Gate Mudaliyar James Edward Corea - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Early life

Gate Mudaliyar James Edward Corea was born in Chilaw, on the west coast of Sri Lanka, on the 2nd of December 1865. His father was Johannes Christoffel Corea who was a Mudaliyar of the Chilaw

Chilaw

Chilaw is a western seaboard town on the island of Sri Lanka.It is a bustling town with a famous fishmarket and beach...

District.

In the 1870s J.E.Corea was educated at one of the leading educational institutions in the country, Royal College Colombo. In 1888 he married Frances Eleanor Terentia, daughter of D.C Ameresekera, 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

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...

, Kurunegala

Kurunegala

Kurunegala , is the capital of the North Western Province, Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka and the Kurunegala District. Kurunegala was also an ancient royal capital for 50 years, from the end of the 13th century to the start of the 13th century. The town itself is a busy commercial and a transport hub...

and they had ten children. They came from an Anglican Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

background.

Roper Lethbridge in 'The Golden Book of India'; a genealogical and biograhical dictionary of the ruling princes, chiefs, nobles, and other personages, titled or decorated, of the Indian empire, with an appendix for Ceylon, written in 1900, mentions James Edward Corea: 'COREA, Abhayaratna Gunasekara Wi-kramasundara Wijayasekere, James Edward, Gate Mudaliyar; b. 1866.

His father was Mudaliyar Johannes Christopher Corea, Mudaliyar of Chilaw,who was son of Mudaliyar Abraham Corea, brother of Mudaliyar Simon Corea.'

The Corea family

J.E.Corea was a member of the Corea Family who grew in influence as a result of being wealthy land owners. The Sri Lankan author, Kumari Jayawardena, writing about the Coreas observed: 'Unconnected to the liquor trade but making their money on plantation ventures was the Corea Family of Chilaw, an influential govigama

Govigama

Govi, Govigama, Goigama, Goygama, Goyigama, Goviyo is the most influential and the dominant Caste in Sri Lanka and certainly comes as the leading cast in the hierarchy of cast system in Sri Lanka.The term Govi denotes farmer.From time immemorial the Govigama have been the landlords and have been...

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.'

The writer Kumari Jayawardena goes on to state that: 'While being professionals and political activists, the Coreas were also important landowners.'

Descendant of King Dominicus Corea

James 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 crowned 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. His coronation was arranged by Vimala Dharma Suriya, King of Kandy, in 1596. Dominicus Corea often switching allegiances fought for all the opponents and finally changed sides and fought 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...

Army, he was captured and executed in Colombo on July 14, 1596.

Dominicus Corea was hailed as a 'war hero' in the Mahavamsa, the ancient chronicles of Sri Lanka.

Landed proprietor and planter

James Edward Corea owned vast coconut estates and paddy fields in and around the Chilaw area. Arnold Wright, writing in 1907 in his book 'Twentieth Century Impressions of Ceylon,' noted: 'James Edward Corea Abhayaratna Vijayasekera Mudaliyar Pitigal Korale, North Chilaw was educated at Colombo Academy (now Royal College, Colombo), and entered Government Service in 1887.

He was attached to the Provincial Road Committee at Kurunegala. He was appointed to the District Roads Committee in 1888 in Chilaw and in 1899 he became Mudaliyar of Pitigal Korale North. Also he is Inspector of Coaches and Inquirer into Crimes of the Chilaw District and in charge of the Rural Police of Pitigal Korale North. He was the Chairman of the Village Committee and also the President of the Council of Irrigation. Also he owns extentsive estates being a landed proprieter and planter

Planter

Planter may refer to:*A flower pot or box for plants**Jardinière, one such type of pot*A person or object engaged in sowing seeds**Planter , implement towed behind a tractor, used for sowing crops through a field*A coloniser...

. He owns Karrukkuwa, Tittakada, Tambagalle coconut estates in Chilaw district as well as large tracts of paddy lands. He was a member of the Agricultural and Horticultural Society. '

Gate Mudaliyar

Recognising his influence in the world of trade and commerce on the island, the Governor of Ceylon

Governor of Ceylon

The British Governor of Ceylon was an official who ruled Ceylon during the British colonial period between 1798 and 1948....

appointed James Edward Corea, a Gate Mudaliyar of Ceylon. Mudaliyar was a colonial title & office in Sri Lanka. When the British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

governed the island of Ceylon, they re-introduced the 'Mudaliyar Class,' first set up by the Portuguese

Portugal

and then the Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

colonial rulers. All these appointments were made by the Governor of Ceylon. The Governor delegated special duties to Gate Mudaliyar J.E. Corea.

Meeting Mahatma Gandhi

When Mahatma Gandhi

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,' visited Ceylon for the first time in 1927, he travelled to Chilaw and met with the Corea Family including Gate Mudaliyar J.E.Corea. Gandhi was hosted in a Corea home called 'Sigiriya,' in Chilaw.

The family organised a huge banquet for Gandhi who had been invited to Chilaw by J.E.Corea's kinsemen, 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...

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...

, leading figures in the independence movement. Both brothers were elected members of the Legislative Council of Ceylon

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...

. They also founded the Chilaw Association and the Ceylon National Congress. Gandhi stayed for several days in Chilaw at the request of the Corea family.

Family

One of the sons of J.E.Corea, J.C.A. Corea

J.C.A. Corea

James Clifford Aelian Corea was a Sri Lankan educationist. He was the former Principal of Royal College Colombo.-Early Life:Born in the coastal town of Chilaw in Ceylon in 1904, he was educated at Royal College Colombo, then gained a MA in Psychology from the University of London and a Diploma in...

who was born in 1904 in Chilaw, created education history on the island, when he was appointed the first ever Sri Lankan Principal of the prestigious Royal College, Colombo, by the Government of Sri Lanka.
Mudaliyar Corea died in the 1950s in Chilaw, Sri Lanka.