Richard Aluwihare

Sir
Richard Aluwihare
KCMG, CBE, CCS, JP
12th Inspector General of Police (Sri Lanka)
In office
1947–1955
Preceded by Ranulph Bacon
Succeeded by Osmund de Silva
4th Sri Lankan High Commissioner to India
In office
1957–1963
Preceded by Edwin Wijeyeratne
Succeeded by Hamilton Shirley Amerasinghe
Personal details
Born 23 May 1895
Died 22 December 1976
Spouse(s) Lucille née Moonemalle
Children Phyllis Sita, Ena
Profession Civil servant, Diplomat

Sir Richard Aluwihare, KCMG, CBE, CCS, JP (23 May 1895 – 22 December 1976) was a Sri Lankan civil servant and diplomat. He was the first Ceylonese Inspector General of Police and Ceylon's High Commissioner to India.

Biography

Richard Aluwihare was born on 23 May 1895 the son of T. B. Aluwihare and Panebokke Tikiri Kumarihamy. His younger brother, Bernard (1902 – 1961), was a Sri Lankan Cabinet Minister and Member of Parliament from Matale. Aluwihare was educated at Christ Church College, Matale and Trinity College, Kandy. At Trinity College he was a Senior Prefect, won the Ryde Gold Medal and the Trinity Lion for cricket in 1915. With the outbreak of World War I, he enlisted in the British Army serving in the Middlesex Regiment[1] at Flanders, 1916 and was severely wounded in the Battle of the Somme.[2] He returned to Ceylon in 1920. He was the Secretary to the Kandyan deputation on constitutional reforms that was sent to England.

Aluwihare joined the Ceylon Civil Service, where he served as Assistant Director of Agriculture, Assistant Registrar Cooperative Societies in 1922, Acting Police Magistrate, Dandagamuwa in 1923, Police Magistrate in Point Pedro and Panadura in 1924, Second Landing Surveyor, HM Customs in 1926, Commissioner of Requests, Additional District Judge, Additional Police Magistrate, Kandy, Government Agent of Kegalle and Settlement Officer in 1929. In 1931 he was appointed District Judge of Nuwara Eliya. In 1934 was transferred to the General Treasury. In December 1941 he was appointed as acting Government Agent for Anuradhapura.[3]

On 6 January 1947 he was appointed first Ceylonese Inspector General of Police of the Ceylon Police Force.[4] In 1948 he established the Police Training School in Kalutara.[5] For his services to Ceylon he was knighted in 1950.[6] After his retirement in 1955 Aluwihare went into politics and contested the seat of Anuradhapura in 1956 but was soundly defeated. In June 1957 he became Ceylon's High Commissioner in India[7][8] a position he retained until 1963.

He married Lucille née Moonemalle on 18 October 1920, they had two daughters Phyllis Sita, who married Jayampathy Charitha Ratwatte II and Ena (1922 – 2015), who married Osmund de Silva. De Silva later became the Inspector General of Police, succeeding Aluwihare.

Aluwihare died on 22 December 1976 at the age of eighty one.

Legacy

The parade ground at the Police Training College in Kalutura is named the Aluwihare Grounds.[5]

The winner of the Trinity–Antonian Cricket Encounter (Battle of the Blues) is awarded the Sir Richard Aluwihare Trophy.[9]

Aluwihare also has a street (Richard Aluwihare Mawatha) named after him in Matale.

References

  1. ↑ "Private Richard Aluwihare". Lives at the First World Ward. Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
  2. ↑ Ratwatte, Charitha (29 January 2013). "World War I: The Great War Centenary". Daily FT. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
  3. ↑ Wickramasinghe, Rohan H. (20 March 2010). "How Freeman won the NCP seat". The Island. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
  4. ↑ Hulugalle, H. A. J. (22 March 2009). "The last hours of a great statesman". Sunday Times. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
  5. 1 2 "Police Passing Out Parade Today". Daily News. 6 November 2015. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
  6. ↑ "Fourth Supplement to the London Gazette" (PDF). London Gazette. 2 June 1950. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
  7. ↑ de Silva, A. A. (25 September 2004). "S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike with malice to none, with charity to all". Daily News. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
  8. ↑ "High Commissioner-Designate of Ceylon presents credentials" (PDF). Press Information Bureau - Government of India. 19 June 1957. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
  9. ↑ Abdeen, S. M. Jiffrey (16 March 2007). "Antonians have the edge over Trinity in limited over match". Daily News. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
Police appointments
Preceded by
Ranulph Bacon		 Inspector General of Police
1947–1955 		Succeeded by
Osmund de Silva
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