Theodore Duncan Perera, CMG (born 28 May 1895) was a Ceylonese civil servant who served as the

Secretary of the Treasury The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...

from December 1950 to March 1951 and Deputy High Commissioner for Ceylon in the United Kingdom. Graduated with an

LL.B. A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

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 ...

, Perera 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 August 1919. Following his cadetship in Kurunagala and Jaffna, he served the early part of his career as a

police magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a ''Roman magistrate, magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and pos ...

in several locations of the island. Perera served as the Assistant Controller of Stamps and Assistant Colonial Secretary in the 1920's and in 1931 he was appointed as the Secretary to the first Minister of Agriculture and Lands, D. S. Senanayake. He became the first

Cabinet Secretary A cabinet secretary is usually a senior official (typically a civil servant) who provides services and advice to a cabinet of ministers as part of the Cabinet Office. In many countries, the position can have considerably wider functions and powe ...

in 1947, while concurrently serving as the Deputy Secretary to the Treasury and was appointed a

Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George I ...

(CMG) in the

1948 Birthday Honours The 1948 Birthday Honours were appointments by George VI, King George VI to Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the Commonwealth Realms. The appoint ...

. He served as the

from December 1950 to March 1951. In May 1953, he was appointed Deputy High Commissioner for Ceylon in the United Kingdom, serving till 1956 and on occasions served as the acting High Commissioner.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perera 1895 births Date of death missing Permanent secretaries of Sri Lanka Ceylonese Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Sinhalese people Sri Lankan judges Magistrates of Sri Lanka Sri Lankan diplomats Alumni of the University of London People from British Ceylon