walk in, gentlemen, pray walk in," cries Charles Surface, opening his picture gallery to the auctioneers in Sheridan's play The School For Scandal; "here they are, the family of the Surfaces, up to the Conquest!" "And, in my opinion, a goodly collection," replies his uncle Sir Oliver Surface, unrecognisable in his disguise; "Ah! we shall never see such figures of men again." To which Charles replies: "I hope not." Reviewing the public faces and the private lives of some of the best-known members of my family in this and the preceding chapter, I wish I had my father's capacity for ancestor-worship. Like Sir Oliver Surface, Daddy had unshakeable faith in the virtue and moral probity of his forebears. While I was growing up and receiving my opinions almost ready-made from my parents, our kinsmen seemed to me to be much larger than life, their intentions more honourable, their achievements more important, their merest condescensions more generous than those of others, mere mortals, of the same generation. For Daddy there would have been something very like sacrilege in the mere idea of drawing aside the heavy curtains of their shrines, and letting the daylight in.

"What parchment have we here?" continues the unrepentant Charles Surface. "Richard heir to Thomas. Oh, our genealogy in full. Here, Careless - you shall have no common bit of mahogany, here's the family tree for you, you rogue, - this shall be your hammer, and now you may knock down my ancestors with their own pedigree." To which the scandalized Sir Oliver responds, aside: "What an unnatural rogue! - an ex post facto parricide!" Daddy would certainly have agreed with Sir Oliver. And how pleasant it would be to have somehow retained, despite one's maturing, those delightfully uncomplicated early attitudes.

But the members of our clan resemble not at all the "stiff and awkward" portraits in the Surface picture gallery, who were, according to Charles, "like nothing in human nature." On the contrary, the Bandaranaikes seem to me to be - as Sir Solomon once wrote affectionately of his wayward sister Amy - strong and extraordinary personalities, always intensely human. One can only regard them in their private and their public lives, in peace or in the midst of bitter controversy, in their virtues, faults, and contradictions of character, in life and in death, as Cox Sproule wrote humorously of Grandpapa in a mock-epitaph:

Here lies the last of genial Reginald Felix
Who has gone aloft to explain his mundane delicts
Let"s hope the High Court Judge will show no bias
When rendering judgment in re Dias.

Whether one agrees with their views or not (and it isn't possible for me to sympathize with Great-Grandpapa James's views on women's education, the prejudices about race and caste into which my lovable father sank in his later years, or my mother's inclination to value wealth and property above personal relationships), they have the courage of their convictions. Some among them, James especially, have the right approach to literature. "O Poets! the victory gained through your own wisdom is much more to be desired than the victory which comes to those who have captured a four-fold army," he wrote, in his "Verses on Criticism." And again, "It is not proper to compare a poetaster with a poet: can a firefly shine in the eye of the sun?" The idea that poetry and virtue always go together, Dr Johnson once wrote, "is an opinion so pleasing that I can forgive him who resolves to think it true." I must hope to be forgiven for "thinking it true" of James D'Alwis, that fiery little man who locked up his daughters to preserve their ignorance, yet thought like a patriot and wrote like an erudite angel.

Lucky James: he died as he had lived, his pen in his hand. I could wish that Death, when it came to my father, had found him as he had been during most of his life, in fighting form. But he was taken by surprise in the end, trapped and ambushed in a way that he could do nothing about.

On the morning after Daddy died, Gwen went to the General Hospital to formally identify his body and take charge of it for burial. She had expected, I think, to find him laid out on a bed in a private ward. But since his fatal heart attack had occurred before he could be admitted to the Intensive Care section, while in fact he was still being wheeled towards it, his body had been kept overnight in the hospital mortuary. She went there, accompanied by an attendant.

When I met my sister later that day, she was still shaking a little. The atmosphere of the non-paying wards in the General Hospitals of Colombo and Kandy is one I know well from the time Brendon was a medical officer walking the corridors. The overpowering odours of disease and disinfectant, and the sensation of helplessness before a grim anonymity that are the ordinary lot of those who enter the non-paying wards for treatment were unfamiliar to Gwen, and were encountered by my father only at his death: and he was by then in no condition to shoot them down or to write letters of complaint in triplicate to the department concerned. The attendant, lounging beside my sister in the off-hand way of hospital workers, had casually twitched a grimy sheet aside, and swung our father into view for her identification. Wrapped in a creased checked sarong that wasn't his own, a torn vest covering part of his chest, his untidy grey hair falling forward over the slack, dead face, Gwen had found Daddy almost impossible to recognize.

"He looked", she told me, her voice trembling in unbelief, "just like an ordinary person."

'Growing Up Like Flowers', from Relative Merits

When Prini Molamure married my uncle Paul Deraniyagala in the early 1930s and the couple made their wedding visits to the homes of his relations, she was treated at Rajagiriya Walauwa to a rendering of "The Ash Grove" by a daughter of the house, my Aunt Amelia Obeyesekere (later Mrs Louis Pieris). In the 1950s, when my sisters and I were taken calling by our parents, the Victorians were still popular, and we heard the son of the house give forth a vigorous delivery of Laurence Hope's "Temple Bells". The singer on this second occasion was Lankasa de Alwis, the son of Auntie Alex and Uncle Leo, and every soulful throb of his tenor voice rocked his mother"s drawing-room at Samudragiri with simulated passion:

The temple bells are ringing,
And the young green corn is springing,
And the marriage month is drawing very near.
I lie hidden in the grass,
And I count the moments pass,
For the month of marriages is very near . . .

No doubt the fact that young Lankasa was himself to be married in a very few months to his cousin Joy Dassenaike lent his performance additional brio. Nothing so explicit had ever sullied the chaste ears of an earlier generation, who hadn't been encouraged to listen to, much less sing, anything that might have damaged the fine, fresh bloom of female ignorance. Though the clan's more gifted sons were sent to British universities, its daughters were kept at home, where they were carefully guarded from intellectual contamination of any kind and were taught, at the merest mention of men or of marriage, to drop their gaze modestly to the floor. Most of my elders, the womenfolk as well as the men, would have agreed quite seriously with Jane Austen's ironic maxim that a woman who has the misfortune of knowing anything at all should conceal it as well as she can.

Marriage within the clan was, of course, the wished-for consummation of every young woman's desire. It was the goal to which all her accomplishments - her music, her embroidery and lace-making, her considerable training in the domestic arts - led in the end, all that was necessary to make her a happy (or, at any rate, a married) woman. And as we grew up we were surrounded by ladies, young matrons, mothers of large families, dowagers by the dozen, who had achieved that goal and were living, to all appearances, comfortably ever after. Not every one achieved it, however: and this through no fault of their own, for most of my mother's contemporaries in the clan were perfectly conventional in outlook.

Devoted to the works of Tennyson and Florence Barclay, irreproachably docile by temperament and upbringing, they would have made ideal wives for a Bandaranaike, an Obeyesekere or a Pieris. And yet there were spinsters in plenty in the clan families I encountered after 1946, coveys of unmarried aunts who seemed to be rapidly losing their youthful charm. Some of these aunts were sweet-voiced and gentle. They would reach up at parties to peck us affectionately on the cheek or fondle our chins, and twitter wonderingly, "Goodness, this is Sammy's daughter - my, how this child has grown!"

Looking down into their large, soft brown eyes you would never discover the least resentment at having been cheated by fate of a home of their own, of a husband and of children. It seemed that there was enough in their quiet lives, which were spent in the homes of aged parents or married brothers and sisters, to occupy all their time and guarantee their happiness.

But there were others who were not, most definitely not, content. One of my father's cousins brooded, like some dangerous, sharp-beaked hawk, among the dowdy grey doves in those comfortable drawing rooms. She created a restless, angry atmosphere about her that was quite different from the ripples of tranquil ease that seemed to flow from the others. She attended Sunday services at Church dramatically draped in a black lace veil through which an angular profile and a pair of flashing dark eyes could be clearly seen, fascinating any small child who had nothing to do during the celebration of Communion but stare cautiously at her across the aisle.

She lived quite alone, in one of Colombo's pleasantest suburbs, waited on by family retainers. Without anyone actually having to tell us, we gathered that it was wise to be on our best behavior in her presence, an impression assisted by her appearance: for her black veil connected her in my imagination with the Wicked Witch in Disney's Snow White, who used to haunt my childish dreams. As I grew into adolescence, I recognized in my terrifying aunt the presence of a style and self-assurance unusual among the shy, retiring women in our family, as well as the remains of what must once have been considerable and striking beauty.

My Aunt was the only daughter of a very wealthy branch of Daddy's family. Beautiful though she was, and well-educated (to an extent quite unusual in her branch of the clan), she had accepted the idea planted in her mind by her relations that her only attraction lay, and had always lain, in her wealth.

I often watched my aunt in conversation with my mother and with other relations, and I thought she had one of the most delightful smiles I had ever seen, and a lively, self-deprecating sense of humor. That was when the shadow that lay over her life lifted a little. In middle age she adopted as her own, from a village near Colombo, a child of about my own age. The tragedy of my aunt's experience, however, in being conditioned to undervalue her own personality and talents has been repeated more than once since then among the heiresses of my nieces' generation.

In our clan love was a subject about which we were supposed to know and inquire nothing until marriage brought enlightenment to us in the nicest, and indeed the only, possible way. It seems a little strange now, considering that there are only four years between my sister Sonia and myself, that we didn't share our speculations on the subject. For everywhere about us, as children, were the evidences of love. There were, for instance, the family of eight blunt-nosed, blinded puppies that Juno (the happy young pedigree Alsatian that was Sonia's especial pet) produced quite without warning: or so it seemed to me. None of them resembled Juno in the least. There were the eggs Sonia found in a sparrow's nest built in a clay pot that the servants had fixed on the outer wall of the kitchen: we took turns climbing a ladder, to peep in at the small, spotted ovals. There were, too, those other eggs that my father sometimes took me along to see in his laboratory at the Agricultural Department office. He would pull out the drawer of an incubator, and I would look down on a dozen bedraggled little chicks, staggering unsteadily about in a battle-field of broken egg-shells. The process by which eggs came to be laid and puppies born was a closed book to me. No one explained, not even my sisters (if, indeed, they knew). As for human babies, the process of their creation was an impenetrable mystery which even school lessons did nothing to resolve.

I had spent a rather unhappy term boarding at Bishop's at the age of nine, during a short illness of my mother's. Although my sisters were boarders too, they were in the Middle and Senior schools respectively, and their status as monitors and prefects made them seem as remote from me as if we had been on different planets. I was glad to return home when my mother's health improved, and to my great relief I never had to repeat the experience of boarding-school life. Miss Marguerite Cockburn taught Hygiene and Physiology to the Fourth Form at Bishop's College. She was middle-sized, with short-cropped smooth black hair, and very thick lenses to her spectacles through which her eyes gleamed in what we thought was a very sinister way. On my first day in her Physiology class, I found on my desk two pieces of sticking plaster, each three inches long. There were similar pieces of sticking plaster on every other desk in the classroom.

"Take out your Hygiene and Physiology books, girls," said Miss Cockburn from her perch on the high dais, "and turn to Chapter Twenty One."

Our Hygiene and Physiology textbook had very small print. You could see there was a lot of information there. Chapter Twenty One, which was the last in the book, turned out to be very long, with diagrams on nearly every page, and was titled "The Reproductive Organs of the Human Male."

"This chapter will not be part of our syllabus for this year, girls," said Miss Cockburn. "We are therefore not to read or study it. So you will take those strips of sticking plaster you see on your desks, and in two separate places exactly four inches apart you will stick page one of Chapter Twenty One to the end-paper that is just inside the back cover of the book." She stepped off the dais and walked up and down between the rows of desks, looking over our shoulders to make sure that her instructions were being carried out. And so we learned in the Fourth Form to lock the reproductive organs of the human male safely out of sight, where they could not be studied and could therefore do us no harm.

When two of my classmates took me aside during the drink-interval at school one day, and confided amid giggles their discoveries about something men and women did together that caused babies to be born, I didn't believe them. I tried to imagine taking place between my parents, or between my uncles and aunts, the very odd behavior that had been described to me, but I found it impossible, especially where my mother was concerned. If the subject of sex ever arose in our house (as it occasionally did, brought in usually on the wings of some family scandal), and if our insistence seemed likely to coax an explanation out of Daddy, he was invariably stopped before he'd got very far by a look from the other end of the table. I knew that look well. It was a look of glacial disgust that closely resembled Miss Cockburn's habitual expression when she was teaching us Physiology.

