Dutch Burgher Union of Ceylon


The Dutch Burgher Union of Ceylon, known commonly as the Dutch Burgher Union, is an organisation of Dutch Burghers in Sri Lanka. It was established on 18 January 1908 by Richard Gerald Anthonisz.

History

On 12 November 1907 Richard Anthonisz organised a preliminary meeting of men and women of the Dutch Burgher community at the Lindsay School Hall in Bambalapitiya to consider the establishment of a Dutch Burgher Union. A small committee was appointed to draft a constitution for the union. The inaugural general meeting of the union was held on 18 January 1908 at the Pettah Public Library, with 267 enrolled members present. At the meeting Frederick Charles Loos, a Proctor and Member of the Legislative Council was elected as the first president of the union, with Anthonisz as Honorary Secretary. The second president of the union was Henry Lorenz Wendt who, however, died two months after his election and in 1912 was replaced by Fedrick Henry de Vos. In 1913 Sir Hector William van Cuylenburg was elected as the fourth president of the union. In 1916, Anthonisz was elected President, a position he held for twenty-four years until his death in 1930.
The first writ described the vision of union, and it stated ".. promote the moral, intellectual and social well-being of the Dutch and Dutch Burgher descendants in Ceylon.. and among many others.. the promotion of fellowship, self-help, self-reliance and thrift." Membership of the Dutcher Burgher Union was governed by strict genealogical qualifications, with members having to demonstrate an uninterrupted line of patrilineal descent from a European employee of the Dutch East India Company.
Initially, the union sublet two rooms at Sea View, Kollupitiya; the union soon set about raising funds to establish a more permanent accommodation. In 1913, the union acquired land in Cinnamon Gardens on Buller's Road and Serpentine Road, where it constructed a two-storey building. The ground floor of the building contains a vestibule which leads to a large public room, with a sprung teak floor, which was used for lectures and dances. A carved wooden staircase leads to the upper floor, which houses a billiard room, bar, card rooms, a drawing room and a reading room. There is also a wing containing residential quarters for outstation members and space at the rear of the building which was initially used for horses and carriages and subsequently for car parking. The grounds also contained tennis courts and a netball court. As the suburb developed, the union was forced to sell much of its grounds for new roads and to pay for increasing property rates.
The Dutch Burgher Union still operates in Colombo as a centre for social and community activities. It has been described as a "once a powerful secret society but now only a gloomy billiard hall near Buller Road, draped in dust and cobwebs".
The union manages St Nikolaas' Home, and the Brohier Memorial Home.

Notability

The union has published in excess of 70 volumes of The Journal of the Dutch Burgher Union of Ceylon. The first copy was issued on 31 March 1908 and copies were issued regularly until 1968. No volumes were published between 1968 and 1981, mostly due to the exodus of members of the burgher community from Sri Lanka. The journals contain genealogies of over 200 burgher families, and are considered a valuable resource for researching the community. The journal is now published annually.
The DBU's centenary was featured on the Sri Lankan 5 rupee stamp.

List of Dutch Burgher Union Presidents


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Frederick Charles Loos1908-1911
Henry Lorenz Wendt1911
Fedrick Henry de Vos1912-1913
Sir Hector William van Cuylenburg1913-1916
Richard Gerald Anthonisz1916-1930
Dr. L. A Prins1930-1932
Dr H. U. Leembruggen1932-1935
E. H. Van der Wall1935-1936
Dr. Richard Lionel Spittel1936-1938
J. R. Toussaint1938-1942
H. K de Kretser1942-1946
Dr. V. R. S. Schokman1946-1949
C. A. Speldewinde1949-1953
Dr. R. L. Brohier1953-1955
R. S. V. Poulier1955-1957
James Aubrey Martensz1957-1959
Dr. E. S. Brohier1959-1961
Dr. V. H. L. Anthonisz1961-1962
Dr. H. A. Dirckze1962-1963
W. J. A. Van Langenberg1963-1965
Vernon Jonklaas1965-1966
Brian Jonklaas1966-1971
C.L. Beling1971-1972
Leonard Jonklaas1972-1973
Brian Jonklaas1973-1978
Justice Percy Colin-Thome1978-1988
Amyas de Kretser1988-1989
Harold Speldewinde1989-1999
Ronald Gray1999-2000
Godfrey de Kretser '2000
Deloraine Brohier2001-2003
Wilhelm Woutersz2003
Melville Kerkoven '2003-2004
Kem Martensteyn2005-2008
Nigel Austin2008-2011
Timothy Speldewinde2011-2016
Stephen LaBrooy2016-present