Governor-General of Ceylon
Oliver Ernest Goonetilleke took which position from Jul 1954 to Mar 1960?
Oliver Ernest Goonetilleke Sir Oliver Ernest Goonetilleke ( ) ( 20 October 1892 – 17 December 1978 ) was a Sri Lankan statesman . Having served as an important figure in the gradual independence of Ceylon ( now Sri Lanka ) from Britain , he became the third Governor-General of Ceylon ( 1954-1962 ) . He was the first Ceylonese individual to hold the vice-regal post . Early life and education . Oliver Ernest Goonetilleke was born 20 October 1892 in Trincomalee in the northeast of Ceylon . He was the fifth child of eight and only son of Alfred Goonetilleke and Emily Jayasekera . His father who served in the Ceylon Postal Service was the postmaster of Trincomalee at the time of his birth . He was educated at Wesley College in Colombo where he won many prizes and scholarships including the Hill Medal and the Gogerly Scholarship . After completing his secondary education , Goonetilleke joined the teaching staff of Wesley College as an assistant teacher . He later earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of London as an external student . Early career . After gaining his degree , he left his teaching post and joined the Bank of Colombo as a sub-accountant , then became the manager of the Ceylon Daily News . Public service career . Few years later Goonetilleke joined the government service having been appointed as an Assistant Railway Auditor . Auditor General . Goonetilleke was the first Ceylonese to be appointed as Colonial Auditor of the crown colony of Ceylon on 25 June 1931 . With the implementation of the Donoughmore Constitution , the title of the head of the Audit Department was changed to Auditor General of Ceylon and Goonetilleke became the first to hold the new appointment on 7 July 1931 and hold it till February 1946 . As the Colonial Auditor he was an ex-officio member of the Executive Council of Ceylon in 1931 . He took on additional duties as Chairman of the Salaries and Cadres Commission , Civil Defense Commissioner and Food Commissioner . Civil Defense Commissioner . With the onset of World War II in the Far East and the likelihood that Ceylon would face a military threat from Japan , Goonetilleke was given the additional duty as Civil Defence Commissioner in the War Cabinet of Ceylon , heading the newly formed Civil Defence Department to undertake civil defense preparations . Some civil defence works such as knocking down buildings to create fire breaks in Colombo proved unpopular , but proved to be justified when the Imperial Japanese Navy carried out air raids on Colombo and other cities in the spring of 1942 . In this capacity , Ivor Jennings , Principle of the Ceylon University College , served as Goonetillekes deputy , and the two worked closely with D . S . Senanayake , the Minister of Agriculture and Lands . This group was known as the Breakdown Gang as they began to talk about much besides civil defence , including the steps that might be taken to move Ceylon to complete independence after the war . He was knighted in 1944 with a KBE for his services as the Civil Defense Commissioner in the New Year Honours . However , on 18 December 1946 , questions were raised in the House of Commons by Douglas Dodds-Parker on irregularities in the Auditor-Generals Report on Civil Defence Expenditure for 1943–44 and 1944–45 . Negotiations for independence . In 1943 , a declaration was made for grant of government for all the matters of civil administration in Ceylon . The Senanayake , Goonetilleke and Jennings drafted a constitution , known as the Ministers Draft , and submitted it to British Government in February 1944 . At this time Goonetilleke who was appointed the Commissioner of Food went to Britain to discuss an urgent food supplies . There he met Lord Soulbury who had been appointed to lead a Commission to Ceylon , pressing his case for self-rule . Goonetilleke was thereafter advised Senanayake on approaching the members of the Soulbury Commission when they arrived in Ceylon in December 1944 . Goonetilleke became an unofficial secretary to the commission and significantly influenced it . Financial Secretary . With the war drawing to a close and the closure of the Civil Defence Department , Goonetilleke left his post of Colonial Auditor which he held since 1931 to take up appointment as Financial Secretary of Ceylon in February 1946 . The Financial Secretary was head of the Treasury and responsible for all financial policy of the colony . As the Financial Secretary , Goonetilleke sat in both the Board of Ministers and the Executive Council . He was the first Ceylonese to hold the post of Financial