Richard Aluwihare

Sir Richard Aluwihare, KCMG, CBE, JP, CCS (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.

Sir Richard Aluwihare

KCMG, CBE, JP, CCS
12th Inspector General of Police (Sri Lanka)
In office
1947–1955
Preceded byRanulph Bacon
Succeeded byOsmund de Silva
High Commissioner for Ceylon to India
In office
1957–1963
Preceded byEdwin Wijeyeratne
Succeeded byHamilton Shirley Amerasinghe
Personal details
Born23 May 1895
Died22 December 1976
Spouse(s)Lucille née Moonemalle
ChildrenPhyllis Sita, Ena
ProfessionCivil servant, Diplomat

Early life and education

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.

Military service

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.

Civil service career

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]

Inspector General of Police

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]

Later life

After his retirement in 1955 Aluwihare went into politics and contested the seat of Kalawewa from the United National Party in 1956 but was soundly defeated. In June 1957 he became Ceylon's High Commissioner in India[6][7] a position he retained until 1963. Aluwihare died on 22 December 1976 at the age of eighty one.

Family

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 his assistant Osmund de Silva. De Silva succeeded his father-in-law as Inspector General of Police.

Honours

He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CEB) and was knighted as a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in the 1950 Birthday Honours for services to Ceylon.[8]

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. Richard Aluwihare on Lives of the First World War
  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. "Police Passing Out Parade Today". Daily News. 6 November 2015. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
  6. 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.
  7. "High Commissioner-Designate of Ceylon presents credentials" (PDF). Press Information Bureau - Government of India. 19 June 1957. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
  8. "Fourth Supplement to the London Gazette" (PDF). London Gazette. 2 June 1950. 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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