PETERITE ANNIVERSERIES IN SEPTEMBER– by Algi Wijewickrema
Eleven Reverend Priests have held the august position of Rectorship at St. Peter’s College since the first, Rev. Fr. Nicholas Perera. But regrettably I missed recording the anniversary of his handing over the batten to Rev. Fr. Basil A Wiratunga when I recalled another anniversary on 9th September. Although the date is the same the two anniversaries fall three years apart from each other.
Fr. Nicholas Perera, after his long and successful tenure as Rector at College (since 29th June 1927 or even before as Manager from 18th January 1922 and as Principal from 1926), handed over the Rectorship to the obvious choice at the time, Fr. Basil Wiratunga, on 9th September 1943. Since the farewell happened to be during the war years and while College was operating from three different locations, the farewell was not as elaborate as it could have been. However, staff and students from Bambalapitiya (Milagiriya), Dehiwela and Minuwangoda did gather to bid farewell to their beloved Rector and welcome Fr. Basil Wiratunga, who was inducted on the same date as the second Rector.
The other anniversary already mentioned in an earlier post was three years later in 1946 (9th September), when the College Buildings were returned and staff and students marched back to the Bambalapitiya.
Although an exact date could not be found by me, another anniversary that needs to be recorded in September is the loss of 78.54 perches of land by College in 1995. This was on account of the extension of the R A de Mel Mawatha (Duplication Road), which forced the basketball court to be relocated and threatened to disconnect the playground from the rest of the College premises. Although this disconnection of the playground from the rest of the premises did happen it is hardly noticeable as an underpass was provided for the use of the boys to access the College Grounds safely without having to cross the new road. The Rector at the time, Rev. Fr. Felician R Perera and several of our distinguished Old Boys were responsible for negotiating successfully with the government of the day enabling the underpass to be built at state cost.
There is one more anniversary that will come along later in the month which I hope to recall when it falls due.
Trust this information is interesting to the Old Peterites looking forward to the centennial event next year.
Algi Wijewickrema
