Record groups of Department of Nationa Archives

Fonds LK-NA/37 - Public Trustee

Identity area

Reference code

LK LK-NA LK-NA/37

Title

Public Trustee

Date(s)

  • 1861-1980 (Creation)

Level of description

Fonds

Extent and medium

Files 1181,Manuscripts, Typed and Printed

Context area

Name of creator

Public Trustee. (1861-1980)

Administrative history

The Office of the Public Trustee was established under the Ordinance No.1 of 1922 and came into effect on 22.11.1930. The aim was to vest the necessary authority in the Public Trustee to act as executor of the will of Abraham Louis de Alwis, who left his estate to charities. This ordinance was amended by Ordinance No. 11 of 1931 and received the Governor's assent on 17.6.1931. Moreover, the administration of the Buddhist Temporalities Ordinance No.19 of 1931 was vested with this department. This ordinance replaced that of 1905 and came into operation on 1.11.1931.
The records pertaining to Buddhist Temporalities were available with the district committees and were transferred to the Department of Public Trustee in 1931. The department was shifted from Colombo to Negombo in 1942 and brought back to Colombo in 1946. In September 1939, when war broke out between Great Britain and Germany, the Public Trustee was appointed custodian of enemy property in addition to his normal duties. In the State Council Public Trustee was under Ministry of Home Affairs. In 1947, Department of Public Trustee was created under the Ministry of Justice. These documents have been arranged under each temple to facilitate their easy retrieval.

Archival history

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

Content and structure area

Scope and content

Minute Book of Buddhist Temporalities Committee; Letter Registers, Buddhist Temporalities District Committee records, (Badulla, Balangoda, Kandy, Ratnapura), Statement of Income and Expenditure or Temples and Devales: Kurunegala District. Register of Faragam. Kandy District, Registers or Lands belonging to Buddhist Temporalities Committee, in Badulla, Kandy, Matale and Ratnapura, Registers of immovable properties belonging to temples and devales in Badulla, Kandy, Kegalle, Accounts of temple and devales in Kandy, Kegalle, Matale, Negombo, Nuwara Eliya, Ratnapura, Court cases, elected members in Kandy District, Buddhist Temporalities Deeds in Kandy District, Lease of Temple Lands in district of Badulla, Kandy, Kurunegala and Ratnapura, List of properties in Badulla, Kandy, Kegalle, Kurunegala, Matale and Ratnapura, Statement of Expenditure, Buddhist Temporalities Committee Miscellaneous Ledger, Kuruncgala District, Correspondence: District Judge and Secretary B.T.C.Ratnapura District, Batta, Traveling Allowances and Members File Ratnapura District, File of the High Priest Ratnapura District, Mortgage Bonds, Daily Returns, Repayments of Priests, Cheque Book Sripadhasthana. Trustees File Ratnapura District, Audit Papers Badulla District, Circular Register Matale District, Service Tenure Register Kandy and Ratnapura District, Ministerial Officers-Temple: Badulla District, Offerings, Accounts, Matale District, Trustees Kurunegala District, Expenditure Badulla District, List of movable articles Kandy District, Receipts of Payments; Kandy, Matale and Badulla Districts, Counterfoils of Receipts, Reports and Copies of Letters, Kandy District, Reports of Sripadhasthana

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

System of arrangement

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

Conditions governing reproduction

Language of material

  • English
  • Sinhala

Script of material

  • Latin

Language and script notes

Physical characteristics and technical requirements

Finding aids

Allied materials area

Existence and location of originals

Existence and location of copies

Related units of description

Notes area

Access points

Subject access points

Place access points

Name access points

Description control area

Description identifier

Institution identifier

Rules and/or conventions used

ISAD(G)

Status

Final

Level of detail

Minimal

Dates of creation revision deletion

Language(s)

  • English

Script(s)

  • Latin

Sources

International Council on Archives Guide to the Sources of Asia History Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka II (Vol 1), National Archives of Sri Lanka, 1996.

Accession area

Related subjects

Related people and organizations

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