It reflected, as I afterwards realized, an attitude to sex that was common among women of the clan who were very much older than my mother - late Victorians, in fact. When my Aunt Miriam de Saram delighted us all by having twins, we heard from her own lips of her mother's reaction to the news. "Really, Miriam, it's disgraceful. At your age!" stately Lady Hilda Pieris had said. Miriam sat up in bed looking superbly arrogant as she mimicked her straight-backed mamma, then dissolved into peals of laughter over the remark. I admired the tiny babies asleep in their cots, and pretended I wasn't listening. Miriam had just turned forty. I waited for my mother's answering laughter: it came, but it didn't ring true. You could see she thought Auntie Hilda had been quite right. But why was it disgraceful to have babies after one was forty? Did one have any say in the matter at all? No one ever explained.

began one book coyly, that I had found on my parents' bookshelves. Not much help there. Every Woman"s Home Doctor, an immense crimson covered volume to which my mother referred in all medical emergencies, was filled with photographs of Englishwomen with bobbed hair, smiling radiantly as they leaped about in gym slips doing exercises in the sunshine. This book also provided photographs of an ideal sick-room, and of the equipment need for bathing a baby, but about the arrival of the baby itself there was no information that I could find.

Some babies, it seemed, arrived too early. This, too, was Disgraceful. Or so an anonymous letter-writer said, sending to every family in the clan over the signature of "Careful Observer" all relevant details when a recently-married cousin had her first baby some weeks before it would normally have been expected. Others didn't arrive at all: and when this occurred, my mother and my aunts would look meaningfully at one another, and pityingly at the young wife concerned, and ask each other the all-important question, "Whose fault is it?" My own baby brother had arrived early. This wasn't Disgraceful, but Sad, since he had only lived a quarter of an hour after he drew his first breath; and I remember very well the wreath of blue hydrangeas Daddy gave me to place on the coffin, no bigger than a dressing-table drawer, that we followed to the churchyard at Bandarawela.

Most of these arrivals and non-arrivals (my brother's excepted) were, as far as Daddy was concerned, neither Disgraceful nor Sad but Comic. On several occasions he greeted the news with huge delight, and promptly celebrated the event with ribald verses . . .

Diary entry from A Change of Skies

I have recently discovered that I am not the first person from my part of the world to visit this place, the name of which, when I heard it for the first time, awakened immediately my interest & indeed (I must confess it) my amusement.

When Joe told me of the circumstances in which such a name had been assigned to the district, that it memorialized a group of Sinhalese workers who had found themselves alone & without food in this dry and desolate place some 30 yrs ago, my amusement was quickly at an end.

The tale Joe told me is a bitter one, and I set it down here more to relieve the burden it placed upon my mind and heart when I heard it than for any pleasure I hope to derive from ever viewing these pages again at some future time.

My poor countrymen who lived here for a while and died (for indeed, only 11 from a party of 32 survived the misery of that time) had been brought to this district from Queensland by the rumor of employment on a cattle property here. Some of them had experience of the care of livestock in their homeland, others (no doubt like Davith's father in Bundaberg) had run cattle on their small properties in Queensland, & many had added to their store of knowledge through converse with the native stockmen of these parts who have, it is said, an affinity to the land that their tribes roamed freely in times past which is so great as to be beyond ordinary comprehension, & who are said to be especially skilled in the management of horses.

All would have been well had it not been for a very great drought at that time which turned the district for hundreds of miles around into something resembling a desert. Water dried up in the creeks, & where there had in good times been lakes of fresh water alive with fish, there was now but cracked earth.

The Sinhalese had no skills which could help them survive in these unnatural conditions. Cattle & men alike, Joe tells me, dropped in their tracks, such was the terrible heat of the sun; & landowners & their stockmen together walked off their holdings. Those among the workers who could still stand upright struggled, after a time, with difficulty from their camp to the roadside, where they lay down in the dust; & as the pony carts passed by, carrying settlers and their families out of the area into towns where they could at least find water and, if they were fortunate, payment for day labor, these poor folk stretched out their hands to the passing carts and cried out in their own tongue, "Badagini! Badagini! O help us, who will help us?"

I, who have sometimes heard that cry in the poorest quarters of the towns of Matara & Galle, could not, I fear, hide my tears when I heard this terrible tale.

How did it happen that they were not assisted? I asked Joe, in whose father's time these events had taken place. He shrugged, & lit his pipe. "No-one asked them to come out here in the first place, mate," he replied. "When the bad weather struck, it was a case of each man for himself. Has to be, in country like this. It was a terrible time for the animals in the district, but a sad time for the humans, too, I reckon, when a man or a woman don't stretch out a hand to help a fellow creature fallen in the dust."

All that night, as I lay in the dark, watching the moon rise behind the barns & sheds, it seemed to me I heard that terrible cry rising into a hot wind in an alien & hostile land - Badagini! Badagini!

Reflecting on the years I have spent in this country, & in particular on the difference between my poor compatriots' experience & my own, I feel I must revise a statement made some time earlier as to the scarcity here of good company, for I have met with good fortune & great kindness in many places, & especially from my friend Joe. Despite the differences in our background & education (and I should also say in view of the comforts that await me at home, our respective hopes of future prosperity) we have been good companions.

For two days past, water from swollen creeks in this region has inundated many properties including this which yields me my present employment. In moving panic-stricken livestock, cattle as well as horses, to high ground where they will, it is to be hoped, be safe from the rising flood waters, I have discovered in myself courage I never knew that I possessed, & skills which I would formerly have sought elsewhere than in my own two hands.

Joe has taught me much, not only concerning the beasts he loves & governs with such skill, but of human nature. It is not possible that we shd correspond, despite which I trust he will think of me often with his customary good-hearted kindness. But I have seen enough, & learned enough of myself too, to understand that a life lived here is not for me.

The crude cooking of raw, unseasoned meat over burning coals (which passes generally for the culinary art in these isolated places) is, for example, something I would find hard to bear during a longer sojourn than I intend to make. The result is often charred, & where not so, it is generally raw, the blood still running from it. The smell of it, not to put too fine a point on the matter, is vile.

While I was resident on Mr Nott-Herring's sugar cane property in Queensland, Davith employed a portion of the curry leaves, spices & pepper he had brought with him in the dray to render my meat palatable. But here, alas, there is no Davith, only poor Joe & his companions, whose habit it is to fall upon their rough victuals with every sign of enjoyment, & to wonder much at my own reluctance to keep them company at table.

Indeed, there are many things about me which I perceive perplex my friend Joe. It was but last night that he, guessing my Journal to be a logbook of some kind since I write something in it every night, looked into it over my shoulder out of curiosity. He found what I was writing opaque and incomprehensible, but here & there upon the page he recognized his own name.

"So you're writing about me, eh? J.O.E. Joe. I know. That's me. What have you said about me, eh?"

"That I shall think of you often when I leave this place. That you have been kind to me. A good friend," I said. "A mate. And that I hope you will think of me in the same way."

I looked at the page to which he had turned, open on the kitchen table in our shack.

"That's Greek; and that, over there, is written in English letters, but it's Latin, a language men spoke long ago in Italy."

" 'He who crosses the ocean may change the skies above him, but not the color of his soul.' "

Novelist, Poet, and critic Yasmine Gooneratne, a graduate of Bishop's college, went on to graduate from the University of Ceylon in 1959 and also received a PhD in English Literature from Cambridge University in 1962. Gooneratne became a resident of Australia in 1972. In 1981 she was the first, and remains until now, the only person to receive the higher doctoral degree of Doctor of Letters ever awarded by Macquarie University. She now holds a Personal Chair in English Literature at Macquarie University, which is located in New South Wales. From 1989-1993 she was the Foundation Director of her Universityís Postcolonial Literatures and Languages Research Center. In 1990 Gooneratne became an Officer of the Order of Australia for distinguished service to literature and education and in that same year she was also invited to become the Patron of the Jane Austen Society of Australia. Gooneratne also had a place on a committee appointed by the Federal Government to review the Australian system of Honors and Awards from 1994-1995. Since 1995, she has had positions on both the Australia Abroad Council and the Visiting Committee of the Faculty of Creative Arts at the University of Wollongong. In 1998, she became a member of Asialink. She has been a visiting professor or specialist at many different places around the world including the following: Edith Cowan University (Western Australia), University of Michigan (USA), Jawarharlal Nehru University (India), and the University of the South Pacific (Fiji).

Yasmine Gooneratne is married to Dr. Brendan Gooneratne who is a physician, environmentalist, and historian. They married in 1962 and now have two children, a son and a daughter, and currently live in Sydney, Australia.

Gooneratne has 16 published books that include critical studies of Jane Austen, Alexander Pope, and contemporary novelist and screen writer Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. She has also written volumes of literary essays as well as poems, short stories, a family memoir, and two novels. In 1991, she was awarded a Writer's Fellowship at Varuna Writerís Center where she edited the final draft of one of her novels, A Change of Skies. This novel later won the Marjorie Barnard Literary Award for Fiction in 1992 and was shortlisted for the 1991 Commonwealth Writers Prize. Her second novel, Pleasures of Conquest, was shortlisted for the 1996 Commonwealth Writers Prize. She has also contributed various articles, poetry, short stories, and other writings to many different anthologies and journals. Many of her works have been presented on television, radio, and at public readings around Australia and many other parts of the world. Her achievements are recorded in Who's Who of Australia 1997 and in The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature.

Gooneratne encompasses various themes in her writing. One theme that continually appears in her works is a reflection upon how the past affects the future. She relays many of her own experiences to make her points more personal and more real to the reader. An example of this is Relative Merits, which is a personal memoir that is based on interviews with her family members and on her own memories of her family's life. She takes her family's past and ties in how her well-known family has affected Sri Lanka's history. Another theme includes aspects of immigration and adjustment to new lands. This theme is exemplified in A Change of Skies, which deals with a Sri Lanka family moving to Australia. This novel focuses on the experiences of Asian immigrants and how they adjust to living in the new environment of Australia. Changes in history are also themes of her works. Gooneratne's second novel, The Pleasures of Conquest, deals with relationships between Europe and Asia as Ceylon undergoes a transformation from a British colony to an independent Sri Lanka.

Gooneratne's poetry also has many different themes. One major theme of her poetry is poetry itself. She refers to different parts of poetry, like verses and lines, in many of her poems. She makes the words seem powerful and alive. "The Scribble" describes how a young girl sees that as she gets older "that words grow sedate, / long may she find/ verse in the wind, / rhyme run in the rivers, / words hum and quiver." "6,000 Ft. Death Dive" explains how a woman dies and at the same time compares the power and freedom of death to writing. As Gooneratne writes, "from poetry to plummet till we splash/ down in a terse, laconic paragraph." In "The Cave," she writes, "Build on, poets, / out of ourselves, our pain/ and our delight, / we build our own support." In this poem she is encouraging poets to express themselves and know that someday they will "tremble on/ the blazing summit of our own creation." Another important theme is the different aspects of immigration that are also continually mentioned in her poems. In "Newsletter," she mentions Australia and "the island-shaped wastes common to immigrant hearts," indicating the love the immigrants have for their new land. She explores both perspectives of foreigners in other lands. In "Business People," she describes how tourists love the beauty of the land, but do not care to know the terrors of its past. She writes, "They scan the catalogue, write out a cheque and for the price fixed-thirty dollars-/buy my poor country." As "bits and pieces" of her land are carried away by the newcomers she says "our children/ have become a nation of beggars."

"Each book or article I have written engages with a particular idea or set of ideas that gripped my imagination at the time that I was writing it. A few examples include the following: Relative Merits (1986) seeks to preserve for posterity my memories of my family, and to give the reader some sense of that family's special qualities and its place in Sri Lanka's cultural history; A Change of Skies (1991) focuses on the experiences of Asian visitors/immigrants in Australia; and The Pleasures of Conquest (1995) is centered on historical and contemporary relationships between East and West. If I were to ask myself whether there has been some single idea I (must have) wanted to convey to an audience through these different works, I would say that it is a belief in the worth of human beings as individuals, irrespective of all attempts to stereotype or categorize them in terms of class, race, caste, color, intellectual ability, gender, or religious belief."

"The biggest influence on my writing as regards to subject matter has inevitably been the fact that I had the good fortune to have been born in Sri Lanka, and to grow up and be educated there at a "golden" period in the island's cultural life. The biggest influence on my writing regarding style is probably a lifelong admiration for the writings of certain English authors of the 18th and 19th centuries, including Alexander Pope, Dr. Samuel Johnson, and Jane Austen."

"There are several authors I deeply admire. Among them are V.S. Naipaul, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, R.K. Narayan, and the authors I have previously mentioned. My favorite author is Jane Austen, partly because her ideas about love and life (as expressed in her novels and letters) have shaped my own, and partly because her disciplined and ironic style provides an exemplary model for any writer who feels (as she did) deeply about the conditions under which life must be lived."

"My favorite among my own books is Relative Merits. Why? Partly because I am most myself in it; and partly because recreating in it my memories and impressions of family members whom I knew well opened the way for me to create fictional characters of my own later on in novels and stories."

