Over the last 12 months, researchers and visitors at the Cairns and District Family History Centre would have seen a sprightly, bespectacled, grey haired gentleman, peering intently into the microfilm reader screen.
He is busily transcribing films that have nothing to do with his own Anglo-Scandinavian Heritage.
My name is Larry Andresen, and I am researching British Ceylon birth, marriage and death records.
My British Ceylon research story
A Sea Captain, James Thomas Anderson, married a Dutch girl, Adriana Gertuida Toussaint. This was in Jaffna, the main northern port and administrative centre of British Ceylon. The marriage took place in 1803. This was 6 years after the British had taken over from the Dutch in 1796, and only 1 year after the 1802 Peace of Amiens was signed, which made Ceylon a British Crown Colony.
Captain James Thomas Anderson was described in one historical book as an English Sea Captain, and, of Scotland, in another.
In 1948 British Ceylon was granted Independence.
British Ceylon Family Immigration – the cause
In 1956 the Sinhalese dominated Government passed an edict that the Sinhalese language would be the only language taught in schools, and also the official language of government, banks, and business transactions. This marginalised the European community and mass migration took place.
The decision also marginalised the Tamil minority and they agitated for a separate Tamil State in the north and east of the country. The cause and effect of such a decision resulted in a 30 year Civil War.
Family Immigration – the effect
In 1965 Fred and Celia Anderson and their two children immigrated to Melbourne, Australia, for the sake of education and future employment of their children. In 1971, I married their only daughter, Coreen Anderson. In the following year, 1972, Ceylon became Sri Lanka.
Coreen and I celebrated our 45th wedding anniversary last year with our three children, their spouses, and our 2 beautiful granddaughters, aged 3 and 5. There are now 3 generations of this Anderson family living in Australia, and two earlier generations have died here. Both Coreen’s parents, and a maternal grandmother, are interred in Victoria.
Research in Sri Lanka
Upon my retirement, I undertook two research trips to try and find the origins of the Anderson family.
Searching for vital records in Colombo, the Capital of Sri Lanka, was a nightmare. Compulsory registration was introduced in 1897; over 100 years after the British took over from the Dutch. There were no central registers, and masses of vital documents accumulated in offices all over the Island. To get a BMD Certificate you had to know the names, date, and the district that the event occurred. You paid your money in Colombo, and then had to travel to the District office to pick up the paperwork. Once you had the certificate it would be impossible to read, as it is in Sinhalese.
Searching cemeteries was also a nightmare. Since the 1600s, local villagers have been taking, breaking, and grinding their spices on the back-side of colonial granite headstones.
As Sri Lanka was in the middle of a prolonged Civil War, I was unable to travel north to Jaffna, the original Anderson Family town, as traveling to the region was prohibited. Churches, Government buildings, road and rail infrastructure had been destroyed right across the north and east of the country. The devastation of the 2004 Tsunami also destroyed coastal Churches and their records. The tidal waves reached up to 2 kilometres inland.
Church records
In the Colombo Anglican Cathedral Library I discovered five hundred neatly typed pages of Anglican Marriage and Baptism Indexes. These were compiled in 1972 by a retired Government Archivist, Mr Sam Mottau and had been gifted to the Church library. I was allowed to transcribe entries, including the second marriage of Captain James Thomas Anderson. This marriage took place in Kandy in 1831, whereas other reliable sources had quoted the port of Galle. Two Anderson family baptism entries were found, as well as the Colombo marriage of James Thomas Anderson jnr.
The Methodist Church has consolidated all of its pre 1982 registers in Colombo, but no indexes exist. Visits to Churches in other towns revealed registers from 1830 onward, just sitting in cupboards and drawers.
National Archives of Sri Lanka
The magnificent Sri Lanka Archives was the only air-conditioned research facility I found in all of Sri Lanka. It has a full collection of British-era secondary genealogical and family history records, such as Government gazettes, newspapers and almanacs.
