Richard Gerald Anthonisz, ISO, JP (22 October 1852 – 3 January 1930) was a Ceylonese

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

, educationist 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 leaders ...

. He was the first Government Archivist in the British Administration of Ceylon. He was born in Galle and received is primary education in English from The Galle School the present Richmond College. Winning the Queen’s Scholarship he entered the Colombo Academy (now Royal College Colombo). Entering the field of law Anthonisz became a

Proctor Proctor (a variant of ''procurator'') is a person who takes charge of, or acts for, another. The title is used in England and some other English-speaking countries in three principal contexts: * In law, a proctor is a historical class of lawye ...

of the District Court. He thereafter became a teacher and served as the Head Master at

Richmond College, Galle Richmond College ( si, රිච්මන්ඩ් විද්‍යාලය) is a primary and secondary school in Galle, Sri Lanka which was established as Galle High School in 1876. The founder of school was the Wesleyan Missionary George B ...

and at the Colombo Academy; before becoming the

head master A head master, head instructor, bureaucrat, headmistress, head, chancellor, principal or school director (sometimes another title is used) is the staff member of a school with the greatest responsibility for the management of the school. In som ...

of the English Galle Central School. Joining the government service, he became a registrar of lands, then a police magistrate and thereafter became the Assistant Registrar General in Colombo. A keen student of Dutch history and culture in Ceylon, in July 1899 Anthonisz was appointed to the new post of Examiner of Dutch Records, with the task of searching and organizing the scattered records and documents of the Dutch administration. With successful archive process of Dutch records, a new post of Government Archivist and Librarian was created by the British administration as part of the Chief Secretaries Office (also known as the '' Colonial Secretary'') in 1902 and Anthonisz was made a permanent appointment. He held the post until his retirement in 1921. This office was formally established as the Department of the Government Archivist in 1947 and now known as the

Department of National Archives The Department of National Archives ( Sinhala: ජාතික ලේඛනාරක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව ''jāthika lēkhanārakshana depārthamēnthuwa'') is a government department in Sri Lanka which is the repo ...

. For his government service he was appointment as a

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

and made a

Companion of the Imperial Service Order The Imperial Service Order was established by King Edward VII in August 1902. It was awarded on retirement to the administration and clerical staff of the Civil Service throughout the British Empire for long and meritorious service. Normally a pe ...

in the

1919 Birthday Honours The 1919 Birthday Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were made to celebrate the official birthday of The King, and were ...

. He was made a member of the

Society of Dutch Literature The Maatschappij der Nederlandse Letterkunde (English "Society of Dutch Literature", often abbreviated ''MNL'') is a prestigious and exclusive literary society. The MNL was established in Leiden in 1766 and is still located there. At the moment, ...

, Leyden and the founder 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 R.G. Anthonisz, Richard Gerald Anthonisz. Hi ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anthonisz, Richard Gerald 1852 births 1930 deaths Alumni of Royal College, Colombo Archivists Burgher people Sri Lankan civil servants Sri Lankan educators Sri Lankan lawyers Ceylonese Companions of the Imperial Service Order People from Galle People from British Ceylon Sri Lankan justices of the peace