Sri
Lanka
Sinhalese Family Genealogy
Fernando EPA (Bogala Group)
Fernando Family #3875
The
BOGALA GROUP of Sir EPA Fernando (1904 - 1956) CBE
Bogala
Business Group of Mr EPA Fanando
Ernest
Peter Arnold (EPA) Fernando was the second son of Merenyage
Arnolis Fernando,
the leading graphite mine owner in Ceylon, and EPA appears to
have inherited a
sizeable share of Arnolis' businesses.
Ernest
Peter Arnold (EPA) Fernando is the second son of Sri Lanka's
leading miniran
mining owner, Mr. Arnolis Fanando. He seems to have inherited a
significant
portion of his father's business. Sir
Ernest Fernando's father was Merenyage Arnolis Fernando
(Cathonis Appu).
Sir
Ernest (EPA) Fernando (c. 1900 - 1957) was married to Lady
Gymara, daughter
of Jandoris Wickramasooriya and Celestina de Silva.
Sir
Ernest Fernando was a great patron of the arts and in1944 he
handed over the
sprawling residence opposite the Town Hall on Alexander Place to
Chitrasena
(EPA's colleague Seebert Dias' son Maurice Dias), to set up his
School of Art (Kalayathanaya).
Sunil Shantha and Amaradeva worked there and Ananda Samarakoon
had lived and
worked there.
EPA
was the owner of Bogala mines, and his own residence "Udayasiri"
was
on Havelock Road, away from the main road. The house that faced
Havelock Road
was named “Siripasiri” and and was leased to WB Mackay who was
then the Manager
of 'Bank of Ceylon'. Thereafter it was leased to Sun Life
Assurance Co. (a
leading insurance firm in Colombo at that time) and its Managing
Director FM McBain
lived in the house for several years.
Sir
EPA Fernando founded the Carlton Club in Moratuwa on 23rd
September 1923.
#########################
The yellow
arrow on the photo below points to the Bogala Group's former
Head Office building at the corner of Upper Chatham Street and
Queen Street (now Janadhipathi Mawatha). The Central Bank
building is on the extreme left. There was a petrol pump, and a
restaurant called Metropole Hotel at the corner. The Children's
Book Shop and Sooriya Record Bar run by EPA's nephew Gerald
Wickremesooriya was around the corner.
The location of the Bogala graphite
mine (BGM).
EPA
Fernando's Bogala Group of Companies included:
* The
'Bogala Mine' which produce very high quality graphite, had a
major vein
discovered in 1941 and was one of the largest graphite mines in
the country.
The
Bogala mine, the largest miner mine in Sri Lanka, which is
available with very
high quality minerals.
* The
Bogala Building in the centre of Colombo Fort. The Central Bank
demolished it a
few decades ago and expanded on to the site. A photo of the
original building
is attached.
The
headquarters building of the Bogala Business Group located in
the center of the
Colombo Fort. It was demolished and the Central Bank has built a
building
there. A photo of the original building is attached below.
* A
fuel station. (All private oil companies had been acquired by
the government in
1961 to create the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation. The Corporation
continues to
lose national resources in billions. ) Fuel Station. Billions of
public
resources are still destroyed by private oil companies taking
over the
government in 1961 and setting up the petroleum corporation.
*
Bogala Motors, a popular and reliable vehicle repair garage.
Bogala
garage
*
Bogala Flats in Thimbirigasyaya. These avantgarde apartments too
were lost with
Sirima's House Acquisition Act.
Bogala Flats in Thimbirigasyaya..
Bogala
apartment complex in Thimbirigasyaya. This complex which
introduced the concept
of apartment to Sri Lanka was also lost in Sirima's house
acquisition act.
Sirima
took over the Bogala Mine too in 1970 on her spree of acquiring
assets of
Karava families. Many long standing employees lost their jobs;
and as done with
the well managed plantations, Sirima stocked Bogala mines too
with her kith and
kin and spawned another mismanaged, inefficient and loss making
state venture.
When the
then PM, Ms Sirimavo Bandaranaike, looted the property of Karawa
families in
1970 saying that she will do publicity, she also took over the
Bogala mines.
Its long-term employees also lost their jobs; well-governed,
exported estates,
loaded relatives to Sirima Bogala company, making it a loss,
another
inefficient state institution.
A
subsequent government decided in 1991 to transfer Bogala mines
back to private
ownership through a share issue. The prospectus and the
advertisements for the
public issue however had a photo of D C Attygalle, instead of
Arnolis or EPA
Fernando. The goons who got in after the takeover seem to have
destroyed all
traces of the original owners. From 2001, the Bogala mine is
owned by a German
company.
The
government in the year 1991, advertisements published in the
stock market to
privatize the Bogala mines were a photo of D C Atigala, the
owner of the
Kahatagaha mines. It shows that memories and photos of the
original owners of
the mines Arnolis and EPA Fernando have been removed from the
office. Bogala
mine has been owned by a German company since 2001
EPA
had also owned a cluster of rental properties (upstair
bungalows) built by him
in the 1940s opposite the Havelock Park. These houses had been
nextdoor to Dr
Schokman's “Valerest” aka "Dilkusha" with the sunken circular
garden.