Records found elsewhere
The Hague. Holland
The Dutch Archives and the Dutch Genealogical Society are in the same building in The Hague, Holland. British era records were found in both locations.
United Kingdom:
England
No British Ceylon BMD records were found in England, not even Bishops Transcripts. The National Archives have a wealth of secondary BMD records in official documents, military records, newspapers, Almanacs and Directories.
The British library has the factory records for British Ceylon under the Madras Presidency, 1795 to 1802, but no BMD records.
Scotland
No Anderson baptism entry for a 1778/9 birth matched our man, James Thomas Anderson, in any Scottish research centre. The trip to Scotland discovered a link in my own Andresen-Perrott family history,
I now have a copy of the original church marriage entry for Richard Perrott and Margaret Jemima Fordyce at Inveresk with Musselburgh in 1782. These two are my maternal grandparents, 4 times removed
USA
The LDS library in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, provided a window into the huge number of British Ceylon films that the Church of the Latter Day Saints (the Mormons) have stored in the Granite Mountain Vaults. A week studying the records showed the majority were in the Sinhalese or Tamil language. An Aussie education does not prepare you to decipher these records. A number of British Ceylon films in English were viewed and copied to USB stick for future reference.
The Present
The films I am now reading are applications to join the “Widows and Orphans Fund for British Ceylon Civil Servants”. The LDS Church photographed these in the 1980s at the Registrar-Generals’ Office in Colombo. The application entries date from the 1860s to the 1920s. These applications have marriage, birth and sometimes death dates for whole Ceylon Civil Servant Family units, all written in the husbands’ own handwriting. There are also further family history clues, as each entry contains his position, location and salary. As a majority of the Anderson Family were Civil Servants, including Doctors, Lawyers, and Police Inspectors, I hope to fill in some of the blank branches.
The films contain all ethnic groups including Sinhalese, Tamil, Moors, and even the Malay soldier families, under the Dutch in the 1700s. Most of the Malays became policemen on the demobbing of the Ceylon Regiment.
The Future
There are 35 films in the series, with approximately 1000 complete families on each. Thankfully they are all in English, although some of the Sinhalese names are 60 characters long! I will be still sitting at the film reader screen, engrossed in Ceylon Civil Servants, for years into the future. This is because the CDFHS research facility, with an eclectic collection of dedicated, happy, caring, and sharing members is the ONLY place to be to view these unique LDS British Ceylon films.
Fascinating blog. Thanks for sharing your knowledge Larry.
Please help me find my roots .my great grand father Thomas george Harrison hailed from Britain lived in Sri Lanka had 2 sons George william my grand father married margerett lodawyke my father Roy george my great grand served in the European police and later did business mygrand father was a civil engineer joined the military royal artillery in 1915 world war 1 september in India was born in ceylon Dambulla district in march 1876 will it be possible to get birth or baptism certifices ofboth of them
Hi there Mr Andresen…I am searcing records for a John Crozier said to have settled in Ceylon. He narried Lavinia Bastiansz in 1846 at the DRC Wolvendhal. The Dutch Burgher Union records are a bit inaccurate. Also looking for any death notices/certificates for John and Lavinia and their 4 children…Jane Adelaide, George Martin, John Cirnelius and Charlotte Wilhelmina
Hello Sylvia,
Larry has taken a look at the Ceylon records for you. He has located a public servant record for a George M Crozier containing details of George’s wife and their children. These records are not indexed, so an extended search would be time consuming. To find this record and to trawl through the microfilms go to:
FamilySearch https://www.familysearch.org/
Search
Catalog
Sri Lanka
Pensions
the record is on the second film
Record page number is 549
Hope this helps,
Heather
I am trying my husband’s family from Sri Lanka, his father a Hindu, Thomas Daniels was born on or about April 20,1902 in either Colombo or Kandy to Abraham and Elizabeth Daniels, any information of any relatives still in Sri Lanka will be greatly appreciated and helpful as I am doing a Ancestry Tree. I knoe Thomas Daniels left Sri Lanka as a tenager for the UK to study and eventually immigrated to the US,but I can’t find any records of his travels.
