Category Archives: plantations

December 11, 2022 · 6:14 pm

Bracegirdle’s AntI-Slavery Struggle in British Ceylon, 1937

A Section translated  from Robert Gunawardena, Satanaka Satahan, Kosgama: 2007, Vijith Gunawardena: ….. provided here by Vinod Moonesinghe  …. with highlighting imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi

In April 1937, a remarkable incident took place which strengthened the anti-imperialist struggle [in Sri Lanka} and aroused the interest of the masses. That is, the Bracegirdle Incident which is spoken about by older people to this day.

 Mark Antony Lyster Bracegirdle, an Australian, came to Lanka in December 1936 to gain appointment as the assistant superintendant of a tea estate owned by a British plantation company. It is possible that the plantation company which appointed him to this position did not know that he had been a young member of the Australian Communist Party. Having come to Lanka, Bracegirdle took up his duties in a tea estate not far from Madulkele, beyond Katugastota.

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November 29, 2022 · 8:00 pm

Re-visiting the Case of Mark Anthony Lyster Bracegirdle of 1937: A Landmark Judgment that upheld the Liberty of the Individual and that affirmed the Fairness of ‘ British Justice’  

Prabhath de Silva, ... an article that appeared initially in the Daily Mirror, 25/26 November 2022– with highlighting in this version imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi

Mark Anthony Lyster Bracegirdle (also known as Price) was born in Chelsea, England in 1912. His parents were Ina Marjorie Lyster and James Seymour Bracegirdle. His mother was a suffragette and an active member of the Labour Party. Bracegirdle migrated to Australia with his mother, and studied art, and later trained as a farmer. In 1935, he joined the Australian Young Communist League (YCL) and became an active young Communist.

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November 24, 2022 · 11:45 pm

Working on the Book PEOPLE INBETWEEN

Michael Roberts

The ‘discovery’ of the Lorenz Cabinet in the Royal Asiatic Society in the 1980s led me to combine with Percy Colin-Thome[1] and Ismeth Raheem in working up this material into a plan envisaging a  set of books (four volumes).[2] The first in this projected series was drafted by me and came out in 1989 courtesy of Sarvodaya Publishing Services (within the limitations of book production in that period).[3] This book, People Inbetween,  has been out of print for quite a while.

 

 

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November 22, 2022 · 11:24 am

The Hill-Country Tamils: Their Shitty-Situation Then … and NOW

Ahilan Kadirgamar, in Daily Mirror, 21 November 2022, where the title reads “Hill-country Tamils and Crisis Times” …. with highlighting imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi

When our country collapses before our own eyes with one of the deepest crises in historical memory, from what vantage point should we analyse our predicament? Sri Lanka’s political economy over the last two centuries is anchored in the travails and strivings of Hill Country Tamils. Their sweat and blood, that began with the horrifying journey from South India two centuries ago as indentured labour to work in the coffee and later tea plantations, were central to building the country’s modern economy under British colonialism. However, their position in society, and for that matter even the writing of their history, was marginalised. And despite the great democratic and social welfare advances in Sri Lanka with universal suffrage in 1931 and a powerful legacy of free healthcare and education, the social, economic and political life of the Hill Country Tamil community is characterised by struggle amidst persistent crisis times.

‘Ceylon tea’ gave Sri Lanka the recognition in the world map, but the plantation workers are still languishing in their ages-old abode, known as line rooms and continue to be marginalised in education, community wellbeing and healthcare.

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November 11, 2022 · 11:27 pm

The Northways of Ceylon & Lanka: Tempestuous Pioneering Paths

Hugh Karunanayake, whose title is “The Northways – Pioneering Planters” …. IN …. https://www.historyofceylontea.com/ceylon-publications/feature-articles/the-story-of-the-northways-pioneering-planters.html

The four generational links that the Northways had with the plantation enterprise in Ceylon ended with the death of the last of the Northways in Sri Lanka, that of Michael Northway in 1995. The progenitor of the family in Ceylon was Samuel Northway who together with the Winters, Bowmans, Hawkes, and Gotteliers, and others were induced to come over to Ceylon to establish the sugar industry in which these families were successfully associated with, in the Mauritius where they lived previously. All, or most of these families were of French extraction including the Northways.

