In the early nineteen sixties the superintendent was D.B.L Fernando(Dennis).There were usually two Assistant Superintendents, one on Central Division, where the factories were, and the other on Kahagalla Division. The bungalows we shared sometimes and the Assistants were Tony Ebert on Central, Nihal Dias Abeyesinghe on Kahagalla. Later on, Malcolm de Zilva from Halgolle was transferred and shared in the Kahagalla bungalow. On Tony Ebert being transferred, Hilary Schrader occupied the Central bungalow.
As a child l spent my holidays at the owners Bungalow of Theberton Group. The estate was owned by a set of friends, most of them lawyers, my uncle Rohan Rajapakse, Guy Wickramanayake, Irwin Gooneratne, VT de Zoysa and others....My father T Victor Fernando who was then the Manager of the Ceylon State Morgage Bank facilitated the loan required for the purchase (in the fifties). The function of the SMB was to provide loans for such initiatives. We visited the factory situated in the valley and observed the tea making process. Occasionally visited the "lines" where the teapluckers lived. 'Appu' was the resident cook flanked by other cleaners...we hiked the tea planted hills, swam in the pool, got stung by millions of mosquitoes and relished Appu's meals. I recall the old fashioned telephone which had to be cranked before trunk calls. Those were wonderful and relaxing holidays.
The estates Manager in the seventies, when under the Agency of James Finlay & Co. Ltd,. was Gary de Saram with two Assistants Superintendents who were Tony Ebert, Nihal Dias Abeyesinghe, Parakrama Perera
Talgaswela recorded some of the highest tea yields in the country during the time Mr Elmo Abeysundera was the Superintendent. Mr Abeysundera was later appointed Chairman of SLSPC Board IV, Galle District, under the SLSPC
Hello Ian. My Grandmother was Elizabeth Pyper, who I believe was Gordon Jnr's daughter, unless I have jumped a generation. I think both she and her sister Georgina spent their childhoods on the estate, until returning to Edinburgh for education. My sister visited Hantane almost 30 years ago and the manager of the museum had been a 'house boy' when my Grandmother was there. I think the family sold the estate and then just managed it until independance. I would be very interested to learn more. all the best. Lewis
Thank.you very well written article which makes the reader feel as if the reader is there in maskeliya looking around and admiring the scenery that can easily miss the reader 's imagination
The banner says "Current Status: Ex-Planer." So did he work in tea or carpentry? Silly typos like this do not match up to your statement that "In keeping with the objectives of this website, all COMMENTS must be made in the spirit of contributing to the history of this estate, planter or person"
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To complete what Michael Speer and Richard Paine had to say about their fathers' stewardship of Yatadola Estate Matugama, my father John Kent took over Yatadola about July/Aug 1959 from Pat Speer and remained there for 11 years until his death in 1970. The divisions comprised Galawatte, Clyde, Pembroke in addition to Yatadola comprising in total 1100 acres approximately. About 1964 electricity was connected to the factory and bungalows. The advent of the Expressway from Colombo to the south if Sri Lanka sliced through either Pembroke Division or Yatadola itself. A sign beside the expressway states Yatadola Estate.
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January 22,2021 08:54am