Thank You
Hello Merle,
Larry has a number of questions for you. Could you please contact us via email: researchteam@cdfhs.org
Heather
Hi Larry, We are looking for information for our Ancestor William Williamson, Colombo, Ceylon, who married Jane Barnes, ? Colombo, Ceylon. We know his son (James Barnes Williamson married Alice Joseline Sisouw in 1878 at Christ Church, Colombo). We also can not find any information through Ancestry.com for Bertram Leslie Williamson (who married Constance Evelyn Boucher), who was his grandson. Any help would be much appreciated. Thank You.
Hit here ,
Please could you help me to find my root. My great grand father Rose White who lived in Srilanka UVA province such as Gurutalawa ,Welimada …(.. Village names ) should be 1935. He was married and had two children ( girl and boy) left Srilanka when they were 4years old ( not sure which year he left ). I have great-grand father black and white photo. Any help would appreciated.
Many thanks
Rehana
Hey Larry
My name is Lea, and I’m from Denmark. I was adopted from Sri Lanka in 1991. I hope you can help me. I really want to find my biological father. I actually don’t have a lot to go on with him, so I hope you can help me anyways. I’ve been told that my biological father is British. Him and his family lived in Sri Lanka, I think it was closed to Nuwara Eliya but I’m not sure, is there my biological mother is from. She was a “young girl” in the House I think is like a maid but she get pregnant with me and I really want to know if is true. I couldn’t find my biological mother so I want to find him instead. So I want to hear if you have anything of they British families who lived on Sri Lanka in 1990-1991 maybe longer. I’ve also been told he was young as my biological mother but that I don’t know either if is true. She was in that time 20 years old. I hope you can help me.
– Lea
Hello Mr. Andresen,
My name is Derek Godfrey. I currently live in New Delhi, India. I wonder if you may be able to assist me. I am trying to locate details for my paternal grandmother, Daphne Mildred Deneys, who married my grandfather, Eugene Joseph Godfrey, at Tuticorin, near Madras in South India on 12th April, 1909. Her place of residence, as mentioned on the marriage record, was given as “Dimbula, Ceylon”. Her age was given as 23 years. Family sources have said that she was born in Ireland and was orphaned, sometime between the ages of 4 and 10. Around age 10, she is supposed to have sailed to Ceylon to join an elder brother who was said to be a practicing doctor there. If I work backwards in time, she should have been in Ceylon or Dimbula approximately between the years 1896 to around 1909. She was married in South India in 1909.
With kind regards … Derek
Hi Derek – here is Larry’s reply.
There is no mention of a Dr Deneys in Ceylon at all for that time period. There is mention of a Nurse, Miss R J Deneys at the Kandy hospital in the 1909 Ferguson’s Directory. In the 1914 Ferguson’s Directory she has moved to the hospital at Slave Island, in Colombo. These directories are online at Dilmahs’ History of Ceylon Tea site and run from 1871/2 to 1997. The Kabristan Archives Sri Lanka website notes a marriage of a Laura Harriet Deneys at Holy Trinity Church, at San Sebastion Hill in Colombo to a Singalese, you have to pay to get the details. Dimbula is a small tea Estate town and a search of tea estate owners and managers does not throw any light on who Daphne Mildred Deneys was living with. There is a small tree on FamilySearch for her but the birthdate, ( born 13 Oct 1894, Ireland) on it would make her 15/16 at marriage, the death shown on this is 22 Feb 1978, in Lambeth England.
