Herbert Rayner Freeman (6 March 1864 - April 1945) was an English born Ceylonese public servant and politician. Herbert Rayner Freeman was born in

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

, England on 6 March 1864, was educated at

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. Founded in 1843 for the sons of Church ...

, England (between 1878 and 1882) and went to

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

to join the Ceylon Civil Service during 1885. Freeman served with the Government Agent's Office (the "

Kachcheri A kachcheri or district secretariat is the principal government department that administrates a district in Sri Lanka. Each of the 25 districts has a kachcheri. The main tasks of the District Secretariat involve coordinating communications and a ...

") in Jaffna (1891), Galle (1885), Kurunegala (1886), Galle (1889-1890), Jaffna (1891) and Puttalam (1902). During this time, he served as the Police Constable of Kandy, Matara, Hatton, Galle and as a District Judge he worked in Jaffna, Kegalle and Chilaw. He served as Acting Chief Minister of the Eastern Province and as the Government Agent of the Eastern Province (1907) and the Government Agent for the Northern Province (1910). He was appointed as the Government Agent of the

Western Province Western Province or West Province may refer to: * Western Province, Cameroon *Western Province, Rwanda *Western Province (Kenya) *Western Province (Papua New Guinea) *Western Province (Solomon Islands) *Western Province, Sri Lanka *Western Provin ...

(1913-1914). During that time, he was a member of the Legislative Committee and the Committee on the Epidemiological Committee. In 1915 Freeman was appointed as Government Agent of the North-Central Province a job he maintained until he retired on 20 November 1919, at the age of 55, having served with the Ceylon Civil Service for 32 years. At retirement he had the option of returning to England or remaining in Ceylon. He decided to remain and engage himself in working for the improvement of the life of the villagers of the North Central Province. In 1924 Freeman contested the seat for the North Central Province in 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 ...

, winning the election on 12 September 1924 by a majority of 7,423 having received 8,311 votes as against 888 for the incumbent, S. D. Krisnaratne. In 1931 he was elected to the 1st State Council of Ceylon, with 7,423 votes, representing

Anuradhapura Anuradhapura ( si, අනුරාධපුරය, translit=Anurādhapuraya; ta, அனுராதபுரம், translit=Aṉurātapuram) is a major city located in north central plain of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of North Central ...

and in 1936 was re-elected unopposed to the 2nd State Council of Ceylon, serving with the executive committee for Communications and Works.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Freeman, H. R. 1864 births 1945 deaths People from Suffolk People educated at Marlborough College Members of the Legislative Council of Ceylon Members of the 1st State Council of Ceylon Members of the 2nd State Council of Ceylon British expatriates in British Ceylon