Warland descendants in Sri Lanka

Members of the Coombe family, descendants of Penelope Warland (1738 - ?), via her granddaughter Mary Anne Place (1809 - 1864), acquired tea estates in Sri Lanka in the late 1800s. Their story is contained on this page. Some of the information on this page was provided in early 2023 by Wasantha Rathnayake, wub.rathnayake@yahoo.com

1843 to 1865 - Brief Background on the Coombe family

Robert Gorton Coombe (1847 - 1903) and his brother George Augustus Coombe (later Sir George Augustus Pilkington)(1848 - 1916) were the sons of the surgeon Robert Gorton Coombe (1818 - 1903) and Mary Anne Coombe (nee Place) (1809 - 1856) who married in 1843. See the story of Penelope Warland (1738 - ?) for further details of their family, including their sister Harriett Frances Coombe (1850 - 1917).

Robert Gorton Coombe (born 1818) trained as a doctor and was probably the person with the same name recorded as the Surgeon Superintendent on board the Enmore that arrived in Melbourne in October 1841. Robert G Coombe married Mary Ann Place in 1843 and they had three children: Robert Gorton Coombe (1847 - 1909), George Augustus Coombe (1848 - 1916), and Harriett Francis Coombe (1850 - 1917).

Around the time of the 'gold rush' in Victoria, Australia (early 1850s), Robert Gorton Coombe, his wife Mary Ann and their three children migrated to Victoria, Australia where he worked as a local surgeon and doctor in the small village of Mount Moriac. Unfortunately, Mary Ann died there in 1856. The year after, 1857, Robert returned to the UK with the three children. On his return, Robert married a second time to Frances Sarah Jones in 1858. They had one daughter, Frances Elizabeth Coombe (1859, Basford, Nottinghamshire - 1940). Unfortunately, Frances died the same year that their daughter was born. Robert Gorton Coombe then married Harriett Elizabeth Smith in London in 1862. They had two children: Thomas Sandby Coombe (1863, Burnham on Crouch, Essex - ?), and Charles Stuart Coombe (1865, Maldon, Essex - 1865).

The sons of Robert Gorton Coombe

Robert's eldest son, Robert Gorton Coombe (1847 - 1903) eventually settled in Maldon, Essex, where he worked as a surgeon. He married Edith Maria Allen (1847 - 1894) and they had eight children:

Rboert's brother, George Augustus Coombe (1848 – 1916) was also a doctor. He trained for medicine at Guy's Hospital, London. He became MRCS Eng and LSA in 1870 at the age of 22. He practiced medicine in Southport from 1870 to 1884 when he was House Surgeon to Southport Infirmary, Medical Officer of the North Meols District, Ormskirk Union, Surgeon to the Royal Naval Artillery Volunteers, and Medical Officer to the Southport Convalescent Hospital and the Southport Infirmary.

George married Mary Elizabeth Pilkington, the daughter of James Pilkington, former MP for Blackburn in 1876. Sometime after this date he changed his surname to Pilkington and entered politics. George and Mary Coombe had two daughters.

According to the Debretts guide and Wikipedia page noted above, George Coombe/Pilkington was Mayor of Southport from 1884 to 1885. In 1885, he was elected Member of Parliament for Southport but lost the seat in 1886.

Sign post in present day Sri Lanka at Pilkington Point, named after Sir George Pilkington

After 1880 - the Coombe brothers acquire a tea estate in Sri Lanka/Ceylon

Sometime after 1880, George Pilkington/Coombe (born 1848) and his brother Robert G Coombe (born 1847) appear to have travelled to Sri Lanka where they purchased the four tea estates of Poonagala, Lunugalla, Udahena and Cabaragala, collectively 'Poonagala Valley Co Ltd'. While it is yet to be confirmed, it seems possible that the brothers took advantage of a depressed market; the country's coffee crops had been devastated by fungus and estate owners likely needed to offload their estates. It is not yet known the funding arrangement the brothers may have had to purchase the property but it seems that Robert's sons decided (or were asked) to manage the estate. The two brothers appear to have returned to England (see below).

