John Penry Lewis CMG (17 September 1854 – 29 September 1923) was a British colonial administrator, antiquarian and archaeologist.

Early life and education

Lewis was born on 17 September 1854, the second son of Rev John Lewis of Blackheath,

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

. He was educated at

Mill Hill School Mill Hill School is a 13–18 co-educational Private schools in the United Kingdom, private, Day school, day and boarding school in Mill Hill, London, England that was established in 1807. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' ...

and Queen's University, Ireland where he received his BA (1876) and MA (1882).

Career

Lewis 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 ...

in 1877, and then served in various revenue and judicial appointments. From 1897 to 1900, he initiated and administered the newly enacted Waste Land Ordinance. He had to deal with many fictitious claims to Crown Lands, and exposed widespread forgery of land documents which led to prosecutions based on his evidence. Lewis served as Acting Government Agent of the Northern Province (1903–1906) and Superintendent of Pearl Fisheries (1904–1906). In 1906, he was promoted to the substantive post of Government Agent of the Central Province, and as such was Chairman of the Municipal Council,

Kandy Kandy (, ; , ) is a major city located in the Central Province, Sri Lanka, Central Province of Sri Lanka. It was the last capital of the Sinhalese monarchy from 1469 to 1818, under the Kingdom of Kandy. The city is situated in the midst of ...

; Chairman of the Board of Health, and Chairman of the Road Committee. He was a Justice of the Peace, and also served as a member of both the Executive and

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 ...

. He retired in 1910.

Publications

Lewis is best known for his academic work on the history of

Ceylon 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, ...

, having been described as a man: "not greatly interested in administration. His true interests were antiquarian and archaeological". His publications included: ''Master and Servant Ordinance No. 11 of 1865'' (1883); ''Manual of the Vaṇṇi Districts, Vavun̤iya and Mullaittívu, of the Northern Province, Ceylon'' (1895); ''List of inscriptions on tombstones and monuments in Ceylon'' (1913); ''The Ceylon antiquary and literary register'' (1915); ''Ceylon in early British times'' (1916). He also wrote many papers for journals on the archaeology and folklore of Ceylon, and was a regular contributor to the

Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society The ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'' is an academic journal which publishes articles on the history, archaeology, literature, language, religion and art of South Asia, the Middle East (together with North Africa and Ethiopia), Central Asia ...

, while also serving as vice-president of its branch in Ceylon.

Personal life and death

Lewis married Violet Anderson in 1894, and they had one son and two daughters. Lewis died on 29 September 1923 at

Canford Cliffs Canford Cliffs is a suburb of Poole in Dorset, England. The neighbourhood lies on the English Channel coast midway between Poole and Bournemouth. To the southwest is Sandbanks which has some of the highest property values in the world; with C ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

, England.

Honours

Lewis was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George ( CMG) in the 1911 New Year Honours.

References

1854 births 1923 deaths Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Colonial Administrative Service officers 19th-century British archaeologists Members of the Legislative Council of Ceylon Government Agents (Sri Lanka) British civil servants in British Ceylon People educated at Mill Hill School {{Authority control