CASTLEREAGH BUNGALOW

The original bungalow in which the Superintendents lived on Castlereagh Estate was built in the 1870s. It was burnt down in 1915 and the present bungalow since renovated and upgraded – was built in 1925.

The story of Castlereagh matches the story of Ceylon Tea. In the 1870s it was a hugely successful coffee plantation as was its neighbour in Dickoya, Wanarajah. The planter at Castlereagh in 1870 was Lillie Henry Richard Kelly, born 15 October 1842 as the youngest son of Surgeon Major Kelly. His father, Luke Kelly, was Assistant Surgeon to the Forces in Ceylon and died in Colombo in 1842, age 38.

Although his father died in the year he was born, Lillie Kelly fared well and in July 1868 he married Louisa Maria, second daughter of Major Vanderspaar at Kandy. His unusual first name he owed to his godfather, Captain Lillie. His eldest son entered the Malay States Civil Service; the second, William Maxwell Kelly, was killed in action at Nooitgedacht, South Africa, in December 1900 age 26.

Lillie Kelly became so prosperous as a coffee planter that he left Ceylon in the 1870s, before he was 30, intending to retire and spend the remainder of his days in England. However, the failure of his coffee holdings through leaf disease, as happened with all the coffee plantations in Dickoya in the early 1880s, brought him back to Ceylon.

In 1883 Castlereagh was known in Tamil as Ukra Totum, owned by L H Kelly with the Agents being Whittall & Co Ltd. Lillie Kelly, still relatively young and, undaunted by his loss of fortune, planted on the estate in partnership with Mr A Ingall. At first he kept 100 acres in coffee while the rest of the 400-acre property was tea.

Kelly eventually became so successful that he bought Castlereagh Estate and also planted on the Killarney Estate, Bogawantalawa. He became Chairman of the Planters’ Association and the representative of the planters in the Legislative Council. He was known among friends as “The Duke” because of his success and status.

In 1892 Hon L H Kelly was on the General Committee of the Dickoya & Maskeliya Cricket Club, by which time Castlereagh had become known in Tamil in his honour as Kelly Dorai Akra Totum. In 1893 he transferred the Estate to the newly formed Castlereagh Tea Co Ltd with the established firm of Eastern Produce & Estates as Agent. A fellow director was R W D Moir, who may have been related to Jas. Moir of Tientsin Estate (qv) also in Dickoya.

The “Duke” died after an illustrious career in Ceylon on 26 December 1898, when he was 56. He is buried at Warleigh Church overlooking the Castlereagh Reservoir.

Castlereagh seems to have inspired planters in their enthusiasm for tea and Ceylon, as many of them became stalwarts of society.

Castlereagh was probably named after Lord Castlereagh, the 2nd Marquess of Londonderry (1769-1822). He was an Irish/British statesman who became British Foreign Secretary in 1812 and organised the finance and alliance that destroyed Napoleon.

The Castlereagh Reservoir was created by building a dam across the Kehelgama Oya, a major tributary of the Kelani River. Water from the reservoir is diverted to the Wimalasurendra Power Station approximately 7.5 miles (12km) downstream near Norton Bridge. It was commissioned in 1965. The reservoir is a registered water airport under the IATA code.

After the commissioning of the dam, Castlereagh Tea Factory was inundated and a new factory was built on Carfax division. Carfax had a bungalow built mostly of weather boards with high walls. It had a wrought iron grill in the fire-place which took in only cinders This quaint bungalow was eventually demolished.

The Castlereagh Tea Company of Ceylon continued as owners for 50 more years with the Agents remaining as Eastern Produce & Estates Ltd. In 1952 the estate was owned by Mr. J.L.M. Fernando and the Michela Estates Ltd with J M L Fernando as the Agent. Mr V C Baker (qv) was the Superintendent. The property then had 459 acres of tea.

The estate was sold to the southern Ceylon planter the Hon. H.W. Amarasuriya and in 1957, Mr. U.T. Perera was Superintendent. Amarasuriya amalgamated Carfax, Glencairn and Blair Athol Divisions with Castlereagh with 985 acres of tea and ran it as a group. The Senior Superintendent in the 1960s was George Alexander “Alick” Cooke whose son, Michael Cooke, is a respected authority on the history of plantation bungalows and lives and works in Kandy.