Larry
Hi, Am looking for information about my great grand father Peter John Perera married to Clara Elizabeth Oldenbottle on the 1st of march 1916 and lived in Kotahena. he died in 1964. We need details of Peter John Perera’s date of birth and his parents details (possibly Simon Alexander Perera & Cecilia Jansz). We have been told that he originated from a Baumgartner family line. We have tried many sources for the information but failed. Would you have some information you can help me with or provide me a link to find the information.
Many thanks
Rochelle
Hi Rochelle,
A web search suggests that he is a Roman Catholic. FamilySearch have filmed the Registrar-General’s Marriage Certificates for this date and place, 1916 Kotahena, which is a suburb or Colombo.
Unfortunately not online yet. They can be viewed at Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, only at this time. I would suggest contacting St Lucia’s Cathedral, or St Anthony’s Shrine, which are the two places of Catholic worship in Kotahena.
These are the relevant FamilySearch film numbers: 1466074 and 1466075
The Marriage Certificate will give full name, age, civil condition, nationality and rank or profession, father’s name and his rank or profession.
As for the Baumgartner query; it looks like another adoption search, which is impossible without dates and places.
Cheers, Larry
Thanks Larry and Heather. You have the death date and place correct. I have her death certificate in my possession. She was married to my grandfather at Tuticorin at South India on 12-April-1909. Her age declaration on the marriage record is given as 23 years, which would put her year of birth as 1886. It is likely that the tree on familysearch was set up by my daughter, who has also put much effort into this search. Thanks for taking the time to dig around, Larry. I shall follow up on the information provided by you. I wonder if there would be any school records available for the school/s in Dimbula?
Best regards … Derek
Dear Larry,
I am looking for information about my father’s grandfather and his brother. Their names were Albert Edward and Fitz Simpson. Albert Edward was born in 1873, Mannar and I don’t where Fitz was born. I think their mother was called Patience Wilcomwright. Their father was called George Simpson who was born on Feb. 1840, India. Can you help? Regards Peter Leach
Hello Mr.Anderson
I am Dr.Richie Anderson grandson of Rienzie claude anderson , Thank you for the wonderful information , happy to see that my family tree has such deep history.
Thank you once again god bless you
Dear Mr Anderson
I am trying to confirm that George R. Matthews, birth date 6/7/1911, was in Sri Lanka(Ceylon) during the period 1950 – 1953 working as a Civil Servant. His wife was Kathleen Matthews (nee Russel) and she was my biological Mother. My birthdate is 1952 – Mr Matthews and my biological Mother left Sri Lanka to return to the UK in 1952/53. I was adopted by a Sri Lankan family. My biological father was not Mr. Matthews – my DNA indicates that I have Southern Indian/Sri Lankan heritage. If this information could be confirmed – that Mr George Matthews was in fact in Sri Lanka during this period it would confirm the information that I have obtained about my biological Mother. I would certainly appreciate any assistance you can give me.
Thank you
Hello,
I am looking for any INGRAM records from Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). I have done a lot of research and found a lot of information, but I have hit a brick wall and I am almost sure that the one missing piece may help me bring it together. The record-keeping in Sri Lanka is almost non-existent. My grandfather comes from a line of Engine Drivers from the Ceylon Government Railway. There is no way to trace him as there are no records. If anyone has any information, please pass it on to me.
FOR THOSE OF YOU LOOKING FOR INFORMATION: Here are some resources:
https://www.kabristan.org.uk/kabristan-indexes/sri-lanka-indexes
https://www.familysearch.org/en/
https://www.findmypast.com/
I found a wealth of information using these resources.
Good luck to us all!
Hello,
I am looking for my ancestors born and some married in Ceylon.
William James Moss or James William Moss married to Mary Vander Straaten or Margaret. They had children by the names of Alice Moss, Lydia Moss, George Moss (Dr George) and James William Moss. James William Moss married Sophia C and had children by the names of Arnold H Moss and James William Moss.