From other details provided in early 2023 by Wasantha Rathnayaka, it appears that the estate acquired by the brothers was previously owned by a Mr Ritchie from 1880 to 1881 and G Grant from 1880 to 1884. The records show that J [sic, presumable George] Pilkington owned it from 1885 to 1891. The Manager of the estate from 1887 to 1898 was James Bisset; the Assistant manager from 1887 to 1888 was John Cameron. The location of 'Lipton's Seat' is just to the west of the Coombe tea estate (and 'Pilkington Point').

According to the publication Mercantile Lore by Sir Thomas Villiers, Sir Thomas Lipton (of Lipton's Tea fame) opened an office in Colombo, Sri Lanka in 1890 having purchased '... a large block of very valuable estates which had been the property of Reginald Beauchamp Downall' (Villiers). Lipton's company purchased the tea and distributed it throughout Europe and the United States from 1890.

Late 1800s - Sir George Pilkington back in the UK, public life

On his return to England, Debretts notes that Pilkington was a councillor and alderman on Lancashire County Council, Deputy Lieutenant, J.P., and Honorary Colonel of the 3rd Liverpool Volunteer Regiment until October 1902. Pilkington was knighted in 1893. He won the seat at Southport again in a by-election in 1899, but lost it again at the 1900 general election. He was High Sheriff of Lancashire in 1911.

1891 census

The 1891 census shows that brothers George and Robert Coombe had returned to England by 1891.

George Augustus Coombe (who had changed his surname before 1891) is recorded, with his wife Elizabeth, at North Meols.

Robert Gorton Coombe (1847 - 1903) is recorded at Maldon, Essex with three children (George Allen Coombe (born 1880), Edith Mary Coombe (born 1881) and Thomas Bernard Coombe (born 1894). Robert's wife Edith Maria Coombe (born 1847) is recorded in Cheltenham, along with her sister, as the head of a boarding school attended by Clara Gall, who would later marry Robert and Edith's son Robert Gorton Coombe.

1891 - Travel to and from Sri Lanka

The records of passengers travelling from the UK only commence in 1890 so it is not possible to identify who travelled before that point.

An R Coombe, born 1867 [sic], is recorded travelling from the UK to Sri Lanka in 1891. It is not yet possible to identify who this is but given the events below it may be Robert Gorton Coombe born in 1875. See below for further recorded travel.

1895 - the Poonagala tea estate

In 1995, the British author Royston Ellis (a resident of Sri Lanka), visited the Poonagala group of estates. He was shown a visiting agent's report written in 1895. Extracts from the article, published in the magazine 'Tea International', were re-published in the online site 'History of Ceylon Tea' as Poonagala Group in 1895 Permission from the author to re-publish the extracts have not been received but the extracts can be read in the link.

1898 - Travel to Sri Lanka

A Mr Coombe, born 1874, (possibly Robert Gorton Coombe who was born in 1875), is recorded travelling to Sri Lanka from the UK in 1898. See below for further travel.

From 1898 in Sri Lanka

The Poonagala estate was owned by The Ceylon Company Ltd from 1898 to 1899 [the start date appears to cross over with the end date when Pilkington was owner], and then the Poonagalla Valley Ceylon Co Ltd from 1904.

The following names are recorded from 1898:

The James Finlay and Co's 'Managers and Assistants Letterbooks' index (Volumes 1 to 15) record the following details:

Early 1900s - Robert Gorton Coombe marries Clara Gall

Robert Gorton Coombe (1875, UK - 1953, Poonagala, Sri Lanka) married Clara Margaret Drysdale Gall (1874/5, St Lucia, West Indies - 1908, probably Sri Lanka), on 2 April 1902 in Clapton Park, All Saints, UK. Robert and Clara Coombe had three children (details from the Gall family history link above):

1908 - Death of Clara Coombe (nee Gall), Robert Gorton Coombe re-marries

Robert's wife Clara (nee Gall) died in 1908 at Farnham, Surrey and was buried on 19 September 1908 at York Town, Surrey.