After nationalisation in 1975, Castlereagh became known as Castlereagh State Plantation (consisting of Castlereagh, Carfax, Glencairn and Bair Atholl Estates) with ownership vested in the Land Reform Commission with the Agents being the Sri Lanka State Plantation Corporation (SLSPC). The group consisted of 1.130 acres of which 975 was in tea.

Castlereagh Bungalow was falling apart when Ceylon Tea Trails took it over in 2003 and restored it. At an altitude of 4,025 feet (1,227 metres) the bungalow has five bedrooms, a library, dining room, a swimming pool and summer houses.

CASTLEREAGH PLANTERS

ALSTON, G D H (Alston Garden Suite 1917-1950)

Graham Douglas Hamilton Alston became the Manager at Castlereagh in 1917 and remained as a stalwart figure there until 1950.

He was born, not in lowland Scotland as his surname suggests but in Epsom, Surrey, England on 29 May 1891. He probably saw service in the Great War (1914-18) as he was described as Lieutenant Alston after it. He served in Ceylon with occasional breaks (probably on leave in England with his tennis-playing wife) until 1950.

He embraced his choice of career as a planter with enthusiasm, becoming the official representative of the Planters’ Association of Ceylon in Dickoya and variously Chairman, Convenor, Committee Member or Auditor of the Dickoya Planters’ Association during the period 1917 to 1930.

Alston became an active member of the Dickoya & Maskeliya Cricket Club (DMCC) and many photos exist of him in various teams, usually in the centre as the captain. He was a tall, balding gentleman with the tell-tale strip of white flesh on his brow where the sun couldn’t reach because of the hat he wore when he was walking or riding on the plantation.

He is seen in a photograph hanging in the DMCC premises as a participant in the 1923 Colombo v Up Country Hockey Match and in the 1924 DMCC Cricket XI as well as in photos of the club’s cricket teams up to 1940. In 1926 he is seen as captain of the DMCC rugby team, and in 1926 up to 1940 as a member of the club’s hockey team.

Alston established himself as a keen amateur cricketer, good enough to play for the Ceylonese Up Country XI in a match against the MCC touring side on 2-4 February 1927. He batted at umber 8, scoring 10 runs in the first innings when the Ceylon team scored 166 to the MCC’s 223, and bowling two overs in the team’s second innings for nine runs, no wickets. The match was drawn.

He also played in the European XI versus the Ceylonese XI match held at the DMCC ground at Darrawella on 26 & 27 February 1933. Batting at Number 7 for the European XI, he scored 18 runs before being out, LBW. The Europeans scored 156 all out, to which the Ceylonese replied with 130 all out. In the second innings, however, his team could only score 80, of which he contributed 12 runs before being bowled, and the Ceylonese won with 110 for the loss of two wickets.

Alston was photographed as one of the planters at the VJ Celebrations held at the Darrawella clubhouse on 16 August 1945. He appears again, looking much older (by then he was 59) and having put on weight but still austere and commanding in presence in dark suit and tie, as a supporter at the match between the Ceylon Cricket Club and the DMCC in April 1950.

Alston’s wife, nicknamed “Tiny,” shared his love of sports and, in fact, outshone him in ability as she was talented enough at tennis to play at Wimbledon in 1920 and 1921. She was the Ceylon Women’s Tennis Champion 1920, 1921, 1922, 1924, 1925, 1929 and 1930. She was ranked as the island’s fourth best woman player during the period from 1920 to 1942, when championship matches ceased.

Mr & Mrs Alston had a daughter, Miss J R Alston, who is recorded as being in England on a visit, with her mother, in 1936.

By 1945, Alston had progressed from being a planter at Castlereagh to becoming a Visiting Agent, as well as the sole Dickoya and Bogawantalawa representative of the Planters’ Association of Ceylon.

G D H Alston died during retirement in his beloved Dickoya on 29 October 1973.

BAKER, V C (Baker Garden Suite 1951-1954)

Mr V C “Titch” Baker was the Superintendent at Castlereagh from 1951 to 1954.

He was simultaneously Manager of the neighbouring Gorthie Estate also in Dickoya.

Baker began his planting career in Ceylon as Assistant Planter at Kandoloya, Dolosbage (near Nawalapitiya) in the mid-1920s. In the 1930s he was the planter at Non Pareil, Atlanta and Ougaldowa Estates both in the Balangoda district. After the war he became planter with the Hunuwella Group at Opanaike and then Resident Planter at Coba, Badulla in 1949. After planting at Castlereagh, he joined the Gonapitiya Group near Kandapola.

