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History of Ceylon Tea is an industry-service project by Dilmah. Click HERE to read more.
30th June 2022

IN THIS ISSUE

  • The Wimbledon Championship & the Plantation Connection by Anura Gunasekera
  • Some History of an Australian Family in Colonial Ceylon by Bill Mackie
  • Memoirs of the Month -  Charles Frederick Braine
  • Photo Album of the Month - Dickwella Estate, Hali-Ela
  • Contributor Photo Album of the Month - Brian Perera
  • Planter Profiles of the Month - Manil Perera & Mahendra Seneviratne
  • Down Memory Lane - From Tea Fields to Battle Fields - DIckie Hermon
  • Historical Events in 1832 & 1833
  • Tea Radio by Dilmah

IT'S STRAWBERRIES AND CREAM TIME OF THE YEAR AGAIN!

THE WIMBLEDON CHAMPIONSHIP AND THE PLANTATION CONNECTION
By Anura Gunasekera
 
The first, and only unbeaten Wimbledon Singles Champion in its 136-year history was a coffee planter from Sri Lanka, then Ceylon.

Whilst the achievement itself has now been reduced to an obscure statistic, covered with the dust of history and totally overshadowed by more spectacular Wimbledon performances since the circumstances in which it was achieved makes it a unique feat and one that is not likely to be duplicated in the foreseeable future. For obvious reasons, it should be a fact of great significance to all those involved in the plantation industry, as well as to those who have any interest in this field of national endeavour with its richness of tradition and history, unparalleled in the local context.

Launched in an era when “Racquets" and “Real Tennis” were the sports of choice for gentlemen – ladies did not then participate in manly sports – from the British public school or university genre, Lawn Tennis was yet to gain popularity amongst the sporting fraternity or the attention of the general public.


Click HERE to read the full article.

FEATURE ARTICLE OF THE MONTH

SOME HISTORY OF AN AUSTRALIAN FAMILY IN
COLONIAL CEYLON


By Bill Mackie
(Article submitted by Hugh Karunanayake)

I have two books that depict Ceylon/Sri Lanka in two different periods and from different aspects; they inspire me to discuss my family’s connection and my birth in Ceylon. The first has a title pointing to the fascinating environment in which my parents lived early in the twentieth century. Both books show the multicultural nature of Ceylon’s society that began centuries before that of Australia, and they display the island’s beauty and interesting features. The second book also induces me to chat about my family’s contact with Lionel Wendt and his music and photography.

My family had two generations working in the tea industry. My story starts in about 1876, when my grandfather Copland Mackie joined the tea trade in Glasgow, Scotland, and ends when the last of our family connections left Ceylon in 1959. It makes me ponder on some social conditions prevailing in the British colonial period during the first half of the twentieth century and the changes since the country became a republic in 1972.

Click HERE to read the full article.

MEMOIRS OF THE MONTH

CHARLES FREDERICK BRAINE (1850–1896)
ADVENTUROUS, ACCIDENT PRONE, GREAT GRANDFATHER

By George Braine
I have previously written about my great, great grandfather Charles Joseph Braine (1814-1890), who became a coffee and tea planter in Ceylon. Charles Frederick was the fourth child Charles Joseph. He was born in Norton Fitzwarren, a village in Somerset, UK, where his parents briefly resided upon their return from Hong Kong.

Charles Frederick first came to Ceylon in 1869, at the age of 19, to work for Ceylon Company Ltd., where his father Charles Joseph was the manager. He returned to the UK to marry Adeline Mary Becher on 9 April 1874 at Kensington, London. Their first child, Charles Stanley (my grandfather) was born the same year, on 25 December, in Ceylon.

I wonder if Ceylon Company Ltd., where both Charles Joseph and Charles Frederick worked, was the predecessor of Ceylon Tea Plantations Co., which came to own extensive rubber and coconut plantations as well.

Charles Joseph left Ceylon around 1880, having become the first owner of Abbotsleigh Estate by then. But, although he, too, was a planter, Charles Frederick may not have worked at Abbotsleigh.
An article in The Times of Ceylon, dated 12 March 1896, the day he died, sequences Braine’s career and gives an indication of his family life. Braine “learnt planting” (“creeping”, in planting jargon) at Meddecombra Estate, Watagoda, in the Nuwara Eliya area, owned by Ceylon Company Ltd., and later worked at Pussellawa and Badulla on company estates.

In 1880, when he was only 30, Braine moved to Dickoya, as manager of Manickwatte Estate, which amalgamated with Warleigh Estate to become the well-known Wanarajah Estate. I have driven through this vast plantation, which I believe now consists of ten estates. Ceylon’s best teas, and perhaps the world’s as well, are grown in this area.

Braine served for 12 years at Dickoya. He was injured and Mrs. Braine suffered a broken thigh in a carriage accident which may have occurred during this period.

From 1885 to 1892, Braine is listed as the owner of Beecherton Estate, in Kalutara, which was planted with 138 acres of tea. What made Braine, working in upcountry estates, buy a property on the south-western coast is puzzling.


Click HERE to read the full article.
 

PHOTO ALBUM OF THE MONTH

 Dickwella Estate, Hali-Ela


Click HERE to view the album.

CONTRIBUTOR PHOTO ALBUM OF THE MONTH

Brian Perera

Featuring photos from the Lambert Perera Family Album

Click HERE to view the album

PLANTER PROFILES OF THE MONTH

 (L-R) Manil Perera & Mahendra Seneviratne


Click on respective photo to view profile

DOWN MEMORY LANE!


FROM TEA FIELDS TO BATTLE FIELDS!

Richard 'Dickie' Hermon, like many of his contemporaries in the 1960s and 70s, migrated to Australia in 1972 following a 12-year career as a Ceylon Tea Planter. In Australia, Dickie forged a successful career in insurance and also enlisted with the Australian Army Reserves in 1975. At the age of compulsory retirement, Dickie had attained the rank of Captain. This photo is from his role as an Armoured Corps Instructor.

HISTORICAL EVENTS IN 1832 & 1833

In Ceylon:
  • Commencement of the Kandy Mail Coach, the first of its kind in Asia.
  • Compulsory Labour abolished.
  • (1833) The island is divided into five provinces.
Elsewhere in the world:
  • Greece is recognized as a sovereign nation.
  • The June Rebellion in France, anti-monarchist riots led chiefly by students, breaks out in Paris.
  • (1833) Dubai gets independence from the United Kingdom and is founded as a city.
  • The settlement of Chicago is established by 350 settlers at the estuary of the Chicago River in the Illinois Territory, USA.
  • The British Slavery Abolition Act 1833 is passed.
  • The Parliament of the United Kingdom enacts the Factory Acts, limiting child labour.
  • Chartered ship Amphitrite sinks while undertaking the penal transportation of 108 British female convicts and 12 children from Woolwich to New South Wales with the loss of 133 lives; only 3 crew survive.
  • Birth of Alfred Nobel, Swedish inventor of dynamite, and creator of the Nobel Prize.

TEA RADIO BY DILMAH

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Tea Radio has developed a global audience reaching over 90 countries worldwide; with the promise of ‘music inspired by tea’, and features news and views on tea, tea gastronomy and more, amidst the music of the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s.

Stay updated on the latest tips and trends in the world of tea right here. Download the Tea Radio app on the Google play store or the Apple app store, or stream music inspired by Tea on
www.tearadio.com.
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