Orient Club

Orient Club
Formation1894; 130 years ago (1894)
FounderWalter Pereira
PurposeTraditional Gentlemen's Club
Location
Coordinates6°54′21″N 79°51′35″E / 6.90583°N 79.85972°E / 6.90583; 79.85972

The Orient Club is a private members' club, in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Established in 1884, it was the first Ceylonese-only social club in the country. Membership of the club is by nomination and election only.

History

The club was founded in 1894, by a number of leading Ceylonese, including Walter Pereira.[1][2] It was formed by the Sinhalese elite in response to the restrictions on Ceylonese membership by the exclusive British Colombo Club, established earlier in 1871, and denied membership to Europeans.[3][4] Founding members included Frederick Dornhorst, James Peiris, Wilmont Arthur de Silva, E. J. Samerawickreme and F. R. Senanayake.[5]

The club was initially located on Darley Road, before moving to "Lynden Hall" in Flower Road and then "Elscourt" in Turret Road before settling at its present premises in Racecourse Avenue (now known as Rajakeeya Mawatha).[6][7] The Turret Road building now forms part of Bishop's College, an Anglican all-girls school.[8]

See also

References

  1. ^ Tambyah, Isaac, ed. (1904). "The Ceylon Law Review". 4. Ceylon. Supreme Court: 16. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. ^ Amerasinghe, Franklyn (2016). The First Hundred Years of the Colombo Club. The Colombo Club. p. 34.
  3. ^ Scriver, Peter; Prakash, Vikramaditya, eds. (2007). Colonial Modernities: Building, Dwelling and Architecture in British India and Ceylon. Routledge. p. 211. ISBN 9781134150267.
  4. ^ Pieris, Anoma (2013). Architecture and Nationalism in Sri Lanka: The Trouser Under the Cloth. Routledge. p. 77. ISBN 9780415630023.
  5. ^ Amunugama, Sarath (2019). The Lion's Roar: Anagarika Dharmapala and the Making of Modern Buddhism. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199096152.
  6. ^ Roberts, Michael; Raheem, Ismeth; Colin-Thomé, Percy (1989). People Inbetween: The Burghers and the middle class in the transformations within Sri Lanka, 1790s-1960s. Sarvodaya Book Publishing Services. p. 129. ISBN 9789555990134.
  7. ^ Hulugalle, H. A. J. (1965). Centenary Volume of the Colombo Municipal Council: 1865-1965. Colombo Municipal Council. p. 145.
  8. ^ Herath, H. M. Mervyn (2004). Colonial Kollupitiya and Its Environs. Lions Club of Kollupitiya. p. 136. ISBN 9789559748335.