MARRIAGE TO GERTRUDE WICKRAMASINGHE

While waiting in Tangalle for his letter of appointment to the clerical service, NU was introduced by an uncle to an important member of the Durava clan who had achieved government recognition - Gate Mudaliyar Norman Wickramasinghe of Gorakana, Moratuwa.

- KUMARI JAYAWARDENA AND JENNIFER MORAGODA

He and his wife Caroline and daughter Gertrude Mildred (known as Gertie) planned to stop at the Tangalle Resthouse on their way to Kataragama. The main reason for this visit was to see if NU would be a suitable husband for Gertrude.

Marriages during this period were arranged by relatives and elders and did not deviate in terms of caste. Norman and Caroline Wickramasinghe had, no doubt, been on the lookout for bachelors who were bright and with good prospects for advancement.

It was not unusual for young women with some wealth and status to marry educated men of the same caste even if of humbler social origins - as long as they had good prospects. Sometimes a prospective father-in-law would even finance the education of an intelligent young man, of his own caste, who would later become his son-in-law. One famous case of a 'dowry scholarship,' as it was popularly known, was that of James Peiris, a leading political figure of the 1920s. His education at Cambridge was paid for by Jacob de Mel, one of the wealthiest landowners and liquor renters of the time, whose daughter Grace married Peiris.