Reginald Sydney Vernon Poulier, (3 August 1894 - 7 November 1976) was a

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 ...

ese

statesman A statesman or stateswoman typically is a politician who has had a long and respected political career at the national or international level. Statesman or Statesmen may also refer to: Newspapers United States * ''The Statesman'' (Oregon), a n ...

and

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leader ...

. He was educated at

Royal College, Colombo Royal College, Colombo is a Single-sex education, selective entry boys' school located in Cinnamon Gardens, Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Started as a private school by Rev Joseph Marsh in 1835, it was established as the Colombo Academ ...

and gained a BA from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. In 1914, he joined the education department and was select the

Ceylon Civil Service The Ceylon Civil Service, popularly known by its acronym CCS, was the premier civil service of the Government of Ceylon under British colonial rule and in the immediate post-independence period. Established in 1833, it functioned as part of the ...

in 1919 and went on to serve in many appointments including Government Agent of

Ratnapura Ratnapura (; ) ("City of Gems" in Sinhala and Tamil) is a major city in Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of Sabaragamuwa Province, as well as the Ratnapura District, and is a traditional centre for the Sri Lankan gem trade. It is located on ...

. On 30 December 1924 he married Henrietta Amelia née de Vos (b. 1905) at All Saints' Church, Galle. They had one son, Reginald Fredrick, born 10 June 1932. Poulier was awarded a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1947 New Year Honours list, for his services as Food Commissioner (Control and Distribution) in

. In 1948 following the 1st parliamentary elections Poulier was recruited from the Ceylon Civil Service to a position of Parliamentary Secretary. In 1953 following his retirement from the Civil Service he was appointed to the

Senate of Ceylon The Senate was the upper chamber of the parliament of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) established in 1947 by the Soulbury Commission. The Senate was appointed and indirectly elected rather than directly elected. It was housed in the old Legislative Counc ...

on 27 August and in 1956 he resigned from the Senate to take up a position as an appointed member of parliament. In 1958 he was selected to be a member on the Joint Select Committee on the Revision of the Constitution. He was re-appointed as a member of parliament after both the

March March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is the second of seven months to have a length of 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of Marc ...

and July 1960 parliamentary elections. Poulier served as Chairman of Public Accounts Committee from 1960 to 1962. He served as the Parliamentary Secretary to the

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", ...

in the

First Sirimavo Bandaranaike cabinet The First Sirimavo Bandaranaike cabinet was the central government of Ceylon led by Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike between 1960 and 1965. It was formed in July 1960 after the parliamentary election and it ended in March 1965 after the opp ...

, from 28 August 1962 to 6 May 1963, following the resignation of

George Rajapaksa George Rajapaksa (25 December 1926 – 18 June 1976) was a Sri Lankan politician. He was the former Cabinet Minister of Health, Fisheries and a Member of Parliament. George Rajapaksa was born 25 December 1926, the second son of Don Mathew Raja ...

. Poulier also served as the president of the

Dutch Burgher Union of Ceylon The Dutch Burgher Union of Ceylon (abbreviated as: DBUC; ), known commonly as the Dutch Burgher Union (DBU), is an organisation of Dutch Burghers in Sri Lanka. It was established on 18 January 1908 by Richard Gerald Anthonisz. History On 12 N ...

from 1955 to 1957.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Poulier, Reginald Sydney Vernon Sri Lankan civil servants Alumni of Royal College, Colombo Members of the Senate of Ceylon Members of the 3rd Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 4th Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 5th Parliament of Ceylon Alumni of the University of London Ceylonese Commanders of the Order of the British Empire 1894 births 1976 deaths Parliamentary secretaries of Ceylon