Courtesy of the Dutch Burgher Union of Ceylon & Sean Amos: Three rare works from R. L. Brohier’s personal collection have been digitized and made publicly accessible for the first time.
This project was made possible through a collaboration between the Postgraduate Institute of Archaeology, University of Kelaniya, Rev’d Perry Brohier (Administrator of the Estate of the late R L Brohier), and the American Institute for Lankan Studies (AILS).
- Genealogies of Dutch-Burgher Families (1910) – A fascinating compilation of handwritten genealogical records tracing Dutch Burgher ancestry in Ceylon.
- Speeches and Minutes of Sir Henry George Ward (1864) – Speeches and administrative papers from Ceylon’s 11th Governor, detailing reforms in irrigation, agriculture, and infrastructure.
- The Lees of Lanka (1934) – Arthur N. Ohnimesz’s critical study of the Dutch Burgher community, exploring social reform, religion, and identity.
Together, these works shed light on Ceylon’s colonial past, the Dutch Burgher community, and the social and political dynamics of the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Explore them now on JSTOR:
[https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.41069802](https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.41069802...)
[https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.41069801](https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.41069801...)
[https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.41069800](https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.41069800...)
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AN ENCOMIUM from Michael Roberts, Editor, Thuppahi, October 2025
What an excellent initiative! I am not familar with The Lees of Lanka; but Henry Ward’s official pursuits in British Ceylon were central to my 1962 dissertation on British land policy because the document referred to here was part of the Leslie De Saram Book Collection at Peradeniya Uni Library (housed in a huge cabinat donated to academia by the good Leslie De Saram).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_George_Ward
. Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.