"Biggest accomplishment: My teaching. At the age of 15, I had the good fortune to attract the interest and friendship of two wonderful teachers: Pauline Swan and her husband C.R. Hensman. Without their interest and encouragement I would probably not have gone into academic life. I would like to believe that I, too, have been in influence for good in the intellectual lives of students in Sri Lanka (where I taught for 11 years) and in Australia (where I have taught for 26 years). I hope, above all, that I have been successful (like the Hensmans) in passing on to students and readers my own love of literature and my commitment to it."

--"In the East My Pleasure: A Postcolonial Love Story." SPAN 34-35 (1992-1993): 269-279.

--"Navaranjini Takes Note of Signs and Visions." Wilder Shores: Womenís Travel Stories of Australia and Beyond. Ed. Robin Lucas and Clare Foster. St. Lucia: University of Queensland Press, 1992. 36-41.

--Relative Merits: A personal memoir of the Bandaranaike family of Sri Lanka. 1986-1987.

--Relative Merits: A Personal Memoir of the Bandaranaike Family of Sri Lanka. London: C. Hurst, 1986.

--"Flowering, Finally in Alien Soil." Weekend Australian Magazine 22-23 October 1988: 9.

--"Constructing the Characters of Women in A Change of Skies." Australian Womenís Book Review 4.3 (1992): 13-15.

Her unassuming ways made her stand tall among her peers - Sunday Times Feb 4 2007

“Much will be required of those to whom much is given” This scriptural injunction is, I believe, applicable to Nanette my best and dearest friend with whom I shared a lifelong relationship of affection, understanding and trust.

Meeting as teenagers in the common room at College House on the first day of term so many years ago, it was a rare case of instant bonding between three young people from three different backgrounds – even ethnicity – the only common denominator being their faith. It did not strike us then, but in hindsight, I realize that shared values, identity of purpose in the pursuit of our studies, and a shared perspective on how to shape our lives, helped to establish this friendship which was to last a lifetime.

It was on the strength of this association that I feel obliged to narrate the story of Nanette’s life and the manner in which she fulfilled all that was required of her as one exceptionally endowed – not merely in the matter of her distinguished lineage, but also inherent superior intellect and what’s more her extraordinary gifts of compassionate love and concern for others.

Given these endowments it was expected that she would be enmeshed in an aura of exclusivity but I could vouch for the fact that she was, in all instances unassuming and simple to the core. Precisely for this reason she stood tall among her peers and won for herself both respect and admiration.

It is meaningful to review her life (and ours) from those early days. Those were exciting times. University life had its challenges. Ragging was not unknown, but except in rare instances, carried out in gentlemanly fashion. The motive was to tease and not to hurt. And so the appellation we got The Unholy Three did not bother us much (Greenhorns that we were at the time we did not recognize the innuendo).

Our initiation into the Arts and Sciences was in the regular curriculum, but what mattered most was the transition from our adolescence, nurtured within the narrow confines of the convent schools in which we were tutored, into adulthood in the milieu of a free and open co-ed institution. We were subconsciously faced with the realization that we were solely responsible for our lives and that all our actions were subject to the closest scrutiny. Needless to say these prescriptions prepared us for the long and arduous journey of life.

After four years of study and the concomitant widening of our horizons we stepped out from the somewhat rarefied atmosphere of the University into the world of everyday existence. Choices had to be made and careers undertaken. Marriage with its total commitment was a necessity. Although Nanette had many admirers it was the unobtrusive Lyn who, deservedly won the prize. They had a happy life together and started to raise a family.

Life as we all know is never easy. Childhood illnesses, problems of psychological adjustments and the like, took its toll on Nanette’s health for a time, but she bravely overcame all these disruptions and her life became one of service not only to her own husband and children, but also to her mother and to the families of her dear siblings.

In times of illness and anxiety she cared for them as though they were her very own. I still remember the daily bulletins she sent me regarding the progress and regress of the terminal illness of one in her extended family and when the inevitable came to pass she was as distraught as the mother of the girl who could not be saved.

This same compassion she extended to friends who had insurmountable family problems, offering the shelter and comfort of her own home till the crises blew over. To me and Blossom the third member of the unholy triad, she was an unfailing source of inspiration, always accepting and upholding each other in all our strengths and weaknesses. For this is what friendship is all about – the caring and sharing in all the joys and sorrows of life.

As for herself she lived life to the full — ably supporting and guiding her two children in the educational sphere, and her husband in his daily endeavours. When Lyn reached the zenith of his career she rose to the occasion by carrying out the relevant social responsibilities with grace and charm.

But life inexorably draws to a close. When Lyn passed away she was very lonely and unable to cope. Ravi came to her rescue and persuaded her to come and live with his family in the land of their adoption. With her indomitable spirit she acceded, and began to lead a new life Down Under. What gave her true happiness was to teach and nurture her two grandchildren as only a person of her scholarship and competence could do. Suffice it that she could achieve this objective in the space of a few fruitful years. She was, in fact, fulfilling all the obligations required of one so richly endowed and she could now rest from her labours in peace and comfort. It was at this time an undreamt of illness struck bringing with it relentless anxiety and distress to her and her family. Jit and Ravi supported her with due filial love and devotion.

Our faith does not promise the absence of pain and suffering to even the best of men and women, and this pain she had to endure. This she did with courage and resignation.

Nanette had now begun her journey homewards — to the Promised Land — and so it was goodbye. You are sorely missed by all those whose lives you touched.

You have inspired us all.

l-r: Annette Dias Bandaranaike in London circa 1900, Annette Dias Bandaranaike & Ronald Illangakoon, first Sinhalese AG, at their marriage 1914, Old Nuga Tree in the Oberoi Hotel compound is seen, standing tall, at the back

l-r: The Wickremasinghe family, Wellawatte, Christmas 1953. My (Git Wickremasinghe) father is seated at right. I am the kid on the ground, A gathering of Wickremasinghes and Bandaranaikes. 3^rd from left standing is Dr Sumitra Wickremasinghe, now a top surgeon in Melbourne, Australia

Self (Git Wickremasinghe) with rabbit, ca 1954, The Martensteyn family of Bandarawela - a very distinguished Burgher clan in Ceylon

self (Git Wickremasinghe) enjoying he sands of the Mt Lavinia beach, ca 1954

Sirimavo R. D. Bandaranaike - an outstanding stateswoman

To mark International Women's Day on March 08 :

SIRIMAVO R. D. BANDARANAIKE (Born April 17, 1916) was the world's first elected woman Prime Minister, and a founder leader of the Non Aligned Movement (NAM).

Apart from becoming the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka three times, she was also an illustrious stateswoman who had not only signed the historic Sirima-Shasthri pact to find a political solution to the problem of Tamils of Indian origin but also effectively intervened to solve the Sino-Indian dispute. She represented Sri Lanka at various international fora including the United Nations Organisations and the Non-Aligned Movement.

She also brought a resolution before the UN asking that the Indian Ocean be made a Peace Zone. She had the rare distinction of rubbing shoulders with outstanding world leaders like Indira Gandhi of India, Anwar Sadat of Egypt and Marshall Tito of Yugoslavia.

Before becoming the Prime Minister in 1994 she took her oaths as the Minister without Portfolio on August 19, 1994, and donated her salary to the Treasury. She worked as an advisor to the Cabinet of Ministers of her daughter's government.

Indian Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi had very close family connections with the Bandaranaike family and as a result the Indo-Sri Lanka relations during her rule was unique.

Her friendly and cordial approach helped to find solutions to festering problems. Such as the Sirima-Shasthri agreement between Mrs. Bandaranaike and Lal Bahadur Shasthri which helped to sign an accord with India. It was solely due to her efforts that an amicable settlement favourable to Sri Lanka was reached on the question of Kachchativu, a tiny island between the South Coast of India and Sri Lanka's North Coast . Now the island belongs to Sri Lanka.

Once when border issues between India and China showed signs of corruption, Mrs. Bandaranaike separately met the leaders and brought pacification.

She ruled the country from July 1960 to March 1965 and then from 1970 to 1977. For nearly 12 years Mrs. Bandaranaike ruled the country. During the height of terror in 1988 she polled 2,289,868 votes (44.9 per cent) as the presidential candidate at the elections held on December 19, 1988. Former President Ranasinghe Premadasa who won the election polled only 50.4 per cent. Mr. Ossie Abeyagoonasekera received 4.5 per cent votes.

As the daughter of Barnes Ratwatte Dissawwa and Ratwatte Kumarihamy, she received her education at St Bridget's Convent, Colombo.

In 1940, she married Mr. S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike the then Minister of Local Government and Health, who later became Prime Minister of the country in 1956 and continued till September 1959, when he was assassinated.

Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike was appointed Prime Minister (as a member of the Senate) and contested her first seat in Parliament in March 1965 from the electorate of Attanagalle - and was returned by a majority of votes and later became the Leader of the Opposition.

She had given leadership to the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), the party founded by her late husband both in good times and bad times.

TRIBUTES Sunday Times October 15, 2000

Queen B

For more than forty years, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, held centre stage in Sri Lankan politics. Catapulted into the limelight in1959 following the shock assassination of her brilliant politician husband Prime Minister S.W.R.D Bandaranaike, the diffident housewife from Horagolla, disparagingly called the 'weeping widow' by her critics, soon proved her mettle.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike put little Sri Lanka on the international map when in 1960 at the age of 44, she became the world's first woman prime minister. She held office from 1960-65, then again from 1970-77 presiding over the country's change into a Republic and finally became prime minister for the third time in 1994, this time with her daughter Chandrika Kumaratunga as the country's executive president. Ill-health however, dogged her last years and in August this year, she relinquished public office.

In the 1960s, Mrs.Bandaranaike wowed the world with her presence as the only female leader amongst an international stage dominated by a galaxy of prominent men, especially from the Non-Aligned Movement among whom were India's Jawaharlal Nehru, Egypt's Gamal Abdul Nasser,Yugoslavia's Josip Broz Tito and Indonesia's Gen.Sukharno. She maintained excellent ties with neighbouring countries and shared a close personal friendship with Indian premier Indira Gandhi. She was also close to the Chinese leaders Mao Tse Tung and Chou-en-lai. In 1976, she hosted the Non-Aligned Summit in Colombo and this was considered the pinnacle of her career in international affairs.

During the Bangladesh war in 1971,she permitted Pakistani flights to re-fuel at Colombo and yet kept the confidence of Mrs.Gandhi. Another notable achievement was when she obtained for Sri Lanka sovereignty over the barren but disputed island of Kachchativu situated between India and Sri Lanka.

Whilst she shone on the international stage, at home, though her career was chequered.

She faced a military coup in 1962 and swiftly quelled the JVP insurgency in 1971.

Her takeover of Lake House and closure of the Independent Newspapers Group were, however, blots on her record. On the economic front, propelled by her Marxist allies, she implemented unpopular left-oriented economic and social policies which brought about an era of shortages and queues.

In 1975,she removed the Marxists from her coalition and began pushing right-wing policies but it was too late and the opposition UNP swept to a landslide victory in 1977.

In what was possibly the darkest hour of her political life, the UNP under President J.R. Jayewardene cruelly stripped her of her civic rights, forcing her out of politics for what was loosely called "abuse of power" in 1980.

Five years later, the grand old lady once again led the SLFP to power and was sworn in as Prime Minister by her daughter Chandrika.

Her death marks the end of a remarkable career of a woman who emerged from her husband's shadow to write her name in this country's history as a stateswoman of courage and integrity.

Family ties...

The Bandaranaike-Ratwatte wedding

Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Early Days : with
husband SWRD and her daughters

"I attended the wedding of 'Young Banda' to Miss Ratwatte (daughter of Disawa Barnes Ratwatte and niece of the late Sir Cudah) at Balangoda and a week later, their ceremonial homecoming to Sir Solomon Bandaranaike's residence near Veyangoda. This marriage is

of great sociological and political importance. Whatever opinion one may hold of young Bandaranaike as Minister for Local Administration, or as founder and leader of the Sinhala Maha Sabha or as a pervert for political purposes from Christianity to Buddhism or as a master of nationalist rhetoric, one is bound to admit that he has taken to himself a wife who appears Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Turning point :
SWRD assassinated

thoroughly nice, placid and sensible and that this union between a first-rank family of the lowlands with a first-rank family of the Kandyan highlands represents an accretion of considerable political influence to the Sinhala Maha Sabha."

Extract from 'Things Ceylonese': twelfth periodical report by Sir Andrew Caldecott for CO (Colonial Office) from British Documents on the End of Empire edited by K.M de Silva.

Mother of the nation...

