Charles Edgar Corea - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Early life

C.E.Corea was born in the west coast town of Chilaw, in Sri Lanka. His parents were Charles Edward Bandaranaike Corea

Charles Edward Bandaranaike Corea

-Early life:Charles Edward Bandaranaike Corea was born in Sri Lanka to Cornelia Dias Bandaranaike and Simon Corea. Simon Corea was a son of David Christoffel Corea and was also a Justice of the Peace and succeeded his brother Johannes as Mudaliyar of Alutkuru Korale...

, a leading lawyer from Chilaw and Henritta Seneviratne. He was educated at the premier institution, Royal College Colombo

Royal College Colombo

The Royal College of Colombo was founded in January 1835 in Colombo. It is considered to be the leading Public School in Sri Lanka...

where he excelled in his studies. He earned a reputation as a first rate orator. Charles Edgar Corea was the eldest of five children. His brothers and sisters were - James Alfred Ernest Corea

James Alfred Ernest Corea

Dr James Alfred Ernest Corea was a Sri Lankan public official. He was born in 1870. His father was Charles Edward Bandaranaike Corea who was a Proctor of the Supreme Court. His mother was Henrietta Seneviratne. J.A.E Corea's father died in 1872 when his youngest son Victor was just one...

, Victor Corea

Victor Corea

Charles Edward Victor Seneviratne Corea was born in Chilaw, Sri Lanka on 29 January 1871 to Charles Edward Bandaranaike Corea, a famous lawyer, and Henrietta Seneviratne. He was the youngest out of five children, three boys and two girls, Charles Edgar Corea, James Alfred Ernest Corea, Agnes Corea...

, Agnes Corea, and Evangeline Henrietta Corea.The family came from a wealthy background, owning vast tracts of coconut

Coconut

The coconut palm, Cocos nucifera, is a member of the family Arecaceae . It is the only accepted species in the genus Cocos. The term coconut can refer to the entire coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which is not a botanical nut. The spelling cocoanut is an old-fashioned form of the word...

estates and paddy lands. The Sunday Times newspaper of Sri Lanka writing about the three sons of Charles Edward Bandarnaike Corea, noted: 'Of the three boys, the eldest, Charles Edgar Corea, was educated at Royal College and having excelled in studies and cricket, he passed out as a proctor of the Supreme Court, took to politics and in 1924 was elected president of the Ceylon National Congress. Warden Stone of S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia, described old Royalist C.E. Corea as one of the finest speakers of the English language. The second boy in the family was Dr. Alfred Ernest Corea who was educated at S. Thomas' College. He passed out as a doctor of medicine

Medicine

Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....

and chose to practise in Chilaw. He was a clever doctor and what was unique about him was that he charged no fees from the poor for his services. '

Writing in 1907, The English author, Arnold Wright in 'Twentieth Century Impressions of Ceylon,' said: 'Charles Edward has left three sons, the eldest of whom, Charles Edgar, a Proctor, is the unofficial leader of the Chilaw Bar, a member of the Royal Asiatic Society

Royal Asiatic Society

The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland was established, according to its Royal Charter of 11 August 1824, to further "the investigation of subjects connected with and for the encouragement of science, literature and the arts in relation to Asia." From its incorporation the Society...

, and Chairman of the Chilaw Association. In 1899 he was elected by the various native associations of Ceylon, and a public meeting in Colombo

Colombo

Colombo is the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital of the country, since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of Colombo...

, to proceed to England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

as a delegate of the people of Ceylon, to lay before the Imperial Government

Imperial Government

The name imperial government denotes two organs, created in 1500 and 1521 respectively, in the Holy Roman Empire of German Nation to enable a unified political leadership, with input from the Princes...

a representation against the Waste Lands Ordinance. The second son, Alfred Ernest,is a physician

Physician

A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...

, and the youngest, Charles Edward Victor, is an Advocate

Advocate

An advocate is a term for a professional lawyer used in several different legal systems. These include Scotland, South Africa, India, Scandinavian jurisdictions, Israel, and the British Crown dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man...

of the Supreme Court

Supreme court

A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of many legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, instance court, judgment court, high court, or apex court...

.'

