Guest Speakers at Ceylon Society Meetings Sydney Date Speaker Subject November 1997 Hugh Karunanayake Julia Margaret Cameron - The Victorian Photo Artist and her life in Ceylon November 1997 Chris Puttock Collecting Postcards on Ceylon November 1997 David Goodrich The Prins Diaries 1897-1902 May 1998 Brian Parker The Chinese Camelia May 1998 Bertram Jenkins Pioneers of the Tea Industry in Ceylon May 1998 Dr Derrick Pocock Lipton's Tea Postcards August 1998 Don Wickrema The Cultural Heritage of Sri Lanka November 1998 Gavin Fry Donald Friend - His time in Sri Lanka November 1998 Kingsley Siebel 300 years of the Brohier Family March 1999 Percy Samarawickrema Cricket Memorabilia March 1999 Mike Udabage Galle Face Hotel June 1999 Prof Tissa Rajapathirana Traditions of the Kandy Perahera September 1999 Dr Neville Karunatillake Kandyan rebellions against the British September 1999 Prof Yasmine Gooneratne D'Oyly of Kandy - An Inscrutable Englishman October 1999 Prof Lakshman Marasinghe The Devolution Proposals and the Sri Lanka Government November 1999 Dr R K de Silva 19th Century Photography and Engravings of Ceylon February 2000 David Goodrich Impressions of Sri Lanka February 2000 Dr Harold Gunatillake Video presentation: This is the Beginning - The Glory of Polonnaruwa May 2000 John Armitage The Armitage Family in 19th Century Ceylon August 2000 Gamini Goonesena Cricketing Reminiscences August 2000 Dr Vijaya Samaraweera The British Notion of Justice and its Impact on Sri Lanka November 2000 Lalitha Witanachchi On her book: The Wind Blows over the Hill February 2001 Douglas Ranmuthugala The Story of Sigiriya February 2001 Dr Harold Gunatillake Video presentation: "Sigiriya" May 2001 Peter Davis & Theresa Cannon The Elephants of Sri Lanka May 2001 Dr Harold Gunatillake Video presentation: Elephants of Sri Lanka June 2001 Dr Lakshman Ranasinghe The Health System of Ancient Ceylon September 2001 Dr Siri Gamage Sri Lankan Children in Australia - Challenges and Mechanisms in Negotiating the Bicultural World September 2001 Dr Harold Gunatillake Video presentation: Anuradhapura September 2001 Claire Oxlade The Victoria Golf Club and the Sri Lanka Golf Classic December 2001 Brian Parker Tales from the Tea Plantations February 2002 Noel Crusz Name Cocos Type Island Mutiny March 2002 Glennys Ferguson The First Ceylonese Family in Australia April 2002 Dr Lakshman Ranasinghe The Ayurvedic Roots and Shoots of Dermatology June 2002 Merlyn Swan On her book: Today's Believer September 2002 T Sri Ramanathan Cult of Murugan September 2002 Dr Harold Gunatillake Video presentation: Murugan Cult and Hindu Religious Practices November 2002 Dr R K de Silva Ernst Haekel: Zoologist, Botanist, Medical Doctor, Traveller and Artist February 2003 Srikantha Nadarajah Facets of Sinhalese and Tamil Culture in Sri Lanka February 2003 Dr S N Breckenridge On his book: Hills of Paradise May 2003 Robin Walsh Garrisons, Grief & Regimental Honour - the 73rd Regiment in Sri Lanka 1814-1821 October 2003 Dr Michael Roberts The Political Ideology of the Name Kandyan Type Kingdom February 2004 Sena Atukorale Ancient and Modern Irrigation Works in Sri Lanka June 2004 Tony Peries Some Aspects of Commerce in later 19th- 20th Century Sri Lanka June 2004 Jayantha Jayawardene Bio Diversity of Sri Lanka August 2004 Capt Elmo Jayawardene The Name Last Type Kingdom of Sinhalay August 2004 Prof Yasmine Gooneratne Lone Woolf - A Centenary Tribute to the author of "The Village in the Jungle" Febuary 2005 Srikantha Nadarajah Historical Antecedents of Problems in Post Independence Sri Lanka Febuary 2005 Dr Nihal Kuruppu Life and Times of Martin Wickremesinghe June 2005 Sumane & Rohini Iyer Sri Lankan Farmers in Australia June 2005 Brian Parker Tea Planting in the mid 20th Century August 2005 Sunil de Silva Legal Lunumiris from mid 1900s February 2006 Dr R K de Silva A Review of the Dutch Forts in Sri Lanka April 2006 Merrill J Fernando The Dilmah Story July 2006 Ms Anoma Pieris "Saramayata Kalisama": The Trouser Under the Cloth January 2007 Dr Ian Smith Ceylon - Portuguese: the Linguistic Legacy of Lanka's First European Colonisers. April 2007 Prof Yasmine Gooneratne On her book: Sweet and Simple Kind April 2007 S Muttiah Indo-lankans: the Story of the 200 Year Saga of Peoples of Indian Origin in Sri Lanka July 2007 Dr Raja Bandaranayake On his book: Betwixt Isles - an Account of the Captivity of Ehelepola Maha Nilame in Mauritius