Charles Edward Bandaranaike Corea - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

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. He was the brother of Henry Richard, Mudaliyar of Alutkuru Korale, George Edmund, a Master of the Royal College

Royal College

A Royal College in some Commonwealth countries is technically a college which has received permission to use the prefix Royal. Permission is usually granted through a Royal Charter. The charter normally confers a constitution with perpetual succession and the right to sue or be sued independently...

, Jumeaux and Simon Corea.

Later life

Charles Edward entered into the legal profession and became a Proctor of the Supreme Court. He married Henrietta Seneviratne and had five children, his three sons were Charles Edgar Corea

Charles Edgar Corea

-Early life:C.E.Corea was born in the west coast town of Chilaw, in Sri Lanka. His parents were Charles Edward Bandaranaike Corea, a leading lawyer from Chilaw and Henritta Seneviratne. He was educated at the premier institution, Royal College Colombo where he excelled in his studies. He earned a...

, 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...

and 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...

and his two daughters were Agnes Eveline Rhoda and Evangeline Henrietta Corea. His eldest son Charles Edgar Corea

Charles Edgar Corea

and his youngest son Victor Corea

Victor Corea

followed in their father's footsteps and also entered the legal profession while James Alfred Ernest Corea

James Alfred Ernest Corea

became a doctor. Charles Edward's family lived in Ceylon and were known as one of the wealthiest families when he married into the Seneviratne family owning many acres of land. His three sons attended the famous Sri Lankan educational institution, S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia. They excelled in different studies, most notably the eldest son Charles Edgar Corea

Charles Edgar Corea

who was described as 'One of the finest speakers of the English language' by Warden Stone of S. Thomas' College. The well known Sri Lankan author, Kumari Jayawardena, described Charles Edward as 'a leading lawyer' and also describes him and his family as 'a highly respected family in Chilaw'.

Writing about the Coreas, Kumari Jayawardena observed: '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. '

Death

Charles Edward Bandaranaike Corea died in 1872 at an early age leaving his five young children in the care of his wife Henrietta, who was only 21 at the time of her husband's death. His eldest son was only six years old and his youngest son Victor was only a year old. Henrietta had been left with a challenging task to bring up five young children without their father. The three sons became men of high standing in Chilaw taking into the legal profession and the medical profession. Charles Edgar Corea

Charles Edgar Corea

and Victor Corea

Victor Corea

entered politics and made their hometown Chilaw a place of fame when Mahatma Gandhi came to visit them in 1927. They were freedom fighters during the period when Sri Lanka was under British Rule and stood up where there was injustice. James Alfred Ernest Corea

James Alfred Ernest Corea

also brought fame upon the Corea's by becoming a respected Doctor and what was most remarkable about him was that he charged no fees for the poor . The two daughters of Charles Edward and his wife Henrietta, Agnes and Evangeline, married into wealthy families.

Ancestry

Charles Edward 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....

, who was also known as Edirille Rala.. He was given the two of the biggest kingdoms in Sri Lanka, 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 by Vimala Dharma Suriya, the King of Kandy.. Domnicus Corea became a king in 1596 and a year later he was captured by the Portuguese

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

forces and executed. He fought hard for and against the Portuguese who had invaded the island in 1505 and colonised Ceylon..

Early life

Later life

Death

Ancestry

See also