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George Wall Memorial Fountain (From "Google Street View") |
George Wall Memorial Fountain (Sinhala: ජෝර්ජ් වෝල් අනුස්මරණ වතුර මල) is located adjacent to the Lipton Circus in front of the Victoria Memorial Hospital in Cinnamon Gardens in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The fountain also serves as a roundabout.
History
The fountain was built in commemoration of George Wall (1821-1894), a British merchant, politician, and botanist. Born in England, he moved to Sri Lanka in 1846 and worked as the acting manager of the Ceylon Plantation Company in Kandy until he established his own business, George Wall and Company, Coffee Merchants and Estate Agents in 1954. With the success he achieved, Wall became the chairman of the Planters' Association of Ceylon and a member of the Legislative Council of Ceylon. However, following the outbreak of the coffee bright disease, Wall's business eventually suspended operations in 1879. His business, George Wall and Company was subsequently taken over by Bosanquet and Company (Wright, 1999).
After falling ill in 1894, Wall returned to England for treatment at St. Thomas' Hospital, where he died in December that year. In commemoration of Wall, his friends in Sri Lanka built a memorial fountain at the present location (Manathunga, 2016).
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References
Books, Journal Articles
1) Wall, George (1821-1894) on JSTOR. Global Plants. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
2) Manathunga, S. B., 2016. Pauranika Sthana Saha Smaraka: Kolamba Distrikkaya (In Sinhala). Department of Archaeology (Sri Lanka). ISBN: 955-9159-39-9. p.54.
3) Wright, A. ed., 1999. Twentieth Century Impressions of Ceylon: Its
History, People, Commerce, Industries, and Resources (first published in 1907). Asian Educational Services. p.435.