Based at Castlereagh, Baker was the Dickoya Representative of the Automobile Association of Ceylon. He retired from planting after serving as Superintendent of the Frotoft Group from 1960.

JAMIESON, G O (Jamieson Garden Suite 1959-1961)

George O Jamieson, accompanied by his wife, came to Castlereagh as Assistant Superintendent in 1959. He soon became the Resident Manager, a position he held until 1961.

Jamieson began planting in 1937 when he was at the Penrhos group at Galboda. In those days there was no motorable road to Penrhos. Jamieson had to leave his car at Nawalapitiya station and take a train to the estate. There was a rail siding where he alighted and walked a short distance to the bungalow. When Penrhos estate was nationalised it was amalgamated with Barcaple Estate and a road was cut to Penrhos via Barcaple.

Jamieson married in 1951 and became the Resident Manager at Allakolla Group, Madulkele in the Knuckles district. At an elevation of 3,200 ft, the estate consisted of 1,144 acres of which 820 acres were planted in tea. The estate was owned by the southern planter, the Hon. Henry Woodward Amarasuriya who bought Castlereagh in the 1950s.

It was probably because of that connection that Jamieson was transferred to Castlereagh. During his time there, he was also the Superintendent of another Amarasuriya estate, Newton at Dickoya.

PALMER, J G (Palmer Garden Suite 1903-1908)

Mr J G Palmer was Resident Manager at Castlereagh from 1903 until 1908.

He was prominently involved in community affairs being Tennis Secretary and on the general committee, the executive committee and the golf committee of the Dickoya & Maskeliya Cricket Club in 1903-4, eventually becoming Vice President of the DMCC in 1908. By that time he had become Resident Manager of Gonagalla and Fordyce, also in Dickoya.

He had previously planted there in 1892, and in 1898 was a member of the Dickoya and Maskeliya Church Committee. He became Chairman of the Dickoya Planters’ Association while planting at Gonagalla. He was also a member of the Coastal Agency Committee, the Dickoya Roads Committee and the Plant Pests’ Board for Kandy. He and his wife were on the committee of the Ceylon Nursing Association.

In 1908, Palmer was on the committee in charge of Dickoya Roads (Norwood, Campion, Bathford Valley & Wanarajah) becoming its Chairman, until October 1909. At the time he was also on the Coastal Agency Committee and, while at Gonagalla, was on the Ceylon Labour Commission.

He was listed as a Director, along with R K Clark (qv), of the Udakelle Rubber Company with registered office in Hatton. J G Palmer is also listed as Managing Director of the Nuwara Eliya Hotels Co Ltd, owners of the Grand Hotel, and as Secretary (Tennis) of the Golf Club.

TATE, R (Tate Luxury Room 1968-1970)

Richard Tate was Resident Superintendent at Castlereagh from 1968 to 1970 when it was owned by Henry Woodward Amarasuriya Estates Ltd.

A hardworking, versatile planter he was simultaneously Superintendent at Newton, at 4,000 to 4,500 feet above sea level with 229 acres under tea. Newton was owned by Mrs I Abeysooriya while the Agent was Amarasuriya Ltd. It was then (1970/71) administered as an outlying division of Castlereagh.

In 1964 Tate was the Superintendent of another Amarasuriya Estates Ltd property, Fairfield, at 4,300 feet above sea level with 291 acres of tea and close to Lindula. At the same time he was also Superintendent at Holmwood and Thornley Estates near Agarapatana, also owned by

Amarasuriya Estates. He retained that position while in residence at Castlereagh.

He was also in 1970 Superintendent at Sutton, another plantation for which Amarasuriya was the Agent, with 239 acres of tea at 4.500 feet above sea level at Agarapatana.

Henry Woodward Amarasuriya used the Fairfield Bungalow as his holiday home and he also used the Glencairn Bungalow, then part of the Castlereagh Group, as another holiday retreat. Hailing from Galle, Amarasuriya was a politician and philanthropist as well as an estate owner. He owned more than 6,000 acres of tea, rubber and coconut estates and developed the roads, dispensaries, antenatal clinics, schools and temples around his estates. He was the Visiting Agent for the Castlereagh Group at the time Tate was Resident Manager. The present Managing Director of Dilmah Tea’s leisure division, that operates Tea Trails, is a great grandson of Amarasuriya.

Richard Tate is remembered as a very sociable character who enjoyed evenings at the Club in the company of fellow planters. He was married and had a daughter who later emigrated.