EPA's own residence Údayasiri’ had also been part of the
cluster, but away from
the main road. The name of one that faced Havelock Road had been
“Siripasiri”.
These too seem to have been lost with Sirima's House Acquisition
Act.
EPA
Fernando had been a patron of the arts, and gifted a sprawling
mansion opposite
the Colombo Town Hall to Chitrasena to establish the
Kalayathanaya, the first
school of national dance. He had also founded the 'Carlton Club'
of Moratuwa on
23 September 1923. It is a Tennis and Social Club. The Royal
Colombo Golf Club
annually awards a Sir Ernest Fernando Trophy, which is probably
an endowment by
him.
He
has donated a Suwisal house in front of the Colombo Municipal
Council to start
and run the Chithrasena Art Institute. He is the one who has
sponsored the
development of local art.
EPA
had been appointed as a Commander of the Order of the British
Empire (CBE) in
1954 and Knighted in 1955 for public services. The London
Gazette announcement
is attached.
In
1927, EPA had married Gymara Wickramasooriya (died 2004),
daughter of Mudaliyar
Jandoris Wickramasooriya.
EPA
and Gymara's daughter, Sirane (died 2009) had married T Gamini
Perera (A Hela
Urumaya founder later). Merryl Fernando had owned the Farnham
Estate in
Puwakpitiya. Were Merryl and Joyce EPA's children?
Merennage
Juanis Fernando & Sellaperuma Angela Fernando (d/o S
Augustine Fernando)
Merennage
Arnolis Fernando (12th August 1850 - 1910) and his family. Born
in Moratuwa + Wannakuwatta
Waduga Angela Fernando
Arnolis
dropped out of the planting career lined up for him by his
father, established
A. Fernando & Co. and eventually became the largest and most
influential
plumbago merchant in the island.
Arnolis
had one elder brother
and two younger siblings.
They
were:
~ M
Hendrick Fernando (1848 - 1907). He had 3 children:
Johanis Fernando; Henry
William Fernando and Aslin Fernando
~ M
Cornelis Fernando (1853 - 1921). He had 3 children :
Tobias Fernando; Agnes
Meraya Fernando and Ada Matilda Fernando
~ Celestina
(1855 - 1926) who married (name ?) Medis and was known as Medis
Nona. They had
3 children : Peter Medis; Sarah Medis; Alice Medis; Annie
Angelina Medis and
Emaline Medis
Arnolis'
wife was Wannakuwatta Waduga Angela Fernando and they
had married in
1886. Note that Angela's ancestral name is "Waduga", not WaduGe.
This
appears to be the original form of the name. Read about the
Karava Waduga name
group from here:
According
to geni .com
Arnolis
and Angela eventually had 6 children. However TCIC published in
1906 says they
had two daughters and two sons of their own and a adopted
daughter. As such
both Ari Adeline (b. 1903) and Nita Margaret (b. 1905) could be
adopted
daughters.
The
six children of Arnolis and Angela are:
* Matilda
Leonara Fernando (b. 7th June 1888) who married Jacob
Abraham Fernando (son
of Wannakuwatta Waduge Juanis Fernando). They had 2 children:
Journalist,
Leonard Fernando and Dr A.M. Fernando
* Joslin
Catherine (30 th January 1890 -1962), who married
Galappatti Kankanange
William Perera (1884 - 1956). They had 5 children: Nina
Wijesuriya; Elise Vesta
Noel Fernando; Dr Celie Perera; Kenneth Perera and Cecil Marcel
Perera.
* James
Alfred Fernando (b. 13 Jan 1894) who married Joslin
Fernando (Daughter of
Kaurawakankanamage Abraham Fernando and Mahamarakkala Madeline
Fernando)
They
had 3 children: Co. Director, Merryl Alfred Fernando (10th
October 1919),
Alfreda Joslin Angela and Co. Director, Joyce Aleric Fernando
(b. 8th May 1921)
* Sir
Ernest (EPA) Fernando (c. 1900 - 1957) + (Lady) Gymara,
daughter of
Jandoris Wickramasooriya:
* Ari
Adeline Fernando (b. 13th February 1903) who married
Baddeliyanage Don
Hendrick (Son of Dr. B. Don Daniel and Dr. Mrs. Ungamanadige
Isabela Fernando )
* Nita
Margaret Fernando (b. 28th March 1905) who married Q C
Fernando.
Arnolis
Fernando (aka Cathonis Appu and Cathonis Baas Unnahe), donated
land and
established the Piliyandala Buddhist School in 1887. It is one
of the earliest
schools of the country and is now called the Piliyandala Central
College.
Read
about the businesses, charities and the "Meth Medura" residence
of
Arnolis Fernando, from here:
Information:
TCIC pp. 657, 606, Anil Galappatti:
https://www.geni.com/.../M-Arnolis.../6000000024159023192
Note:
Vaduge and Baduge, වඩුගේ සහ බදුගේ - The history of these two ancestral names used
exclusively by
Karava families in many parts of Sri Lanka.