member of the Royal Asiatic Society, and Chairman of the Chilaw Association. In 1899, he was elected by the various native associations of Ceylon, and a public meeting in Colombo, to proceed to England as a delegate of the people of Ceylon, to lay before the Imperial Government a representation against the Waste Lands Ordinance. The second son, Alfred Ernest, is a physician, and the youngest, Charles Edward Victor, is an Advocate of the Supreme Court.' Sri Lankan author Kumari Jayawardena, writing about the Coreas noted: 'Unconnected to the liquor trade but making their money on plantation ventures was the Corea Family of Chilaw, an influential goyigama group with a history going back to Portuguese rule when they were warriors to Sinhala kings. During Dutch and British rule, members of the family were officials serving the state in various ways and rewarded with titles. Some members of the family took to the legal and medical professions, most notably the sons of Charles Edward Corea (a solicitor), who were active in local politics and in the Chilaw Association which campaigned against British land policies - especially the Waste Lands Ordinance, and for political reforms. The most active of Corea's sons was C.E.(Charles Edgar) who spoke up for peasant rights and was militant in his stand against the government. He was President of the Ceylon National Congress in 1924. C.E.Corea's brother, Alfred Ernest, was a doctor and the youngest Victor Corea was a lawyer who achieved fame for leading a campaign (and going to jail) in 1922 to protest the Poll Tax on all males; he was the first President of the Ceylon Labour Union led by A.E.Goonesinha and was active in the Ceylon Labour Party. While being professionals and political activists, the Coreas were also important landowners. ' Reverend Canon Ivan Corea, the second son of Dr. James Alfred Ernest Corea was appointed the Rural Dean of Colombo of the Church of Ceylon. He was also Chaplain to the Bishop of Colombo. Meeting Mahatma Gandhi in Chilaw When the 'Father of India,' Mahatma Gandhi visited Chilaw in 1927, on his first ever visit to Ceylon, he met with Dr. J.A.E. Corea and the Corea Family. Gandhi stayed in a Corea home called 'Sigiriya' in Chilaw. Gandhi visited Chilaw on the invitation of his brothers, C.E.Corea and Victor Corea. J.A.E.Corea was also an active member of the Chilaw Association, founded by his