The Colombo Club is the second oldest

gentlemen's club A gentlemen's club is a private social club of a type originally established by males from Britain's upper classes starting in the 17th century. Many countries outside Britain have prominent gentlemen's clubs, mostly those associated with the ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. The Colombo Club was established on 4 March 1871 by prominent British colonialists in the island at the Colpity Race Course Grandstand. The original resolution stating, "''That a club be formed for the purpose of establishing and maintaining reading, billiard, card and refreshment rooms in Colombo for the benefit of the members and generally for the carrying out of all purposes incidental to social clubs of the above description. And that the Club be called The Colombo Club.''" On 15 July 1871 the club received the official seal approval when the

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Sir

Hercules Robinson Hercules George Robert Robinson, 1st Baron Rosmead, (19 December 1824 – 28 October 1897), was a British colonial administrator who became the 5th Governor of Hong Kong, then 13th Governor of Ceylon, and subsequently, the 14th Governor of ...

agreed to become the club's patron and president. The Colombo Club was the most exclusive club in the country, its membership was limited to British and Europeans until Ceylon gained independence in 1948, thereafter membership was extended to Ceylonese. In 1956 the first Ceylonese member, Dr. H. C. P. Gunawardene, was admitted to the Club and until 1958 the office bearers of the club were all European. In 1995 membership was extended to include women, with Chloe de Soysa become the first female member. Following Sri Lanka's independence the club house was returned to the government and the club moved to the

Grand Oriental Hotel Grand Oriental Hotel or GOH (also previously known as the Taprobane Hotel) is a 3 star heritage hotel, located in Colombo, Sri Lanka. History The original building on the site was a simple, single-storey structure with open verandah to the st ...

, then to Ceylinco House, then to the Hilton International and after that to the Oberoi Hotel before in 2003 it moved to its present location within the

Taj Samudra Taj Samudra, trading as TAL Lanka Hotels PLC, is a Hotel rating, five-star luxury hotel in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The hotel is a listed company on the Colombo Stock Exchange since 1982 and the majority of the shares are held by Taj Hotels. The hotel ...

hotel, which is a member of the

Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces Taj Hotels is a chain of luxury hotels and a subsidiary of the Indian Hotels Company Limited, headquartered in Mumbai, India. Incorporated by Jamsetji Tata in 1902, the company is a part of the Tata Group. The company employed over 20,000 people ...

. The club premises contains a sixty seat dining room, four meeting rooms, a bar, a business centre and a billiards table. The club has 425 members, including 31 life members and has reciprocal arrangements with 52 other similar clubs around the world.

Past chairmen

Robert Singleton-Salmon Robert Singleton Salmon, (24 October 1897 – 1970) was a British tea planter, businessman and a member of parliament. Robert Singleton Salmon was born on 24 October 1897 in Toxteth Park, Liverpool, Lancashire, the youngest son of Frederick ...

* Mallory E Wijesinghe (first Sri Lankan chairman) * R. M. Canekeratne * T. M. Moy * B. R. Jesudason * R. S. R. Candappa * Deshamanya Dev Rodrigo * T. K. Bandaranayake * Hemaka Amarasuriya * Dickie Juriansz * Sega Nagendra * G. Manik Pereira

References

{{Authority control Colombo society 1871 establishments in Ceylon Gentlemen's clubs in Sri Lanka Organizations established in 1871

Past chairmen

Further reading

See also

References