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How we started

From the Beginning Onwards: A History of The Ceylon Society of Australia (CSA) By Hugh Karunanayake – Founder President of the CSA (1998 to 2004)

It all started with one man’s interest in antiquarian picture postcards of Ceylon. In fact, he owned over 1500 pre-1920s picture postcards – a huge number for a single collector.

The seed which was later to become the Ceylon Society of Australia (CSA) was planted on a wintry evening in 1997 when Dr Chris Puttock (then working in Canberra as a botanist) and his wife Zena were on a weekend visit with Tulsi and me in Sydney. He raised the possibility of getting a group of people together with interest in the cultural heritage of Ceylon/ Sri Lanka. Chris was an ardent “cartophilist” confining his interest exclusively to the collection of antiquarian picture postcards of Ceylon. Though born and raised in Australia, Chris, after a few visits to Sri Lanka was totally enamoured with the country and became an unmitigated “Ceylonophile”.

Whenever there was an antiques exhibition or fair in Sydney he would drive over from Canberra, grab us and go in pursuit of whatever was on offer.

A drink and dinner usually followed these forays, to which we would invite a few friends with similar interests. On meeting them, Chris realised that there were a few others in this country besides the four of us, who were deeply interested in the heritage of Ceylon/ Sri Lanka. There were those who collected antiquarian books on Ceylon, others who collected art works by Sri Lankan artists, some were interested in genealogy, still others interested in various aspects of the country and its history. He suggested that we get together of an evening with these friends and discuss the feasibility of forming a regular group. The idea was to meet periodically, discuss matters of scholarly interest and at the same time develop an informal social network.

And so it was, that a Foundation Meeting was called in our home in Sydney on 30 August 1997, at which, Michael (Rohan) Sourjah, Vama Vamadevan, David Goodrich, Chris Puttock, Helen Harrison, Charmaine Vamadevan and Tulsi Karunanayake were present. Dr M B Kappagoda, Dr Srilal Fernando (Melbourne) and Mike Udabage who were in at the beginning were present in spirit. All were keen on the idea of formalising this group into a society or association. Those present agreed to contact other like- minded people and invite them for the next meeting.

This was held the following month at the residence of Vama and Charmaine Vamadevan. All those who attended the foundation meeting including those who sent apologies were deemed foundation members.

Similar meetings were held in the ensuing months in the homes of Michael (Rohan) Sourjah, Dr M B Kappagoda and David Goodrich. Within six months, interest had grown rapidly, and time was ripe to hold a public meeting. This was held on 28 February 1998 attended by 31 people. The Foundation Office Bearers were elected at this meeting. They were Hugh Karunanayake (President), Michael (Rohan) Sourjah (Secretary), Vama Vamadevan (Treasurer), David Goodrich (Editor), Brian Parker (Public Relations) and Mike Udabage (Publications Officer). Chis Puttock took up an appointment in Hawaii at this time and was unfortunately not available for election to office. He continued to be a loyal member of the CSA.

David Goodrich, who had a Ceylonese grandmother but never been to Sri Lanka, put up his hand for the Editor’s job. He pioneered this magnificently until his untimely death in December 2001. It was he who laid the literary pace and developed the image of The Ceylankan. David was able to fulfil his great desire to visit Sri Lanka during the last year of his life. After its early formative years, the Society’s structure and image gradually developed to a more or less permanent profile. By the second meeting in 1998 we decided on the name of the Society after many deliberations and much discussion. The decision to call it the Ceylon Society of Australia rather than the Sri Lanka Society of Australia was intentional. Most of us felt that if we called ourselves the Sri Lanka Society there would have been confusion with other active organisations with a similar name. Also, since we were more research and history oriented, especially with much interest in the period of colonial rule in the island, the name of Ceylon seemed more appropriate. We were however not about to jettison completely the nationalistic title of ‘Sri Lanka’. David Goodrich suggested the brilliant combination of the words ‘Ceylon’ and ‘Sri Lanka’ to make it ‘The Ceylankan’, the title of our quarterly journal which has been our standard bearer ever since.

In our early days we were short of funds to finance our activities and took a decision to charge membership fees. For the first couple of years at least, all the expenditure incurred in hiring the hall for meetings, and cost of production of the journal was borne by a few dedicated members of the Committee. The Society set itself targets which were 50 members at the end of the first year, 100 members at the end of the second year, etc all of which were attained and exceeded without much trouble mainly due the interest and enthusiasm created by the journal. The journal was moving across interstate and international frontiers and members from other States as well as from overseas were enrolling in encouraging numbers.

The first 16 issues of The Ceylankan were produced by a team comprising David as Editor, who organised all the articles and editorials, and our son Sumal who had the software skills, which we did not, to design and layout the multiple pieces of the original document into print format. The first ten issues were in fact printed on my office photocopier with paper supplied by the Society. With the expansion of membership, we were soon able to afford the services of a commercial printer. David Goodrich in his farewell editorial in The Ceylankan of November 2001 summed up the Society’s philosophy when he said that:

“It is important that we maintain the standard of non- confrontational, non-political, non-racial and non-sectarian outlook. Those principles must be maintained.”

