Thomas Webb Roberts on The Problems of Public Life in India and Ceylon, a pamphlet written after he retired from the Ceylon Civil Service and pubd by The Times of Ceylon in 1937.
TW Roberts was a talented Barbadian who fared well at the elite Harrison College and then entered Oxford University and thereafter gained eentry into the British Colonial Service. Sent to Ceylon (with his English wife), his official duties were largely in the judicial field — in line with the colour-conscious Colonial Service’s policy of reserving the GA and AGA posts for white officers and the shunting of the browns (whether of Indian, Sri Lankan or West Indian lineage) into the world of judicial administration.
After his wife died from illness in the early 1920s, TW married Miriam Perera of Matara stock and they had four more children. His last station was as District Judge in Galle. He loved the place and settled down there.
Michael,
Thanks for posting a section of the ‘pamphlet’ authored by your dad T.W. Roberts. Unfortunately, the posted version contains only 9 pages about the 1936 elections. I did read this description with much interest.
Your father had written, “I for one have faith in the Sinhalese, in their ultımate good sense and judgment of values, particularly in their sense of humour They will not be permanently fooled by clerical shibboleths and religious pretence. As soon as they awaken to the vote-catching motives behınd electioneering campaigns, they will vote for the first honest opposition candidate.” This sentiment, my late father and I also do share.
Pathetically, what your father had prophesied as ‘clerical shibboleths and religious pretence’ had not vanished in the island, even after 77 years of independence.
I also wish to read the other chapters mentioned in the Contents list: Bilingualism in the Schools, Cruel Taxes in Ceylon, The Mystery of Malaria.
Final note: you are indeed blessed in having the genes of your father’s expressionistic skills.