February 2008 Neville Turner The History, Literature and Culture of Cricket in Sri Lanka - a Foreigner's Point of View February 2008 Chandra Senaratne Where did we come from? Why are we here? Where do we go from here? On his book: "The Joy of Sharing" May 2008 Dr Geoffrey Brahm Levey Australian Multiculturalism: Success or Failure August 2008 Stefan D'Silva My fascination with the Diversity of Wildlife in Ceylon February 2009 Ramya Panagoda Things are never the same after experiencing the Boxing Day Tsunami Melbourne Date Speaker Subject March 2000 Theresa Cannon & Peter Davies Elephants of Ceylon July 2000 Rodney St John The Birds of Sri Lanka July 2000 Kyle Joustra Researching your Genealogy October 2000 Victor Melder Railways in the 1950s - Highlighting a Nostalgic Journey from Colombo to Badulla March 2001 Dr R K de Silva De Meuron Regiment in Ceylon March 2001 Noel Crusz On his book: Cocos Island Mutiny February 2001 Tilak Wijeywardene Enigma of Sigiriya - 5th Century Rock Fortress May 2001 Kyle Joustra Genealogy - The Making of History May 2001 Dr Harold Gunatillake Video presentation: "Sigiriya" September 2001 M L Mahindapala Major Political and Social Movements in 20th Century Sri Lanka April 2002 Dr Lakshman Ranasinghe The Oxford English Dictionary and a Few Doctors June 2002 Dr Michael Roberts Eating Stone and Drinking Blood: Re-analysing the Story of the Arrival of the Portuguese July 2002 Eddie Gray Experiences in the Ceylon Police November 2002 Dr R K de Silva Ernst Haekel: Zoologist, Botanist, Medical Doctor, Traveller, and Artist December 2002 Ms Anoma Pieris Ceylonese Convicts deported to the Straits Settlements February 2003 Dr S N Breckenridge On his book: Hills of Paradise May 2003 Prem Kumbukkage Temple Paintings - An Illustrated Presentation October 2003 Dr Nihal Kuruppu Martin Wickremesinghe: the Author, the Man March 2004 Gerald Cooray Education in Ceylon - a Centenary Volume 1869-1969 March 2004 E C T Candappah Book Launch: "In the Palm of My Hand" May 2004 Dr Channa Wijesinghe Spirit Possession in Sri Lanka September 2004 Capt Elmo Jayawardene The Last Kingdom of Sinhalay November 2004 Rex de Silva Some Aspects of Sri Lanka Ornithology February 2005 Tony Peries Some Aspects of Commerce in later 19th - 20th Century Sri Lanka September 2005 Shyamon Jayasinghe Ediriweera Sarachchandra in my Times November 2005 Dr Ranjith Dayaratne Geoffrey Bawa - the Genius of Place February 2006 Dr R K de Silva A Review of the Dutch Forts in Sri Lanka May 2006 Prof Granville Dharmawardene Rebirth September 2006 Dr Nihal Kuruppu The Role of Traditional Caste Structures November 2006 Capt Elmo Jayawardene From Sam's Story to a Bigger Story - AFLAC and Tsunami Relief February 2007 David Brown Some Aspects of the Postal History of Ceylon February 2007 Valentine Perera On his book: "Mahaweli Meadows" April 2007 S Muttiah The Nattukottai Chettiars - their Influence on Ceylon, South and South East Asia July 2007 Mannie Candappa Introduction of book: " A Life in the Round" by Hillary Abeyratne on Dr Kamalika Abeyratne October 2007 Dr Raja Banadaranayake On his Book: "Betwixt Isles" - the Story of Kandyan Prisoners in Mauritius February 2008 Victor Melder Will O' the Wisp and other Kindred Spirits - Anecdotes, Yarns, Humour and Vignettes of Railway Life in Sri Lanka June 2008 Ms Anoma Pieris The Messenger Birds of Jayawardenapura August 2008 Neville Turner The History, Literature and Culture of Cricket in Sri Lanka - a Foreigner's Point of View November 2008 Stefan D'Silva My fascination with the Diversity of Wildlife in Ceylon February 2009 Mahinda Wijesinghe The History of Sri Lanka Cricket since achieving Test Status Colombo Date Speaker Subject June 2007 Somasiri Devendra Colombo- Capital City and Port - Past, Present and Future? June 2007 Dr Brendon Gooneratne Robert Knox in the Kandyan Kingdom August 2007 Fred Medis Parangiya Kottegiya August 2007 Anandalal Nanayakkara The Kastane Sword of Sri Lanka December 2007 Dr Nalin Perera Indigenous Medical Systems of Sri Lanka: Ayurveda and Sinhala Vedakam March 2008 Prof. Ashley Halpe Book Launch: "Yesterday is Another Country" by Somasiri Devendra May 2008 Dr Raja Bandaranayake On his Book: "Betwixt Isles" - the Story of Kandyan Prisoners in Mauritius August 2008 Tissa Devendra The Kachcheri System in Sri Lanka November 2008 Tony Saldin The O'Deen's of Australia February 2009 Capt. Elmo Jayawardena The Last Kingdom of Sinhalay