Richard Aluwihare

Richard Aluwihare was born on 23 May 1895 the son of T. B. Aluwihare and Panebokke Tikiri Kumarihamy. His younger brother, Bernard (1902 – 1961), was a Sri Lankan Cabinet Minister and Member of Parliament from Matale. Aluwihare was educated at Christ Church College, Matale and Trinity College, Kandy. At Trinity College he was a Senior Prefect, won the Ryde Gold Medal and the Trinity Lion for cricket in 1915.

With the outbreak of World War I, he enlisted in the British Army serving in the Middlesex Regiment[1] at Flanders, 1916 and was severely wounded in the Battle of the Somme.[2] He returned to Ceylon in 1920. He was the Secretary to the Kandyan deputation on constitutional reforms that was sent to England.

Aluwihare joined the Ceylon Civil Service, where he served as Assistant Director of Agriculture, Assistant Registrar Cooperative Societies in 1922, Acting Police Magistrate, Dandagamuwa in 1923, Police Magistrate in Point Pedro and Panadura in 1924, Second Landing Surveyor, HM Customs in 1926, Commissioner of Requests, Additional District Judge, Additional Police Magistrate, Kandy, Government Agent of Kegalle and Settlement Officer in 1929. In 1931 he was appointed District Judge of Nuwara Eliya. In 1934 was transferred to the General Treasury. In December 1941 he was appointed as acting Government Agent for Anuradhapura.[3]

After his retirement in 1955 Aluwihare went into politics and contested the seat of Kalawewa from the United National Party in 1956 but was soundly defeated. In June 1957 he became Ceylon's High Commissioner in India[6][7] a position he retained until 1963. Aluwihare died on 22 December 1976 at the age of eighty one.

He married Lucille née Moonemalle, daughter of Theodore Barcroft L. Moonemalle, member of the Legislative Council of Ceylon, on 18 October 1920. They had two daughters Phyllis Sita, who married Jayampathy Charitha Ratwatte II, later member of the State Council of Ceylon and Ena (1922 – 2015), who married his assistant Osmund de Silva. De Silva succeeded his father-in-law as Inspector General of Police.

He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CEB) and was knighted as a Knights Bachelor in the 1948 Birthday Honours for services in reorganizing the Ceylon Police Force. He was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in the 1950 Birthday Honours for services to Ceylon.[8]

The parade ground at the Police Training College in Kalutura is named the Aluwihare Grounds.[5] The winner of the Trinity–Antonian Cricket Encounter (Battle of the Blues) is awarded the Sir Richard Aluwihare Trophy.[9] Aluwihare also has a street (Richard Aluwihare Mawatha) named after him in Matale.

• ALUWIHARE - Family