Thomas Yates Wright

Colonel Thomas Yates Wright, MBE, VD (1869–1964) was a British planter, who was a cricketer and legislator in Ceylon. He was a tea planter and served in the Legislative Council of Ceylon and the Senate of Ceylon.^[1]

Born in Lancashire, Wright went to Ceylon in 1889 as a planter. He was an all-round sportsman, playing cricket, Rugby football, hockey and polo. He represented Matale and Kandy Sports Club at cricket and played for the Up-Country XI from 1893 to 1919. He represented All Ceylon in several matches in the 1890s.^[2] He was the founding President of Ceylon Athletic Association^[3]

He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Ceylon Planters' Rifle Corps (CPRC). Lieutenant Wright served in the Second Boer War from 1900 to 1902 with the Ceylon contingent from the CPRC and went on the serve as the commanding officer of the CPRC from July 1904 to February 1912 with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He was awarded the Volunteer Officers' Decoration and retired as a colonel.^[4][5]

From 1920 to 1925 he was a member of the Legislative Council and was appointed to the Senate of Ceylon in 1947. He owned the Mahakande Estate in which he built a bungalow in 1939 which is now known as Gal Bangalawa. He wrote the book Ceylon in My Time, 1889–1949 in 1951.^[6]

References

External links

• Thomas Wright at CricketArchive (subscription required) (archive)

• v
• t
• e

← Members of the 1924 Legislative Council of Ceylon (1924 (1924)–1931) →

• President: Hugh Clifford (1924–27); Murchison Fletcher (1927–28); Herbert Stanley (1928–31); Bernard Henry Bourdillon (1931); Graeme Thomson (1931)
  
• Vice President: James Peiris (1924-1930); Don Baron Jayatilaka (1930–31)

Ex offico Members (5)

General Officer Commanding the Troops	Harold Higginson
Colonial Secretary	Cecil Clementi Murchison Fletcher Edward Bruce Alexander
Attorney General	Lancelot Elphinstone
Controller of Revenue	Edward Bruce Alexander Walter Ernest Wait
Colonial Treasurer	Wilfrid Wentworth Woods

Nominated Members (10)

Official Members (7)	Frank Arthur Stockdale Lachlan Macrae John Strachan James Frederick Edmund Bridger Francis Graeme Tyrrell Thomas Reid Maas Thajoon Akbar
Unofficial Members (3)	Hermann Albert Loos Gerard Wijeyekoon Kadiravalepillai Balasingham

Elected Members (34)

Territorial (24)

Colombo Town (North) (1) Victor Corea Colombo Town (South) (1) James Peiris Colombo District (1) Don Baron Jayatilaka Negombo District (1) D. S. Senanayake Kalutara Revenue District (1) E. W. Perera Western Province (Ceylon Tamil) (1) Arunachalam Mahadeva Central Province (Urban) (1) Gerard Wijeyekoon Central Province (Rural) (1) George E. de Silva Northern Province (Northern) (1) Ponnambalam Ramanathan Northern Province (Southern) (1) A. Canagaratnam Northern Province (Eastern) (1) T. M. Sabaratnam (from 19 Feb. 1925) Northern Province (Western) (1) Waithilingam Duraiswamy Northern Province (Central) (1) Suppiramaniam Rajaratnam Southern Province (Eastern) (1) V. S. de S. Wikramanayake Southern Province (Central) (1) Forester Augustus Obeyesekere Southern Province (Western) (1) C. W. W. Kannangara Trincomalee Revenue District (1) M. M. Subramaniam Batticaloa Revenue District (1) E. R. Tambimuttu North Western Province (Western Division) (1) C. H. Z. Fernando North Western Province (Eastern Division) (1) Godfrey Edward Madawala North Central Province (1) H. R. Freeman Province of Uva (1) Henry Kotelawala Kegalla Revenue District (1) Alexander Francis Molamure Ratnapura Revenue District (1) Arthur Hamilton Ekneligoda Molamure

Communal (10)

European (Urban) (1) Unfinished European (Rural) (1) Unfinished Commercial (1) Unfinished Burgher (2) George Alfred Henry Wille Nathaniel John Martin Muhammadan (3) Mohamed Macan Markar N. H. M. Abdul Cader T. B. Jayah Indian (2) I. X. Pereira S. R. Muhammad Sultan K. Natesa Iyer (from 11 Dec. 1925) Unknown Thomas Yates Wright Edwin James Hayward William Loring Kindersley Thomas Southorn (until 1925) George Thornton Alfred Henry Frank Clarke (from 26 Nov. 1924) W. A. de Silva (from 19 Feb. 1925) Punchi Banda Rambukwelle (from 19 Feb. 1925) Thomas Lister Villiers (from 19 Nov. 1925) Neill Graeme Campbell (from Mar. 1926)