Sir Charles Ernest Jones, CMG, CCS (1892–1953) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

colonial civil servant. He had a long career in 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 served as

Secretary to the Treasury In the United Kingdom, there are several Secretaries to the Treasury, who are Treasury ministers nominally acting as secretaries to HM Treasury. The origins of the office are unclear, although it probably originated during Lord Burghley's tenure ...

Life

He was the only son of Edwin Harris Jones R.N. of

Drayton, Hampshire Drayton is a residential area of the city of Portsmouth in the English county of Hampshire. Together with Farlington, its parent area, it makes up one of the electoral wards of the city. History The earliest mention of Drayton was as a man ...

. He was educated at Portsmouth Technical College, and graduated B.A. from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

in 1911, B.Sc. in 1913. Jones joined the Ceylon Civil Service on 28 November 1914. He became a member of the Asiatic Society in 1917, that year as a Cadet becoming an office assistant in

Kegalle District Kegalle is a district in Sabaragamuwa Province, Sri Lanka. It is one of 25 districts of Sri Lanka, the second level administrative division of the country. The district is administered by a District Secretariat headed by a District Secretary (pre ...

. He was Assistant Government Agent in

Mannar District Mannar District ( ''Maṉṉār Māvaṭṭam''; ) is one of the 25 Districts of Sri Lanka, districts of Sri Lanka, the second level administrative division of the country. The district is administered by a District Secretariat headed by a Governm ...

in the 1920s, moving to

Trincomalee District Trincomalee District ( ; ) is one of the 25 Districts of Sri Lanka, districts of Sri Lanka, the second level administrative division of the country. The district is administered by a District Secretariat headed by a Government Agent (Sri Lanka), D ...

in November 1935, having been acting agent at Uva that year. In 1941 Jones was Controller of Exchange, Imports and Exports. He took over as acting Financial Secretary of Ceylon from Harold James Huxham, in November 1942, for a few months. He several times held the post under that condition, for example during the first half of 1945, and again in 1946 when the official holder was

Sir Oliver Goonetilleke Sir Oliver Ernest Goonetilleke () (20 October 1892 – 17 December 1978) was a Sri Lankan statesman. Having served as an important figure in the gradual independence of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) from Britain, he became the third Governor-Genera ...

. In the latter period, as acting Financial Secretary, he sided with N. U. Jayawardena, seconded to the Treasury Department, who had raised hackles in the Civil Service Association. Jones became a director of the

Bank of Ceylon Bank of Ceylon (BOC; Sinhala: ලංකා බැංකුව ''Lanka Bænkuwa'', Tamil: இலங்கை வங்கி ''Ilangai Vangi'') is a state-owned, major commercial bank in Sri Lanka. Its head office is located in an iconic cyl ...

, in the

Dominion of Ceylon Ceylons:Sri Lanka Independence Act 1947, The Sri Lanka Independence Act 1947 uses the name "Ceylon" for the new dominion; nowhere does that Act use the term "Dominion of Ceylon", which although sometimes used was not the official name. was an ...

, in 1949. He was knighted CMG in 1950, at which time he was Permanent Secretary in the Ceylon Ministry of Finance. In 1951 he was serving as Permanent Secretary to

J. R. Jayewardene Junius Richard Jayewardene (; ; 17 September 1906 – 1 November 1996), commonly referred to by his initials JR, was a Sri Lankan lawyer, public official and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 1977 to 1978 and as the secon ...

Family

In 1923 Jones married Hilda Yorath, daughter of George Yorath of

Ross-on-Wye Ross-on-Wye is a market town and civil parish in Herefordshire, England, near the border with Wales. It had a population estimated at 10,978 in 2021. It lies in the south-east of the county, on the River Wye and on the northern edge of the Fore ...

, who survived him: they had one son. He was Michael Yorath Jones (b. 1924), educated at

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English private boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. It was founded as Marlborough School in 1843 by the Dean of Manchester, George ...

, who served in the

RNVR The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two Volunteer Reserves (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve (United Kingdom), ...

and then worked for

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses Science Biology * Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...

from 1947.

References

External links

Specimen 10000 rupee note signed C. E. Jones
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Charles Ernest British civil servants 1892 births Ceylonese Knights Bachelor People from British Ceylon Permanent secretaries of Sri Lanka 1953 deaths Companions_of_the_Order_of_St_Michael_and_St_George