Life In Colombo Fort In Mid Twentieth Century

by Hugh Karunanayake

Mid twentieth century Colombo was very much Anglo centric. Ceylon, as the country was then known was still in a state of “colonial hangover”, not having rediscovered its indigenous identity yet. Although the country was granted independence from its colonial rulers in 1948, the general ethos pervading its social, cultural and economic activities were prominently British influenced.

The ‘commanding heights’ of the economy’ which were basically the plantations, and the agency houses which managed them and their exports, were all controlled by expatriate Britishers They were responsible for the transformation of the economy from a subsistence peasant economy to a plantation economy over the previous two centuries, creating the infrastructure through creating road and rail networks as well as ports, and airports. The nucleus of the country’s economy was very much the Colombo Fort.

The Colombo Fort was where all the major Agency Houses which managed the plantations were located. Also within the Fort were the major Banks (all foreign owned and operated except for the then nascent Bank Of Ceylon established in the 1930s) servicing the financial needs of the export economy. The country’ s non plantation agriculture was operating at subsistence level, its principal crop, rice inadequate to meet domestic demand.

The rural economy had meagre links with the plantation economy and the two sectors the urban and the rural had distinguishing features which separated the two both socially and economically. The major banks of the time were the Chartered Bank located at the corner of Queen and Bailie Streets, the Mercantile Bank on Queen Street, the National And Grindlays Bank in York Stret, the HongKong and Shanghai Bank in Bailie Street, and the State Bank of India also on Bailie Street. The head office of the Bank Of Ceylon was in the Chamber of Commerce building on Chatham Street.

In addition to the banks were two large engineering firms(also catering to the needs of the plantations) Walker Sons and Co (Main Street) and Brown and Co (Queen Street) which housed their head offices and showrooms within the Fort. The other service providers to the plantation sector such as the insurance companies and produce broker firms, were all located within the Fort.

There was also a sizeable government sector presence, also related to servicing the plantation economy, such as the customs department, import and export controls, the Central Bank, all located within the Fort. A dominant slice of the white collar work force of the country thus worked in offices in the Fort.

There were very few residents living in the Fort, the exception being the Baur and Co residential flats in Upper Chatham St, the resident naval personnel in the naval barracks in Flagstaff Street, and the gubernatorial presence in Queens House.

Life in the Fort during working hours on week days was a hive of activity. The thousands of white collar workers disgorged from the various transport services of the time including rail, tram, trolley buses and omnibuses were all temporary residents of the Fort  who after closing time left behind a silent, deserted city.

The Fort however adapted itself to meet the needs of this transient population. The food and beverage industry within the Fort were characterized by restaurants, bars, and other adjuncts like billiard parlours and even a gymnasium within the YMCA.

Chatham Street and Bailie Street and Hospital Streets were very popular for their pubs and eateries. On Chatham St was the Dominion Hotel,the White Horse Inn, and the Lord Nelson Hotel. On Bailie Street stood the British India Hotel, the Globe Hotel, while on Hospital Street there was Browns Bar, and on Canal Row was a pub called Ratnagiri, which was run by a man called Ratnasekera, and was a popular watering hole for Lake House journalists.

Arrack could be bought by the bottle and shared. A bottle of arrack in was eight rupees and a dram Rs 1.10. A dram was one eighth of a bottle, and soda water was on the house. That system of pricing was an invitation to surreptitiously bending the regulations, as one would think that the opportunity costs of providing soda, waitering, and cost of space will surely be more than the 80 cents per bottle consumed. The result of course was evident in the flagrant under measuring of liquor.

Also in the Fort were the somewhat upmarket hotels like the Bristol, and the Grand Oriental Hotel, both venerable institutions with residential facilities. The Bristol Hotel had a few permanent residents. DH Balfour of the Ceylon Civil Service lived in the Bristol, even after his retirement until he died there. Mark Twain also occupied its rooms and was fascinated by his room boy who had long hair and tied together in a ‘kondey’.

The Bristol was the first building in Ceylon to have ceiling fans, prompting many passers by to gaze in wonder at the amazing new technology! The Bristol was torn down in the 1970s and the land converted into a car park. The Bristol, together with the Metropole, the Globe, The Dominion featured billiard parlours where patrons could indulge in a game of billiards or snooker.

They also had separate bars for arrack drinking patrons and another section for the snooty patrons who would prefer to enjoy their scotch and soda away from the ‘hoi polloi’!

The Dominion, the Globe, and the White Horse Inn were at one stage all owned by the legendary Arthur Ephraims who also owned the New Oriental Hotel in Galle, and the Grand Hotel in Mount Lavinia where he resided permanently and died in around 1940.

The Lord Nelson Hotel was originally owned by a Malay proprietor Amos, and later bought by TA Fernando who owned a hotel in Nuwara Eliya as well. The Globe was later bought by racing bookmaker NWj Mudalige who also founded a popular eatery and bar called the Skyline Hotel in Wellawatte. The Metropole was owned by Mr BGS David a former member of the minor judiciary.

The big retailers in Colombo were all located in the Fort and they were the big Departmental Stores like Cargills, Miller’s, Whiteaway Laidlaw and Co, and Colombo Apothecaries, all stocking anything from a pin  to a motor cycle and employing hundreds. Whiteaways And Colombo Apothecaries closed down in the sixties although Cargills and Miller’s have metamorphosed into other entities keeping up to the changing demands from the consumer.

After all the hustle and bustle within the Fort during working hours, if one visited the Fort after 6 pm you will be presented with a ghostly scene. All the offices would be shut, hardly anyone on the streets, not even the sound of a car. That was the best time to be in the Fort.

Also on Sundays if you fancied a prelunch drink with friends one of the Fort pubs gave you a peaceful atmosphere where one could have a quiet chat. Not having been to a pub in the Fort for many years now, I wonder whether modernization  has led the female of the species also to having a drink in those pubs which were “women free ” not by law but by custom, in that era.

Of the eateries in the Fort there were the Madras curry joints down Hospital Street, where you could enjoy a steaming hot crab curry with a plate of rice served by bare bodied men with sweat dripping off them sometimes into the curry as well, for that extra touch of flavour!

The other pubs all served standard rice and curry gormandized by the pen pushing brigade, and of course there was the Pagoda which served its rice and curry with the rice served on a platter and the curries separately in smalle dishes. If you were in an almighty hurry to get back to work the YMCA cafeteria with self serving facilities seem to negate Milton’s observation that “they also serve who stand and wait.”

The Colombo Fort has had to suffer many vicissitudes of a different order than those it faced when it was under siege from attacking armies. The ethnic conflict of recent years and the resultant need for security measures during the eighties and nineties especially squeezed out the soul of a once vibrant city. Retail business has found its locale in other places within Colombo, and now maybe is the most opportune time for urban planners to create a new haven in the heart of Colombo. A Master Plan for the development of the Fort precinct is not only highly desirable, but most opportune.