Postmaster General of Sri Lanka

The Postmaster General of Sri Lanka is the appointed head of Sri Lanka Post, which is a government department. The current Postmaster General is Ranjith Ariyaratne.

Postmaster General of Sri Lanka
Incumbent
Ranjith Ariyaratne
since 14 August 2018
Sri Lanka Post
Formation1815
First holderEgbert Bletterman

History

The first mail service in Ceylon, was in 1788, established by the Dutch East India Company between Holland and Batavia via the Cape of Good Hope and Dutch Ceylon.[1] They established postal offices in the coastal trading centres of Colombo, Galle, Jaffna and Mannar. In 1795 the Dutch were expelled by the British and the Maritime Provinces were initially administered by the British East India Company. Two years later Ceylon became a Crown Colony. In 1798, a British officer, Captain Kennedy, was appointed as a competent postal authority.[2]

In 1815, following the signing of the Kandyan Convention the British took control of the entire country. They re-organised the postal service and a permanent post office was established in Colombo in 1882. The first official Post Master General of Ceylon was Egbert Bletterman, who was the PMG for the whole island. In 1817, Lewis Sansoni succeeded Bletterman as the second Postmaster General. The third Postmaster General was Major George Stewart and during his period he was instrumental in extending the postal services to major towns in the country.

List of Postmasters General of Sri Lanka
# Postmaster General Took office Left office Appointed by Notes
1Egbert Bletterman18151817Robert Brownriggfirst official Postmaster General
2Louis Sansoni18171826
3George William Stewart18261833Edward Barnes
4George Lee18331859Robert Wilmot-Hortonlongest serving Postmaster General
5William Barton18591867Charles Justin MacCarthy
6Herbert Webb Gillman18671871Hercules Robinson
7Thomas Edward Barnes Skinner18711896
8Charles Edward Ducat Pennycuick18961899Joseph West Ridgeway
9Henry Luttrell Moysey19001906
10Arthur Sampson Pagden19061913Henry Arthur Blake
11Francis Jagoe Smith19131923Reginald Edward Stubbs
12Maurice Salvador Sreshta19231928William Henry Manningfirst non-European Postmaster General
13Harry Archibald Burden19291933Herbert Stanley
14John Radley Walters19331940Reginald Edward Stubbs
15John Pringle Appleby19401947Andrew Caldecott
15Abdon Ignatius Perera19471951Henry Monck-Mason Moorefirst Ceylonese Postmaster General
16Victor A. Nicholas19511956Viscount Soulburysecond Ceylonese Postmaster General
17H. E. Seneviratne19561961
18D. G. Dayaratne19611962
19A. S. Kohomban-Wickrema19621964
20A. L. Perera19641968
21G. E. de S. Ellawala19681968
22Vernon Abeysekera19691970
23C. J. Serasinghe19701973
24A. R. M. Jayawardene19731980
25A. P. Hapudeniya19801984
26U. W. Bandara19851986
27A. B. Damunupola1986-
28K. A. S. Senadheera
29M. K. B. Dissanayake20082012
30Rohana Abhayaratne201210 July 2018
31Ranjith Ariyaratne14 August 2018Incumbent

See also

Specific

  1. de Welie, G. L. (31 August 2022). "A Postal History of Zwolle". Nederlandse Academie voor Filatelie. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
  2. Dishan, Joseph (14 September 2020). "The postman's bell, still a welcome ring". The Daily News. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
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