The Burgher Tennis Club within Galle Fort – By Michael Roberts
Source : thuppahis
Left to right – Standing: Messrs R. W. E. de Vos, Vyvil Loudowyk, Fred Bastiansz, E. F. C. Ludowyk Jnr., R. A. de Vos, Bubsy Austin, E. F. C. Ludowyk Snr, W. Colin-Thomé, Dudley de Kretser, Arthur Arndt, Bertie Toussaint
Seated: Miss Mina de Vos, Miss E. Koch, Mrs Glen Altendorf, Mrs Bertie Joseph, Mrs R. A. de Vos, Mrs Bertie Toussaint, Miss Rita Kale, Mrs E. F. C. Ludowyk, Mrs W. Colin-Thomé, Mrs Dudley de Kretser, Mrs Bessie Bartholomeusz,
Seated on ground: Earnleigh de Krester, Miss Owen Ludowyk, Miss Ina de Zilwa, Miss Mabel Arndt, Miss Mavis Ludowyk, Miss Dagmar Toussaint, Francis Toussaint.
SEE https://thuppahis.com/ …. for the original presentation of this photo The club, I believe,*** was located along Lighthouse Street about 100 yards from the modern entrance to the fort and just after one passed the Galle Gymkhana Club on the left and Cargills shop on the right.
The Burghers in Galle constituted a well-circumstanced and powerful force within Galle and especially within the Fort during the first half of the 20th century — though the Ceylon Moors also had considerable numbers and socio-political weight within the Fort.
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** The late Percy Colin-Thome, as effervescent a colleague one could rejoice with, participated with me and Ismeth Raheem in producing the book PEOPLE INBETWEEN (Sarvodaya Publishers 1989).
*** It is possible that it was initially located immediately to the right of the entrance and across from the Gymkhana Club. The latter middle class institution was where my family played tennis and socialized with Sri Lankan middle class personnel of all ethnicities. Today’s readers should note that the top-drawer soical class in Galle in the 1940s and 1950s were — STILL — the British & European Whites.
These “Whites’” had their own exclusive tennis courts and clubs: the “Galle Club” near the bell-tower on Church Street was an exclusive preserve …. mostly Whites only. This club had their tennis courts at the junction of Middle Street and Rampart Street … next to the Judges bungalow [now a SL Army possession]. The power of the White British order was still embodied in (A) such firms as Volkkarts and Walkers. The racial exclusiveness of the colonial order was further imprinted within the wonderful natural surfing beach of Closenburg within Galle Harbour: there was a small surfing clubhouse reserved for Whites!
Again, the British presence in Galle writ large was marked by the airforce and military elements ‘parked’ at the Koggala Airfield. These men did participate in soccer and hockey matchs at the Galle Esplanade — so the sports arena was one location for local challenges to British superiority.
