Sir ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...

Richard Aluwihare, (23 May 1895 – 22 December 1976) was a

Sri Lanka 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 ...

n civil servant. He was the first Ceylonese

Inspector General of Police An Inspector General of Police is a senior police officer in the police force or police service of several nations. The rank usually refers to the head of a large regional command within a police service, and in many countries refers to the most se ...

and Ceylon's High Commissioner to India.

Early life and education

Richard Aluwihare was born on 23 May 1895, the son of T. B. Aluwihare and Panabokke Tikiri Kumarihamy, daughter of Panabokke Dissawe. His younger brother,

Bernard Bernard (''Bernhard'') is a French and West Germanic masculine given name. It is also a surname. The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''bern'' "bear" and ''hard'' "brav ...

(1902 – 1961), was a Sri Lankan Cabinet Minister and Member of Parliament from

Matale Matale ( Sinhala: මාතලේ, ta, மாத்தளை, translit=Māttaḷai) is the administrative capital city of the Matale District. It is the most urbanised and populated centre in the district. Matale is also the second largest muni ...

. Aluwihare was educated at

Christ Church College, Matale Christ Church College, Matale (CCC) ( Sinhala : ක්‍රිස්තුදේව විද්‍යාලය) is a mixed state school in Matale, Sri Lanka. History The college was established in 1864, as the Christ Church Boy’s Englis ...

and

Trinity College, Kandy "Look to the End" , mottoes = , founder = John Ireland Jones , established = , type = Independent Private , affiliation = Church of Ceylon, Anglican , grade ...

. At Trinity College he was a Senior Prefect, won the Ryde Gold Medal and the Trinity Lion for cricket in 1915.

Military service

With the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he enlisted in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

serving in the

Middlesex Regiment The Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1966. The regiment was formed, as the Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment), in 1881 as part of the Childers Re ...

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

, 1916 and was severely wounded in the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme ( French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place bet ...

. He returned to Ceylon in 1920. He was the Secretary to the Kandyan deputation on constitutional reforms that was sent to England.

Civil service career

In October 1920, he was appointed to 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 ...

as a cadet by the

Governor of Ceylon {{Use dmy dates, date=November 2019 The Governor of Ceylon can refer to historical vice-regal representatives of three colonialism, colonial powers: Portuguese Ceylon * List of Captains of Portuguese Ceylon (1518–1551) * List of Captain-majors of ...

under special war service and was attached to the

Jaffna Jaffna (, ) is the capital city of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a peninsula of the same name. With a population of 88,138 in 2012, Jaffna is Sri Lanka's 12th most ...

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 ac ...

in October 1921. In February 1922 having passed his civil service examinations, he was appointed Office Assistant to the Director of Agriculture and Assistant Registrar Cooperative Societies. In October 1923 he was posted as Acting Police Magistrate, Dandagamuwa. Promoted to Officer of Class 4, he was posted as

Police Magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...

in Point Pedro in November 1923 and Police Magistrate Panadura in November 1924. Promoted to Officer of Class 3, he was appointed Second Landing Surveyor,

HM Customs HM Customs (His or Her Majesty's Customs) was the national Customs service of England (and then of Great Britain from 1707, the United Kingdom from 1801) until a merger with the Department of Excise in 1909. The phrase 'HM Customs', in use si ...

in 1926, Commissioner of Requests, Additional District Judge, Additional Police Magistrate,

Kandy Kandy ( si, මහනුවර ''Mahanuwara'', ; ta, கண்டி Kandy, ) is a major city in Sri Lanka located in the Central Province. It was the last capital of the ancient kings' era of Sri Lanka. The city lies in the midst of hills ...

and Additional District Judge, Kegalla in 1928; Assistant Settlement Officer in 1929 and District Judge, Nuwara Eliya in 1931. Promoted to Officer of Class 2 in 1932, he was attached to the General Treasury in 1934 and was appointed Controller of Finance and Supply. In 1937, he was appointed

Assistant Government Agent A Government Agent (GA) or a District Secretary is a Sri Lankan civil servant of the Sri Lanka Administrative Service appointed by the central government to govern a certain district of the country. The GA is the administrative head of public servic ...

, Kegalla and in 1939 he was attached to the HM Customs as Deputy Collector of Customs, Colombo. In December 1941 he was appointed as acting Government Agent, North Central Province. Promoted to Officer of Class 1, in January 1944, he was appointed Government Agent, Central Province in 1946. On 6 January 1947 he was appointed first Ceylonese

of the

Ceylon Police Force (The one who lives by the Dhamma is protected by the Dhamma itself) , mission = , formedyear = , preceding1 = Ceylon Police Force (1866–1972) , dissolved = , superseding = , employees = ...

