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Sri Lanka Railways
The Sri Lanka Railway Department (more commonly known as Sri Lanka Railways (SLR)) (Sinhala language, Sinhala: ශ්රී ලංකා දුම්රිය සේවය ''Śrī Laṃkā Dumriya Sēvaya''; Sri Lankan Tamil dialects, Tamil: இலங்கை புகையிரத சேவை ''Ilankai Pugaiyiradha Sēvai'') is Sri Lanka's railway owner and primary operator. As part of the Sri Lankan government, it is overseen by the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation (Sri Lanka), Ministry of Transport. Founded in 1858 as the Ceylon Government Railway, it operates the nation's railways and links Colombo (the capital) with other population centres and tourist destinations. The Sri Lankan rail network is of broad gauge. Some of its routes are scenic, with the main line passing (or crossing) waterfalls, mountains, Tea production in Sri Lanka, tea estates, pine forests, bridges and peak stations. History The construction of a railway in British Ceylon, Ceylon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sinhala Language
Sinhala ( ; Sinhala: , , ), sometimes called Sinhalese ( ), is an Indo-Aryan language primarily spoken by the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka, who make up the largest ethnic group on the island, numbering about 16 million. It is also the first language of about 2 million other Sri Lankans, as of 2001. It is written in the Sinhalese script, a Brahmic script closely related to the Grantha script of South India. The language has two main varieties, written and spoken, and is a notable example of the linguistic phenomenon known as diglossia. Sinhala is one of the official and national languages of Sri Lanka. Along with Pali, it played a major role in the development of Theravada Buddhist literature. Early forms of the Sinhalese language are attested to as early as the 3rd century BCE. The language of these inscriptions, still retaining long vowels and aspirated consonants, is a Prakrit similar to Magadhi, a regional associate of the Middle-Indian Prakrits that had been ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Loolecondera Railway
The Loolecondera estate was the first tea plantation estate in Sri Lanka, established in 1867 by Scotsman James Taylor. The estate is located southeast of Kandy, Sri Lanka. History The Loolecondera estate was purchased from the Crown by James Joseph Mackenzie in 1841 to establish a coffee plantation. The estate lay between above sea level and was covered in dense forest, which was not cleared for a decade. In October 1852, 17-year-old James Taylor arrived in Ceylon, having signed up as an assistant supervisor with George Pride for three years. Upon his arrival he was sent to Loolecondera, under the supervision of a Mr. Williams. By 1857 he was the manager of Loolecondera. In the late 1860s coffee plantations across the island were devastated by the fungal disease ''Hemileia vastatrix,'' also known as coffee leaf rust. Coffee plantations were forced to diversify. In 1865 Taylor began experimenting with planting cinchona. In 1865, on the instructions of the owners of the estate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Railway Lines Near Colombo- Oct 1940
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to road transport. It is used for about 8% of passenger and freight transport globally, thanks to its energy efficiency and potentially high speed.Rolling stock on rails generally encounters lower frictional resistance than rubber-tyred road vehicles, allowing rail cars to be coupled into longer trains. Power is usually provided by diesel or electric locomotives. While railway transport is capital-intensive and less flexible than road transport, it can carry heavy loads of passengers and cargo with greater energy efficiency and safety. Precursors of railways driven by human or animal power have existed since antiquity, but modern rail transport began with the invention of the steam locomotive in the United Kingdom at the beginning of the 19th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Frederick Faviell
William Frederick Faviell (1822 – 3 July 1902) was a British railway constructor. He constructed the first railway in India and later built railways in Ceylon and South Africa. Biography Faviell was born in 1822 in Yorkshire. Son of a builder of bridges and canals, he began to work as a railway engineer on the Great Eastern Railway in Colchester with two of his brothers. Later, he decided to move his interests overseas and built railways in India, Ceylon and South Africa. Back in England, he bought the estate of Down Place in the Surrey where he lived with his wife Sarah and their six children until 1890. There, he decided to create one of the first Model Farm of the South of England at Blackwell Farm. He employed Henry Peak to design the new building. He died on 3 July 1902 at Tunbridge Wells. Work India In 1850, Faviell obtained the contract to build the first section of railway in India. Although the idea came in 1843 from the chief engineer of the Bombay Government G. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henry George Ward
Sir Henry George Ward Order of St Michael and St George, GCMG (27 February 17972 August 1860) was an English diplomat, politician, and colonial administrator. Early life He was the son of Robert Plumer Ward, Robert Ward (who in 1828 changed his surname by sign manual to Plumer Ward) and his first wife Catherine Julia Maling, daughter of Christopher Thompson Maling of West Herrington, County Durham; and the cousin of William Ward (cricketer, born 1787), William Ward and William George Ward. He was born in London on 27 February 1797. Educated at Harrow School, and sent abroad to learn languages, he became in 1816 attaché to the British legation at Stockholm, under Sir Edward Thornton. He was transferred to The Hague in 1818, and to Madrid in 1819. He was appointed joint commissioner to Mexico in October 1823, and returned to England in 1824 and he married Emily Elizabeth Swinburne in London on 8 April. Emily was the daughter of Emma Bennett and Sir John Swinburne, 6th Baronet. Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Governors Of British Ceylon
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. With Ceylon gaining self-rule and dominion status with the creation of Dominion of Ceylon in 1948, this office was replaced by the Governor-General, who represented the British monarch as the head of state. The office of Governor-General was itself abolished in 1972 and replaced by the post of President when Sri Lanka became a republic. Appointment The governor, appointed by the British monarch (on the advice of the prime minister and the secretary of state for the colonies), maintained executive power in Ceylon throughout British rule. Powers and functions The governor was the head of the executive administration in the island. Initially l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maradana Railway Station
