Charles Hubert Zaleski Fernando (18 November 1892 - 5 July 1973) was a Ceylonese lawyer and colonial era politician. He was a member of the

Legislative Council of Ceylon The Legislative Council of Ceylon was the legislative body of British Ceylon, 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 f ...

and the

Colombo Municipal Council The Colombo Municipal Council is the municipal governing body of Colombo, the largest city and financial centre in Sri Lanka. It consists of a directly elected executive Mayor of Colombo, current elect is Rosy Senanayake, and 119 elected 119 muni ...

Early life and education

Fernando was born to Charles Matthew Fernando, a

Crown Counsel Crown counsel are lawyers, generally in Common Law jurisdictions, who provide advice to the government and acts as prosecutors in cases. In various jurisdictions their title can vary and they could also be known as the Queen's Advocate, King's Advo ...

and Jane Maria Caroline, third daughter of

Charles Henry de Soysa Charles Henry de Soysa Dharmagunawardana Vipula Jayasuriya Karunaratna Disanayaka popularly known as Charles Henry de Soysa, Justice of the peace#Sri Lanka, JP (3 March 1836 – 29 September 1890) was a Demographics of Sri Lanka, Ceylonese entrepr ...

, Sir Marcus Fernando was his uncle. He was educated at

St. Joseph's College, Colombo , motto_translation = In Knowledge and Virtue , location = T. B. Jayah Mawatha, Colombo 10 , country = Sri Lanka , coordinates = , caption = School Facade , pushpin_m ...

and

Royal College, Colombo Royal College, Colombo is a selective entry boys' school located in Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Started as a private school by Rev Joseph Marsh in 1835, it was established as the Colombo Academy by Sir Robert Wilmot-Horton in Janua ...

before proceeding to the

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was a sovereign state in the British Isles that existed between 1801 and 1922, when it included all of Ireland. It was established by the Acts of Union 1800, which merged the Kingdom of Great B ...

in 1907. There, he was drawn to the activities of the

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Gri ...

and had met

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...

at party meetings. Having graduated from the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

in 1913, with a BA and a

LLB Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

, on his return to Ceylon, Fernando became an

Advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. Different countries' legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a barrister or a solicitor. However, ...

Business career

He soon took to business with holdings in tea and rubber plantations, plumbago (graphite) mining and shipping, which he consolidated in the holding company C. H. Z. Fernando & Co. In 1928 he became a co-owner of the

Mount Lavinia Hotel The Mount Lavinia Hotel, in Mount Lavinia, Sri Lanka, is a 275-room hotel, situated at 100 Hotel Road in Mount Lavinia. It is recognised as one of the oldest and most famous hotels in the country. It has been continuously operating as a hotel s ...

. He was the Chairmen of the Ceylon Import Merchants Association and a member of the Low-Country Products Association.

Political career

He became a founding member of the radical political association named Young Lanka League in 1915 and together with A. E. Gunasinha, E. A. P. Wijerathne, A. P. Thambayah and Valentine S. Perera, going on to form the Workers’ Welfare League in 1919. In the same year he became a co-founder of the

Ceylon National Congress The Ceylon National Congress ( Sinhala: ලංකා ජාතික කොන්ග්‍රසය ''Lanka Jathika Kongrasaya'') (CNC) was a Nationalist political party which was formed in Ceylon on 11 December 1919. It was founded after national ...

. In the Municipal Council he presented the motion to repeal the

Poll tax A poll tax, also known as head tax or capitation, is a tax levied as a fixed sum on every liable individual (typically every adult), without reference to income or resources. Head taxes were important sources of revenue for many governments fr ...

, which lead to its repeal in 1922.Traversed new paths making History
Ananda E. Goonesinha (The Island) Retrieved 2 November 2015 He was elected to the

in 1924 from

Chilaw Chilaw ( si, හලාවත, translit=Halāvata, ta, சிலாபம், translit=Cilāpam) is a large town in Puttalam District, North Western Province, Sri Lanka. It is governed by an urban council. The town is located 80 kilometres away f ...

as the member for the Western division of the North-western province defeating

Charles Edgar Corea Charles Edgar Corea was a politician and a prominent freedom fighter of Sri Lanka. Early life C.E.Corea was born in the west coast town of Chilaw, in Sri Lanka. His parents were Charles Edward Bandaranaike Corea, a leading lawyer from Chila ...

. He was a founder of the

Ceylon Labour Party The Ceylon Labour Party (CLP) was a political party in Sri Lanka. History The Ceylon Labour Party was formed in October 1928, with A. E. Gunasinha as president and Proctor Marshall Perera as secretary. Its executive committee included C. H. Z. ...

in 1928 and in July 1928 he along with A. E. Gunasinha represented Ceylon at the British Empire Labour Conference in London. Fernando was a strong campaigner for

universal suffrage Universal suffrage (also called universal franchise, general suffrage, and common suffrage of the common man) gives the right to vote to all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, race, ethnicity, or political stanc ...

including for the plantation Tamils, which was introduced by the Donoughmore Constitution in 1931. Between 1920 and 1941, he was elected as a member of the

for

Kotahena Kotahena is a suburb part of Colombo, Sri Lanka. It is an area known as ''Colombo 13'' Places of worship Kotahena is the location of some places of worship: *Dipaduttamarama, where in 1885 for the first time the Buddhist flag was shown and where ...

and served as Chairman of the Ceylon Coconut Board, the Rubber Research Board and the Plumbago Trade Wages Board. He was made a

Chevalier Chevalier may refer to: Honours Belgium * a rank in the Belgian Order of the Crown * a rank in the Belgian Order of Leopold * a rank in the Belgian Order of Leopold II * a title in the Belgian nobility France * a rank in the French Legion d'h ...

of the

Order of the Holy Sepulchre The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Equestris Sancti Sepulcri Hierosolymitani, links=yes, OESSH), also called Order of the Holy Sepulchre or Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, is a Catholic Church, Catholic order of ...

Family

He married Daisy M. Fernando daughter of Hethakandage Bastian Fernando, their son was P. C. S. Fernando. R. A. de Mel was his brother-in-law.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fernando, Charles Hubert Zaleski Sri Lankan social workers Sinhalese politicians Sinhalese lawyers Ceylonese advocates Colombo municipal councillors Members of the Legislative Council of Ceylon People from Western Province, Sri Lanka Alumni of Saint Joseph's College, Colombo Alumni of Royal College, Colombo Alumni of the University of Cambridge Ceylon Labour Party politicians Knights of the Holy Sepulchre De Soysa family People of British Ceylon