Attygalle Murder
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Attygalle Murder
The murder of Francis Dixon Attygalle (known as the Attygalle murder) took place on 5 December 1906, after he was shot in the abdomen and later succumbed to his injuries in hospital. The murder became Ceylon's first sensational trial, which lay blame on Attygalle's brother-in-law John Kotelawala Sr, who committed suicide in jail before the verdict was given. Background John Kotelawala Sr, a police inspector married Alice Elizabeth Attygalle, daughter of the wealthy Mudaliyar Don Charles Gemoris Attygalle, after an illicit love affair to which the Attygalle family objected, but later conceded. As dowry, John Kotelawala received of rubber and coconut estates, as well as one-fourth share of graphite mines owned by the Attygalle family. Soon after the sick Mudaliyar Gemoris Attygalle died in 1901 and Kotelawala resigned from the police force and took over the management of the Attygalle family business, since Mudaliyar's only son Francis Dixon Attygalle was a minor. Later the Mudaliy ...
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John Kotelawala Sr
John Kotelawala (also known as John Kotelawala Sr; 4 November 1864 – 20 April 1907) was a Sri Lanka, Ceylonese police officer and businessmen. He was known for the murder of Francis Dixon Attygalle, one of the first sensational murder trials in Ceylon. His son General Sir John Kotelawala was the 3rd Prime Minister of Ceylon. Early life and education Born in Piliyandala to Don A. Kotelawala, he was educated at Royal College, Colombo, Royal College, S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia, S. Thomas' College and Wesley College, Colombo, Wesley College. Police career Kotelawala joined the Sri Lanka Police, Ceylon Constabulary as a constable clerk. He was later promoted to Inspector and developed a reputation for raiding illegal gambling dens and cutting down on police corruption. Marriage and businesses Kotelawala married Alice Elisabeth Attygalle, daughter of Sri Lankan Mudaliyars, Mudaliyar Don Charles Gemoris Attygalle, a wealthy land and mine owner. They had three children, John ...
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Welikada Prison
The Welikada Prison (also known as the ''Magazine Prison'') is a maximum security prison and the largest prison in Sri Lanka. It was built in 1841 by the British colonial government under Governor Cameron. The prison covers an area of . It is overcrowded with about 1700 detainees exceeding the actual number that could be accommodated. The prison also has a gallows (unused since 1959) and its own hospital. The prison is administered by the Department of Prisons. Following the attempted military coup in 1962, the arrested military and police officers were remanded pending trial in a special section at Welikada prison called the Magazine Section. To guard these officers, a special security detachment called the ''composite guard'' was selected from the Ceylon Light Infantry, with Major A Hulangamuwa in charge. In November 2012, 27 people died in clashes between inmates and prison guards. Core functions *Detention of prisoners on first conviction *Categorization of convicted prison ...
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Richard Gotabhaya Senanayake
Richard Gotabhaya Senanayake (4 November 1911 – 22 December 1970; popularly known as R.G. Senanayake) was a Sri Lankan politician. He was Minister of Trade and Commerce during the period 1952-56 and 1956-60. He was elected a Member of Parliament from Dambadeniya in 1952 and in 1956 from Kelaniya, thus holding concurrent seats from two constituencies, while he retained his seat from Dambadeniya in 1960 and 1965. He was the eldest son of the freedom fighter Fredrick Richard Senanayake and was educated at the Royal College, Colombo and at Downing College, Cambridge and had become a barrister. Early life and education Richard Gotabhaya Senanayake, was born on 4 November 1911 to Fredrick Richard Senanayake, a barrister and Ellen Senanayake ''nee'' Attygalle, the youngest daughter of Mudaliyar Don Charles Gemoris Attygalle. He was the eldest son, amount eight siblings. A member of the Senanayake family, his cousins included future prime ministers Dudley Senanayake and Sir John Kote ...
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John Kotelawala
General Sir John Lionel Kotelawala ( si, ශ්‍රිමත් ජෝන් ලයනල් කොතලාවල; 4 April 1897 – 2 October 1980) was a Sri Lankan statesman, who served as the 3rd Prime Minister of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) from 1953 to 1956. Born to a wealthy landholding and mining family, Kotelawala had a difficult childhood with the suicide of his father and financial difficulties that followed. He was educated at Royal College, Colombo and Christ's College, Cambridge before returning to become a planter and run the family estates and mines. Kotelawala joined the Ceylon Defense Force as an volunteer officer in 1922. Being from a politically active family, he entered mainstream politics in 1931 having been elected to the State Council of Ceylon. He went on to serve as Minister of Communications and Works in the Second Board of Ministers of Ceylon. Having served as the commanding officer of the Ceylon Light Infantry, he transferred to the reserve with the ...
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Prime Minister Of Ceylon
The Prime Minister of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is the head and most senior member of parliament in the cabinet of ministers. It is the second-most powerful position in Sri Lanka's executive branch behind the president, who is the constitutional chief executive. The Cabinet is collectively held accountable to parliament for their policies and actions. Dinesh Gunawardena has been prime minister since 22 July, after Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in as the President. Appointment The president will appoint a member of parliament as prime minister, who in the president's opinion, "is most likely to command the confidence of Parliament". The prime minister holds office throughout the period during which the cabinet of ministers continues to function under the provisions of the constitution unless the prime minister resigns from the post or ceases to be a member of parliament. Powers and role Under the Soulbury Constitution the post of Prime Minister was create ...
