The House of Representatives was the lower chamber of the

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) established in 1947 by the

Soulbury Constitution The Soulbury Commission ( si, සෝල්බරි කොමිෂන් සභාව ''Solbari Komishan Sabhawa''; ta, சோல்பரி ஆணைக்குழு), announced in 1944 was, like its predecessor, the Donoughmore Commission, a ...

. The House was housed in the old

State Council State Council may refer to: Government * State Council of the Republic of Korea, the national cabinet of South Korea, headed by the President * State Council of the People's Republic of China, the national cabinet and chief administrative auth ...

building in

Galle Face Green Galle Face is a ocean-side urban park, which stretches for along the coast, in the heart of Colombo, the financial and business capital of Sri Lanka. The promenade was initially laid out in 1859 by Governor Sir Henry George Ward, although t ...

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo m ...

and met for the first time on 14 October 1947. The First Republican Constitution of Sri Lanka, adopted on 22 May 1972, replaced the House of Representatives (and

Parliament of Ceylon The Parliament of Ceylon was the legislative body of British Ceylon & Dominion of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) established in 1947 by the Soulbury Constitution, prior to independence on 4 February 1948. Parliament replaced the State Council of Ceylon. ...

) with the

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multi ...

National State Assembly The National State Assembly (NSA) was the legislative body of Sri Lanka established in May 1972 under the First Republican Constitution. The assembly was introduced by Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike under the United Front Government replac ...

Membership

The House of Representatives initially consisted of 101 members, of whom 95 were elected by the electors of the 89 electoral districts and six appointed by the Governor-General, on the advice of the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

. The members were known as "''Members of Parliament''". The six appointed members represented important interests which were not represented or inadequately represented in the House, they were usually from the European and

Burgher Burgher may refer to: * Burgher (social class), a medieval, early modern European title of a citizen of a town, and a social class from which city officials could be drawn ** Burgess (title), a resident of a burgh in northern Britain ** Grand Bu ...

communities and on occasions from the Indian Tamils and Muslim (

Moors The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinct or ...

or Malays) groups. On a few occasions caste groups from within the

Sinhalese Sinhala may refer to: * Something of or related to the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka * Sinhalese people * Sinhala language, one of the three official languages used in Sri Lanka * Sinhala script, a writing system for the Sinhala language ** Sinha ...

and

Tamils The Tamil people, also known as Tamilar ( ta, தமிழர், Tamiḻar, translit-std=ISO, in the singular or ta, தமிழர்கள், Tamiḻarkaḷ, translit-std=ISO, label=none, in the plural), or simply Tamils (), are a Drav ...

also obtained representation in Parliament as appointed members. The fourth amendment to the Soulbury Constitution increased the number of members to 157 (151 elected from 145 electoral districts and six appointed).

Electoral districts

The initial 89 electoral districts consisted of 84 single-member districts, four two-member districts (Ambalangoda-Balapitiya, Badulla, Balangoda and Kadugannawa) and one three-member district ( Colombo Central). From March 1960 there were 145 electoral districts consisting of 140 single-member districts, four two-member districts (Akurana, Batticaloa, Colombo South and

Mutur Mutur or Muttur is a town in the Trincomalee District of Sri Lanka, located about 25 km south of Trincomalee, on the southern side of Trincomalee Harbour. In Tamil it translates to 'ancient village'. Mutur is mostly accessed by sea route. A ...

) and one three-member district ( Colombo Central).

Speakers

Alfred Francis Molamure Sir Alexander Francis Molamure, (7 February 1888 – 25 January 1951) (commonly known as Sir Francis Molamure or A. F. Molamure) was a Ceylonese politician. He became the first speaker of both the State Council of Ceylon and Parliament of Ceyl ...

(1947–51) * Albert F. Peries (1951–56) * H. S. Ismail (1956–59) * T. B. Subasinghe (1960) *

R. S. Pelpola Richard Stanley Pelpola (21 November 1898 - 19 July 1971) was the Speaker of the Parliament of Ceylon and a member of Parliament in the cabinet of S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike. He resigned from his position of speaker in 1964 Later in his life h ...

(1960–64) *

Hugh Fernando Warnakulasuriya Ichchampullige Hugh Fernando (17 November 1916 -2 April 1993) was a Sri Lankan politician born in Nainamadama. He was the Speaker of the Sri Lankan Parliament. In 1952 he contested Nattandiya electorate as an independent candi ...

(1964) * Albert F. Peries (1965–67) *

Shirley Corea Srikumaradas Charles Shirley Corea ( 7 March 1906 – 5 March 1974 ) was a Sri Lankan politician. He was the 9th Speaker of the Parliament and a Member of Parliament, representing Chilaw. He was a member of the United National Party of Sri Lan ...

(1967–70) *

Stanley Tillekeratne Stanley Tillekeratne ( Sinhala: ස්ටැන්ලි තිලකරත්න) was a Sri Lankan politician. He was the Speaker of the Sri Lankan Parliament The Parliament of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (Sinhala: ශ්� ...

(1970–72)

Deputy Speaker and Chairman of Committees

* R. A. de Mel (1947–48) *

H. W. Amarasuriya Henry Woodward Amarasuriya (14 October 1904 – 6 March 1981) was a Ceylonese plantation owner, politician, educationist and philanthropist. He was the Cabinet Minister for Trade and Commerce in the cabinet of D. S. Senanayake. A former member ...

(1948) * Albert F. Peries (1948–51) * H. S. Ismail (1951–56) *

Piyasena Tennakoon Piyasena Tennakoon (3 June 1917 – 25 February 1982) was a Ceylonese lawyer and politician. Tennakoon was educated at Ananda College, Colombo. Following which he graduated from the Ceylon Law College and became an advocate. He was appointed ...

(1956–58) *

(1958–60) *

(1960–64) * D. A. Rajapaksa (1964) *

(1965–67) *

Razik Fareed Raziq or Razik may refer to: People with the given name *Raziq Faani (1947–2007), Afghan poet * Razik Fareed (1893–1984), Sri Lankan politician, diplomat and philanthropist *Raziq Khan (born 1979), an Emirati international cricketer People wi ...

(1967–68) * Murugesu Sivasithamparam (1968–70) * I. A. Cader (1970–72)

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * * * *

External links