Sirimavo Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike had.... achieved distinction on her own account by becoming the world's first woman Prime Minister. But rather more important than the accident by which she preceded Mrs Indira Gandhi, Mrs Golda Meir and Mrs Margaret Thatcher to a winning post set up by keepers of world records is the fact, undisputed I should imagine by those who follow Lankan politics, that she is the most formidable and charismatic leader the country has ever seen. A woman of Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Being sworn in by her daughter as Prime Minister for the
time

unusually strong will and possessed of a sturdy resolution that her later career has given her frequent opportunity to display, she did not allow public criticism to deter her from what she doubtless saw as her duty both to her children and to her husband's memory.

The French newspapers in Lausanne where I found myself in 1960 carried pictures of Sirimavo, her face pale, her eyes rimmed with dark shadows, campaigning from public platforms for the Sri Lanka Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: In times of war : comforting an injured soldier

Freedom Party. They used the terms volupteuse and seducteuse to describe the placid lady I had last seen at Horagolla Walauwa acknowledging with conventionally folded hands the greetings of her husband's supporters and later quietly but efficiently organising the midday meal that fed hundreds of rejoicing SLFP partisans gathered to celebrate uncle Solomon's 'famous victory'.

Most conservative members of our clan, ...reacted with deep misgivings .......when on the death of her husband, Sirimavo was persuaded by senior members of his party to enter politics. Even uncle Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Cartoon

Paul Deraniyagala who had been Solomon's best man when he married Sirimavo shook his head gravely over the idea of his cousin's widow in national politics..

"She can't achieve anything by it," said Uncle Paulie. "What does she know of politics. In Solla's time, Sirima presided over nothing fiercer than the kitchen fire. And think what Ceylon's like-would people ever tolerate a woman at the top? She'll end up by spoiling her personal reputation and ruining the family name."

"When human life is involved, all else is secondary"

Early in her political life, Mrs Bandaranaike spearheaded the Non-Aligned Movement and in this speech to the Non-Aligned Conference in Belgrade in 1961 she addressed the assembly appealing for peace not just as leader, but as a woman and mother. Extracts:

I consider it a great honour to represent my country at this Conference which could prove to be of historic significance in the cause of world peace. I am happy to attend this great assembly not only as a representative of my country but also as a woman and a mother who can understand the thoughts and feelings of those millions of women, the mothers of this world, who are deeply concerned with the preservation of the human race.

I am also happy that we have chosen to hold the Conference in this beautiful city of Belgrade not only because of the warmth and hospitality of the Yugoslav people of which there is so much evidence but also because in holding it in a European city we have demonstrated to the world that the ideals and hopes which we all share are not confined to a continent or region but reflect an awareness on the Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: At the NAM summit, Belgrade - 1961

part of human beings, wherever they may be, of the urgent need for international peace and security.

We in Ceylon count ourselves fortunate that the people of our land were spared the horrors of two World Wars and that we were able to throw off the shackles of colonial power without strife or bloodshed. But it was not until eight years after the attainment of independence, when my late husband was elected Prime Minister, that the foreign bases were taken over and a definite and positive policy of non-alignment with power blocs adopted in foreign affairs.

This Conference at Belgrade has not been convened, however, for the consideration of specific problems peculiar to individual nations; we are gathered here in the firm belief that the positive policy of non-alignment with power blocs followed by each of our several countries and that our common dedication to the cause of peace and peaceful co-existence gives us the right to raise our voices in common decisions and declarations in a world divided into power blocs and moving rapidly towards the brink of a nuclear war.

Many of the Heads of States and Heads of Governments who addressed this Conference in plenary session have emphasized the point that our group of nations do not propose to become a third bloc or a third force. None of us can really disagree with that view, for that would be inconsistent with the very idea of non-alignment. But it is important to remember that in our anxiety to avoid becoming a third force we must not allow our spirit of unity and purpose which has been so evident at this Conference to disintegrate and fall apart.

We believe that the ideals which have drawn us together will continue to inspire our thinking on international problems. We must recognise, however, that national policy is seldom divorced from national interest and that it is in the nature of international politics that competitive interests should arise. It would be unreal for us to believe that such conflicts of interest can be resolved by any appeal to principle alone. It would be equally unreal, and indeed positively dangerous, to allow these conflicts to remain unresolved. It is in this spirit that I would like to express our thoughts on some of the problems which confront us.

None of the countries of the world, big or small, rich or poor, can afford to look with indifference at the increasing international tension and at the steady deterioration in mutual trust and understanding among the committed nations of the world, particularly the Big Powers. The present crisis in Berlin must be reviewed not as a separate question but as part of the larger problem of a divided Germany and against the background of the failure of the Great Powers to agree on a firm peace settlement for that country.

The tensions which have grown in various parts of the world in recent years can be traced to the clash of interest between the two power blocs. The fact remains that the German problem is one of the legacies of the last war, and the earlier this question is resolved of uniting the two sections, the better it will be for peace and understanding among nations.

Disarmament is a crucial question of our times. An early settlement of this question will be of paramount importance in building confidence among nations and in decreasing the dangers of war. It would also be an important milestone in the improvement of relations between nations and would mark the end of two-power blocs with all this portends for the future peace and security of the world. Vast sums of money that are expended in manufacturing these weapons of destruction could usefully be spent on economic and social development in various countries of the world.

As countries having a vested interest in peace we should make an immediate appeal to the big powers to resume negotiations with a view to the achievement of complete and general disarmament. In my view, it would help these negotiations if a certain number of the non-aligned countries are also included in the Disarmament Commission.

This Conference of non-aligned states does not in any way act contrary to the aims and objectives for which the United Nations stands. On the contrary, this Conference supports and supplements the work of the United Nations. The United Nations stands for the maintenance of international peace and security and it is in the interest of all concerned, particularly the small countries, to maintain and strengthen this organisation.

We would prefer basic changes in the UN Charter in order to strengthen this organisation, but disagreement among the big powers makes this difficult. The failure to seat the representative of the People's Republic of China has contributed to this impasse. It is our earnest hope that wise counsels will prevail and that China will take her legitimate seat in the United Nations.

The composition of the Security Council and the other institutions of the United Nations does not adequately reflect the present membership of the United Nations. When a satisfactory solution is reached as regards the representation of the People's Republic of China we feel a reallocation of seats could be made in those bodies so that greater representation might be given to the Asian-African Group.

Before I conclude I should like to express my firm conviction that there is no single country in the world at this moment that looks forward to the prospects of war without dismay. I do not for one moment believe that there is a single mother in the world who could bear to contemplate the possible danger of her children being exposed to atomic radiation and slow and lingering death, if not swift annihilation.

The statesmen of the great powers, who have been placed in positions of trust and authority by millions of ordinary people who do not want war, have no right to assume that they have a mandate to precipitate a nuclear war and immense destructive power either to defend a way of life or to extend a political ideology.

If I may attempt to assess the contribution that the non-aligned countries can make at this time, I would say that our endeavour should be to influence world opinion to such an extent that governments, however powerful, cannot regard warfare as an alternative to negotiation. Too much is at stake today to allow us the luxury of considerations of prestige and honour. When human life is involved all else is secondary. Let us in our deliberations make this clear in no uncertain terms

Her eyes

The eyes, they say are the most precious gifts for a human. Then the eyes of the world's first lady premier, and mother of the nation as she is considered by many Sri Lankans, would be priceless gifts.

According to a wish she had expressed some time ago, the late Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike's corneas were donated to two eye patients who were awaiting corneal grafting at the Eye Hospital, Colombo. "Despite her age the eyes were in good condition", said the Director of Eye Hospital Dr. Sarath Abeysinghe.

Both corneas were removed and one transplanted on the very day Mrs. Bandaranaike passed away, and the other the next morning, by two consultant eye surgeons of the Eye Hospital.

"Luckily there were two patients awaiting corneal grafting at the Eye Hospital. Otherwise the eyes would have been sent abroad," said Dr. Abeysinghe. -UG

A tribute from London

Sirima will be missed

By Neville de Silva

The death of Sirima Bandaranaike on Tuesday came as quite a shock to most persons of Sri Lankan origin living here.

A stereotypical Western idea in former times was that Asian or Oriental women were virtual chattels and that their place was in the kitchen unlike their Occidental counterparts who played a prominent role in society and politics.

When Mrs Bandaranaike became Prime Minister in 1960 the mould that perpetuated such thinking was broken.Yet Western media and academics had a way of belittling that achievement. They argued that Mrs Bandaranaike became Prime Minister only because of the assassination of her husband.

But once she was thrust into the forefront of politics, she learned it fast and actually took to it quite professionally.

If Mrs Bandaranaike's entry into politics, as the world's first woman Prime Minister did not entirely rebut the argument, that Oriental women were still behind their Western counterparts in liberating themselves of their traditional role as housewives, it did focus much more academic and media attention on the status and role of Asian and African women in society.

Much to the amazement of Western people they began to discover that there were many women in our universities and other tertiary institutions such as the Law College and, that in some disciplines, women outnumbered the men.

I remember an occasion in 1971 when Betty Friedan (if my memory has not deserted me for a moment) a guru of America's women's lib came to the University of Hawaii to talk of her favourite subject-women's liberation. She talked of her interesting meeting with Indira Gandhi whom she referred to as the world's first woman Prime Minister much to the joy of the Indian students gathered.

When she did stop to take a breath, I managed to intervene and point out to her that Indira Gandhi was not the world's first woman prime minister. She hesitated for a couple of minutes and then went on as though ignorance was indeed bliss.

If an American women's lib leader did not know Mrs Bandaranaike by reputation, certainly lowly immigration officials in the former German Democratic Republic, commonly called East Germany, did.

Rex de Silva, formerly the Editor of the Sun newspaper and now editing the Borneo Bulletin in Brunei, and I had just crossed Checkpoint Charlie in West Berlin and were trying to enter the eastern sector, as the Americans called it.

This was in 1966 and both of us were attending a journalism institute, which was located a hundred yards away from the notorious Berlin Wall and opposite Checkpoint Charlie.

After handing over our passports to the East German officials, we were waiting for clearance when Rex and I were greeted very warmly by one of them who said "Aah Ceylon.. Frau Bandaranaike.... The (tea)" and immediately cleared us. The point I'm trying to make is that Mrs Bandaranaike was well known in the socialist bloc and the developing world.

If Mr Bandaranaike made foreign policy a key plank during his unfortunately short term as Prime Minister, Sirima Bandaranaike continued that interest and gave serious thought and much time to foreign policy and to build a professional diplomatic service.

Another trait in her was that she was always helpful to journalists, if she could be so, without divulging sensitive information. I've often had occasion to interview her at the airport either when she was leaving or arriving.

I remember one occasion when she was leaving for India from the Ratmalana airport. She was heading for the plane accompanied by Governor General William Gopallawa and Maithripala Senanayake. I walked across the tarmac much to surprise of the security officials and other journalists and interviewed her right there.

Thank heaven there was no overpowering security presence then. Thank heaven for journalism that Mrs Bandaranaike considered this was part of the job and how I got my interview was my business.

Even when I used to come home from Hong Kong for a short holiday, she would never refused to give me an appointment if I telephoned asking for one.

And even in those physically fragile years, her mind was still acute. Once when I called on her a few months before Hong Kong returned to China, she was very interested to know what could happen, whether Hong Kong would continue to be like what it was then.

Sirima Bandaranaike will be missed.

In her own words…

In an interview with The Sunday Times on her 79th birthday on April 16, 1995, Mrs Bandaranaike, then Prime Minister for the third time, spoke to Roshan Pieris on the events that shaped her life. Extracts:

"Just like any young girl, I was excited about it. There were elaborate preparations made as my husband was then a politician of stature and the Ratwatte family (she was a Miss Ratwatte) was keeping to all the traditions we were heir to."

"Poignant and harsh memories still remain when I recollect that distant day, of the way in which my husband was shot in his own home and the manner of his death. And there were my three children Anura the youngest, only around eleven and my daughters teenagers."

"I guided the country through a coup planned to topple my government when I first took over. In 1962, many a UNP politician's unseen hand and that of many a man in the Forces was ranged against me. But I overcame it all. But what I am most proud of looking back, is that during one of the most trying periods in recent history I guided our country.

The JVP uprising was the first terrorist insurrection in this country directly attacking the government. It was an outstandingly difficult time. But I kept my cool.

It is true some youth died in the crossfire but I am proud to say no one was deliberately killed or abducted or burnt with tyres round their bodies or mutilated. I asked the misled youngsters, both men and women to surrender.

I told them as a mother I felt for them and felt sorry that they should have been so falsely misled with grandiose ideas of power.

I will always remember the start of the Non-aligned Movement by Tito, Nehru, Nasser and myself and the honour of hosting the movement's 5th summit in Sri Lanka in 1976.

I am proud that we maintained good relations with our immediate neighbours and that Sri Lanka's stature in global politics was high. In retrospect there is also the solving of the Indo-Sri Lanka problem, vis-a-vis the Sirima-Shashtri pact and finally getting Kachchativu, a bone of contention between the two countries (India and Sri Lanka) for Sri Lanka.

