The Ceylonese

Last updated
The Ceylonese
Owner(s)The Ceylonese & Co. Limited
Founder(s) P. Ramanathan
Founded5 March 1913 (1913-03-05)
Language English
Ceased publication1917 (1917)
City Colombo
Country Ceylon
OCLC number 41941263

The Ceylonese was an English-language newspaper in Ceylon founded by P. Ramanathan and other leading figures. [1] [2] The newspaper started on 5 March 1913 with Americans H. H. Marcus as manager and Tom Wright as editor. [3] The paper was based at Tichborne Hall, Tichborne Avenue in Maradana, Colombo. [2] The paper's other directors included Hector Alfred Jayewardene and Francis de Zoysa. [4] The paper was editorially nationalistic and was run like an American newspaper, a contrast to other Ceylonese papers which were run according to the British model. [5] [6]

Ramanthan used the paper to promote his candidature for the Educated Ceylonese seat in the Legislative Council of Ceylon. [7] During the 1911 election the de Soysa family had used their paper, The Morning Leader, to attack Ramanthan so that their relative Marcus Fernando would win the election. [8] This tactic failed with Ramanthan defeating Fernando by 1,645 votes to 981 votes. [9] [10]

After some time differences arose between the paper's directors and Ramanathan resigned from the board of directors. [5] The remaining directors and shareholders continued to use the paper to promote their own interests. [11] World War I also impacted on the paper - there was war-time censorship and the cost of newsprint, ink, types and machinery soared. [11] The paper faced serious financial problems - it was making a loss and had large debts. [11] F. R. Senanayake issued a writ to auction the paper's assets in order to recover a Rs. 21,000 loan. [2] [6] As a result, the paper ceased publication in late 1917. [4] [12]

D. R. Wijewardena saw The Ceylonese's demise as an opportunity to grow his fledgling media empire. [13] The auction for the paper's assets took place in December 1917. [6] At the auction Senanayake and his brother D. S. Senanayake asked Wijewardena to make a bid of Rs. 21,000, the amount of the writ, but bidding was slow. [6] Wijewardena was able to buy the paper's plant and goodwill with a bid of Rs. 16,000. [6] [13] He also paid of the remainder of mortgage held by F. R. Senanayake. [6] Wijewardena subsequently started the Ceylon Daily News on 3 January 1918 using The Ceylonese assets. [1] [14]

Notes

  1. 1 2 Peebles 2015, p. 390.
  2. 1 2 3 Edirisinghe, Padma (20 September 2010). "Ghostly beginnings of a famous newspaper". Daily News (Sri Lanka) .
  3. ↑ Vythilingam 1977, p. 88.
  4. 1 2 Wijewardena, D. R. (22 February 1998). "It was difficult and dangerous". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka) .
  5. 1 2 Vythilingam 1977, p. 89.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Wijewardena, D. R. (23 February 1997). "The birth of a Newspaper". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka) .
  7. ↑ Gunaratne, Shelton A. (2 November 2015). "Prairie Awards To Wijewardene Clan For Fostering Lankan Journalism". Colombo Telegraph.
  8. ↑ Vythilingam 1977, pp. 86-87.
  9. ↑ Ramanathan, P. (2 January 2000). "One of the "greatest" Ceylonese". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka) .
  10. ↑ Sabaratnam, T. "Chapter 16: The Arunachalam Factor". The Sri Lankan Tamil Struggle.
  11. 1 2 3 Vythilingam 1977, p. 90.
  12. ↑ Peebles 2015, p. 250.
  13. 1 2 Vythilingam 1977, p. 91.
  14. ↑ Perera, Miran (23 February 2007). "Lake House and D. R. Wijewardene: The informative and the pragmatist". Daily News (Sri Lanka) .

Related Research Articles

J. R. Jayewardene Sri Lankan President

Junius Richard Jayewardene, commonly abbreviated in Sri Lanka as J. R., was the leader of Sri Lanka from 1977 to 1989, serving as Prime Minister from 1977 to 1978 and as the second President of Sri Lanka from 1978 till 1989. He was a leader of the nationalist movement in Ceylon who served in a variety of cabinet positions in the decades following independence. A longtime member of the United National Party, he led it to a landslide victory in 1977 and served as Prime Minister for half a year before becoming the country's first executive president under an amended constitution.

D. S. Senanayake Prime Minister of Sri Lanka

Don Stephen Senanayake was a Sri Lankan statesman. He was the first Prime Minister of Sri Lanka having emerged as the leader of the Sri Lankan independence movement that led to the establishment of self-rule in Sri Lanka. He is considered as the "Father of the Nation".

