Francis Huntly Griffith

Hon.
Francis Huntly Griffith
Member of the Ceylon Parliament
for Community (appointed member)
In office
1947–1951
Preceded byseat created
Succeeded byRobert Singleton-Salmon
Personal details
Born1885
Glasbury, Wales
DiedJuly 1958
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
NationalityBritish
SpouseNancy Barton née Robinson
RelationsHubert George (father), Marion Douglas née Tucker (mother)
Professiontea planter

Francis Huntly Griffith JP, UM (1885 – 1958) was a tea and rubber planter in Ceylon and a member of parliament.[1]

Francis Huntly Griffith was born in Glasbury, Wales, in 1885, the oldest of five children of Reverend Hubert George Griffith (c.1849-c.1927) the vicar of Glasbury and Marion Douglas née Tucker (1864-c.1942).

He travelled to Ceylon in 1909 taking up a position as a manager of a tea plantation in Matugama. In 1920 he took up the manager's role at a tea plantation in Agalawatta.

In October 1928 he married Nancy Barton née Robinson, the only daughter of Sir Arthur Robinson and Lady Annie Summers Robinson, in St. Paul's Church, Knightsbridge.[2]

In 1931 he was elected as vice-president of the Planters' Association of Ceylon, the preeminent representative body of the country's tea industry.[3]

On 12 March 1936 he was appointed as a nominated member of the State Council of Ceylon.[4]

Following Ceylon's first parliamentary elections in 1947, Griffith was appointed as a member of the Ceylon House of Representatives. He was one of six members appointed by the Governor-General, to represent important interests which were not represented or inadequately represented in the House.[5][6] He resigned from parliament in September 1951 and his position was filled by Robert Singleton-Salmon.[7]

He and his wife migrated to Australia in 1952, where they resided in Ferny Creek, Victoria. Huntly died in July 1958 in Melbourne, Victoria.

  1. ^ "Hon. Griffith, Francis Huntly, M.P." Directory of Past Members. Parliament of Sri Lanka. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  2. ^ "WOMAN'S WORLD". The News. Vol. XI, no. 1, 647. Adelaide. 24 October 1928. p. 6 (Home Edition). Retrieved 3 January 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. ^ Ukers, William H. (1935). All About Tea. New York: Kingsport Press Inc. p. 194. ISBN 9781387040070.
  4. ^ "The Ceylon Blue Book". Government Printer, South Africa. 1938: 32. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  5. ^ "62nd Anniversary of Independence". Daily News. 4 February 2010. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
  6. ^ Mutukumara, H. M. Nemsiri (4 February 2005). "The Hour of the Nation". The Daily News. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  7. ^ "Parliamentary Debates". 11. Parliament of Ceylon. 1951: 39. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)