Edward Walter Perera (11 December 1875 – 15 February 1953) was a

Ceylonese Sri Lankan or Ceylonese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Sri Lanka ** Demographics of Sri Lanka * Sri Lankan people, or of Sri Lankan descent; this includes: ** Sinhalese people, the ethnic majority ** Sri Lankan T ...

(Sri Lankan) barrister, politician and freedom fighter. He was known as the "Lion of

Kotte Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte (), also known as Jayapura or Kotte, is Capital of Sri Lanka, the legislative capital of Sri Lanka. Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is located adjacent to the urban area of Sri Lanka's de facto economic, executive, and judi ...

" and was a prominent figure in the

Sri Lankan independence movement The Sri Lankan independence movement was a peaceful political movement which was aimed at achieving independence and self-rule for the country of Sri Lanka, then British Ceylon, from the British Empire. The switch of powers was generally kno ...

, served as an elected member of the

Legislative Council of Ceylon The Legislative Council of Ceylon was the legislative body of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) established in 1833, along with the Executive Council of Ceylon, on the recommendations of the Colebrooke-Cameron Commission. It was the first form of represe ...

and the

State Council of Ceylon The State Council of Ceylon was the unicameral legislature for Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), established in 1931 by the Donoughmore Constitution. The State Council gave universal adult franchise to the people of the colony for the first time. It ...

Early life and education

Edward Walter Perera was born on 11 December 1875 at

Unawatuna Unawatuna is a coastal town in Galle district of Sri Lanka. Unawatuna is a major tourist attraction in Sri Lanka and known for its beach and corals. It is a suburb of Galle, about southeast of the city center and approximately south of Colombo. ...

Galle Galle (, ; , ) (formerly ) is a major city on the southwestern tip of Sri Lanka, south of Colombo. Galle is the provincial capital and largest city of Southern Province, Sri Lanka and is the capital of Galle District. Galle was known as ''Gi ...

the son of Edward Francis Perera (a

Proctor Proctor (a variant of ''wikt:procurator, procurator'') is a person who takes charge of, or acts for, another. The title is used in England and some other English-speaking countries in three principal contexts: # In law, a proctor is a historica ...

of Colombo) and Johana Matilda, daughter of Mudliyar William David Perera Jayawickrema Seneviratne of Thalpaththuwa, Galle. Raised as a devoted Christian, Perera was educated at

Royal College, Colombo Royal College, Colombo also known as; Royal Colombo, Colombo Royal College or Colombo Royal) is a Single-sex education, boys' school located in Cinnamon Gardens, Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Started by Joseph Marsh (priest), Joseph Mar ...

and was the first editor of the Royal College Magazine. He served as a sub-editor of the newspaper ''Examiner'' while studying law at the

Ceylon Law College Sri Lanka Law College (abbreviated as SLLC), formerly known as Ceylon Law College, is a law college, and the only legal institution where one can enrol as an Attorney-at-Law in Sri Lanka. It was established in 1874, under the then Council of Le ...

and was

called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

as an

Advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. List of country legal systems, Different countries and legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a ba ...

in May 1900. Having gone to England for further studies in the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

, he became a Barrister in 1909. Perera was a member of the first Reform Deputation in 1910.

Role in the Sri Lankan independence movement

During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, in 1915 commercial and ethnic rivalries erupted into riots throughout British Ceylon by Buddhists and Christians against Muslims. Fearing a possible uprising, the inexperienced

Governor of Ceylon {{Use dmy dates, date=November 2019 The governor of Ceylon can refer to historical vice-regal representatives of three colonial powers: Portuguese Ceylon * List of captains of Portuguese Ceylon (1518–1551) * List of captain-majors of Portugue ...

Sir Robert Chalmers declared

martial law Martial law is the replacement of civilian government by military rule and the suspension of civilian legal processes for military powers. Martial law can continue for a specified amount of time, or indefinitely, and standard civil liberties ...

on 2 June 1915 and on the advice of Inspector General

Herbert Dowbiggin Sir Herbert Layard Dowbiggin (26 December 1880 – 24 May 1966) was the eighth British colonial Inspector General of Police of Ceylon from 1913 to 1937, the longest tenure of office of an Inspector General of Police (IGP). He was called the 'Fa ...

began to suppress the riots by issuing orders to the colonial police and military to summarily execute anyone they deemed to be a rioter. Many prominent Sri Lankans such as D. S. Senanayake,

D. R. Wijewardena Don Richard Wijewardena (Sinhala language, Sinhala:දොන් රිච්ඩ් විජෙවර්ධන) (23 February 1886 – 13 June 1950) was a Sri Lankan media proprietor who was involved in the Sri Lankan independence movement. A s ...

