R. A. de Mel

Reginald Abraham de Mel (8 November 1894 – 1961) was a Ceylonese politician.[1][2] Having served as the Mayor of Colombo, he served as the Deputy Speaker and Chairman of Committees in the first parliament of Ceylon, until he was unseated by an election petition.

Hon.
Reginald Abraham de Mel
Deputy Speaker of the Parliament
In office
14 October 1947 – 23 August 1948
Prime MinisterD. S. Senanayake
Preceded byposition created
Succeeded byH. W. Amarasuriya
Member of the Ceylon Parliament
for Colombo South
In office
20 September 1947 – August 1948
Preceded byseat created
Succeeded byT. F. Jayewardene
Personal details
Born(1894-11-08)8 November 1894
Died1961
NationalityCeylonese
Political partyUnited National Party
SpouseEvelyn née Fernando
ChildrenLaleeni, Irangani
Residence(s)D'Eyn Court, Kollupitiya, Colombo
Alma materRichmond College, Galle
ProfessionProctor

Early life and education

De Mel received his education at Richmond College in Galle, where he represented the college cricket team.[3] He qualified as a proctor.

Political career

Having been elected to the Colombo Municipal Council, he served as the Mayor of Colombo from 1944 to 1946.[4]

De Mel was elected to parliament at the 1st parliamentary election, representing the United National Party (UNP), in the Colombo South electorate.[5] He secured 6,452 votes (35.4% of the total vote), 640 votes ahead of Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, an independent candidate, who received 32% of the total vote.[6] He was subsequently appointed the Deputy Speaker and Chairman of Committees in the first parliament of Ceylon.[7] De Mel subsequently lost his seat in August 1948 after being found guilty of corrupt practices by aiding, abetting, counselling and procuring the offences of impersonation in an election petition filled by Saravanamuttu.[8] Saravanamuttu contested the ensuing by-election held in Colombo South in November 1948 but again lost, this time to T. F. Jayewardene.[9][8][10] The Duplication Road in Colombo was renamed R.A. De Mel Mawatha in his memory.

Family

He married Evelyn Fernando, daughter of Hethakandage Bastian Fernando. They had two children Laleeni and Irangani. C. H. Z. Fernando was his brother-in-law. He was a cousin of R. S. F. de Mel, former Mayor of Colombo.

References
  1. "Hon. de Mel, Reginald Abraham, M.P." Parliament of Sri Lanka. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  2. Jātika Rājya Sabhāva (1972). Members of the Legislatures of Ceylon: 1931-1972. National State Assembly Library. p. 31.
  3. "History of RCC". Richmond Cricket Club. 2011. Archived from the original on 4 May 2014.
  4. "Past Mayors of Colombo". Colombo Municipal Council. Archived from the original on 20 August 2014.
  5. "University of Ceylon Review". 6. University of Ceylon. 1948: 169. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  6. "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1947" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2015.
  7. "Deputy Speaker and Chairman of Committees". Parliament of Sri Lanka.
  8. "He gave of his best, but died a disillusioned man". The Sunday Times. 28 May 2000. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  9. "Summary of By-elections 1947 to 1988" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 December 2009.
  10. "Saravanamuttu v. de Mel" (PDF). National Law Reports: 529–574. 1948. Retrieved 4 August 2020.


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