Chief Secretary of Ceylon

The chief secretary of Ceylon, was the chairman and one of three officers of state of the Board of Ministers of the State Council of Ceylon from 1932 to 1947. The post succeeded that of Colonial Secretary which was one of six offices that held a seat in the Executive Council of Ceylon until 1932.^[1][2]

Chief Secretary of Ceylon
Member of	the Executive Council
Residence	Temple Trees
Seat	The Secretariat
Appointer	Governor of British Ceylon
Precursor	Colonial Secretary of Ceylon
Formation	12 October 1798
First holder	Hugh Cleghorn
Final holder	Robert Drayton
Abolished	1946
Succession	Prime Minister of Ceylon
Deputy	Deputy Chief Secretary

The established under in 1932 by the Order in Council, following the recommendations of the Donoughmore Commission, vested the subjects of external affairs, defence and the public services of the Crown Colony of Ceylon under the chief secretary, who served as the officer administering the government in the abases of the governor.^[3] As such, the chief secretary was third in the order of precedence after the governor of Ceylon and the chief justice.^[1][2]

The chief secretary was assisted by a deputy chief secretary and two assistant chief secretaries. Appointments were made from senior officers of the Colonial Service. The post ceased to exist in 1947 with the formation of the Dominion of Ceylon. the chief secretary's office was located in the Secretariat and the Temple Trees was the official residence of the chief secretary. The post was replaced by the post of prime minister in 1947 under the recommendations of the Soulbury Commission under the Ceylon Independence Act, 1947 and The Ceylon (Constitution and Independence) Orders in Council 1947.^[4][5]

Departments

Departments under the chief secretary's office:

• Secretariat
• Ceylon Civil Service
• Ceylon Clerical Service
• Ceylon Defence Force
• Ceylon Naval Volunteer Force
• Coasts Lights
• Censor's Department
• Information Officer's Department

List of secretaries

Data based on:

• John Ferguson, Ceylon in the "jubilee Year"., J. Haddon and Co.,1887^[6]
• Ceylon: Its History, People, Commerce, Industries and Resources, Plâté limited, 1924^[7]

#	Colonial Secretary	Took office	Left office	Appointed by
Colonial Secretary of Ceylon (1798–1932)
1	Hugh Cleghorn	12 October 1798	January 1800	Frederick North
-	William Boyd	January 1800	September 1801
2	Robert Arbuthnot	10 September 1801	1806
3	John Rodney	3 September 1806	1833	Thomas Maitland
4	Philip Anstruther	1 May 1833	1845	Robert Wilmot-Horton
5	James Emerson Tennent	29 November 1845	1851	Colin Campbell
6	Charles Justin MacCarthy	2 January 1851	1860	George Byng
7	William Charles Gibson	10 August 1860	1869	Charles Edmund Wilkinson
8	Henry Turner Irving	4 June 1869	1873	Hercules Robinson
10	Arthur Birch	3 June 1873	1878	William Henry Gregory
11	John Douglas	18 August 1878	1885	James Robert Longden
12	Cecil Clementi Smith	17 November 1885	1887	Arthur Hamilton-Gordon
13	Edward Noël Walker	10 November 1887	1901	Arthur Hamilton-Gordon
14	Everard im Thurn	18 June 1901	1904	Joseph West Ridgeway
15	Alexander Murray Ashmore	10 September 1904	7 December 1906	Henry Arthur Blake
	Hugh Clifford	3 May 1907
-	Leonard William Booth	30 June 1911	17 October 1913	Henry McCallum
	Edward Stubbs	1913	1919	Reginald Edward Stubbs
	Graeme Thomson	1919	1922	William Manning
	Cecil Clementi	1922	1925
	Murchison Fletcher	1926	1929	Hugh Clifford
	Bernard Henry Bourdillon	1929	1932	Herbert Stanley
Chief Secretary of Ceylon (1932–1946)
	Bernard Henry Bourdillon	1932	1936	Graeme Thomson
	Francis Graeme Tyrrell	1936	1939	Edward Stubbs
	Maxwell MacLagan Wedderburn	1939	1940	Andrew Caldecott
	Guy Stanley Wodeman	1940	1942
	Robert Drayton[8]	1942	1946

See also

• Chief secretary (British Empire)
• Governors of British Ceylon
• General Officer Commanding, Ceylon
• Attorney General of Sri Lanka
• Auditor General of Sri Lanka
• Treasurer of Ceylon
• Legal Secretary of Ceylon
• Financial Secretary of Ceylon

References

1. Wrigh, Arnold (1999). Twentieth Century Impressions of Ceylon. Asian Educational Services. ISBN 9788120613355. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
2. Mills, Lennox A (12 November 2012). Ceylon Under British Rule 1795-1932. Routledge. ISBN 9781136262715. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
3. Ubeywarna, D. L. (14 February 2004). "Lanka's journey to Independence, in retrospect: Impact of constitutional developments on nation - making". Daily News (Sri Lanka).
4. "1942 Ferguson's Ceylon Directory". Ferguson's Directory. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
5. "Evolution of the Office of the Attorney General in Sri Lanka". attorneygeneral.gov.lk. Archived from the original on 30 July 2021. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
6. Ferguson, John (1887). Ceylon in the "jubilee Year". J. Haddon and Co. pp. 256-7.
7. Ceylon: Its History, People, Commerce, Industries and Resources. Plâté limited. 1924. pp. 100–1. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
8. "Sir Robert Drayton Dies". Retrieved 22 October 2020.