, Arthur V. Dias, Dr. Cassius Pereira, Dr. W. A. de Silva, F.R. Dias Bandaranaike, H. W. Amarasuriya and A.H. Molamure were imprisoned and

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

D.E.Henry Pedris, a militia commander, was executed on the charge of

mutiny Mutiny is a revolt among a group of people (typically of a military or a crew) to oppose, change, or remove superiors or their orders. The term is commonly used for insubordination by members of the military against an officer or superior, ...

. A memorandum was drafted at a secret meeting held at Perera's residence, initiated by Sir

James Peiris Sir James Peiris (20 December 1856 – 5 May 1930) was a prominent leader in the Sri Lankan independence movement, the first elected Vice-President of the Legislative Council of Ceylon and the first native Governor of Ceylon (Acting).

with the participation of Sir

Ponnambalam Ramanathan Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan, (; 16 April 1851 – 26 November 1930) was a Ceylonese lawyer and politician who served as Solicitor-General of Ceylon. Early life and family Ramanathan was born on 16 April 1851 at the home of his maternal gra ...

. Before presenting it to the

His Majesty's Government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

, the support of the British members of parliament and the press in England had to be obtained. Travelling to England by sea was dangerous due to the presence of German submarines in the region. Abandoning a promising career at the Bar, Perera undertook the task of going over to England by obtaining permission saying he was going to do some research in the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

. To his advantage, the British treated him as a scholarly Christian Barrister rather than an independence activist. He was accompanied by George E. de Silva. In England, he was joined by Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan and later by Sir D.B Jayatilaka and they presented the memorandum to the

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 t ...

, pleading for the repeal of

and describing the atrocities committed by the Police led by Dowbiggin. The mission was a success. The British government ordered the release of the leaders who were in detention. Several high officials were transferred. A new Governor, Sir John Anderson was sent to replace Sir Robert Chalmers with instructions to inquire and report to His Majesty's Government. Perera's effort was greatly appreciated and he was thereafter referred to as the ''Lion of Kotte''. It was also Perera who with the help of

, the press baron (grandfather of current president of Sri Lanka

Ranil Wickramasinghe Ranil Wickremesinghe (; ; born 24 March 1949) is a Sri Lankan politician who served as the ninth president of Sri Lanka from 2022 to 2024. He has also served as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 1993–1994, 2001–2004, 2015–2018, 2018-2019 a ...

) traced the location of the banner of last King Sri Vikrama Rajasinghe, the last king of the

Kingdom of Kandy The Kingdom of Kandy was a monarchy on the Sri Lanka, island of Sri Lanka, located in the central and eastern portion of the island. It was founded in the late 15th century and endured until the early 19th century. Initially a client kingdom ...

to the

Royal Hospital Chelsea The Royal Hospital Chelsea is an Old soldiers' home, Old Soldiers' retirement home and nursing home for some 300 veterans of the British Army. Founded as an almshouse — the ancient sense of the word "hospital" — by King Charles II of Eng ...

, where it had been kept since the surrender of the Kingdom to the British in 1815. The recovered banner became a focal point in the independence movement and it became the flag of 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 ...

upon its independence in 1948. Tribute to the men who gave us the National Flag
/ref>

Political career

He was a member of the

, first as member from Western Province BH Division (1920) and then representing the

Kalutara District Kalutara District (; ''Kaḷuttuṟai Māvaṭṭam'') is one of the 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 (previo ...

(1924). As President of the

Ceylon National Congress The Ceylon National Congress ( Sinhala: ලංකා ජාතික කොන්ග්‍රසය ''Lanka Jathika Kongrasaya'') (CNC) was a political party in colonial-era Ceylon founded on 11 December 1919. It was founded during a period where ...

, he led its delegation before the Donoughmore Commission in 1926/27. Sincere to his convictions, he opposed the granting of universal adult suffrage and broke with his colleagues in the Congress. He agitated for full freedom and formed the All-Ceylon Liberal Association with Sir James Peiris. However, he was elected Member of the

for the

Horana Horana (, , ) is a town in Kalutara District, in the Western Province of Sri Lanka. It is on the A8 highway between Panadura and Ratnapura, away from Ratnapura and away from Panadura. Horana is connected with Colombo via B84 Colombo - Horana r ...

seat (1931) by a majority of 12,432 votes and served till 1935. He contested the 1943 Kelaniya by-election following the resignation of incumbent D. B. Jayatilaka and was defeated by

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 ...

Later life

He was a scholar and wrote several books. He died on 15 February 1953 at the age of 77.

References

External links