H. E. P. de Mel

Hon.
Hugh Edmund Peter de Mel
Member of the Ceylonese Parliament
for Talawake
In office
1952–1956
Preceded byC. V. Velupillai
Succeeded byK. Hemachandra
Personal details
Born(1907-06-17)17 June 1907
Moratuwa, Ceylon
Died27 September 1992(1992-09-27) (aged 85)
Colombo, Sri Lanka
NationalityCeylonese
Political partyUnited National Party
SpouseSusima Swarnamalie née Dias (m.1931; d.1967)
RelationsCornelis Francis de Mel (father), Jane Maria (mother), Joseph Ford Francis (brother), Lena Catherine Maria Perera (sister)
ChildrenRanjanie Mendis (daughter), Jayampathie (son), Sunitha Rodrigo (daughter)
Residence(s)'Melgreen' Koralawella, Moratuwa
Alma materPrince of Wales College, Moratuwa
ProfessionManufacturer, politician

Hugh Edmund Peter de Mel (17 June 1907 – 27 September 1992) was a Ceylonese politician.[1][2]

Hugh Edmund Peter de Mel, was born 17 June 1907 in Moratuwa, the son of Cornelis Francis de Mel, and brother of Joseph Ford Francis, all of whom were key figures in the country's safety match industry.[3] In 1929 de Mel established the Lanka Light Match factory in Moratuwa.[3][4] He married Susima Swarnamalie née Dias,[5] in 1931.

De Mel ran as the United National Party candidate at the 2nd parliamentary election, held between 24 May 1952 and 30 May 1952, in the Talawake electorate. He was successful polling 1,198 votes (54% of the total vote) 352 votes clear of his nearest rival.[6][7]

At the subsequent 3rd parliamentary election, held between 5 April 1956 and 10 April 1956, de Mel chose to contest the seat of Moratuwa rather than Talawake. He was unsuccessful in his bid, losing to the Lanka Sama Samaja Party candidate, Meryl Fernando, by 7,718 votes.[8] Fernando, a trade unionist, having earlier tried to organise workers at de Mel's match factory in 1945.[9]

De Mel served on the Executive Council of the Ceylon National Chamber of Industries as Deputy Chairman for a number of years in the 1960s.[10]

  1. ^ "Hon. de Mel, Hugh Edmund Peter, M.P." Parliament of Sri Lanka. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
  2. ^ "Members of the Legislatures of Sri Lanka, 1931-83: Record of Service". Parliament of Sri Lanka. 1983: 124. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. ^ a b De Mel, V. S. M. (1980). Through the vistas of life - Reminiscences of a Ceylonese civil servant. p. 20.
  4. ^ "Administration Report of the Commissioner of Labour for 1944". Ceylon Government Press. 1944: 21. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  5. ^ Jansze, Malcolm. "Sri Lanka Sinhalese Family Genealogy - Rodrigo". WorldGenWeb. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
  6. ^ "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1952" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 2 July 2018.[permanent dead link]
  7. ^ "The Ceylon Historical Journal". 2. Tisara Prakasakayo. 1952: 158. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  8. ^ "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1956" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 2 July 2018.[permanent dead link]
  9. ^ Plant, J. J. "Obituary: Meryl Fernando (1923–2007)". Marxists Internet Archive.
  10. ^ "Industrial Ceylon". Ceylon National Chamber of Industries. 1968: 118, 210, 300. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)