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United National Party
The United National Party, often abbreviated as UNP ( si, එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය, translit=Eksath Jāthika Pakshaya, ta, ஐக்கிய தேசியக் கட்சி, translit=Aikkiya Tēciyak Kaṭci), is a centre-right political party in Sri Lanka. The UNP has served as the country's ruling party, or as part of its governing coalition, for 38 of the country's 74 years of independence, including the periods 19471956, 19651970, 19771994, 20012004 and 20152019. The party also controlled the executive presidency from its formation in 1978 until 1994. The UNP has been led by President Ranil Wickremesinghe since 1994. As of September 2021, the UNP is a member of the International Democrat Union. History Formation (1946–1952) The UNP was founded by Don Stephen Senanayake in 1946 by amalgamating three right-leaning, pro-dominion parties from the majority Sinhalese community and minority Tamil and Muslim communities. Senanayake had earlier ...
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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 known as peaceful transfer of power from the British administration to Ceylon representatives, a phrase that implies considerable continuity with a colonial era that lasted 400 years. It was initiated around the turn of the 20th century and led mostly by the educated middle class. It succeeded when, on 4 February 1948, Ceylon was granted independence as the Dominion of Ceylon. Dominion status within the British Commonwealth was retained for the next 24 years until 22 May 1972 when it became a republic and was renamed the Republic of Sri Lanka. British colonial rule The British Raj was dominant in Asia after the Battle of Assaye; following the Battle of Waterloo, the British Empire became more influential. Its prestige was only briefly dente ...
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Fredrick Richard Senanayake
Fredrick Richard Senanayake (known to as F. R. Senanayake) (October 20, 1882 – January 1, 1926) was a Ceylonesen lawyer and independence activist. A leading member of the Sri Lankan independence movement, he was an elected member of the Colombo Municipal Council. He was the principal supporter of the early political career of his younger brother D. S. Senanayake, who would go on to lead Sri Lanka's independence movement, becoming the first Prime Minister of independent Sri Lanka in 1947. Early life and education He was born in the village of Botale in the Hapitigam Korale on October 20, 1882, to Don Spater Senanayake (1847–1907) and Dona Catherina Elizabeth Perera Gunasekera Senanayake (1852–1949). Spater Senanayake had made his fortune in graphite mining and at the time he was expanding into plantations and investments in the arrack renting franchise, later he would be awarded the title of Mudaliyar for his philanthropy. F. R. Senanayake had an elder brother, Don Charles ...
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Crown Witness
A criminal turns state's evidence by admitting guilt and testifying as a witness for the state against their associate(s) or accomplice(s), often in exchange for leniency in sentencing or immunity from prosecution.Howard Abadinsky, ''Organized Crime'' (9th ed: Cengage Learning, 2010), p. 368. The testimony of a witness who testifies against co-conspirator(s) may be important evidence. According to a 2008 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime document, persons who turn state's evidence "are known by a variety of names, including cooperating witnesses, crown witnesses, snitches, witness collaborators, justice collaborators, state witnesses, "supergrasses" and ''pentiti'' (Italian for 'those who have repented')." United Kingdom In the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth realms, the term is to turn Queen's or King's evidence, depending on the sex of the reigning monarch. The term "turning approver" or "turn king's approver" was also historically used, especially in Ireland; an a ...
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Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, during the Second World War, and again from 1951 to 1955. Apart from two years between 1922 and 1924, he was a Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) from 1900 to 1964 and represented a total of five UK Parliament constituency, constituencies. Ideologically an Economic liberalism, economic liberal and British Empire, imperialist, he was for most of his career a member of the Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party, which he led from 1940 to 1955. He was a member of the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party from 1904 to 1924. Of mixed English and American parentage, Churchill was born in Oxfordshire to Spencer family, a wealthy, aristocratic family. He joined the British Army in 1895 and saw action in British Raj, Br ...
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Boer War
The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South African Republic and the Orange Free State) over the Empire's influence in Southern Africa from 1899 to 1902. Following the discovery of gold deposits in the Boer republics, there was a large influx of "foreigners", mostly British from the Cape Colony. They were not permitted to have a vote, and were regarded as "unwelcome visitors", invaders, and they protested to the British authorities in the Cape. Negotiations failed and, in the opening stages of the war, the Boers launched successful attacks against British outposts before being pushed back by imperial reinforcements. Though the British swiftly occupied the Boer republics, numerous Boers refused to accept defeat and engaged in guerrilla warfare. Eventually, British scorched e ...
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Eardley Norton
Eardley John Norton (19 February 1852 – 13 July 1931) was a Madras barrister, Coroner and politician of British origin. He was also one of the earliest members of the Indian National Congress and a champion of civil liberties and rights of the Indian people. Early life Eardley was born in India in 1852, the eldest son of lawyer John Bruce Norton, who had served as Advocate-General of Madras. He received his education in Rugby School, England. He matriculated on 15 October 1870 at the age of 18 and graduated in arts from Merton College, Oxford. He read law at Lincoln's Inn and was called to bar in 1876. In 1879, he set sail to India to practice in the Madras High Court. Practice in Madras Eardley Norton practised as a lawyer in Madras from 1879 to 1906. Norton was elected to the Imperial Legislative Council (India) in 1894 but had to resign within a month due to an adultery suit against him. In 1897, a furor was raised over the appointment of a lawyer V. Bhashyam Aiya ...
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