| Owner(s) | The Ceylonese & Co. Limited |
|---|---|
| Founder(s) | P. Ramanathan |
| Founded | 5 March 1913 (1913-03-05) |
| Language | English |
| Ceased publication | 1917 (1917) |
| City | Colombo |
| Country | Ceylon |
| OCLC number | 41941263 |
The Ceylonese was an English-language newspaper in Ceylon founded by P. Ramanathan and other leading figures.[1][2] The newspaper started on 5 March 1913 with Americans H. H. Marcus as manager and Tom Wright as editor.[3] The paper was based at Tichborne Hall, Tichborne Avenue in Maradana, Colombo.[2] The paper's other directors included Hector Alfred Jayewardene and Francis de Zoysa.[4] The paper was editorially nationalistic and was run like an American newspaper, a contrast to other Ceylonese papers which were run according to the British model.[5][6]
Ramanthan used the paper to promote his candidature for the Educated Ceylonese seat in the Legislative Council of Ceylon.[7] During the 1911 election the de Soysa family had used their paper, The Morning Leader, to attack Ramanthan so that their relative Marcus Fernando would win the election.[8] This tactic failed with Ramanthan defeating Fernando by 1,645 votes to 981 votes.[9][10]
After some time differences arose between the paper's directors and Ramanathan resigned from the board of directors.[5] The remaining directors and shareholders continued to use the paper to promote their own interests.[11] World War I also impacted on the paper - there was war-time censorship and the cost of newsprint, ink, types and machinery soared.[11] The paper faced serious financial problems - it was making a loss and had large debts.[11] F. R. Senanayake issued a writ to auction the paper's assets in order to recover a Rs. 21,000 loan.[2][6] As a result, the paper ceased publication in late 1917.[4][12]
D. R. Wijewardena saw The Ceylonese's demise as an opportunity to grow his fledgling media empire.[13] The auction for the paper's assets took place in December 1917.[6] At the auction Senanayake and his brother D. S. Senanayake asked Wijewardena to make a bid of Rs. 21,000, the amount of the writ, but bidding was slow.[6] Wijewardena was able to buy the paper's plant and goodwill with a bid of Rs. 16,000.[6][13] He also paid off the remainder of mortgage held by F. R. Senanayake.[6] Wijewardena subsequently started the Ceylon Daily News on 3 January 1918 using The Ceylonese assets.[1][14]
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