The Samuel Northway bungalow now used as a guesthouse ……..

….. & Charles Northway and his wife on Deviturai Estate on their motorbikes. She with a Douglas and he on a Bat (circa 1910) Continue reading →

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October 26, 2022 · 12:15 pm

Seeking Aid for Poverty-Stricken Estate Children in Lanka

An Appeal from Ranjan Sivagnanasundaram of VANNI HOPE

PROJECT OBJECTIVE: THE OVERALL OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO CREATE AN ENABLING ENVIRONMENT FOR THE YOUTH OF THIS AREA SO THAT THEY CAN BE SELF-DEPENDENT, CONTRIBUTE TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE AREA AND BE AN ACTIVE PARTICIPANT IN DEVELOPMENT EFFORT OF THE FUTURE NATION.

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES OF MORAL EDUCATION HELPS ONE TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN RIGHT AND WRONG. IT GETS REFLECTED IN ONE’S PERSONALITY. IT HELPS IN BUILDING A GOOD PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL LIFE. IT HELPS TO ELIMINATE PROBLEMS LIKE VIOLENCE, DISHONESTY, JEALOUSY ETC FROM ONE’S LIFE.

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October 13, 2022 · 6:09 pm

Julia Margaret Cameron’s Classic 19th Century Photographs

Michael Roberts presenting an Arbitrary Collection of the pioneer camerawoman and de facto female ‘suffragette’ … Julia Margaret Cameron nee Pattle (1815-1879)

Julia in her prime

Julia in 1870

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October 12, 2022 · 5:23 pm

Julia Margaret Cameron: Her Journeys, Camerawork & Gravestone at Bogawantalawa

George Braine, in The Island, 10 October 2022, where the title reads thus: “Irrepressible Julia Margaret Cameron at peace in Bogawantalawa” … with highlighting imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi

Some years ago, my sister, BIL, and I drove to the Dimbula area, visiting Anglican churches and graveyards looking for evidence of our ancestors. At the quaint St. Mary’s Church, Bogawantalawa, we found the grave of my grand uncle, Frank Wyndham Becher Braine, who died on March 9, 1879, at only 11 months. We may have been the first family members to visit his grave in more than a 100 years.

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October 9, 2022 · 9:06 pm

CJR Le Mesurier: A British Civil Servant who challenged the Imperial Order

Michael Powell: article published in 2007 and entitled “Fragile Identities: The Colonial Consequences of CJR Le Mesurier in Ceylon”

ABSTRACT of Article: In the many layered life of CJR Le Mesurier in Ceylon are themes that repeat and recur throughout the British colonial world, touching on marriage and morals, religion and race, archival retention and colonial employment.

Cecil Le Mesurier in Western Australia c 1920s …. Courtesy of Rod Cantley

In particular, his strenuous litigious attack on assumptions of Crown title challenged the philosophic and legal framework of colonial land policy, revealing its ideological foundation, and illuminating the pattern and impulse of land policy throughout Empire.

The increasing effrontery of his actions induces an equally escalating reaction from colonial authority that pares away the preferred patina of civilizing mission to reveal a far more base intent – a colonial impulse more discernible and the actions of authority more disclosing – contributing to a much richer comparative understanding of the dynamics of colonial land dealings.

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September 22, 2022 · 9:50 pm

Thoughts on Planter Lifeways in Ceylon evoked by the Braine Biography

Joe Paiva[1]

Camellia sinensis is a species of evergreen shrubs or small trees in the flowering plant family Theaceae. Its leaves and leaf buds are used to produce tea. Common names include tea plant, tea shrub, and tea tree. Wikipedia. If allowed to grow freely can reach up to 6 ft or more. For commercial agronomic purposes they are maintained as a compact shrub at approximately 4 ft, to increase productivity. And to suit the stature of female tea pickers.

Tea plants grow at the tea plantation in Trabzon, Turkey on June 27, 2022. (Photo by Resul Kaboglu/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Ratnapura, Sri Lanka – April 23: R. Chitrakumari (left) and K. A. Punchimeneke pick tea leaves in a tea garden on April 23, 2022 in Eheliyagoda, Sri Lanka. 2022

BOP = Broken Orange Pekoe, the very best grade of marketed tea. Flavour. Aroma, Colour. A very refreshing brew.

 

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