Postmaster General of Sri Lanka

{{Short description|Head of Sri Lanka Post}}

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| incumbent = Ranjith Ariyaratne

| incumbentsince = 14 August 2018

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The Postmaster General of Sri Lanka is the appointed head of Sri Lanka Post, which is a government department. The current Postmaster General is Ranjith Ariyaratne.

History

The first mail service in Ceylon, was in 1788, established by the Dutch East India Company between Holland and Batavia via the Cape of Good Hope and Dutch Ceylon.{{cite web|url=https://www.vanwelie.com/gerard/phzwolle/Zwolle%20Dutch%20Indies.html|title=A Postal History of Zwolle|publisher=Nederlandse Academie voor Filatelie|first=G. L.|last=de Welie|date=31 August 2022|access-date=24 November 2022}} They established postal offices in the coastal trading centres of Colombo, Galle, Jaffna and Mannar. In 1795 the Dutch were expelled by the British and the Maritime Provinces were initially administered by the British East India Company. Two years later Ceylon became a Crown Colony. In 1798, a British officer, Captain Kennedy, was appointed as a competent postal authority.{{cite news|url=https://www.dailynews.lk/2020/09/14/features/228621/postman%E2%80%99s-bell-still-welcome-ring|title=The postman’s bell, still a welcome ring|newspaper=The Daily News|first=Joseph|last=Dishan|date=14 September 2020|access-date=24 November 2022}}

In 1815, following the signing of the Kandyan Convention the British took control of the entire country. They re-organised the postal service and a permanent post office was established in Colombo in 1882. The first official Post Master General of Ceylon was Egbert Bletterman, who was the PMG for the whole island. In 1817, Lewis Sansoni succeeded Bletterman as the second Postmaster General. The third Postmaster General was Major George Stewart and during his period he was instrumental in extending the postal services to major towns in the country.

List of Postmasters General of Sri Lanka

class="wikitable sortable"
#

! Postmaster General

! Took office

! Left office

! Appointed by

! Notes

1{{sortname|Egbert|Bletterman}}18151817rowspan=2|Robert Brownriggfirst official Postmaster General
2{{sortname|Louis|Sansoni}}18171826
3{{sortname|George William|Stewart}}18261833Edward Barnes
4{{sortname|George|Lee|George Lee (postmaster)}}18331859Robert Wilmot-Hortonlongest serving Postmaster General
5{{sortname|William|Barton|William Barton (postmaster)}}18591867Charles Justin MacCarthy
6{{sortname|Herbert Webb|Gillman}}18671871rowspan=2|Hercules Robinson
7{{sortname|Thomas Edward Barnes|Skinner}}18711896
8{{sortname|Charles Edward Ducat|Pennycuick}}18961899rowspan=2|Joseph West Ridgeway
9{{sortname|Henry Luttrell|Moysey}}19001906
10{{sortname|Arthur Sampson|Pagden}}19061913Henry Arthur Blake
11{{sortname|Francis Jagoe|Smith}}19131923Reginald Edward Stubbs
12{{sortname|Maurice Salvador|Sreshta}}19231928William Henry Manningfirst non-European Postmaster General
13{{sortname|Harry Archibald|Burden}}19291933Herbert Stanley
14{{sortname|John Radley|Walters}}19331940Reginald Edward Stubbs
15{{sortname|John Pringle|Appleby}}19401947Andrew Caldecott
15{{sortname|Abdon Ignatius|Perera}}19471951Henry Monck-Mason Moorefirst Ceylonese Postmaster General
16{{sortname|Victor A.|Nicholas}}19511956Viscount Soulburysecond Ceylonese Postmaster General
17{{sortname|H. E.|Seneviratne}}19561961
18{{sortname|D. G.|Dayaratne}}19611962
19{{sortname|A. S.|Kohomban-Wickrema}}19621964
20{{sortname|A. L.|Perera}}19641968
21{{sortname|G. E. de S.|Ellawala}}19681968
22{{sortname|Vernon|Abeysekera}}19691970
23{{sortname|C. J.|Serasinghe}}19701973
24{{sortname|A. R. M.|Jayawardene}}19731980
25{{sortname|A. P.|Hapudeniya}}19801984
26{{sortname|U. W.|Bandara}}19851986
27{{sortname|A. B.|Damunupola}}1986-
28{{sortname|K. A. S.|Senadheera}}
29{{sortname|M. K. B.|Dissanayake}}20082012
30{{sortname|Rohana|Abhayaratne}}201210 July 2018
31{{sortname|Ranjith|Ariyaratne}}14 August 2018Incumbent

See also