James Caulfield Herat Seneviratne

James Caulfield Herat Seneviratne was a Mudaliyar in Madampe and Marawila, and the descendents of the Seneviratne family, who had the Mudaliyarship of Madampe given to them from the time of its establishment

Early Life and education

J.C.H Seneviratne was born in Madampe in 1850. He was the son of Don Barend Herat Seneviratne, who was the Mudaliyar of Pitigal Korale and Demala Hatpattu and Madampe. The title of Mudaliyar of Madampe/Marawila had been handed down the family for generations, and their ancestors in 1758 were rewarded with land in Madampe, which was given to them by the then King Seneviratne was educated at the Royal College, Colombo which was then known as the Colombo academy.

Service and Mudaliyarship

After leaving Royal College, in 1880 J.C.H Seneviratne entered the Registrar's Office and a year later was appointed Shroff Mudaliyar of the Kegala Kachcheri. Before he retired from his position, some members of the Civil Service, some of which were government agents in Chilaw, recommended that Seneviratne should receive the rank Mudaliyar for Life. He retired in 1902.

Ancestry and other Family

According to Twentieth Century Impressions of Ceylon by A.W Wright, Mudaliyar Seneviratne originates from a very old Sinhalese family who have always held the position of Mudaliyar of Madampe. In 1758, the King Kirti Sri Rajasinha, awarded the head of the Herat Seneviratne family by giving him large amounts of land from Madampe due to his services as a Mudaliyar. This Mudaliyar was succeeded by his son in 1764 who served under the Dutch and raised to the rank of an officer who was a Mudaliyar, and his area of influence the whole of Chilaw and parts of Kurunegala. This Mudaliyar's son was Don Gerrit Seneviratne and is named in a Dutch document in 1773, and he is the great grandfather of J.C.H Seneviratne.

J.C.H Seneviratne's grandfather was Johan Carlo Herat Seneviratne who married into the Jayawardene family . However the British confiscated some of the land belonging to the Seneviratne family and gave it to the Jayawardene's, and there was eventually a court case AbOUT it.

Personal Life

He married Nancy Gertrude Panditesekera, whose father, Philip, was the Mudaliyar of the Salpiti Korale and the Governor's gate. They had a daughter born to them: Letitia Grace Alice, who married Dr. J.A.E Corea from Chilaw in 1897. Many other Seneviratne relatives also married into the Corea family from Chilaw. Mudaliyar Seneviratne's residence was The Towers at Marawila, where he held his position as a Mudaliyar. Additionally, he owned large amounts of coconut estates, some in Marawila and others in the Chilaw district. He was also a member of the Chilaw Association, which was formed by Charles Edgar Corea and his younger brother, Victor Corea to campaign against the land policies that Britain had introduced.

See also

• Charles Edgar Corea
• James Alfred Ernest Corea
• Victor Corea
• Mudaliyar
• Marawila

Bibliography

• Twentieth Century Impressions of Ceylon: Its History, People, Commerce, Industries and Resources By A.W. Wright, Asian Educational Services, India; New Ed EDition (15 Dec 2007)