CODRINGTON, Humphrey William. Hambleden, Buckinghamshire 25.9.1879 — Kensington, London 7.11.1942. British Scholar of Sri Lankan History and Ethnography. Son of the rear-admiral William C. (1832–1888) and Mary Auber Leach, educated at Winchester College and New College, Oxford (B.A.). In 1903 joined Ceylon Civil Service. Married 1919 Joyce Bleaden, at least one son. L.C.D.S. knows that before going to Ceylon he learned Church Syriac language and kept interest in it. But the same source claims that he was born in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire (this also in ancestry.com).
Publications: Articles in JRAS-CB: “The Kandyan Navandannó”, 21:62, 1909, 221-253; “A recent find of coins”, 23:66, 1913, 72-88; “Ceylon Numismatics”, 24:68-2, 1916 (1918), 169-186; “Notes on the Ceylon Topography on the Twelfth Century”, 29:75, 1922, 62-74 & 30:78, 1925, 70-91; “The Kahápana of the Vinaya Párajiká Páli”, 29:75, 1922, 215-220; also in the CALR.
– Notes on some of the Principal Kandyan Chiefs and Headmen and their Dresses. 38 p. 7 pl. Colombo 1910, rev. ed. 22+202 p. L. 1937.
– Catalogue of Coins in the Colombo Museum. 1. Muhammadan and European (exclusive of Roman). 61 p. 4 pl. Hertford 1914.
– Diary of Mr. John D’Oyly: (afterwards Sir John D’Oyly, bart., resident, principal accredited agent, and First Commissioner of the British Government in the Kandyan Provinces) 1810-1815. With introduction and notes. 16+269 p. 88 p. ill. Colombo 1917.
– Ceylon Coins and Currency. 7+290 p. 7 pl. Memoirs of Colombo Museum A:3. Colombo 1924.
– A Short History of Ceylon. 22+202 p. L. 1926.
– Ancient land tenure and revenue in Ceylon. 11+77 p. Colombo 1938.
– Studies on Church Syriac Jacobite liturgy, 1913/38.
Sources: Two contemporary notes in Br. Biogr. Arch. 2nd Series; briefly Godakumbura 1969, 23; *S. Paranavitana, JRAS-CB 36:98, 1945, 55-57; Library of Congress Data Service.
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