A Mélange of Ethnicities-By John R de Silva (Johnny)
European descent; that is what you had to prove for migration to Australia in the early 1950s. This requirement did awaken the curiosity of Ceylonese into their genealogy. Fortunately, in the late 1950s this requirement was relaxed and it enabled many of us to subsequently come to this wonderful country.
Delving into one’s genealogy can be a very interesting journey. ‘Where did I come from’ was on the minds of a fair few. Being born in the country previously called Ceylon, and subsequently known as Sri Lanka, posed many questions. Who were my ancestors?
It must be remembered that for several 100 years three European nations controlled a part and finally the whole of Sri Lanka. There was bound to be inter marriages consummated. However, the mainstream peoples stayed true to their ethnicity and did not intermarry. This is particularly true with the Sinhala and Tamil community and to a smaller extent the other minority communities. Having said that, it was inevitable that there would be mixed marriages which ultimately gave rise to people of mixed race. As a result, we have people with Sinhala and Tamil relations or of other mixed races. Then there were the foreign nationals. There were the Portuguese, Dutch and English people who intermarried with the Sinhalese, Tamils and other ethnic people giving rise to multi-ethnic individuals.
I too became curious about my ethnicity and delved into my ancestors. What I discovered did surprise me. My siblings and I have close connections with each of the main ethnicities who were and are in Sri Lanka. What I maintain is that we have direct connections through grandparents to the Sinhalese, Tamil, Dutch, English/Irish, and indirectly to the Portuguese!
Beginning with my father John Reynold – better known as Ray; his father was John R. de Silva who was of pure Sinhala linage. John R. was from the Lindamulage Clan with no prior mixed marriages. They can trace their ancestors back several generations. I have access to a family tree that goes back many generations. These ancestors carried their traditional family names till one ancestor had his son baptized in the Catholic faith. This was during the Portuguese period and he was given the surname of de Silva. That is a story in itself! This event gave rise to the Lindamulage de Silvas. You can delve into this story by searching for ‘Lindamulage’ on the net. Young John R. caught the eye of a beautiful widow of English/Irish descent, married and had three children, my father being the only son. My Gran was born in Ceylon to Edward McCarthy, an Irish man, whose family lived in Ceylon. He went to the UK to get himself a bride. There he met an English girl, Susan Woodward, daughter of a Master Mariner. They settled in Ceylon, after a short stay in India, and had three surviving children. These are the first links in our direct connection to the Sinhalese and English/Irish.
I now come to my mother Mary Immaculate – Imsy – nee de Niese. My mother’s father, Grandpa to us, was that renowned artist George Henry de Niese. He was a well-known and beloved Art Master retiring when he was teaching at St Peters College,
Bambalapitiya. George was of Dutch descent. His genealogy is available at the Dutch Burgher Union in Sri Lanka. George’s family lived in Jaffna in North Sri Lanka. They were a resourceful family with George taking to Music and Art. At that time, even now for that matter, parents pressed their children to learn classical dancing, art and music. It so happened that George, who was a good musician, was engaged by the Puvirajasinghe family to teach their daughter Catherine to play the piano. They were a handsome pair and much to the dismay of the Puvirajasinghe family George and Catherine commenced a secret courtship. The Puvirajasinghe family have traced their linage back to the 1400s. The family history has been recorded by Dr St John Puvirajasinghe in his book ‘The Singhe Dynasty of Jaffnapatam’. If George and Catherine were to get married they would have to leave Jaffna. This they did and settled in Kandy. Their union brought out the four sporting de Niese boys of St Peter’s College. At that time my father, who was also a good sportsman, naturally associated with the de Niese boys and met the only girl of the de Niese family, Imsy, our mother. Their union produced 8 children, four boys and four girls. These are the other links in our direct connection to the Tamils and the Dutch.
And so, you have it; a mélange of ethnicities with very close connections to the Sinhalese, Tamils, Dutch and the English/Irish. My siblings and I are probably the only ones of Sri Lankan origin who have this close a relationship with each major ethnicity in Sri Lanka, and, have a Portuguese Surname!
