Governor-General of Ceylon

Governor-General of Ceylon
Former political post
William Gopallawa, the last Governor-General
Predecessor
Successor
First officeholder	Henry Monck-Mason Moore
Last officeholder	William Gopallawa
Style	Excellency
Official residence	Queen's House
Appointer	Queen Elizabeth II as Queen of Ceylon
Political office started	4 February 1948
Political office ended	22 May 1972

The Governor-General of Ceylon was the representative of the Ceylonese monarch, and head of state, who held the title of Queen of Ceylon (as of 1952, Queen Elizabeth II) from 1948 when the country became independent as a Dominion until the country became the republic of Sri Lanka in 1972.

Role

The monarch, on the advice of the Prime Minister, appointed a Governor-General to be her representative in Ceylon. Neither the monarch nor the Governor-General had any real authority in conducting the administration of the country (however, both possessed reserve powers under the constitution which would allow them full control of the nation's governance whenever in their opinion a case of emergency requiring such action arises). Real legislative and executive responsibilities rested with the elected representatives of the people. During several periods when a state of emergency was declared the Governor-General used his reserved powers.

The Governor-General represented the Monarch on ceremonial occasions such as the opening of Parliament, the presentation of honours and military parades. Under the Constitution, he was given authority to act in some matters, for example in appointing and disciplining officers of the civil service, in proroguing Parliament and so on, but only in a few cases was he empowered to act entirely on his own discretion. When the Monarch was present in Ceylon on official visits, the post of Governor-General ceased to exist during the said period.^{[citation needed]} On the absence of the Governor-General, the Chief Justice of Ceylon became acting Governor-General.

History

There were four Governor-Generals who represented the Ceylonese Monarch.

Sir Henry Monck-Mason Moore became the last Governor of Ceylon and first Governor-General when the Ceylon Order in Council, the first constitution of independent Ceylon came into effect. He was followed by Lord Soulbury, thereafter by Sir Oliver Goonetilleke the first Ceylonese to be appointed to the post. When William Gopallawa was appointed as Governor-General in 1962, he discarded the ceremonial uniform of office.

When Ceylon became a republic in 1972 the post replaced by the office of President of Sri Lanka.

Residence

The official residence and office of the Governor-General was the Queen's House (currently the President's House) in Colombo. Other Governor-General residences include:

• the Queen's Pavilion, in Kandy, was the residences used for (rare) state functions;
• the Queen's Cottage was the vacationing residence in the town of Nuwara Eliya.

Governors-General of Ceylon

Portrait	Name	Entered office	Left office	Sovereign
	Sir Henry Monck-Mason Moore, GCMG, KStJ (1887–1964)	4 February 1948	6 July 1949	George VI
	Herwald Ramsbotham, 1st Viscount Soulbury, GCMG, GCVO, OBE, MC, PC (1887–1971)	6 July 1949	17 July 1954	George VI Elizabeth II
	Acting Justice C. Nagalingam, KC (1893–1958)	1954	1954	Elizabeth II
	Herwald Ramsbotham, 1st Viscount Soulbury, GCMG, GCVO, OBE, MC, PC (1887–1971)	1954	17 July 1954	Elizabeth II
	Sir Oliver Ernest Goonetilleke, GCMG, KCVO, KBE (1892–1978)	17 July 1954	2 March 1962	Elizabeth II
	William Gopallawa, MBE (1897–1981)	2 March 1962	22 May 1972	Elizabeth II

Monarchs of Ceylon

As representative of the crown; the Governor-General of Ceylon represented the monarch of Ceylon. They were as follows:

Name		Portrait	Start of reign	End of reign	Full title as monarch
1	George VI (1895–1952)		4 February 1948	6 February 1952	'By the Grace of God, of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India"; the title "Emperor of India" was dropped as of 15 Aug 1947 by retroactive proclamation dated 22 Jun 1948.
2	Elizabeth II (1926-)		6 February 1952	23 March 1971	6 Feb 1952 - 29 May 1953: "By the Grace of God, of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas Queen, Defender of the Faith"; 29 May 1953 - 23 Mar 1971: "Queen of Ceylon and of Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth.

Flag of the Governor-General

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  Flag of Governor-General of Ceylon (1948-1953)

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  Flag of Governor-General of Ceylon (1953-1972)

See also

• Governor of Ceylon
• President of Sri Lanka