Deshamanya is the second-highest national honour of Sri Lanka awarded by the Government of Sri Lanka as a civil honour. It is awarded for "highly meritorious service", and is conventionally used as a title or prefix to the recipient's name.

Ponnambalam Ramanathan Solicitor-General of Ceylon and Sri Lankan Tamil political leader

Ponnambalam Ramanathan was a Ceylon Tamil lawyer, politician and Solicitor-General of Ceylon.

E. W. Perera Sri Lankan politician

Edward Walter Perera was a Ceylonese barrister, politician and freedom fighter. He was known as the "Lion of Kotte" and was a prominent figure in the Sri Lankan independence movement and a senator.

<i>Dinamina</i>

Dinamina is a Sinhala language daily newspaper in Sri Lanka. It is published by the Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited, a government-owned corporation. The newspaper commenced publishing in 1909. It was founded by the Sinhalese scholar H. S. Perera who acted as both owner and editor-in-chief of the paper at the outset. Upon Perera's death in December 1914, D. R. Wijewardena bought out the company. It is now owned by the government of Sri Lanka.

D. R. Wijewardena Sri Lankan press baron

Don Richard Wijewardena was a Sri Lankan press baron who was a leader in the Sri Lankan independence movement. A successful entrepreneur, he established Lake House newspapers and played a major role in the independence movement.

Eugene Wilfred Jayewardene Sri Lankan judge

Justice Eugene Wilfred Jayewardene, KC was a Ceylonese judge, lawyer and politician. He was a Judge of the Supreme Court of Ceylon and is the father of J. R. Jayewardene the first executive President of Sri Lanka.

Ruwan Wijewardene Sri Lankan politician

Dinendra Ruwan Wijewardene is a Sri Lankan politician, He is the current State Minister of Defence & Mass Media non-cabinet Minister, Member of Parliament for Gampaha District and the United National Party (UNP) chief organiser for Biyagama Electorate. Prior to entering parliament in 2010, he was a member of the Western Provincial Council. He was appointed as the acting minister of defence few times after 2019.

Marcus Fernando physician

Sir Hilarian Marcus Fernando, FRCP was a pre-independence Ceylonese statesman, physician and banker. He was a member of both the executive council and legislative council as well as the chairman of the State Mortgage Bank of Ceylon.

The Times of Ceylon was an English language daily newspaper in Sri Lanka published by Times of Ceylon Limited (TOCL). It was founded in 1846 as the Ceylon Times and was published from Colombo. It ceased publication in 1985.

Sunday Observer is a weekly English-language newspaper in Sri Lanka, published on Sundays. The Sunday Observer and its sister newspapers the Daily News, Dinamina, Silumina and Thinakaran are published by Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited, a government-owned corporation. The paper, which was established in the present-day format in 1928, has roots that date back to 1834 when Sri Lanka was under the British rule. It is the oldest Sri Lankan newspaper in circulation apart from the Government Gazette. The current Editor is Dharisha Bastians.

J. H. Meedeniya

Meedeniye Rajakaruna Senanayaka Panditha Herath Wasala Kupuppu Mudiyanse Ralahamillage Punchi Banda John Henry Meedeniya was a Ceylonese legislator and a headmen. He was the Kandyan Sinhalese member of the Legislative Council of Ceylon and elected member of the State Council of Ceylon for Ruanwelia. He was awarded the title of Adigar by the British Government of Ceylon.

Esmond Wickremesinghe Sri Lankan lawyer (1920-1985)

Cyril Esmond Lucien Wickremesinghe was a Ceylonese press baron, lawyer, and a successful entrepreneur. He also played key role in defeating Sirimavo Bandaranaike that bought United National Party's Dudley Senanayake to power in 1965's Parliamentary Election. He is also father of the United National Party leader and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Old United States Chancery, Colombo

The American Center or the former United States Chancery are currently used as the offices of USAid in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The building is located on Galle Road, Colombo.

Sidambarampillai P. Vythilingam was a Ceylonese politician.

The Wijewardene family is a Sri Lankan family that is prominent in enterprise and politics. Along with many members who have been successful politician across generations, the family includes two Chief Justices, two Prime Ministers and a President of Sri Lanka.

Vernon Wijetunga was a prominent Ceylonese civil lawyer. He was the last surviving Queen's Counsel in Sri Lanka.

The Ceylon Morning Leader was an English language daily newspaper in Ceylon. In 1907 the de Soysa family bought the proprietary rights of the defunct Ceylon Standard and started publishing the Ceylon Morning Leader. Ownership of the newspaper later passed to a syndicate comprising W. A. de Silva, C. E. A. Dias, Charles Peiris and James Peiris. De Silva later became the sole owner.

References


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.