Proud and prejudiced - Ferdinandus

PREFACE
My motivation for writing about the Burghers from Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) came from a
sudden awareness that my children, their children and the children and grandchildren of other
Burghers of my generation knew little, if anything, about the society their parents and
grandparents had grown up in and the country they called `home'.
I feel certain that many of the current generation will, as I have, develop a stronger
interest in their roots as they grow older. As my generation is the last to remember what life
was for the Burghers in Ceylon under British colonial rule and the period immediately
following the grant of political independence in 1948, a record of that period may well be of
great value to them—and to all the Burghers now assimilated into other countries—in the years
to come.
Researching the 500 year history of the Burghers and writing this book has taken three
years. Over 200 people were interviewed in Australia, the UK and from the Burgher
community of Sri Lanka. Many contributed their recollections and personal anecdotes about life
in Ceylon and their experiences in the countries of their adoption. To all these people I express
my appreciation and gratitude.
My research has been helped and encouraged by many interested people, not all of
them Burghers. My brother Ivor refreshed my memory, contributed articles and critically
evaluated my drafts. Many others, too numerous to name, lent research material, contributed
experiences or evaluated conclusions.
From its inception in 1908, the Dutch Burgher Union (DBU) was the leading Burgher
organisation. The DBU Journal recorded the views of the leading members of the Burgher
community on social, political and economic issues. This was especially so in the latter days of
the British Raj and the decade that followed the grant of political independence. No research on
the Burgher community would have been complete without a study of the Dutch Burgher Union
Journals. Harold Speldewinde, the current President, authorised my use of copyright material in
the Journals and The Victor Melder Sri Lanka Library in Broadmeadows, Victoria, made
available the complete set for my use. Victor's files, notes and ready assistance helped me
complete this book on schedule.
Deloraine Brohier gave me permission to use the publications of her father, Dr. R. L.
Brohier, probably the last of the eminent Burghers; Helene de Rosayro kept me informed of
items of interest to Burghers in the new Sri Lanka and Cornelius van Eersel from the
Netherlands provided me with much historical information on the Netherlands and Belgium.
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