Gate Mudaliyar Mudaliyar (or Mudali) was a Ceylon, Ceylonese colonial title during Portuguese Ceylon, Portuguese and British Ceylon, British rule of the island. Stemming from the Native headmen of Ceylon, native headman system, the title was usually hereditary, ...

Alexander Edmund de Silva Wijegooneratne Samaraweera Rajapakse

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(13 March 1866 – 20 September 1937) was a Ceylonese colonial-era politician and headman. He was born on 13 March 1866 in

Negombo Negombo (, ), also known as Punchi Romaya (Little Rome), is a major city in Sri Lanka, situated on the west coast and at the mouth of the Negombo Lagoon, in the Western Province, Sri Lanka, Western Province, from Colombo via the E03 expressway ...

, the eldest son of Mudliyar John de Silva Wijegooneratne Rajapakshe, a member of the

Salagama Salagama (also known as ''Saliya)'' is a Sinhalese people, Sinhalese caste found mostly in the southern coastal areas of Sri Lanka. The community was traditionally associated with the cultivation and management of cinnamon and were formerly also ...

caste and Magdalene Mendis née Abeysekara. The family owned and operated a number of

cinnamon Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus ''Cinnamomum''. Cinnamon is used mainly as an aromatic condiment and flavouring additive in a wide variety of cuisines, sweet and savoury dishes, biscuits, b ...

estates in the Negombo District. In 1922 he was elected as the first chairman of the Negombo Urban Council, a position he retained until 1923 and then from 1925 to 22 August 1934. In 1932 he was elected as the inaugural chair of the Association of Urban Councils of Ceylon. Rajapakse also served on the Board of Agriculture. He was elected to the

1st State Council of Ceylon The 1st State Council of Ceylon was a meeting of the State Council of Ceylon, with the membership determined by the results of the 1931 state council election held between 13 and 20 June 1931. The parliament met for the first time on 7 July 193 ...

on 17 June 1931 for

representing the Union Party. He was subsequently re-elected to the 2nd State Council in 1936, with a 9,000 vote majority, where he served on the Executive Committee for Agriculture and Lands. Dying in office on 20 September 1937. Rajapaske's daughter, Leila Mildred, married Alexander Nicholas De Abrew Abeysinghe, the first Mayor of the

Negombo Municipal Council The Negombo Municipal Council is the Politics of Sri Lanka#Local government structure, local council for Negombo, the largest city in Gampaha District, Gampaha district. The council was established under the Municipalities Ordinance of 1878 as a L ...

(1950) and the MP for

(1952–56).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rajapaske, A. E. 1866 births 1937 deaths Gate Mudaliyars Local authority councillors of Sri Lanka Members of the 1st State Council of Ceylon Members of the 2nd State Council of Ceylon People from Negombo People from British Ceylon Sri Lankan Roman Catholics