I am glad that history has been kind in making my husband, myself and now my daughter, leaders of this country.

I hope there will be peace as we had upto 1977 and that my country will once again be able to live in peace, devoid of violence between ethnic groups and that the territorial integrity and sovereignty of our country will remain intact.

I pray for peace and prosperity for this country I serve and love so that future generations will call her blessed.

May the Triple Gem bless all her people irrespective of race, caste or creed. That is my most ardent Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Greeting Prince Charles on Sri Lanka's
fiftieth Independence Day

wish.

Today marks the seventh death anniversary of Dr. Jaya Pathirana, former Advocate of the Supreme Court of Ceylon, Member of Parliament for Kurunegala (1961-1965) and judge of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka. The following excerpts of an article on S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike by Dr. Pathirana is published as a mark of respect for the late judge who is remembered as “a fearless and honest judge’.

S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, the great democrat

TRIBUTE: Unlike when independence of a country, which had been subject to colonial rule, had been won after a national liberation struggle of the people, in those countries where independence had been achieved from colonial rule after a negotiated transfer of power, the departing colonial power invariably handed over the reins of Government to the very elite with which it had made its compact.

The new ruling elite and the departing colonial power invariably had common interests. The transition to independence merely facilitated with greater efficiency the advancement of their respective socio-economic

interests. The mass of the exploited and suffering people seldom became the beneficiaries of independence at least during its initial period.

Mr. S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike had the far sighted vision to warn the country when we achieved independence in 1948 that unless the mass of the people-symbolically referred to as the Common Man-was given the benefits of freedom, freedom meant nothing.

He gave this warning on the 10th of February, 1948 in the speech he delivered as Leader of the House at the opening of the first session of Parliament after the attainment of independence.

With his characteristically oratorical skill he said: “We must not and we cannot allow our newly regained freedom to run the risk of remaining merely a theoretical concept, a thing dead and without real meaning for the mass of the people. We must see that it quickens into a life of the greater happiness and prosperity for us all. Political freedom comes alive only when it is utilized to achieve other freedoms - freedom from poverty, freedom from disease, freedom from ignorance, freedom from fear.”

These freedoms were embodied in the famous Atlantic Charter by Winston Churchill and President Roosevelt during the Second World War.

The social revolution which he brought about after the 1956 general election, elected him to power through the peaceful process of the ballot, ushered in the age of the Common Man.

It is this outstanding and epoch-making contribution he made to the people of our country which had a tremendous impact on its social and economic life that is universally recognised and respected by the people of our country.

This accounts for the fact that even the generation that was born after his death in 1959 continues to gratefully pay homage and tribute to this great son of Sri Lanka, who opened the door to the ordinary people of our country to enjoy the benefits of freedom and independence, and equal opportunities for all its citizens.

Faith in dignity

His basic faith in the dignity of the common man in turn instilled in him abiding faith in the democratic way of life. He was a dedicated democrat and one of the greatest democrats of our country.

He was fully aware of the struggle of democracy through the ages to survive and carry on against the more disciplined forces of totalitarianism. To him “democracy has provided that form of government, that form of society under which mankind has made the greatest progress.”

On one occasion, he remarked, referring to the necessity to keep democracy alive - “We’ll have to fan the flickeing flame of democracy, so that each individual is assured of those freedoms, for which democracy has always stood, and which safeguard man’s self respect and secure decent, honest and fair dealing between man and man.”

The crucial turning point in his political career came on 17th July, 1951 when he resigned his portfolio under the then ruling government, crossed the floor of the House of Representative and thereafter founded the Sri Lanka Freedom Party on the 2nd of September 1951.

While this decision of his brought strong criticism from his political adversaries, paradoxically, it turned out to be historic and invigorated democracy in Sri Lanka in that it gave the country for the first time a democratic alternative to the then ruling party.

The appearance of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party in the political arena of the country did a service to the country and the cause of democracy by providing the people of our country the opportunity by the free and fair exercise of the vote to change the Government and elect another democratic alternative in its place without resort to violence or revolution.

The democratic structure of the country was preserved and its stability and continuity ensured thereby.

Perhaps if Mr. Bandaranaike had not provided this democratic alternative, the history of this country may have taken a different course and eventually have followed the pattern of some of the African States by establishing some type of government without a democratic base.

While Mr. Bandaranaike was a firm believer in individual freedoms like freedom of speech, assembly, press, worship etc.., he felt deeply that the content of democracy would lose its essence unless it recognised the collective freedom like freedom from poverty, freedom from disease, freedom from ignorance and freedom from fear and those fundamental rights about which the socialist community had laid special emphasis like the right to work and right to live, the latter gaining momentum after the threat to human survival from the nuclear holocaust.

To him, therefore, democracy was an amalgam of a number of individual rights and collective freedoms.

Mr. Bandaranaike addressing the Indian Council of World Affairs in 1957 gave his answer:

“One of the problems of democracy today is to reconcile individual freedoms with the collective freedoms. At an early period the stress was laid on individual freedoms. Today the emphasis has shifted to the collective freedoms and one of the problems of democracy is to effect a harmonization and reconciliation between the two needs. It may be that some of the individual freedoms as they were conceived of earlier may have to be somewhat restricted in the interest of the collective freedoms. This is one of the problems that faces democracy.”

Mr. Bandaranaike’s great contemporary and friend, Jawaharlal Nehru, was in agreement with him when he said: “The lesser liberties may often need limitation in the interest of the larger freedoms.”

The individual liberties and collective freedoms were enshrined for the first time in the 1977 Constitution of the Republic of Sri Lanka where emphasis was more on the collective freedoms.

To Mr. Bandaranaike, a truly democratic society in a country which had emerged into freedom after long years of colonial rule could be achieved only if every vestige of the hang-over of colonialism in all its exploitative forms is eradicated.

He believed that these countries came under colonial domination, especially in the region of the Indian Ocean, due to the intrusion of great power rivalry into our region.

Any attempt after these countries achieved their independence to bring them under one or other of the rival power blocs would again jeopardize their freedom and independence especially as these countries were economically and militarily weak and had their own internal domestic problems, especially those which undermined their national unity.

One of the essential criteria of non-alignment is that a country should not grant or permit bases to any foreign power. In the context of the strategic importance of Sri Lanka, the presence of foreign bases would make the country extremely vulnerable in any future war.

When Mr. Bandaranaike took office as Prime Minister in 1956, it was almost ten years after independence, but still the Metropolitan power, Great Britain, had her naval base in Trincomalee and the Air Force Base at Katunayake, under British control.

This was an erosion of our status as an independent country. In order to give positive and effective expressions to our country’s new foreign policy based on Non-aligned and neutralism. Mr. Bandaranaike successfully negotiated with the British Government the handing over of these two bases to Sri Lanka in 1957.

The last vestiges of foreign occupation were removed and Mr. Bandaranaike was rightly constrained to remark at the ceremony of handing back of the Airport at Katunayake - “Today our independence is complete”.

The dignity, cordiality, and good grace with which Mr. Bandaranaike negotiated with the British Government, the handing back of these bases, is a shining example of how controversial problems that confront countries could be solved in the spirit of friendship.

It was Mr. Bandaranaike, who for the first time, established diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union and other socialist countries after we gained independence in 1948.

To Mr. Bandaranaike, non-alignment in our foreign relations did not mean “neutralist” or “uncommitted”. On the contrary, he told Marshal Tito when he visited our country, “We are very much committed we are committed to the hilt - to peace in a positive form, to friendship among nations, to peace and prosperity and happiness of all mankind.”

Important events

When Mr. Bandaranaike was Prime Minister, two important events took place which nearly brought the world to the brink of war. One was the entry of Soviet troops into Hungary and the other the Tripartite invasion of Egypt by Israel, Britain and France over the decision of Egypt to nationalize the Suez Canal Co... Mr. Bandaranaike took positive positions on both these matters without just being a spectator of events which were drifting into a world war. During the Suez crisis, Mr. Bandaranaike was on a visit to England and the UN Assembly.

He told his friend, the British Prime Minister, Anthony Eden, and the British Foreign Secretary, Selwyn Lloyd, that the Tripartite forces must unconditionally withdraw their forces from Egypt.

He supported the sovereign right of the Egyptian people to nationalize the Suez Canal Co., whilst at the same time recognising international rights regarding the use of the Suez Canal. His firm’s attitude over the Suez crisis earned him a very appreciative tribute from Gamal Abdul Nasser, the President of Egypt.

Mr Bandaranaike showed his independence in dealing with the two crises. As he later quite rightly and justifiably remarked, “we can tell the Soviet Union, it was wrong, and we equally have the right to tell the Tripartite powers that they are wrong.”

To him the main essential pre-requisite for solving the problems of the world was the necessity for peace, as problems could no longer be solved through war especially after the discovery of the atom bomb, war would mean total destruction of mankind. In one of his speeches he spelled out his formula for peace which has its full relevance today.

He said: “I feel that, as never before in our history, we have to recognize the dignity and brotherhood of man, that we are all one, whatever may be our religion, colour or race or idealogy. We are all one today.

We cannot permit our likes of one another, racial, ideological, linguistic, economic, social or otherwise to reach the point when we feel that we cannot live together. The whole world is very close together today, and whether we like it or not, either we have to live together or surely we shall perish together.”

Time, however, was not on his side to complete the goals he set out to achieve, for an assassin’s bullet prematurely cut short his life on 26th September, 1959. He may not be with us today, but the Bandaranaike image has survived and lives.

Today in every city, town, village and in every nook and corner of our island home, a grateful people bow their heads in reverence to his memory and pay their tribute and homage to this great son of Sri Lanka.

Rukie had a fairytale wedding when she married Percy Eheliyagoda in 1952. They had five children including two sets of twin girls. “The joy of my life was dressing up these four ‘dolls;” she said.All four daughters attended St. Bridget’s as well. Until recently, she played football with her grandsons and excelled in her favourite sport table tennis.

“My only granddaughter Shanika is in the UK studying medicine and if I could live a few more years until she passes out as a doctor I will be happy,” she says.

Spaces of possibility for equality, intellect and love

FICTION: Set in Ceylon in the transformative moments immediately before and after Independence in 1948, Yasmine Gooneratne’s novel The Sweet and Simple Kind, recently short-listed for the 2007 Commonwealth Writers Prize, presents a narrative trajectory of love, loss and remembrance.

A novel divided into four parts, it presents us with the intertwined stories for Latha and Tsunami Wijesinha, distant cousins and close childhood friends, as they more through formative periods in their lives.

To her various aunts and to the mothers of prospective husbands, Latha appears winningly “sweet and simple”, yet she possesses a clear intellect, a maturity of sense and a keen love of English literature (revelling in particular, like the author, in a partiality to Jane Austen novels).

In some ways, the novel reads as homage to Austen, with its female-centred and socially embedded narrative; like Austen’s books, it ends with marriage, yet not before considering what marriage means for intellectually and emotionally independent women, and for inter-community relations in the newly independent island.

It is Latha who provides the organising consciousness of the novel, for it is she who presciently grasps the meaning of her cousin’s unusual name, although she is as yet unsure whether Tsunami is “an earthquake waiting to happen” or “the one the earthquake hits” (p.53). With this play on names, Gooneratne ties the gentler world of 1950s and 1960s Ceylon to the ruptures of the present day.

Unhurried style

Gooneratne writes this novel in an unhurried style, which effectively contributes to the gradual construction of the world of the novel through an accumulation of details and characters, so that a listing of dishes feasted upon at tsunami’s home at Lucas Falls, or a description of everyday life at Peradeniya University adds to the accrued atmosphere of lived moments in time.

Pace of memory

The pace of the narrative also reflects the pace of memory as it documents the world of “a patrician elite in which old money and privilege had frequently joined forces with political power” (p. 195). The first part of the novel is set in the main at Lucas Falls, the home of the wealthier branch of the Wijesinha family.

Tsunami’s father Rowland Wijesinha had been the A.D.C. in the time of the adulterous British Governor Millbanke, until the mysterious death of Lady Millbanke brings an end to this particular episode of colonial habitation.

The estate is bought by a young British planter whose fortunes thrive on tea cultivation until he eventually sells the property to a wealthy Sinhalese mudaliyar, from whom the present Wijesinha can descend.

The ghost of Lady Millbanke is said to haunt particular corridors of the historic house, her spectral presence neatly tying together colonial deceit with the intrigues of Independence and the treachery of the post-colonial era.

Lucas Falls, a fallen paradise within which the stories of a family register the traces of colonial history and prefigure the neo-colonial future, is for Latha a life lived in displacement: she spends there formative moments of her childhood, away from her own genial father and conservative mother, keeping secret the English porcelain baths, rose-patterned quilts, and coloured squares of a Monopoly board that make her dream of far-away London.

