R. A. de Mel

Reginald Abraham de Mel (8 November 1894 – 1961) was a Ceylonese politician.[1][2]

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
Spouse(s)Evelyn née Fernando
ChildrenLaleeni, Irangani
ResidenceD'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.[8][9] 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. Pustakālaya (1972). Members of the Legislatures of Ceylon: 1931-1972. National State Assembly Library. p. 31.
  3. History of Richmond Cricket Club Archived 4 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  4. Past Mayors of Colombo Archived 20 August 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  5. "University of Ceylon Review". 6. University of Ceylon. 1948: 169. 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
  8. "He gave of his best, but died a disillusioned man". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka). 28 May 2000. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  9. www.lawnet.gov.lk (PDF). National Law Reports https://www.lawnet.gov.lk/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/143-NLR-NLR-V-49-P.-SARVANAMUTTU-Petitioner-and-R.-A.-DE-MEL-Respondent.pdf. Retrieved 4 August 2020. Missing or empty |title= (help)
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