Secretary . He held the position until his resignation in September 1947 . He was awarded KCMG in the 1948 New Year Honours for his service as Financial Secretary , Ceylon . Political career . Minister of Home Affairs and Rural Development . With Ceylon gaining dominion status within the British Commonwealth , in 1947 the first cabinet of ministers was formed with Senanayake as Prime Minister after the 1947 general elections . Goonetilleke was appointed as the Minister of Home Affairs and Rural Development on 26 September 1947 . He had been appointed to the newly formed upper house of parliament , the Senate of Ceylon and became the Leader of the Senate when both houses were ceremonially opened by the Duke of Gloucester , marking the independence of Ceylon on 4 February 1948 . High Commissioner to the United Kingdom . His term as a Cabinet Minister did not last long as he resigned on 22 July 1948 and was appointed the first Ceylonese High Commissioner to the United Kingdom . He served as High Commissioner till 1952 in London . Minister of Finance . Following the Prime Minister Dudley Senanayakes resignation after the Hartal 1953 , Sir John Kotelawala succeeded him . Goonetilleke was appointed by Kotelawala to his cabinet as Ministry of Finance and the Treasury on 14 October 1953 , while holding the post of Leader of the Senate . Once again his ministerial tenure was brief , lasting only till June 1954 . Governor-General . Shortly after a visit by Queen Elizabeth II to Ceylon in April 1954 , the decision was taken to appoint a Ceylonese native to the post of Governor-General , succeeding Lord Soulbury . D . S . Senanayake had died in 1952 , and Colonel Sir John Kotalawela was Prime Minister when Goonetilleke succeeded to the position and took up residence in Queens House . He was a friend of the powerful philanthropist Sir Ernest de Silva who assisted him in the ascension to Governor-General . He remained in office after the election of the left-wing S . W . R . D . Bandaranaike as Prime Minister defeating Sir John Kotalawela in the 1956 general elections . Bandaranaike was pressured to remove Goonetilleke , and reduce the pay of the Governor-General by members of his left-wing coalition . 1958 communal riots . On 24 May 1958 Communal riots erupted , Prime Minister Bandaranaike did not make a formal response . With violence spreading throughout the island , Goonetilleke declared a state of emergency on 27 May 1958 and deployed the armed forces to quell the rioting , while Bandaranaike allowed Goonetilleke to take control of the situation and issue orders to the armed forces to suppress the rioting with force . Goonetilleke authorized the armed forces to shoot rioters , and the armed forces restored order in a few days . Bandaranaike assassination . Goonetilleke once again was forced to take decisive action , on 25 September 1959 when Prime Minister Bandaranaike was shot at his home at Rosmead Place while meeting the public . Goonetilleke was at Queens House accepting letters of credence of the Italian Ambassador Count Paolo di Michelis di Sloughhello , when he was informed about the assassination attempt he stopped the ceremony and rushed to Rosmead Place . He informed parliament to continue and at 11 AM declared a state of emergency , bringing the military to full readiness and mobilizing reservists . Bandaranaike , who was rushed to hospital and into emergency surgery , died twenty-two hours after he was shot . Bandaranaike had been scheduled to go to New York to attend the UN General Assembly in late September 1959 . The Leader of the House C . P . de Silva was in London undergoing treatment and Bandaranaike had sent a letter to the Governor General recommending that he appoint Wijeyananda Dahanayake , Minister of Education as acting Prime Minister during his absence . With this letter present , Goonetilleke appointed Dahanayake as Prime Minister on September 26 , 1959 and was later confirmed by Parliament . Political turmoil . Following the assassination of Bandaranaike , the country faced a period of political instability . The Premiership of Dahanayake lasted one year , with many changes to his cabinet . Fresh elections were called , but the elections in March 1960 were in-divisive as Dudley Senanayake formed a government for a brief period . Goonetilleke had a difficult decision when faced with the classic difficulty for a Governor-General , whether to dissolve Parliament , causing a new election , or call on a different faction to form a government when the Prime Minister ( in this case Dudley Senanayake , son of his old friend ) lost Parliaments confidence . He dissolved the parliament and called for fresh elections . He briefly held the portfolio of Minister of Finance from 21 March 1960 to 23 April 1960 . Bandaranaikes widow Sirima Bandaranaike was selected by his party , the Sri Lanka Freedom Party as its leader and won elections in July 1960 . Goonetilleke called on Sirima Bandaranaike to form a government and she became the worlds first female Prime Minister . 