Here, Latha attends Sunday services at church with her Christian relatives and participates in the imperialistic renaming of the ayah, chauffeur and other domestic staff as characters from the verse of Longfellow and Pope.

Symbols

However, Lucas Falls also offers symbols of the plural life of the times, centring around the figure of Helen Ratnam, the Indian-born mother of tsunami and her siblings. Helen is an inspired and talented artist who favours vibrant colours and free-flowing lines; as mistress of Lucas Falls she must take on certain domestic duties which require her to channel her energies differently.

While she is unable to tutor the young girls in Sinhala, an increasingly urgent knowledge for the youth of Independence, she instead teaches them to quilt, an unorthodox skill in Ceylon but one learnt by Helen from an English teacher at her Delhi school.

This is her means to “extend the beauty of her husband’s ancestral home” (p.56) and she allows the young girls to tack and hem the bright diamonds and hexagons in place while she reads to them from her own childhood favourites including As You Like It, David Copperfield and Pride and Prejudice.

Homespun artist

This homespun artist also plants wild flowers in a corner of the Lucas Falls grounds, which comes to be lovingly known to Latha as the ‘Indian garden’.

Its previous mistress, the tea planter’s wife, had directed the laying out of the roses, lilies, hollyhocks, mazes, bowers and avenues which point to the imposition on the tropical land of an obsessive memory of England.

Helen transforms this selected corner into a space for the nurturing of wild flowers, reflecting the way that Lucas Falls during her time is a space that allows the blossoming of open minds.

However, the ties that bind this large and unconventional family, whose free opinion first unsettles and then nourishes Latha, soon begin to fray, a process that prefigures the fragility of an open society and the alienation of “outsiders” and non-conformists within the increasing politicisation of an exclusivist Sinhala Buddhist national identity.

1948 is the year marking Independence, the year of the Citizenship Act that disenfranchise Indian Tamils working on the tea estates, and the year which marks the fracturing of the family, as Gooneratne begins to portray the privately devastating oscillation caused by seismic shifts in public life.

Transformations

Lucas Falls continues to reflect the transformations taking place in the nation at large, becoming a space that records the rewriting of history through polarised “race-memory”.

The colonial plantation house takes on another life, renamed as the Wijesinha maha walauwa, the requisite ancestral house tying the claims of an opportunistic family to heritage and land.

Helen’s artworks are swiftly replaced with images of Sigiriya frescoes, elephants carved from ebony and ivory, and a gilded papier-mache frieze of Prince Dutu Gemunu adorned in full battle regalia.

These overt national markers promote the new identity of Rowland Wijesinha as nationalist politician, who exchanges European dress for national costume, self-indulgently woven from fines silk.

The hypocrisy of such self-serving Sinhala Buddhist nationalism is nicely observed when, following a trip to the US, the new mistress of the house deems it proper that Bibles should be visibly positioned because “every well-appointed guest room should have one”. (p. 438)

Latha and Tsunami’s sojourn at the new University of Peradeniya occupies the central part of he novel as a significant transformative space for consciousness and identity, experienced by the young women students in a potentially transitional moment for the young nation.

Strong aroma

Arriving in Peradeniya in the first class carriage of the train, Latha takes her seat on the campus coach next to a girl from whose hair rises the strong aroma of coconut oil.

Gingerly glancing at her new companion in the close atmosphere of the coach, Latha notes that she is wearing a brightly flowered skirt and rubber slippers, and that she holds “a paper parcel with oil stains on it that smelt of stale masalavadai” (p. 210).

However, when the coach enters an avenue of ancient overhanging mara trees, from which garlands of golden ehela bestow their blossoms on the lush grass beneath, Latha’s misgivings dissolve, for it is this girl who lyrically voices the shared experience of beauty and idealism that will envelop the students in their new world.

Latha looks at her companion with new respect and reflects: “(I)t’s true... We are moving together, this stranger and I, and all of us in this coach, through a shower of gold (p.211).

This moment captures the affectionate and idealistic tone that infuses Gooneratne’s narrative as it seeks to recreate spaces of possibility for equality, intellect and love.

Like the plump cardamom pod that Latha’s father rolls around his tongue near the end of the novel, whose flavour has been distilled and almost dissipated as it cooks slowly in a pot of saffron rice, the novel memorialises what is now “no more than an exquisite rumour, a mere hint of its own presence”, a memory of sweetness and the loss of simplicity.

Bandaranaike

The Great son of Sri Lanka

Today (January 8, 2009) falls the hundred and tenth (110) birth anniversary of Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike, the fourth Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, patriot and great national leader. He was born on January 8, 1899, the only son of late Sir Solomon Dias Bandaranaike, Maha Mudliyar of Ceylon, under the British Colonial rule. S. W. R. D. came from a distinguished aristocracy of Ceylon.

S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, had his education at S. Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia, one of the leading public schools. He came under the direct influence of the very famous Warden Stone, a Classics scholar. After a brilliant academic career, he proceeded to Christ Church College, Oxford. At the Oxford University, he showed his prowess as a brilliant student, orator and debator. Young Bandaranaike, shone like a bright star in the firmament and he was elected Secretary of the Oxford Union by defeating Malcolm McDonald, a former Secretary for Dominions in the then British Cabient. Among Bandaranaike’s contemporaries at Oxford University, was the former British Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden.

Successful career

After serving the Bar in England, in 1925, he returned to Ceylon and began a successful legal career. But, he was more interested in serving the people and took to politics, when he was only, 26 years. He became a member of the Ceylon National Congress and soon became one of its joint secretaries.

The year 1927, was vital for Bandaranaike. He realised that to win the hearts of the people, he must address the public in Sinhala. This brilliant young man, learned Sinhala in no time and became a fine speaker both in Sinhala and English. After his return to Ceylon from Oxford, he was free to choose one of the three courses. I presume firstly; a life of luxury and leisure at Horagolla Walauwa, secondly; a distinguished legal career at the Bar; thirdly the hardest of all life of service to the people. He chose the last and the hardest way as he followed, the socialis and democratic “middle path.”

His services were not limited to the legislature alone. He engaged himself practically in all social service activities as well. He entered politics by contesting Maradana Ward, in the Colombo Municipality and defeated the then Labour Leader A. E. Goonesinghe. With the inauguration of the State Council, Bandaranaike returned uncontested for Veyangoda seat and in 1936 he was re-elected, uncontested and became the Minister of Local Government. Under the Soulbury Constitution, Bandaranaike entered Parliament in 1947 by a record majority from his Pocket-Burrow-Attanagalla. Prime Minister D. S. Sananayake appointed him as the Minister of Health and Local Government. He also became the Leader of the House.

political differences

The political differences he had with D. S. Senanayake and the United National Party, paved the way for his resignation. This marked the begining of the political change - “The dawn of the Era of the common man.”

I consider, July 12, 1951 and July 17, 1951, as the dates that laid the foundation, for the present era, in the Political History of this country. It marked the birth of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, led by S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike. On July 12th, SWRD, left DSS Government and crossed over to the Opposition. Like his shadow, the great national leader from Giruwapattuwa, D. A. Rajapaksa (Beliatta) followed SWRD andsat in the Opposition.

Attanagalla

He was a man who adorned the Legislature of this country for over 25 years. He was a gentleman par excellence, fine human being and a warm hearted man.

In 1952, elections, he won the Attanagalla Electorate by a majority of 32,544 votes by defeating the UNP candidate A. W. G. Seneviratne. His Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (People’s United Front) coalition, brought him to power. He united the all progressive forces - Sangha - Veda - Guru - Govi - Kamkaru and routed the English oriented westernised United National Party. We must mention here, that from 1926 to 1956 in his political career, he never lost an election.

He was defeated by “Mara”, (death) September 26, 1959, at the hands of an assassin.

Silver Tongue orator

As an orator, he was unrivalled. He was popularly known as the Silver Tongued Orator. In his brilliant speeches he quoted Latin and Greek at the most appropriate times. Law and Literature fascinated him. He was a vociferious reader. Burke and Pitt, Lincoln and Gokhale polished his powers of speech. SWRD was a master of the spoken word.

I give below, a few lines from his memorable address of thanks as the leader of the House of Representatives he delivered on February 10, 1948, in reply to the speech from the throne by HRH the Duke of Gloucester. This was considered a brilliant piece of oratory in the world.

Political freedom comes alive, only when it is utilised to achieve other freedoms - freedom from poverty; freedom from disease; freedom from ignorance; freedom from fear. Nor is that all. We have to fan the flickering flames of Democracy, so that each individual is assured of the freedoms for which Democracy has always stood, and which safeguard man’s self-respect and secure decent, honest and fair dealing between man and man. Those are the high tasks that we shall all, to the best of our ability, try to perform with diligence, devotion and efficiency.”

noblest son

Bandaranaike was one of the noblest sons of Sri Lanka. He was really brilliant. His mental alacrity was really amazing. Further, the quickness of perception and the way in which he was able to master a subject was astounding.

This great leader and patriot fought for the freedom of the country and he found one of the most honoured places in the Hall of Fame.

During the brief spell of his premiership he opened the doors toward the well-being of the common masses. In the field of education, the establishment of the Vidyodaya (Sri Jayewardenepura) and Vidyalankara (Kelaniya) Universities created the opportunity to a large sector of village students to pursue higher studies.

The nationalisation of transport, taking over of Trincomalee and Katunayake bases from the British Government, State patronage of the age old Ayurveda system and the establishment of a Ministry for Cultural Affairs are some of the remarkable achievements of this great man.

His life was gentle and the elements so mixed in him, that nature might stand up and say to the world.

This was a man.

Doyen of journalists pays tribute to the Master Builder of the New Sri Lanka

In the 1930s I described Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike as a man with a future behind him.

It was a time when in that Mecca of mediocrities called the State Council of Ceylon he stood out as an infidel, with cleverness as his creed and smartness as the manner of his mind.

He had what is called ‘back-ground;. That in itself was not anything unique. Many of those in the State Council could with an engaging gesture, point in a leisurely way towards some kind of estimable association, family prestige and good education. But Bandaranaike combined ‘back ground’ with brilliance; a familiar name with unfamiliar talent.

He certainly was one of the three best speakers we had then in Ceylon. Never at a loss or a word with a fluency and a diction that even Radhakrishnan might envy, he would reel off one perfect period after another with an astounding ease that baffled slow-witted men like me.

When he rose of an evening especially immediately after one of our fathers of repetition, his speeches shone like burnished gold in the sunlight.

For a moment or two lie would play, with velvet pawed syllables, with his opponent — he might even throw him the sop of a left-handed compliment.

Then he seemed to roll up his sleeves and get down to business. He hurled choice epithets at the subject. He stabbed the foe with jewelled phrases, made on the spur of the moment — but made to hurt, all the same.

He would pat a favourite — or better perhaps himself—on the back And then lie rode away in it storm of oratory, all spontaneity and splendour with the distant thud of his galloping prose resounding in our ears.

It was neither lightning nor thunder; nor was it an earth-quake. It was just the Member for Veyangoda.

But his speeches were not faultless. He had the heavy habit of talking in italics — at the top of his voice. And he underlined almost every other word of the italics at the top of his voice. And he underlined almost every other word of the italics with an absolutely unnecessary emphasis. The effect of stressing too much was not stressing anything at all!

With this distressing disease of underlining his megaphone voice lie combined an irritating appreciation of himself at every turn of phrase and parenthesis. Maybe, he paused for just a moment looked round for applause ; then, finding not enough forthcoming, remedied the defect himself by giving a little chuckle of appreciation thing between the clucking of a hen after laying and the laugh of a juggler on doing a celebrated trick.

He talked in jeweled prose well enunciated. But the magic was entirely in the fine phrasing; the appeal, in the strong epithet.

Not that there were no occasions when he did know to a point of cruelty the right thin to utter. Hurt his vanity and he started to the quick. Give him a personal pinprick to see how quick he was on the uptake. Pat came the retort, crushing in vengeance, killing in venom.

He was the maser of the retort discounrteous, the apostle of the sharp invective in the country.

I remember once Dr. S.A. Wickremasinghe, the Communist Leader, after attacking the Member for Veyangoda pretended not to be interested when Bandaranaike’s urn came for counter-attack. Some Member, with the instinct of the sportsman, pointed out that Dr. Wickremasinghe was asleep!

With a sneer the enraged Member for Veyangoda turned to the interrupter and, with high hauteur, said, “Let sleeping dogs lie”!

On another occasion Dr. N. M. Perera, the Trotskyte Leader, during a Budget Debate, said that Bandaranaike could not help being merely the ‘famous son of a famous father.”

The words of the merciless retort in reply was dipped in the poison of the Borgias when Bandaranaike alluded to his opponent as the ‘obscure son of a still more obscure father.”

It was but natural that Bandaranaike should feel wronged when referred to as typical of the headmen ‘aristocracy’.

He had with a good deal of difficult said goodbye to all that — the traditions of the feudatory overlord, the pompous prestige of the hireling chieftains, the dignity of the magic circles.

But I believe the phrase hurt more because there was the ring of truth in the idea.

Although brought up from childhood in an atmosphere of salaams and a cheap sense of superiority of birth and breeding that comes of class consciousness, not allowed to mix with other boys of his own age — except for a year or so at St. Thomas’ College — it is true he had the courage to throw overboard the trappings of pompous position. In this he wisely chose to be human rather than be comic in a fast-changing world. He preferred to be a symbol of the future to being an anachronism of the English Squire legend of the father, Maha Mudaliyar Sir Solomon Dias Bandaranaike, in a modern world. The son had the independence of mind to kick the white gods from across the seas at whose altar the father had always offered pooja with great profit.

He chose his own religion, Buddhism, instead of taking it ready-made and chosen for him.

But taking to a simple dress, writing well but not too wisely on the ‘‘Ploughshare and Socialism’’, even embracing Buddhism — however sensible and suitable these were — had not changed, it appeared, the spots of the leopard.

The change seemed to be entirely academic in interest; perfect as a mental pose.

In and out of the Sate Council it seemed to be a kind of mission then with Bandaranaike to found parties and societies, to plan circles and cliques.

Party-mindedness would be the best thin for politics if guided by principles and ideals. But the only principle he had then in mind for these boy scout troops of politics was his own personality; the only ideal his own idol as the figure-head.

He was not in search of followers, intelligent men who would be loyal to police and principle. His search was it seemed, really for flatterers who would do his bidding.

Politically, he seemed to be the petty chieftain with a pocket borough mentality, in search of legislative hirelings and henchmen and not followers.

That was why his parties never then achieved fruition; his societies existed only on paper. If he had then the gold of sincerity to cover the currency notes of brilliant promises he issued, he would have been acclaimed the young leader of a great party.He wore the simple national dress of a future day. But I suspected the underclothing to be a Maha Mudaliyar’s pompous uniform of a past era.

Bandaranaike was a backward child. Until eight, I believe, he could not master the Alphabet. But the proud father thought no school in Ceylon good enough for his son and heir. He got down from England a graduate called Radford to teach Bandaranaike at home.

When the father saw the son passing his Cam bridge Senior with the third place in the Empire, he was so proud of the young boy he took him on exhibition to the then Governor of Ceylon, Robert Chalmers.

“Are you going to make the little fellow a Mudaliyar ?“ asked Chalmers after an appreciative inspection of the sickly-looking Bandaranaike brought up in cotton wool.

Without waiting for the father to reply, young Bandaranaike said “No thank you, Sir, I shall work for my country.”

Chalmers raised his eyebrows. This was high treason! The father was so embarrassed that he felt the ground was opening under his feet. He hurried the boy home before he talked more, all the way back giving him a sermon on not bandying words with his betters.

He went to Oxford in 1919 with wonderful ideas of heroic leadership of the most dazzling kind among the undergrads, coloured by recollections of “Tom Brown at Oxford’.

Before going to Oxford white wandering about Horagolla he would compose his speeches for the Union On one occasion he was so engrossed in his peroration while riding, that in a moment of inspiration he dropped his reins in order to gesticulate — only to fall off his seat!

Later in life, it was the peroration that always mattered to him—even if it meant being thrown off his seat of sense.

While at Oxford some Sinhalese friends had expressed surprise that Bandaranaike had not cultivated the Oxford manner.

“That is true”, said Bandaranaike, “but I hope I have taught Oxford a lot of the Bandaranaike method.”

The first year of Oxford, once the novelty of things had worn off, was a period of disappointment and frustration. The most humiliating disappointments were reserved for the social sphere.

“With positive rudeness and brutal frankness one might be able to deal more or less effectively bounders and snobs can be suitably handled”, said Bandaranaike. “But the tragedy of it was that the vast majority of my fellow undergraduates did not behave in the former manner and were certainly not the latter. The trouble was more subtle and deep-seated; in a variety of ways one was always being shown, politely but unmistakably, that one was simply not wanted.”

But his conceit saved him from the fate of most Eastern students who often throw up the sponge.

Although at the Union he never seemed to be able to catch the eye of the President, he knew that he could make a better speech than most of those who were given preference; he knew that there were many members of the tenths team he could beat if he were only given the chance. He knew he could write better Greek prose than many of the scholars with their long rustling gowns who looked so superciliously at the “darkie”.

He also realized that within the cold outer Oxford of mere routine, snob cliques and silly prejudice, there was a wonderful inner Oxford into which it was well worth travelling to win an entry.

A well-meaning young man seeing the rather pathetic and lonely state of many Eastern students thought he would alleviate their suffering by inviting some of them to tea one day. Bandaranaike was also asked.

“An Englishman is not fitted for this type of occasion”, wrote the not too thankful guest. “He lacks that tact and bonhomie which a Frenchman for instance, possesses, and which are essential to the success of such a function . . . . Of easy conversation there was none.... The whole thing was ghastly. I found myself gradually becoming more and more angry with my fellow- guests as well as our host. I saved myself from doing something desperate by making a hasty excuse and running away”.

While working off his anger by having a long walk, he paused to look at the typically beautiful English scene before him touched by the mellow light of the evening sun, the river winding into the distance through soft meadows. Suddenly the solution of his problem flashed through his mind.

This audacious paradox was Bandaranaike’s golden key to the wonderful inner portals of Oxford.

“An Englishman is generous in recognising merit in others; it is more difficult to overcome the various barriers to his friendship. Once, however, his respect is obtained, it is easy to become his friend. And what a true and loyal friend he can be!” exclaimed the man who found the golden key to English friendship.

He strove hard at tennis and came on top with a Frenchman called Heidsieck who was connected with the champagne people and therefore, not unnaturally, rather popular.

But it was when Bandaranaike stormed the citadel of the Oxford Union that he entered the pale.

One November evening he tried many times to catch the eye of the President, Beverly Nichols, without success. In desperation he sent up a note asking whether he would be given a chance. Back came the note with the words : “Print your name”. He sent his name in block letters. Late in the evening there was a nod from the chair and the maiden speech was delivered.

A few days later he found himself famous when the “Isis” hailed the speech as the best of the evening.

From then onwards at the Union, Bandaranaike debated with Horatio Bottomley, Hore-Belisha, Rupert Gwynne, M. C. Hollis, V. A. Cazalet, Lloyd George, W. M. R. Pringle and other famous men who would go up to Oxford.

The mover, H.J. S. Wedderburn of Balliol, made according to the Isis, “a dull speech, badly delivered. The depression that now weighed as a pall over the House was ruthlessly swept away by Mr. Bandaranaike.

Sir Don Solomon Dias Abeywickrema Jayatilleke Senewiratna Rajakumaruna Kadukeralu Bandaranaike KCMG,Maha Mudaliyar ,JP was the chief native interpreter and adviser to the Governor by appointment as Head Mudaliyar and therefor was one of the most powerful personalities in British colonial Ceylon.

He entered politics as a member of the United National Party and rose to hold a cabinet position. As a young lawyer he became active in the United National Party (UNP) and from 1931 to 1951 served the party in legislative and ministerial posts. In 1951, Bandaranaike led his faction, the Sinhala Maha Sabha, out of the UNP and established the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP).

In order to promote Sinhalese culture and community interests, Bandaranaike had organized the Sinhala Maha Sabha in 1937. He became prime minister after winning the 1956 elections at the head of a four-party coalition. As such, Bandaranaike made Sinhalese the official language of the country and downgraded the official status of English and Tamil and promoted socialist, non-Western policies that profoundly changed the course of Ceylonese politics in the following decades. Since the 1950s, SLFP platforms have reflected the earlier organization's emphasis on appealing to the sentiments of the Sinhalese masses in rural areas. To this basis has been added the antiestablishment appeal of nonrevolutionary socialism.

On the sensitive issue of language, the party originally espoused the use of both Sinhala and Tamil as national languages, but in the mid-1950s it adopted a "Sinhala only" policy, a change that gave the party a landslide victory in the 1956 election. As a party that says it is a champion of the Buddhist religion, which had been attacked by local Christians and Tamils alike during the colonial era. The SLFP has customarily relied upon the socially and politically influential Buddhist clergy, the sangha, to carry its message to the Sinhalese villages.

As prime minister, he took a neutralist stance in foreign affairs; domestically, he was faced by economic problems and disputes over languages. He is also remembered by the minority Sri Lankan Tamils for his inaction to use the states resources to control the 1958 riots leading to countless deaths and rapes by the Sinhalese mobs. Decades later, the continuing ethnic tension resulted in the Sri Lankan Civil War .

He was assassinated by Talduwe Somarama, a Buddhist monk, in 1959, and his wife, Sirimavo Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike, assumed leadership of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party. She became the world's first woman Prime Minister and held the post three times.

Sirimavo Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike (April 17, 1916 - October 10, 2000) was a politician from Sri Lanka. She was prime minister of Sri Lanka three times, 1960-1965, 1970-1977 and 1994-2000, and was the world's first female prime minister. She was a leader of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party. She was the wife of a previous Sri Lankan prime minister, Solomon Bandaranaike and the mother of Sri Lanka's third president, Chandrika Kumaratunga. She was also mother of Anura Bandaranaike, Sri Lankan tourism minister and Sunethra Bandaranaike, philanthropist.

Political background

On her husband's assassination, Bandaranaike took over the leadership of his Sri Lanka Freedom Party, which he had formed and led to election victory in 1956, and kept it for forty years until her death. She became prime minister on July 21, 1960 and ruled her country on and off throughout the 1960s and 1970s until she was crushingly defeated in a general election in 1977. In 1980, she was expelled from parliament for abuse of power, and banned from public office for seven years.

A staunch socialist, Bandaranaike continued her husband's policies of nationalizing key sectors of the economy, such as banking and insurance. Unfortunately, she was on a roller-coaster ride from the moment she took office and within a year of her 1960 election victory she declared a state of emergency. This followed a civil disobedience campaign by part of the country's minority Tamil population who were outraged by her decision to drop English as an official language and her order to conduct all government business in Sinhala, the language of the majority Sinhalese. This they considered a highly discriminatory act and an attempt to deny Tamils access to all official posts and the law. This led to an increase in Tamil militancy which escalated under succeeding administrations.

Further problems arose with the President's state takeover of foreign businesses, particularly the petroleum companies, which upset the Americans and the British, who imposed an aid embargo on Sri Lanka. As a result, Bandaranaike moved her country closer to China and the Soviet Union and championed a policy of nonalignment. At home, she crushed an attempted military coup in 1962. In 1964, she entered into a historic coalition with the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP). At the end of that year, she was defeated on a confidence vote, losing the general election that followed. Six years later she bounced back, her United Front winning a substantial majority in the 1970 elections.

Her second term saw a new Constitution introduced, which ended the country's status as a Commonwealth realm. Ceylon was renamed Sri Lanka and declared a republic. But after just 16 months in power, a left-wing youth uprising almost toppled her government: Sri Lanka's small ceremonial army could not deal with the insurgency. She was saved by her skillful foreign policy when the country's non-aligned friends rushed to her help. In a rare move, both India and Pakistan sent troops to Colombo to aid Bandaranaike in crushing the insurgency. In those tough political years, she turned herself into a formidable leader. "She was the only man in her cabinet", one of her officials commented during the height of the insurgency.

The 1973 oil crisis had a traumatic effect on the Sri Lankan economy; the government had no access to Western aid and her socialist policies stifled economic activity. Rationing had to be imposed. Bandaranaike became more and more intolerant of criticism and forced the shut-down of the Independent newspaper group, whose publications were her fiercest critics. Earlier she had nationalized the country's largest newspaper, Lake House, which has remained the government's official mouthpiece.

Style of functioning

Known to her fellow Sri Lankans as "Mrs. B," she could skilfully use popular emotion to boost her support, frequently bursting into tears as she pledged to continue her dead husband's policies. He, Prime Minister Solomon Bandaranaike, was shot dead by a man dressed as a Buddhist monk in 1959. Her opponents and critics called her the "weeping widow" .