. In 1948 he established the Police Training School in

Kalutara Kalutara ( si, කළුතර, ta, களுத்துறை) or Kalutota is a major city in Kalutara District, Western Province, Sri Lanka. It is also the administrative capital of Kalutara District. It is located approximately south o ...

. He retired from the civil service as Inspector General and was succeeded by his son-in-law

Osmund de Silva Santiago Wilson Osmund De Silva (25 December 1909 - c. 1980) was Ceylonese police officer. He was the thirteenth and the first Ceylonese career police officer to become Inspector General of Police (Sri Lanka), Inspector-General of Police (1955 ...

Later life

After his retirement in 1955 Aluwihare went into politics and contested the parliamentary seat of

Kalawewa Kala Wewa ( Sinhala:කලා වැව) built by the King Datusena in 460 A.D, is a twin reservoir complex (Kala Wewa & Balalu Wewa) which has a capacity of 123 million cubic meters. This reservoir complex has facilitated with a stone made spil ...

from the

United National Party The United National Party, often abbreviated as UNP ( si, එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය, translit=Eksath Jāthika Pakshaya, ta, ஐக்கிய தேசியக் கட்சி, translit=Aikkiya Tēciyak Kaṭci), ...

in 1956 and was soundly defeated. In June 1957, he was appointed Ceylon's High Commissioner in India a position he retained until 1963. Aluwihare died on 22 December 1976 at the age of eighty one.

Family

He married Lucille née Moonemalle, daughter of Theodore Barcroft L. Moonemalle, member of 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 ...

, on 18 October 1920. They had two daughters Phyllis Sita, who married Jayampathy Charitha Ratwatte II, later member of the

State Council of Ceylon The State Council of Ceylon was the unicameral legislature for Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), established in 1931 by the Donoughmore Constitution. The State Council gave universal adult franchise to the people of the colony for the first time. It r ...

and

Ena Ena or ENA may refer to: Education * École nationale d'administration, French Grande école, for civil service * Education Networks of America, Internet service provider Fictional characters * Ena Sharples, from the British soap opera ''Coron ...

(1922 – 2015), who married a career police officer,

. De Silva succeeded his father-in-law as

Honours

He was appointed a

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(CEB) and was knighted as a

Knights Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are the ...

in the 1948 Birthday Honours for services in reorganizing the Ceylon Police Force. He was appointed

Knight Commander Commander ( it, Commendatore; french: Commandeur; german: Komtur; es, Comendador; pt, Comendador), or Knight Commander, is a title of honor prevalent in chivalric orders and fraternal orders. The title of Commander occurred in the medieval mili ...

of the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, George III, King George III. ...

(KCMG) in the 1950 Birthday Honours for services to Ceylon. For service in the

Great War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he received the

British War Medal The British War Medal is a campaign medal of the United Kingdom which was awarded to officers and men of British and Imperial forces for service in the First World War. Two versions of the medal were produced. About 6.5 million were struck in si ...

and the Victory Medal, during his civil service career he received the

King George V Silver Jubilee Medal The King George V Silver Jubilee Medal is a commemorative medal, instituted to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the accession of King George V. Issue This medal was awarded as a personal souvenir by King George V to commemorate his Silver J ...

, the

King George VI Coronation Medal The King George VI Coronation Medal was a commemorative medal, instituted to celebrate the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. Issue This medal was awarded as a personal souvenir of King George VI's coronation. It was awarded to th ...

and during his service as IGP he received the Ceylon Police Independence Medal and the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal.

Order of the British Empire (Military) Ribbon

UK King George V Silver Jubilee Medal ribbon

UK King George VI Coronation Medal ribbon

Ceylon Police Independence Medal ribbon bar

Legacy

The parade ground at the Police Training College in Kalutura is named the Aluwihare Grounds. The winner of the Trinity–Antonian Cricket Encounter (Battle of the Blues) is awarded the Sir Richard Aluwihare Trophy. Aluwihare also has a street (Richard Aluwihare Mawatha) named after him in

References

ALUWIHARE - Family
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aluwihare, Richard High Commissioners of Sri Lanka to India Sri Lankan Inspectors General of Police Sri Lankan diplomats Sinhalese civil servants People of British Ceylon Alumni of Trinity College, Kandy Ceylonese Knights Bachelor Ceylonese Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Ceylonese Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Ceylonese military personnel of World War I British Army personnel of World War I Middlesex Regiment soldiers Ceylonese military personnel 1895 births 1976 deaths