We have faithfully adhered to these principles and will no doubt continue to do so.

The Committee of Management of the Society has over the years, included many eminent persons who have contributed immensely to the development of the Society. The late Tony Peries steered the activities of the Society most admirably during his tenure as President from 2005 to 2007. Tony Peries was the second President of our Society, bringing with him not only his personal acumen, but also introducing many of his contacts from the corporate world of Sri Lanka where he previously worked with great eminence as the first Ceylonese Chairman of George Steuart and Co. He was followed into the Presidential Chair by Sunil de Silva, former Attorney General of Sri Lanka, and a well-known thespian. Sunil was President from 2008 to 2010 providing the Society with outstanding leadership skills. Tragically, Sunil passed away in February 2021. Harry de Sayrah OAM became President from 2011 to 2013. Harry passed away in September 2023. Harry was followed by Thiru Arumugam who was President from 2014 to 2017. And finally, in 2018 the Society chose Pauline Gunawardene, the first woman to serve as President of the CSA, who is currently doing a magnificent job steering the Society to new horizons. Other than the foundation members, we had Sumane Iyer who took on the key job of Editor in 2002 in succession to the late David Goodrich. Sumane did a remarkable job until 2009. Doug Jones took over as Editor in 2009, making changes to the style and format of the journal giving it the professional look it has today. Doug gave the journal a trademark, a recognisable face with an insignia and an identity. During his period as Editor the journal became widely read and looked forward to by the members of the CSA. Doug retired from the role in 2021 and was given an Appreciation of Service Award by the Committee at the Annual General Meeting of the Society on 19 December 2021 in recognition of his immense contribution to the Society as Editor of The Ceylankan. The current Editor is Adam Raffel. Chris Piachaud, Gerard Velayuthen and Doug Jones all of whom took up the mantle of Hony Secretary; Sumane Iyer, Rienzie Fonseka and Sriskanda Nadarajah who functioned as Hony Treasurer, have all contributed immensely. The Committee itself had the privilege of valuable and distinguished service in various capacities, from Mike Udabage, Brian Parker, Dr Robert Sourjah, Dr Srilal Fernando, Chandra Senaratne and Harry de Sayrah OAM. In 2007 Sunil de Silva and Ron Murrell joined the Committee. We also have had members who have contributed in many ways towards our activities by advice and counsel. Names readily come to mind are those of Victor Melder, Joe Simpson from Canada, the late Kingsley Siebel, Rodney St John and Michael Roberts.

Melbourne Chapter

With the growing number of members in Victoria it was time to for a Melbourne Chapter, which was inaugurated with a meeting held on 19 March 2000. Dr Srilal Fernando, current Vice President of the Society and the late Shelagh Goonewardene were the convenors of the Melbourne Chapter. The current convenor is Hemal Gurusinghe. Other contributors to the Chapter were Dilhani Kumbukkage and Victor Melder. The late Darnley de Souza and Rodney St John were stalwarts of the Melbourne Chapter during its early years. This Chapter continues to flourish, drawing members from the sizeable contingent of Sri Lankans resident in Melbourne.

Colombo Chapter

In 2007 with around 30 members on our membership roll in Colombo, a Chapter was inaugurated in June 2007. Mike Udabage, who lives partly in Sri Lanka, was the prime mover. In 2007 the office bearers were: Somasiri Devendra (President), Daya Wickrematunge (Hony Secretary) and Mike Udabage (Hony Treasurer). The opening of the Colombo Chapter heralded a significant watershed in the development of the Society’s activities, and we could reasonably expect other national chapters to be established in future years.

The Society was incorporated on 3 October 2001 and now has around 300 active members. Around two thirds are from Australia – with about 100 members from Sydney and Melbourne each and around 50 from other States in Australia. The others are located in the UK, USA, Canada, Belgium, France, Netherlands, Austria, New Zealand, India, Israel and of course, Sri Lanka all aggregating to another 100 members.

On looking back over the work of the past 25 years, it is important to recognise the invaluable contributions from our many learned guest speakers too numerous to single out by name, who have given their time and energy to share their scholarly works and experiences with us. Equally important are the many talented writers who have contributed such excellent articles for The Ceylankan, which has made it a unique journal unsurpassed in quality among periodicals of its genre.

The Society has brought together kindred spirits from across the globe, people with diverse backgrounds, outlooks and philosophies of life, but all linked together by a common heritage. As we move towards the future the Society can, with justifiable pride, look back on 25 years of active service which have been received with much enjoyment and gratitude by our members.

The germ of an idea originated by one man’s interest in antiquarian postcards of Ceylon being the little acorn, found fertile ground and continued to grow to a robust Society of likeminded people in exploring and recording their immediate past.