Thomson executive council of Ceylon | |
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![]() 21st cabinet of British Ceylon | |
Date formed | 11 April 1931 |
Date dissolved | July 1931 |
People and organisations | |
Head of state | George V |
Head of government | Graeme Thomson |
No. of ministers | 6 |
Ministers removed (Death/resignation/dismissal) | 1 |
Total no. of ministers | 7 |
History | |
Predecessor | Stanley executive council of Ceylon |
Successor | First Board of Ministers of Ceylon |
The Thomson executive council was the 21st and last executive council of British Ceylon. The government was led by Governor Graeme Thomson. The Executive Council of Ceylon was replaced by the Board of Ministers of Ceylon in July 1931.
Ceylon was a British Crown colony between 1815 and 1948. Initially the area it covered did not include the Kingdom of Kandy, which was a protectorate from 1815, but from 1817 to 1948 the British possessions included the whole island of Ceylon, now the nation of Sri Lanka.
The Governor of Ceylon was the representative in Ceylon of the British Crown from 1795 to 1948. In this capacity, the governor was president of the Executive Council and Commander-in-Chief of the British Forces in Ceylon. The governor was the head of the British colonial administration in Ceylon, reporting to the Colonial Office.
Sir Graeme Thomson G.C.M.G. K.C.B. was a British civil servant in the Admiralty, who served as a colonial civil servant and then governor in several British colonies.
Portrait | Member of Council | Office | Took office | Left office | Notes |
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Graeme Thomson | Governor | 11 April 1931 | July 1931 | ||
Bernard Henry Bourdillon | Colonial Secretary | 11 April 1931 | July 1931 | ||
Colonel Edward Bromfield Ferrers | Commander of the Ceylon Defence Force | 11 April 1931 | July 1931 | ||
Edward St. John Jackson | Attorney General | 11 April 1931 | July 1931 | ||
F. G. Morley | Auditor General as Colonial Auditor | 11 April 1931 | 25 June 1931 | Replaced by Oliver Ernest Goonetilleke | |
![]() | Oliver Ernest Goonetilleke | 25 June 1931 | July 1931 | ||
? | Treasurer |
The Parliament of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is the supreme legislative body of Sri Lanka. It alone possesses legislative supremacy and thereby ultimate power over all other political bodies in the island. It is modeled after the British Parliament.
The governor-general of Ceylon was the representative of the monarch in the Dominion of Ceylon from the country's independence from the United Kingdom in 1948 until it became the republic of Sri Lanka in 1972.
The State Council of Ceylon was the unicameral legislature for Ceylon, established in 1931 by the Donoughmore Constitution. The State Council gave universal adult franchise to the people of the colony for the first time. It replaced the Legislative Council of Ceylon, the colony's original legislative body.
Dr. Christopher William Wijekoon Kannangara was a Sri Lankan lawyer and a politician. Rising up the ranks of Sri Lanka's movement for independence in the early part of the 20th century, he became the first Minister of Education in the State Council of Ceylon, and was instrumental in introducing extensive reforms to the country's education system that opened up education to children from all levels of society.
The Ceylon Civil Service, popularly known by its acronym CCS, was the premier civil service of the Government of Ceylon under British colonial rule and in the immediate post-independence period. Established in 1833, it functioned as part of the executive administration of the country to various degrees until Ceylon gained self-rule in 1948. Until it was abolished on 1 May 1963 it functioned as the permanent bureaucracy or secretariat of Crown employees that supported the Government of Ceylon.
The Cabinet of Sri Lanka is the council of ministers that form the central government of Sri Lanka. It is responsible to and answerable to parliament. The current cabinet is the Sirisena cabinet.
The Legislative Council of Ceylon was the legislative body of Ceylon established in 1833, along with the Executive Council of Ceylon, on the recommendations of the Colebrooke-Cameron Commission. It was the first form of representative government in the island. The 1931 Donoughmore Constitution replaced the Legislative Council with the State Council of Ceylon.
The Executive Council of Ceylon was the Executive Council created in Ceylon by the British colonial administration on the recommendations of the Colebrooke-Cameron Commission along with the Legislative Council of Ceylon in March 1833.
General Officer Commanding, Ceylon was the designation of the General Officer appointed to command all British Army units stationed in the island of Ceylon during the British colonial administration of the island. The post was succeeded by the Commander of the Ceylon Defence Force.
Ceylon University College was a public university college in Ceylon. Established in 1921, it was Ceylon's first attempt at university education. The college didn't award degrees under its own name but prepared students to sit the University of London's external examination. The college was based in Colombo. The college was merged with Ceylon Medical College in 1942 to form the University of Ceylon. The college was also known as University College, Ceylon; University College, Colombo; and Colombo University College. Its buildings and grounds are now occupied by the University of Colombo which is considered its successor.
The Colebrooke–Cameron Commission was appointed in 1833 as a Royal Commission of Eastern Inquiry by the British Colonial Office. According to Sir Charles Jeffries' book, Ceylon - The Path to Independence, "by the time the Commission got round to Ceylon, in 1829, most of the members had fallen by the wayside, and only one, Major Colebrooke was left." to assess the administration of the island of Ceylon and to make recommendations for administrative, financial, economic, and judicial reform.
W. Arthur de Silva also Wilmot Arthur de Silva was Ceylonese veterinary surgeon, politician and philanthropist. He was the Minister of Health (1936–1942) in the second State Council of Ceylon and a former President of the Ceylon National Congress.
The New Year Honours 1892 were appointments by Queen Victoria to various orders and honours of the United Kingdom and British India.
The Colonial Secretary of Ceylon was one of six offices that held a seat in the Executive Council of Ceylon.
The Treasurer of Ceylon was one of six offices that held a seat in the Executive Council of Ceylon.
Henry Byerley Thomson (1822–1867) was an English barrister and jurist, and the 12th Queen's Advocate of Ceylon. Initially Henry William Thomson, in 1846 he added his mother's maiden name, and was known as Henry Byerley Thomson or Henry William Byerley Thomson.
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.
Government offices | ||
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Preceded by Stanley executive council of Ceylon | Executive councils of Ceylonese 1931–1931 | Succeeded by First Board of Ministers of Ceylon |