Charles Edward Ducat Pennycuick CMG (15 October 184423 January 1902) was the

Mayor of Colombo The Mayor of Colombo is the elected head of the Colombo Municipal Council. The post was created in 1866 when the Colombo Municipal Council was established by the Legislative Council of Ceylon. The mayor is assisted by the deputy mayor and a Munic ...

(1893–1895), the

Postmaster General of Ceylon The Postmaster General of Sri Lanka is the appointed head of Sri Lanka Post, which is a government department. The current Postmaster General is Ranjith Ariyaratne. History The first mail service in Ceylon, was in 1788, established by the Dutc ...

and Director of Telegraphs (1896–1899) and the

Treasurer of Ceylon The financial secretary of Ceylon was an officer of the Ceylonese Government and member of the Board of Ministers. The Treasurer of Ceylon was one of six offices that held a seat in the Executive Council of Ceylon from 1809 to 1932. The post wa ...

(1899–1901). Charles Edward Ducat Pennycuick was born in

Poona Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

, India, on 15 January 1844, the youngest son of Brigadier John Pennycuick, who died during the

Second Anglo-Sikh War The Second Anglo-Sikh War was a military conflict between the Sikh Empire and the East India Company which took place from 1848 to 1849. It resulted in the fall of the Sikh Empire, and the annexation of the Punjab region, Punjab and what sub ...

at the

Battle of Chillianwala The Battle of Chillianwala (also spelled Chillianwallah) was fought in January 1849 during the Second Anglo-Sikh war in the Chillianwala region ( Mandi Bahauddin) of Punjab, now part of Pakistan. The battle was one of the bloodiest fought by t ...

in the

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

and Sarah Farrell (1805–1878). He joined the

Ceylon Civil Service The Ceylon Civil Service, popularly known by its acronym CCS, was the premier civil service of the Government of Ceylon under British colonial rule and in the immediate post-independence period. Established in 1833, it functioned as part of th ...

and in 1878 was appointed acting District Judge, Police Magistrate and Coroner in

Kurunegala Kurunegala (, ; , ) is a major city in Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of the North Western Province, Sri Lanka, North Western Province and the Kurunegala District. Kurunegala was an ancient royal capital for 50 years, from the end of the 13th ...

. The following year as the District Judge and Police Magistrate at

Badulla Badulla (, ; ,) is the capital and the largest city of Uva Province situated in the central hills of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of Uva Province and the Badulla District. Geography Badulla is located in the southeast of Kandy, almost enci ...

. He was elected as Mayor of Colombo in October 1893, serving until April 1895. He was subsequently appointed Postmaster General of Ceylon in 1896 and he finished his career as Treasurer of Ceylon. In the 1901 King's Birthday Honours he was awarded a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) for his services as Treasurer. Pennycruick married Clementina Woodhead (1852–1925) on 22 February 1881 at St. Nicholas' Church,

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

. They had two children, Agnes Helen (1887–1948) and James Alexander Charles (1890–1966). Their son, James, gained the rank of Colonel in the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

, fought in Malay during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and was awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, awarded for operational gallantry for highly successful ...

. His elder brother, Colonel John Pennycuick, was a British

Army engineer Military engineering is loosely defined as the art, science, and practice of designing and building military works and maintaining lines of military transport and military communications. Military engineers are also responsible for logistics b ...

and

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

, who also served as a member of the

Madras Legislative Council Tamil Nadu Legislative Council was the upper house of the former bicameral legislature of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It began its existence as Madras Legislative Council, the first provincial legislature for Madras Presidency. It was initia ...

. As an engineer in the Public Works Department, he was responsible for the construction of the

Mullaperiyar Dam Mullaperiyar Dam () is a masonry gravity dam on the Periyar River of Idukki district of Indian state of Kerala. It is situated 150 km south east of Kochi and 200 km north east of state capital city of Trivandrum. It is located above the sea ...

across the Periyar River in

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

. Pennecuick’s main claim to fame appears to be that, as Mayor, he considered objectionable the killing of stray dogs by drowning them in

Beira Lake Beira Lake (/ˈbeɪrə/; (); ()) is a man-made lake in the centre of the city of Colombo in Sri Lanka. The lake is surrounded by many large businesses in the city. It initially occupied approximately of land 100 years ago but has since been r ...

, so in 1894 he ordered the construction of a gas chamber for the purpose.

References

External links

Sri Lanka Post
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pennycuick, Charles Edward Ducat 1844 births 1902 deaths Postmasters general of Sri Lanka Mayors of Colombo Treasurers of Ceylon People from Pune British people in colonial India