The Years for the first William James Moss would be between 1820 to 1850 birth and marriage and the next would be between 1850 to 1886 birth and marriage and the next 1886 onwards
Any help is highly appreciated
Thank You
Wesley Fraser
I’m looking for information/names of the children of Carl Shubert Koch (b. 1883) and Anne Margaret (de Run) Koch (b.1897, d.1924)
Hello Mr. Anderson I m looking for ancestors born and married in Ceylon by the name of Mills. My grandfathers name is Herman Fedrick Mills.
Any help is Highly Appreciated
Thank you
Honorine Mottau
Hello, Mr. Andersen.
I need your help.
Frederick Lydford Cassell..or Edward Lydford Cassell…also who his father was?
He emigrated to Ceylon in the late 1800 s I believe.
Please help me with my grandfather’s history. I like to know more about him.
I know he married three times, would like to know his first wife’s name. His second wife was
My mother Kathleen Elizabeth Lydford Cassell, but I don’t see her name anywhere on the information I have gone through.
Your help would be very much appreciated.
Thank you,
Cynthia Mortier.
Sorry, his second wife was my mothers, mother, Rode…
Cynthia.
Hi there Larry/
I had an idea of writing the family tree for sometime but never got down to it. Now the pandemic has driven me with loads of time on my hands. The earliest doc I have been able to unearth is a copy of a deed written 1895 at Kandy where my g.grandfather gifts his properties to his eldest son. His complete name was Muhandiramlagedera Udumalebbe Habibu Lebbe born circa 1830. I want to go a step backwards and trace his ancestors. Can you advice me? I will also be available
for any volunteer work
Larry,
This is a bit of a long shot but not really sure where to start with this enquiry!
My name is Mike Ross. My father was Herbert Malvern Charles Ross born 15 November 1927 in Colombo. He was adopted – not known if this was on a formal or informal basis! His adoptive parents were George and Marthe (nee Hamel) Ross. They lived at 52 Coopers Hill, Colpetty, Colombo. No idea until recently who his biological parents were but a recent DNA test by me has thrown up southern Italian/Sicilian/Maltese ethnicity and a possible link through shared DNA to a family called Diacono who also lived in Ceylon. Do you have any birth records around 15/11/1927 which might throw any light on any of the above. Thanks
Hi Larry,
Hope you can help me find more information regarding my Great Grandfather George Griffith James born 1882 Colombo Ceylon to George Griffith James and Evelyn Harriet Ephraums.
Any leads will be greatly appreciated
Kind regards Sussan
Dear Larry,
My partner fled from Sri Lanka in 1971 aged 14 years having taken his brothers identity. We had 4 children together during our 20 year relationship. Sadly he passed away in 2019. My now adult children have arranged to fly to Sri Lanka in February 2024 to scatter his ashes in the North somewhere near his family. The problem is although we have the name he used we dont know how to research his family. We know that he came from the Jaffna area and spent his childhood in the North. His father was a prominent contract builder involved in constructing hospitals and roads. HIs grandfather was an Argyll from Scotland. One of his uncles was a high court judge and another was a chief of police. How do we go about trying to research some family connections either before we go or once we are there. Any help you can give would be gratefully received. Thank you Sue
Hi Larry, I just discovered my great grandmother’s family working on a tea plantations. Ellen Winnifred Erskine, born in 1866 in Ceylon to John and Charlotte Erskine, married Alfred Henry Lindop in Ceylon in 1886. It was the discovery of their son Adrian Horatio Erskine Lindop’s record of working at Gallinda in 1913 as an assistant superintendent and in Mapalagama with J W Erskine, and in 1914 as Assistant Manager along with W M Erskine that I realized that they were relatives of Ellen Erskine.
I am now trying to find Ellen’s birth certificate, or more information on the Erskine family. I have not been successful in my search so far. Ellen was Roman Catholic when she married but I do not know if she was before she married.
I would be grateful for any help and direction you could give me.
Betty-Jean Moyle
Hi Wesley I was hoping to connect with you in regards to your search for ancestors in Ceylon.