Jeronis de Soysa

Jeronis de Soysa was born on 19 April 1797 at Moratuwa.[8] He was the second son of Warusahennadige Joseph Soysa (Jose Rala), an Ayurveda practitioner and Kurukulasuriya Senadige Francisca Peiris. He had seven brothers and three sisters and was affectionately known as Babaseñor. Both his father and grandfather Bastian Soysa and earlier ancestors; Don Francisco, Juan and Manual Soysa Muhandiram were salt and grain merchants having interests in the transportation, boat building and the agricultural sectors.[8][9][10] Their ancestor was the lay custodian of the Devinuwara Temple, Matara at the time of its destruction by the Portuguese in 1587.[11][12][13] De Soysa's parents originally wanted him to become a Buddhist monk and sent him to the Palliyagodella Temple Rawatawatta Moratuwa for studies. He excelled in the Ayurvedic system of medicine, the Sinhala language and Astrology.[14] He became an Ayurvedic practitioner and possessed a charming personality. De Soysa married Francesca Coorey, daughter of Mututantrige Bastian Cooray and Kurukulasuriya Senadige Justina Pieris in 1833.[9][10][15] Mututantrige Sebastian Coorey, an ancestor of Francesca had built the Rawatawatte Dutch Chapel in 1675.[16][17]

De Soysa inherited a small fortune from his uncles Daniel Peiris and Hendrick Peiris III, who were ship owners with Yatra building yards at Oruwella, Panadura and Grandpass, Colombo.[7][9][10][18][19][20] He invested this in expanding the trading network between the Maritime and Kandyan Provinces with the assistance of his brothers. In 1820 he established himself as a general merchant in Kandy, becoming one of the first Sinhalese to do so.[6][7] He introduced cart transportation between the seaports and the plantations which had till then been carried out on foot and was able to dominate the industry till the building of the railway.[10][21] Meanwhile, de Soysa also became famous as Babasingha Vedamahatmaya, a sought-after Ayurvedic physician in Kandy and was reputed to have saved the lives of numerous plantation Tamils.[8][15][22][23] De Soysa's business prospered and he received several government supply contracts, including one that involved in the construction of the Colombo-Kandy road. These investments enabled him to accumulate the large capital necessary to rent the franchising for the supply of arrack. Later, he curtailed his investment in the distillery and tavern industry.[6][15][24]

In 1836 de Soysa bid for the Diyatalawa kanda 'Kings Garden-Rajmal Uyana' in Hanguranketa (against British planters such as George Bird) at the request of the administrative officer of the region that had been appointed by king Sri Vikrama Rajasinha.[5][8][22][25][26] This was an overgrown coffee (flower) estate previously used by the Kandyan kings as a country retreat. He also purchased many of the cinnamon estates that were previously owned by the Dutch administration in Moratuwa, Ratmalana, Dambuwa and Katunayake, citronella plantations in Ahangama and coconut plantatins throughout the island. His land holdings in Colombo consisted of several estates that stretched between Galle Face and Panadura.[27] The De Soysa and Peiris family established the first Ceylonese-owned bank, the Bank of Kandy at Dalada weediya and Pettah, Colombo in 1839 & 1860, becoming the largest native commercial enterprise of the era at a time when European owned banks were reluctant to extend credit to the Ceylonese and the high interest rates of the Nattukkottai Chettiars.[4][5][6][14][19][28] De Soysa was also reputed for his treatment of employees and had relied to a greater extent on the low country population.[6][29][30] He played a significant role in improving agriculture and the infrastructure in the Kandyan province and the coastal districts.[4][9][15][23]

Jeronis de Soysa Dharmagunawardane Vipulajayasuriya Karunaratne Dissanayake died at the age of 65 on 28 May 1862. He was buried in the Holy Emmanuel Church, engraved as per his wishes using the Sinhala script.[9][17]

De Soysa, often referred to as a father of private enterprise was the pioneer native entrepreneur, philanthropist and social reformer who played the role of a path-finder.[36][37] He died, leaving Charles de Soysa, aged 26, entrusted with the management of an estate worth millions. His infrastructure and tank building projects were commendable, considering the fact that it came after the abolition of the traditional rajakriya system of free compulsory labour and the devastation caused following the Kandyan convention. In 1853, de Soysa was appointed Gate Mudaliyar by the Governor George William Anderson. He was the first native headman to be appointed for public benefactions as opposed to government service.[15][36]

• Coffee production in Sri Lanka