The Sri Lankan author Kumari Jayawardena, writing about the Coreas noted: 'Unconnected to the liquor trade but making their money on plantation ventures was the Corea Family of Chilaw, an influential goyigama group with a history going back to Portuguese rule when they were warriors to Sinhala kings. During Dutch and British rule, members of the family were officials serving the state in various ways and rewarded with titles.Some members of the family took to the legal and medical professions, most notably the sons of Charles Edward Corea (a solicitor), who were active in local politics and in the Chilaw Association which campaigned against British land policies - especially the Waste Lands Ordinance, and for political reforms. The most active of Corea's sons was C.E.(Charles Edgar) who spoke up for peasant rights and was militant in his stand against the government. He was President of the Ceylon National Congress in 1924. C.E.Corea's brother, Alfred Ernest, was a doctor and the youngest Victor Corea was a lawyer who achieved fame for leading a campaign (and going to jail) in 1922 to protest the Poll Tax on all males; he was the first President of the Ceylon Labour Union led by A.E.Goonesinha and was active in th Ceylon Labour Party. While being professionals and political activists, the Coreas were also important landowners. '

The Royal-Thomian Encounter of 1885 (The 9 runs match)

Corea was an accomplished cricketer at Royal College Colombo, he played first XI cricket for his school. He was in the Royal College team in the historic Nine Run Match played in Sri Lanka on the 12th and 13 March in 1885, on the CCC grounds,in Galle Face - Royal scored 9 runs, and St Thomas' replied by scoring 170 for 6. According to legend, the match was abandoned due to rain, but this has been disputed.

C.E.Corea, who was in the Royal College team, in an article in the 1932 Royal-Thomian souvenir had this to say about fielding conditions on the first day - "On the first day we batted in a deluge of rain and submitted to the leather hunting which followed over mud and sludge, weighed down in sodden clothes, up to the very minute fixed for drawing stumps, without protest or grumble".

Political career

C.E.Corea followed in his father's footsteps by studying law. He went on to become a proctor

Proctor

Proctor, a variant of the word procurator, is a person who takes charge of, or acts for, another. The word proctor is frequently used to describe someone who oversees an exam or dormitory.The title is used in England in three principal senses:...

of the Supreme Court of Ceylon. He then practiced at the Chilaw court. What pre-occupied C.E.Corea was the fact that the people of Ceylon were struggling under the British Raj

British Raj

British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...

. He spoke out against the injustice suffered by ordinary people at the hands of their colonial masters.

Corea became a fearless freedom fighter - together with his younger brother Victor Corea, he founded the Chilaw Association and used it to campaign hard for independence, for the people of Ceylon. He was elected a member of the first Legislative Council

Legislative Council of Ceylon

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...

and later a founding Member of the Ceylon National Congress, together with Victor Corea, E.W. Perera, Sir

Sir

Sir is an honorific used as a title , or as a courtesy title to address a man without using his given or family name in many English speaking cultures...

Ponnambalam Ramanathan

Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan, KCMG, KC was a Solicitor-General and Tamil political leader in Sri Lanka.-Early life:...

, Sir

Sir

Sir is an honorific used as a title , or as a courtesy title to address a man without using his given or family name in many English speaking cultures...

Ponnambalam Arunachalam

Sir Ponnambalam Arunachchalam, CCS was a Tamil political leader in Ceylon and a member of the Executive Council and the Legislative Council.-Early life:...

, and Francis de Zoysa.

C.E.Corea was elected President of the Ceylon National Congress in 1924. Corea was very much the elder statesman and gained a reputation as a moderate voice of the independence movement.

The visit of Mahatma Gandhi to Chilaw

Mahatma Gandhi

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi , pronounced . 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement...

, the 'Father of India' had developed a very close relationship with C.E.Corea and his brother Victor Corea. C.E.Corea wrote many letters to Gandhi in India, on the subject of independence. Gandhi arrived on the shores of Ceylon on November 12 1927 on his first and only visit to the island.

He was accorded a warm welcome in Colombo

Colombo

and he travelled all over Sri Lanka. Mahatma Gandhi made it a point to see his friends C.E.Corea and Victor Corea. A massive banquet was organised in his honour, in a Corea home called 'Sigiriya,' in Chilaw. There he met with members of the Corea Famiy - he stayed with the Coreas for several days.

Descendant of King Dominicus Corea (Edirille Rala)

C.E.Corea was a direct descendant of King Dominicus Corea

Dominicus Corea

Dominicus Corea also known as Domingos Corea and Edirille Rala, was the son of Don Jeronimo Corea and Anna Corea. Don Jeronimo Corea was also known as Mudaliyar Vikramasinha, Commander-in-Chief of King Mayadunne's army....

also known in the Mahavamsa

Mahavamsa

The Mahavamsa is a historical poem written in the Pali language, of the kings of Sri Lanka...

as the 'war hero,' Edirille Rala who was the King of Kotte

Kotte

Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte , also known as Sri Jayawardenapura or Kotte කෝට්ටේ, is the administrative capital of Sri Lanka. It is located beyond the eastern suburbs of the commercial capital Colombo and is often called New Capital Territory...

and Sitawaka. he was crowned by Vimala Dharma Suriya, King of Kandy, in 1596.

Death

He died in Chilaw on the 7th of February 1946. Just two years later Ceylon won her independence on 4 February 1948 thanks to the valiant efforts of freedom fighters like Charles Edgar Corea.

External links

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