1906 to 1911 - Travel to and from Sri Lanka

Around 1911 - Robert Gorton Coombe re-marries in the UK

After the death of Clara, Robert Gorton Coombe (born 1875) married Dorothy Augusta Goolden (1886, Bayswater, London - ?). According to the Tennis Forum website, 'Dorothy (Goolden) Coombe was notably twice runner-up in the women's singles event at the Ceylon Championships, in 1910 and in 1921, the latter year under her married name. Dorothy's husband, Robert, was also a lawn tennis player; she was his second wife. A tea planter by profession, Robert Coombe died in Bandarawela, Ceylon, in 1953.'

Robert and Dorothy Coombe had at least two children:

After 1913 - Marriage of Coombes in Sri Lanka

As noted above, William Coombe was recorded from 1913 to 1919. It is unclear if William is (a) the same person as 'WS Coombe' noted above, and/or (b) the brother or son of RG Coombe born in 1875. Further research is required on UK records. William Coombe married Marian Florence and they had at least one child:

A George Allen Coombe (1880 - 1956), the brother of Robert Gorton Coombe, married a woman named Laura Susa and they had at least one child:

A Leonard Harvey Coombe is recorded in the marriage registers in Nuwara Eliya. No further details known yet. The only person with that name on Ancestry seems to be unrelated, the son of Edward Henry Harvey Combe (1846-1920) and Caroline Elizabeth Laura Brown (1846-1909).

Source for the wedding details above: Nuwara Eliya registers.

1913 to 1915 - Travel to and from Sri Lanka

  • 1913
  • 1914
  • 1915

    • Early 1900s - Robert Gorton Coombe

    The following photos show what is believed to be Robert Gorton Coombe senior (born 1847) on the left, three or four sons of Robert including Robert Gorton Coombe (born 1875) in the middle.

    Coombes (photo supplied by Wasantha Rathnayake)

    The photographs below are believed to be of Robert Gorton Coombe (1875 - 1953).

    Robert Gorton Coombe (born 1875)(photos supplied by Wasantha Rathnayake)

    1919 - Travel from Sri Lanka

    Robert Gorton Coombe, a planter aged 44, arrived in England from Colombo on 13 September 1919.

    From 1919 to 1920 - Travel to Sri Lanka

    1921 - Travel from Sri Lanka

    Robert Gorton Coombe, a planter aged 45 (born 1875) is recorded along with the following people arriving in Tilbury, UK, from Colombo, Sri Lanka on board the 'Leicestershire' steamship on 27 April 1921:

    From 1922 to 1923 - Travel to Sri Lanka

  • 1922
  • 1923

    • 1921 - Travel from Sri Lanka

    Dorothy Augusta Coombe, recorded as 'Mrs R G Coombe', arrived in Tilbury, UK, on board the Yorkshire from Colombo Sri Lanka with her daughter Kathleen Coombe, on 24 April 1925. Their address in England was given as 29 St Quentins Avenue, London, which was likely her father-in-law's previous home.

    From 1924 to 1925 - Travel to Sri Lanka

  • 1924
  • 1925

    • From 1925 - Robert Gorton Coombe

    The 50 year old Robert Gorton Coombe (born 1875) was recorded as Manager of the Broughton Estate in 1925 and 1926, and Chairman of the Tea Research Institute from 1927 to 1934.

    From 1926 - Travel to Sri Lanka

    1953 - Death of Robert Gorton Coombe in Sri Lanka

    Robert Gorton Coombe (born 1875) died on 10 February 1953 at Poonagala, Bandarawela, Sri Lanka.

    Page created 8 February 2023, updated 21 February 2023 (extracting the Coombes and Sri Lanka from Penelope Warland's page). Copyright © Andrew Warland. (andrewwarland(at)gmail.com)