Colonel Thomas Yates Wright, MBE, VD (1869–1964) was a British planter, who was a cricketer and legislator in Ceylon. He was a tea planter and served in the Legislative Council of Ceylon and the Senate of Ceylon. [1]
Born in Lancashire, Wright went to Ceylon in 1889 as a planter. He was an all-round sportsman, playing cricket, Rugby football, hockey and polo. He represented Matale and Kandy Sports Club at cricket and played for the Up-Country XI from 1893 to 1919. He represented All Ceylon in several matches in the 1890s. [2] He was the founding President of Ceylon Athletic Association [3]
He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Ceylon Planters' Rifle Corps (CPRC). Lieutenant Wright served in the Second Boer War from 1900 to 1902 with the Ceylon contingent from the CPRC and went on the serve as the commanding officer of the CPRC from July 1904 to February 1912 with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He was awarded the Volunteer Officers' Decoration and retired as a colonel. [4] [5]
From 1920 to 1925 he was a member of the Legislative Council and was appointed to the Senate of Ceylon in 1947. He owned the Mahakande Estate in which he built a bungalow in 1939 which is now known as Gal Bangalawa. He wrote the book Ceylon in My Time, 1889–1949 in 1951. [6]
The Ceylon Defence Force (CDF) was established in 1910 by the Ceylonese legislation Ceylon Defence Force Ordinance, which reformed the Ceylon Volunteer Force (CVF) that existed previously as the military reserve in the British Crown colony of Ceylon. At the time of forming it was only a reserve force but soon developed into a regular force responsible for the defence of Ceylon. The CDF was under the command of the General Officer Commanding, Ceylon of the British Army in Ceylon if mobilised. However mobilisation could be carried out only under orders from the Governor.
General Ranjan Wijeratne was a Sri Lankan planter and politician. He served in the Premadasa cabinet as Minister of Foreign Affairs and then Minister of Plantation Industries, while holding the office of State Minister for Defence.
General Sir John Lionel Kotelawala was a Sri Lankan statesman, who served as the 3rd Prime Minister of Ceylon from 1953 to 1956.
The Sri Lanka Engineers (SLE) is a combat support arm of the Sri Lanka Army which provides military engineering. It is made up of ten regular regiments and one volunteer regiment. Headquartered at Panagoda Cantonment, it is headed by the Centre Commandant.
The Sri Lanka Army Volunteer Force (SLAVF) is the active-duty volunteer reserve force of the Sri Lanka Army. The SLAVF is separate from the Regular Force which consists of personal who are professional soldiers and its Regular Reserve, which comprises personal who have a mobilization obligation following their service in the regular army. The SLAVF consists of the volunteer force and the volunteer reserve; administration and recruitment of reserve personal is carried out by the Volunteer Force Headquarters in Shalawa, Kosgama which is headed by the Commandant of the Volunteer Force. It has a current strength of about 55,000 personnel. The SLAVF was known as the Ceylon Volunteer Force from 1949 to 1972 and the Sri Lanka Volunteer Force from 1972 to 1985.
The Ceylon Planters Rifle Corps was a regiment of the Ceylon Defence Force, which existed between 1900 and 1949. It was a volunteer (reserve) regiment based in Kandy, made up of only Europeans that were tea and rubber planters of the hills of Sri Lanka. The regiment deployed personnel to fight in the Second Boer War, the First, and Second World Wars.
The Sri Lanka Rifle Corps (SLRC) is a (reserve) regiment of the Sri Lanka Army. It is made up of two volunteer (reserve) battalions. It has been formed with personnel from the central highlands and the many plantations in the Central Province of Sri Lanka. It is the only regiment of the Sri Lanka Army that recruits its personnel from a particular geographical area.
Lieutenant Colonel Sabdharatnajyoti "Thambirajah" Saravanamuttu, MBE was a Ceylon Tamil lawyer, politician, military officer, cricketer and sports administrator.
Sir Frank Arnold Gunasekera, CBE, ED was a Ceylonese physician and surgeon. He was elected a Deputy President of the Senate of Ceylon in 1948.
Gal Bangalawa is a guest house owned and operated by the University of Peradeniya, situated at Mahakande, Peradeniya suburb of Kandy.
Thomas Amarasuriya, OBE was a Ceylonese planter and politician. He was a member of the State Council of Ceylon and President of the Senate of Ceylon. He was the first Ceylonese Chairman of the Planters Association and a brother of H. W. Amarasuriya.
The 1906 Birthday Honours for the British Empire were announced on 29 June, to celebrate the birthday of Edward VII on 9 November.
Ceylonese recipients of British titles conferred on the advice of Her Majesty's Ceylon Ministers. This list includes all those who were born in, worked in or lived in Ceylon.
Major Walter Culpepper Stanser Ingles, VD, FRGS was a British surveyor. He was the 14th Surveyor General of Ceylon and an official member of the Legislative Council of Ceylon.
The 1893 Birthday Honours were appointments by Queen Victoria to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were made to celebrate the official birthday of The Queen, and were published in the London Gazette on 2 June 1893 and in The Times on 3 June 1893.
Major John William Oldfield, was a prominent figure in the commercial and public life in Ceylon, serving as the chairman of the Ceylon Planters' Association between 1924 and 1925, an appointed member of the State Council of Ceylon in 1931 and as an appointed member of the first Parliament of Ceylon in 1947.
Lieutenant Colonel Sir Hector William van Cuylenburg, VD was a Ceylonese lawyer, newspaper proprietor and legislator. He was elected as the first unofficial member representing the Burghers in the Legislative Council of Ceylon.
Lieutenant Colonel Dr John Rajathurai Rockwood, VD was the leading administrator and patron of cricket in Ceylon from 1914 to 1935. He helped put the nation's cricket administration in the hands of the Ceylonese, and served as president of the Ceylon Cricket Association from its formation in 1922 until 1933. A doctor, he was also a commanding officer of the Ceylon Medical Corps.
Lieutenant Colonel Richard Hillebrand Morgan, VD, CLIV was a Ceylonese lawyer. He was the commanding officer of the Ceylon Light Infantry Volunteers.
The 1953 Coronation Honours in Ceylon, celebrating the coronation of Elizabeth II, Queen of Ceylon, were appointments made by the Queen on the advice of the Ceylon government to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by Ceylonese. The honours were announced on 1 June 1953.