Decline

By 1976, Bandaranaike was more respected abroad than at home. Her great triumph that year was to become chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement and host the largest heads of state conference the country had ever seen. Despite her high standing internationally, she was losing Sri Lankan support rapidly amid allegations of corruption and against the background of a rapidly declining economy . Nothing, it seemed, could save her. This led her government, which enjoyed a large majority of more than 75% in parliament, to use its majority gained in the previous election to postpone elections by two years, extending her administration's term to 8 years from the legal 6 years. This undemocratic action was the main reason her civic rights were suspended in the later years.^{[citation needed]}

She suffered a crushing election defeat in 1977 and was stripped of her civic rights due to abuse of power. The 1980s were her dark days - she became a political outcast rejected by the people who had once worshipped her. Banadaranaike spent the next seventeen years in opposition warding off challenges to her leadership of the SLFP, even from her own children. Always the politician, she played her ambitious daughter, Chandrika, and son, Anura, against one another, holding on to control despite losing every subsequent general election. She finally met her match in Chandrika who outmanoeuvred her mother to become prime minister of Sri Lanka in 1994, when a SLFP-led coalition won power in the general elections, and president the following year.

Bandaranaike became prime minister again, but the constitution had changed since her last tenure; she, as the prime minister was subordinate to her daughter, the president. She remained in office just a few months before her death, but had little real power. She died on election day, having cast her vote for the last time.

Coming from a family that has a long history in the socio-political arena of the country, her father, Solomon Bandaranaike was a government minister at the time of her birth and later became Prime Minister. He was assassinated in 1959, when Chandrika was fourteen. Chandrika's mother, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, then became the world's first female prime minister in 1960 and her brother Anura Bandaranaike was a former Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka and is currently the minister of national heritage. Her grandfather, Sir Solomon Dias Bandaranike was the Maha Mudaliyar, (the chief native interpreter and advisor to the Governor) during British colonial rule.

Chandrika spent five years at the University of Paris, graduating from the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po) in political science. While in Paris she obtained a Diploma in Group Leadership from the same University. Her Ph.D studies in Development Economics at the University of Paris were interrupted by the call to serve her country, where her mother’s government had launched a wide ranging programme of reform and development.During her days in France, she was active in the Student Revolution of 1968. She is fluent in Sinhala, English and French.

After returning to Sri Lanka, she took up politics in the SLFP and in 1974 became an Executive Committee Member of its Women's League. Following the Land Reform in Sri Lanka in 1972- 1976, she was Additional Principal Director of the Land Reform Commission (LRC). In 1976 - 1977 she was Chairman of the Janawasa Commission, which established collective farms. In 1976- 1979 she acted as an Expert Consultant to the Food and Agriculture Organisation(FAO).

Chandrika married movie star and politician Vijaya Kumaratunga in 1978. He was assassinated in 1988. Kumaratunga herself was elected Prime Minister of a People's Alliance (PA) government on August 19, 1994 and President in the presidential election held shortly thereafter in November. This ended 17 years of UNP rule. She appointed her mother to succeed her as Prime Minister. Early in her term she made conciliatory moves towards the separatist Tamil Tigers to attempt to end the on-going civil war. These overtures failed, and she later pursued a more military-based strategy against them.

In February 2002 Wickremasinghe's government and the LTTE signed a permanent ceasefire agreement, paving the way for talks to end the long-running conflict. In December, the government and the rebels agreed to share power during peace talks in Norway. President Kumaratunga believed Wickremasinghe was being too lenient towards the LTTE. In May 2003 she indicated her willingness to sack the prime minister and government if she felt they were making too many concessions to the rebels. On 4 November 2003, while Prime Minister Wickremasinghe was visiting the United States, Kumaratunga suspended Parliament and deployed troops to take control of the country, effectively putting it into a state of emergency.

Kumaratunga's PA and the leftist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna or JVP (People's Liberation Front) formed the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) in January 2004. Having won the election held on 2 April 2004 the UPFA formed a government with Mahinda Rajapaksa as prime minister. This marked the first time in history that the JVP became a partner in a Sri Lankan government.

However, in June 2005, the JVP left her government over a disagreement regarding a joint mechanism with LTTE rebels to share foreign aid to rebuild the tsunami-devastated Northern and Eastern areas of Sri Lanka.

Kumaratunga's six-year term ended in 2005. She argued that since the 1999 election had been held one year early, she should be allowed to serve that left-over year. This claim was rejected by the Supreme Court and Kumaratunga's term was ended in November 2005. In the 2005 election, Rajapaksa succeeded her as president, leading all 25 parties in the UPFA.

Anura Priyadarshi Solomon Dias Bandaranaike (born February 15, 1949) is a Sri Lankan politician, last served as the minister of national heritage in the government of President Mahinda Rajapakse. He has previously served as Speaker of the 11th Parliament, which lasted from 2000 to 2001, and as minister of several cabinet departments, including as minister of tourism from April 2004 to January 2007 and as Foreign Minister briefly in 2005. He is the son of former Prime Ministers Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike and Sirimavo Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike and the brother of former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga and Sunethra Bandaranaike, philanthropist.

His family has a long history in the socio-political arena of the country. His grandfather, Sir Solomon Dias Bandaranike was the Maha Mudaliyar, (the chief native interpreter and advisor to the Governor) during British colonial rule. The Bandaranaikes are also closely related to the Obeyesekere family which remained faithful supporters of British Colonial rule. Because of these family connections, Bandaranaike as he is known among the voters of Gampaha district, is considered to be a relatively slow-moving politician who missed the chance of becoming the President of Sri Lanka on several occasions, as his sister Chandrika received the most support from their mother. He left his family's party in 1993 when his sister came back from London and did not join back until 2001.

Bandaranaike was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka and attended Royal College, Colombo. He then proceeded to London, U.K. to read for a degree but returned to enter politics without having obtained a degree. His father Solomon, while serving as prime minister, was assassinated when Bandaranaike was 10 years old. Bandaranaike was elected to Parliament in 1977 and has been a member since then. He was the leader of the opposition from 1983 to 1988, the minister of higher education from 1993 to 1994, and the speaker of Parliament from 2000 to 2001 when the party that his sister leads lost elections. He was in the Sri Lanka Freedom Party founded by his father for much of his political life, although he was an MP for the rival United National Party headed by his childhood friend when it was in the opposition. When the SLFP led alliance won the elections in 2004, Bandaranaike became minister of tourism, industry and investment. Despite being in politics for over a quarter of a century, he has only been in a governing side for about 3 years.

Following the assassination of foreign minister Lakshman Kadirgamar in August 2005, Bandaranaike was appointed as foreign minister, amidst increased tension throughout the country. He dropped his position as minister of industry and investment, but remained tourism minister. He was later chosen as the running mate of Mahinda Rajapakse for the presidential campaign after the party rejected Bandaranaike's own ambitions of becoming the candidate. Following Rajapakse's election victory it had been widely predicted that Bandaranaike would be appointed premier or foreign minister. However he was accused of playing a "negative role" in the campaign and was offered only the tourism ministry instead. [1] In a cabinet reshuffle in January 2007, Anura also lost the tourism ministry. On 9th February 2007, he was sacked as the minister of national heritage, together with ministers Mangala Samaraweera and Sripathi Sooriyarachchi after falling out with the president of Sri Lanka. [2] Less than two weeks later, after grovelling before President Rajapakse Bandaranaike, agreed to come back into the government, again being sworn in as Minister of National Heritage. [3]

Pic taken in 1992 at Horogolla Walauwa.
Many relatives of the Bandaranaike, de Livera, de Alwis, de Saram, Obeyesekere, Pieris Deraniyagala are in the pic

l-r: Chistoffel Dias Bandaranaike, Don Solomon Dias Bandaranaike, James D'Alwis, Sir Soloman Dias Bandaranaike with wife & SWRD as a baby.

Thombu Index-(Dutch period before 1796.Property Registration started in 1740's)(Dept of Archives)

Legislative Council (1833-1931)emerged from the Colebrooke-Camaron reforms and was established in 1833. Initially it consisted of 15 members.9 officials and 6 unofficial members.Of the latter ,3 represented the European community.1 Burgher ,1 Sinhala and 1 Tamil. The Governor also attended the Legislative Council meetings.

The highlighted names of the Legislative council are all relatives ,who represented the Sinhalese community.

On 22/3/1952 DS Senanayake suffered a stroke and collapsed while riding a horse at Galle Face

Due to hartal in 1953 Dudley Senanayake gave up and Sir John Kotelawela took over.

UNP govt only lasted 33 days.Was not stable govt.So called a election in July.

1978- New Constitution. Implemented. According to the constitution Presidential elections are held

Between the period 1980 to 1985 Sirimavo D Bandaranaike's Civic rights were removed, during

JR Jayawardena's regime. As a result during that period she could not contest for elections.

1982-Referendum.(extending the present parliament by 6 years.(No General Election)

1987-Constitution was amended and Provincial elections are to be held ,in addition to General and

1993- Provincial Council election Chandrika Kumaratunga became the Chief Minister of the

Chandrika Kumaratunga-Prime Minister under President DB Wijetunga till 9/11/94

Sirimavo Bandaranaike Prime Minister from 14/11/94 to 10/8/2000 under President

Ratnasiri Wickremanayake-Prime Minister under President Chandrika Kumaratunga

SLMC members left the coalition and joined the opposition ,which led the coalition to lose

majority.Election was held in 2001. election had lot of violence.But UNP was able to form

With the new constitution of 1978 JR Jayawardena automaticaly became President

Hector Kobbekaduwa (SLFP)2,548,438 votes (Sirima could not contest due to civic rights issue.)

As the President R Premadasa was assassinated, automatically the Prime Minister DB Wijetunga

1994 October 24th UNP Presidential candidate Gamini Dissanayake was assassinated by the LTTE.

Chandrika Kumaratunga (PA) 4,709,205 votes--------President Chandrika Kumaratunga

On 19/11/1999 ,there was a assassination attempt by the LTTE on Chandrika Kumaratunga

as a result she lost one eye, and a wave of sympathy came in her favour in the election, which

Chandrika Kumaratunga (PA) 4,312,157 votes--------President Chandrika Kumaratunga

Chandrika Kumaratunga was President till 19th November 2005.When new elections were held

and Mahinda Rajapakse of PA became President by defeating Ranil Wickremasinghe of the UNP.

Sirimavo D Bandaranaike b 17/4/1916-d 10/10/2000 Prime Minister- 1960-65,1970-77,1994-2000

Anura D Bandaranaike b 15/2/1949-d16/3/2008 MP from 1977-2007. Was leader of the opposition

Felix D Bandaranaike b 5/11/1930-d 26/6/1985 MP from 1960-1977.Held Ministries of Finance,

Pandu D Bandaranaike b 31/8/1962 MP from 1994.Dy Minister for last 20 years.

Anura Bandaranaike Felix Dias Bandaranaike SD Bandaranaike Pandu Dias Bandaranaike.

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(members are Bandaranaike, de Livera, de Saram, de Alwis, Dassenaike, Dias Abeysinghe, Gooneratne, Illangakoon, Obeyesekere, Pieris Deraniyagala and Senewiratne.

Bandaranayaka, de Livera, de Alwis, de Saram, Dias Abeysinghe, Dassenaike, Gooneratne, Illangakoon, Pieris Deraniyagala and Obeyesekere relatives present.

Bandaranaike Mansion, “Tintagel” on Rosmead Place bought by Sir Solomon DB in 1940's

Name	Korale	Village
Don Francisco Dias Mohotti Appuhamy	Siyane	Parakandeniya,Giekinamulla
Don Francisco Dias Wijetunga Bandaranaike	Hewagam	Biyagama, Nawagamuwa, Makola
Don BalthasarDias Wijewickreme Bandaranaike	Alukuru	Medamulla
Don Balthasar Dias Wijewickreme Bandaranaike	Siyane	Pelpita,Dompe,Mapitigama, Attanagalla,Uruwala
Conrad Pieter Dias Wijewardene Bandaranaike	Siyane	Galgamuwa, Mapitigama
Conrad Pieter Dias Wijewardene Bandaranaike	Hiripittana	Nungomuwa
Conrad Pieter Dias Wijewardene Bandaranaike	Biyagama	Welimbula
Nawagamuwa Mohottige Don Balthazar Dias	Colombo	Wolvendhal

Three story extracts

'Into Battle', from Relative Merits: A Personal Memoir of the Bandaranaike Family of Sri Lanka

'Growing Up Like Flowers', from Relative Merits

Diary entry from A Change of Skies

Sirimavo R. D. Bandaranaike - an outstanding stateswoman

To mark International Women's Day on March 08 :

TRIBUTES Sunday Times October 15, 2000

Queen B

Family ties...

The Bandaranaike-Ratwatte wedding

Mother of the nation...

"When human life is involved, all else is secondary"

Her eyes

A tribute from London

Sirima will be missed

By Neville de Silva

Sirima Bandaranaike will be missed.

In her own words…

S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, the great democrat

Faith in dignity

Important events

Spaces of possibility for equality, intellect and love

Unhurried style

Pace of memory

Symbols

Homespun artist

Transformations

Strong aroma

Bandaranaike

The Great son of Sri Lanka

Successful career

political differences

Attanagalla

Silver Tongue orator

noblest son

This was a man.

Political background

Style of functioning

Decline