Maradana Railway Station (, ) is a major rail hub in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The station is served by Sri Lanka Railways, with many inter-city and commuter trains entering each day. It is the terminus of several intercity trains. Maradana is home to the suburban-Colombo network's centralised traffic control centre. History When the railways first opened in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) in 1864, trains terminated at Colombo Terminus Station, a now-retired station near Maradana. In 1906, a project was launched to reorganise the railway within the Colombo area. Colombo Terminus Station was closed and replaced by the new Maradana Station. Fort Railway Station was opened in 1917, as a new central station for Colombo. Today, Maradana and Fort are the primary rail gateways to Colombo. Location Maradana Station is in Maradana, located next to the Elphinstone Theatre and near the Maradana Railway Yards. Colombo Fort Station is a couple kilometres away from Maradana Station. Features Mar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henry Labouchere, 1st Baron Taunton
Henry Labouchere, 1st Baron Taunton, PC (; 15 August 179813 July 1869) was a British Whig and Liberal Party politician of the mid-19th century. Background and education Labouchere was born in London into a prominent family, the son of Peter Cesar Labouchere of Hylands, a Dutch-born banker of French Huguenot ancestry who had settled in England, and his wife Dorothy Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Francis Baring. He was educated at Winchester College and Christ Church, Oxford, where he took his B.A. (1821) and his M.A. (1828). Political career In 1826, Labouchere became MP for St Michael, as a Whig. In 1830, he moved to the Taunton seat, which he held until 1859. In 1835 he was opposed by Benjamin Disraeli for the Taunton seat; Labouchere won by 452 votes to 282. He was first appointed to office by Lord Grey in 1832, serving as Civil Lord of the Admiralty . After beginning the second Melbourne ministry as Master of the Mint, Privy Counsellor, and Vice-President of the Board of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Secretary Of State For The Colonies
The secretary of state for the colonies or colonial secretary was the Cabinet of the United Kingdom's government minister, minister in charge of managing certain parts of the British Empire. The colonial secretary never had responsibility for the British India, provinces and princely states of British Raj, India, which had Secretary of State for India, its own secretary of state. From 1768 until 1966, the secretary of state was supported by an Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies, under-secretary of state for the colonies (at times an Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies, under-secretary of state for war and the colonies), and latterly by a Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies, minister of state. History Colonial responsibilities were previously held jointly by the Board of Trade, lords of trade and plantations (board) and the Secretary of State for the Southern Department, secretary of state for the Southern Department, who was responsible for Ireland, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Moorsom
; Captain William Scarth Moorsom (1804–1863) was an English soldier and engineer. After assisting Robert Stephenson he created railway lines in England, Belgium, Germany and Ceylon. Early life and career Moorsom was born at Whitby into a military family, the youngest of the four sons of Admiral Sir Robert Moorsom, who had served at the Trafalgar, and his wife Eleanor. He entered the Royal Military College in 1819, and became especially adept in fortification and military surveying. In 1823 he joined the 79th Highlanders Regiment, then stationed in Ireland. During his stay there, he made a survey of Dublin and its neighbourhood, which remained in use until it was superseded by the publication of the Ordnance Survey. In 1825 he served in the Mediterranean as a lieutenant in the 7th Fusiliers. In 1826 he transferred to the 69th Regiment, and then to the 52nd Light Infantry in Nova Scotia, having been promoted to Captain. During this time he served as deputy quartermaster-gen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Colonial Secretary Of Ceylon
The chief secretary of Ceylon, was the chairman and one of three officers of state of the Board of Ministers of the State Council of Ceylon from 1932 to 1947. The post succeeded that of ''Colonial Secretary'' which was one of six offices that held a seat in the Executive Council of Ceylon until 1932. The established under in 1932 by the Order in Council, following the recommendations of the Donoughmore Commission, vested the subjects of external affairs, defence and the public services of the Crown Colony of Ceylon under the chief secretary, who served as the officer administering the government in the abases of the governor. As such, the chief secretary was third in the order of precedence after the governor of Ceylon and the chief justice. The chief secretary was assisted by a deputy chief secretary and two assistant chief secretaries. Appointments were made from senior officers of the Colonial Service. The post ceased to exist in 1947 with the formation of the Dominion of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Philip Anstruther (colonial Secretary)
Phillip Anstruther (born 25 May 1802 - 22 May 1863) was a British public servant, coffee planter and served as the fourth Colonial Secretary of Ceylon (1833-1845). Phillip Anstruther was born 25 May 1802 at Elie, Fife, Scotland, the oldest of three children to Colonel Robert Anstruther, the member for Anstruther Burghs (1793-1794) and Anne née Nairne. His grandfather was Sir John Anstruther, the baronet of Nova Scotia. On 18 December 1819, at the age of seventeen, he joined the Ceylon Civil Service beginning as extra assistant to the Colonial Secretary and was subsequently appointed Collector of Colombo. On 1 October 1833 he was appointed as Colonial Secretary of Ceylon, taking up a position on the Executive Council of Ceylon on 7 November 1837. On numerous occasions he was called upon to take on the role of acting Governor of Ceylon. From 1840 onwards, Anstruther purchased of crown land in the high lands around Kandy, on which he established a number of coffee plantati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
