Lieutenant-Colonel Victor Albert Nicholas,
MBE, (4 May 1897 - 1956) was the sixteenth
Postmaster General of Ceylon, serving between 1951 and 1956, and the second Ceylonese to hold the post.
Victor Albert Nicholas was born on 4 May 1897 in
Badulla
Badulla ( si, බදුල්ල, ta, பதுளை) is the capital and the largest city of Uva Province situated in the lower central hills of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of Uva Province and the Badulla District.
Geography
Badulla is ...
, the third child of Joseph Richard Nicholas and Rose née Anthony. He received his secondary education at
Kingswood College, Kandy. He joined the
Post and Telecommunications Department of Ceylon in 1915, at the age of 18. Following the outbreak of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
he enlisted in March 1917, serving with the
Royal Engineers on the Western Front and in German East Africa. He was discharged from service in January 1920, whereupon he re-joined the Post Department. On 3 June 1922 he married Constance Mildred Fernando, the daughter of Alfred Michael Fernando (1870-1930) and Mabel Elsie née Bartholomeusz (1875-1901).
In the
1950 King's Birthday Honours he was made a
member of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(Civil Division) for his services as assistant postmaster general of Ceylon. He was appointed as the Postmaster General in 1951 and was responsible for initiating the numbering of the Colombo city suburbs:
Colombo 01 (Colombo Fort),
Colombo 02 (Slave Island);
Colombo 03 (Kollupitiya);
Colombo 04 (Bambalapitiya);
Colombo 05 (Havelock Town);
Colombo 06 (Wellawatta);
Colombo 07 (Cinnamon Gardens) etc.
He retired in early 1956 and on 1 April 1956 was appointed to the Commonwealth Telecommunications Board. He died in London in the same year, at the age of 59.
References
External links
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Sri Lanka Post
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholas, Victor A.
1897 births
1956 deaths
Postmasters General of Sri Lanka
Sinhalese civil servants
Ceylonese Members of the Order of the British Empire
People from British Ceylon