Maduwanwela Maha Disawe
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Wickramasinghe Wijesundara Ekanayake Abeykoon Mudiyanse Ralahamilage Sir James Williams Maduwanwela (''known as Maduwanwela Maha Disawe '') (1844–1930) was a
Ceylonese Sri Lankan or Ceylonese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Sri Lanka * A person from Sri Lanka, see Demographics of Sri Lanka ** Sinhalese people, the ethnic majority ** Sri Lankan Tamils, an ethnic minority ** Sri L ...
colonial-era
headmen The Headmen is a group of supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Publication history The Headmen first appearance, first appeared (as a team) in ''The Defenders (comic book), The Defenders'' #21 (March 1975) a ...
. He was appointed to the post of
Dissawa The Mahâ Dissâvas was a Great Officer in the Amātya Mandalaya, or Sinhalese Council of State, in the Sinhalese Kingdoms of monarchical Sri Lanka. Like many of the existing high offices at the time it had combined legislative and judicial ...
by the
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
Government of Ceylon.


Government service

He was educated at S. Thomas' College, Mutwal. He entered
public service A public service is any service intended to address specific needs pertaining to the aggregate members of a community. Public services are available to people within a government jurisdiction as provided directly through public sector agencies ...
under the British administration as a
Clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include record keeping, filing, staffing service ...
and was promoted as Korale Mahaththaya there after
Rate Mahatmaya Rate Mahatmaya was a traditional office and title from the Kandian Kingdom which became part of the British colonial administration within the Kandian and central region of Ceylon. History Persons were appointed to the title and office by the Ki ...
and finally appointed as
Dissava The Mahâ Dissâvas was a Great Officer in the Amātya Mandalaya, or Sinhalese Council of State, in the Sinhalese Kingdoms of monarchical Sri Lanka. Like many of the existing high offices at the time it had combined legislative and judicial ...
.


Wealth

Maduwanwala claimed to inherited an 83,000 acre "nindagama" or land grant in the Kolonne area from his father, which he claimed to have been gifted to the family by King Wimaladharmasooriya II. He built a large fortune from this land through timber trading, gem mining and elephant kraals, most notably the Elephant Kraal in
Panamure Panamure is a village located in the Ratnapura District, Sabaragamuwa Province, Sri Lanka. It is approximately from Colombo and from Ratnapura. The village is significant because it is the site of the last elephant kraal in Sri Lanka, Panamure ...
which had been started by the Maduwanwela Maha Disawe in the late 1800s while he was a Rate Mahatmaya along with J.T. Ellawela.The Last Kraal in Sri Lanka
/ref> Through these proceeds Maduwanwela Disawe expanded his family seat
Maduwanwela Walawwa Maduwanwela Walawwa is a Walauwa located in Ratnapura District, Sabaragamuwa Province, Sri Lanka. The Walawwa is in the town of Maduwanwela, which lies between Embilipitiya and Suriyakanda, approximately from Colombo. History Maduwanwela Wal ...
.


Family

Maduwanwela Disawe married twice. His first wife Ekneligoda Kumarihami died given birth to their only child a daughter named Dingiri Appey who was a cripple. He married again Kalawana Kumarihami, a close relative, they had now children and she predeceased him. Before his death, he placed his wealth in trust for his daughter, placing nephew
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 ...
and the Kalawana Kumarihami's nephew, Cyril Dangamuwa as trustees. He died on 6 September 1930 from heart disease.


See also

*
List of political families in Sri Lanka This is a partial listing of prominent political families in Sri Lanka. Abdul Majeed * A. L. Abdul Majeed (15 November 1933 – 13 November 1987) also known as Mutur Majeed, former Deputy Minister of Information and Broadcasting and Member Par ...


External links & References


The Meedeniya Ancestry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maduwanwela Sri Lankan Buddhists Dissava Sinhalese people Alumni of S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia People of British Ceylon