1962 attempted military coup . In January 1962 , the information surfaced of attempted military coup against the government of Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike , with the suspected leaders . Prime Ministers nephew Felix Dias Bandaranaike , Parliamentary Secretary for Defence and External Affairs stated in Parliament on 18 February 1962 that Sir Olivers name had come up in the investigations . Goonetilleke indicated he had no objection to be questioned by the police , however Bandaranaikes wanted to replace the Governor-General . Bradman Weerakoon , secretary to the prime minister was dispatched London to present the Prime Ministers request to the Queen to replace her Governor-General in Ceylon . On 26 February 1962 , Radio Ceylon announced that the Queen had accepted the request of the Government of Ceylon to appoint William Gopallawa as Governor-General of Ceylon succeeding Sir Oliver Goonetilleke with effect from 20 March 1962 . William Gopallawa was the Prime Ministers uncle . Goonetilleke quietly left Queens House on 2 March and left the country . His tenor lasted eight years and five prime ministers . Later life . Goonetilleke settled into a retired life in London , in a self-imposed exile . In the investigation into the attempted military coup , some of the crown witnesses tried to link him and former Prime Ministers , Dudley Senanayake and Colonel Sir John Kotelawala , with the conspiracy ; this was never proven . In his retirement in London , Sir Oliver with his considerable accumulated wealth became an underwriting member of Lloyds of London and moved in the social circles of the day . He was also an avid horse racing enthusiast and horse owner with his horses racing at Epsom and Ascot . In 1964 , he was accused by Philip Gunawardena of moves against the government Bandaranaike . Goonetilleke also faced many accusations of exchange fraud , for taking considerable sums of money out from Ceylon . Exchange control offences conviction . In 1972 , he was tried in absentia and sentenced to four years rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 950,000 ( $125,000 ) for exchange control offences by the Criminal Justice Commission . He was not extradited , his daughter Sheila Sathananthan was given a two‐year suspended sentence and fined $72,000 and her husband Coomaraswany Sathananthan was jailed for two years and fined $35,000 . Following the defeat of Bandaranaike in the 1977 general election , the newly elected Prime Minister J . R . Jayewardene , repealed the Criminal Justice Commissions Act and released all who were jailed under the provisions of the Act with an amnesty declared . This allowed Goonetilleke to return to Sri Lanka , where he died after a brief illness in 1978 . Legacy . A biography under the title OEG was written by Charles Joseph Jeffries , and memorials to Goonetilleke include a six-foot bronze statue by sculptor Tissa Ranasinghe , commissioned by his family and installed in 1967 at a major roundabout in Colombo . Personal life . Oliver Goonetilleke first married Esther ( née Jayawardena ) , sister of Brigadier Christopher Allan Hector Perera Jayawardena . They had three children , Joyce Wijesinghe , Shiela Sathananthan and Ernie Goonetilleke . Esther Goonetilleke died of a fatal illness when the three children were very young and before Goonetilleke entered the civil service . During his self-imposed exile in London , Goonetilleke married Phyllis Miller , who was the secretary of the Soulbury Commission , whom he had befriended during the period of the Commission circa 1944 , and lived near Marble Arch at 14 , Albion Gate , Hyde Park Place , London W2 prior to his death in 1978 . He was a Director of the YMCA and held several high positions in the Diocese of the Anglican Church of Ceylon . Honours . Throughout his life , Goonetilleke had close links with Britain , visiting the country many times on official business , and receiving a string of British honours : - Knight Grand Cross of The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George ( GCMG ) -1954 ( KCMG : 1948 ; CMG : 1940 ) - Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order ( KCVO ) -1954 - Knight Commander of The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire ( KBE ) -1944 - Knight of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem