BLANCHE BEVEN
The surviving Beven siblings with their parents – Blanche is standing, second from right.
An often asked question in the spirit of fun is ‘if you had the choice to invite three people, in history, to a dinner party who would they be?’ It would be reasonable to assume that at the top of many peoples lists would be ‘Albert Einstein, Mahatma Gandhi maybe thrown in Robert Oppenheimer, how about Bertrand Russell? how about ……………………Hugh Hefner?
Well, in a story straight from a Hollywood movie, there was a Ceylonese Burgher girl from the foothill coconut plantations near Negombo who can claim to have partied (or near enough) with all of the above.
Meet Blanche Bianca Beven, born in 1897, the daughter of Arthur ‘Willie’ Beven and Eleanor Newman. Both families came from English soldier stock, the patriarchs who after serving in Ceylon for the British army, laid down roots and ventured very successfully into different parts of polite colonial society. Planters, doctors, lawyers and every day folk emanated from these two lines. Willie Beven was the brother of the more famous John Francis Beven written about here https://www.elanka.com.au/the-bandaranaikes-and-the-bevens-of-horagolla-by-the-rambler-3/
At that same time a young English Civil servant by the name of Walter Terence Stace was, after 10 years of filling different administrative roles, appointed district Judge at Negombo. It was here that Walter and Blanche first met, at regular Sunday church services and also at the tennis club the activity of choice in the tropics for people with British backgrounds.
Fast forward 115 years and over the last month two important milestones occurred. It’s been 100 years to the month since Willie Bevens passing, and after 50 years the autobiography of Walter Terence Stace, until now sitting in archive, has now finally been published. Walter, after meeting, and marrying Blanche went on to serve as Mayor of Colombo, and then from there as a professor of Philosophy at Princeton University where he served from 1932 until his retirement a few decades later. In his autobiography ‘Footprints on Water’, Walter discussed his thoughts on colonial Ceylon, and touches on his early interest in , Buddhism, mysticism and the esoteric. He also discusses as Mayor of Colombo hosting a function with Gandhi as the guest. Moving to Princeton directly after his time in Ceylon, We read about his time as an academic and his relationships with Einstein and Russell. Jennifer Stace, the daughter of Walter and Blanche, in her devastating (and beautiful) autobiography ‘a philosophers daughter’ corroborates these strong connections detailing regular dinner parties where Walter would find himself in a corner of the living room surrounded my his illustrious mates. The Jennifer Stace autobiography is not for the faint hearted and details the sex, drugs and rock n roll life of California in the 60’s and 70’s. As a burgher woman she also touches on themes around insidious racism in white America and sometimes encountered within families of ‘being the darker child’ amongst a brood of lighter Eurasian offspring. Jennifer went onto to pioneer disco and avante garde performing in the USA, touring with Frank Zappa and performing a number at times at the playboy mansion with Hugh an eager onlooker.
‘Stace road’ which still exists in downtown Colombo is named after the British statesman.
Photo of Noel Stace (son) from 1957. He was a pilot who was lost at sea, when his plane overshot the flight deck while landing. His body was never recovered.
Beven sisters – Tootsie – Doris – Ruth – Blanche – Bonnie.
Jennifer Stace
