Charles Matthew Fernando (1866 – 9 June 1909) was aCeylonese lawyer and scholar. He was the first CeyloneseCrown Counsel.[1]
Charles Matthew Fernando was born in 1866 in Colombo, the son of Andrew Fernando Jr. and the grandson of Andrew Fernando Sr., theMudaliyer ofColombo. He was the brother ofSirMarcus Fernando.[1]
Educated at the St Benedicts Academy (later known asSt Benedict's College Colombo) and atRoyal College, Colombo, where he won theTurnour Prize, Shakespeare Prize and the Junior Cambridge Scholarship. Taking his matriculation, he was the first Ceylonese student to pass the Intermediate in Arts of the University of London. He attendedSt John's College, Cambridge where he completed law tripos in 1886 gaining a BA and LLB degrees, he was called to the bar as abarrister from theLincoln's Inn in 1888.[1]
On his return to Ceylon in 1889, he was enrolled as anAdvocate and started hislegal practice. In 1897, he was appointed acting District Judge of Kurunagala and thereafter moved to Kandy as Crown Advocate. In 1901, he was appointed Acting Crown Counsel, Colombo and was confirmed in 1903. He led the prosecution in many of the major criminal cases including theAttygalle murder case.[2][3] He served as the Senior Crown Counsel andAssistant Attorney General of Ceylon. He was one of the founders of the Ceylon Law Students Union.[1]
He was also a member of theColombo Municipal Council, theKandy Municipal Council and theRoad Committee of the Western province.[1]
In 1908 he made English translations of theRajaveliya and the Nikaya Sangarava.[1][4] C. M. Fernando's writings are some of the oldest written accounts on the subject of Ceylonese dance music forms such asbaila.[5]
Fernando married Jane Maria Caroline, third daughter ofCharles Henry de Soysa and Lady de Soysa in 1901. They had a daughter and a son,[1]ChevalierC.H.Z. Fernando, the pioneer labour unionist Councillor who was responsible for submitting a motion in theLegislative Council of Ceylon to abolish the Poll Tax in 1922 and co-founded the Young Lanka League (1915) and theCeylon Labour Party, being the only Ceylonese to have metLenin,[6][7][8] His wife and daughter Christobel, were notably the only two among the urbanised elite to be insaree for their portrait in theTwentieth Century Impressions of Ceylon byArnold Wright.[1]
Fernando died on 9 June 1909 inBéziers,France.[9]