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Dutch Burgher Union of Ceylon (abbreviated as: DBUC; (オランダ語:Hollandsche Burgher Vereeniging van Ceylon)), also known simply Dutch Burgher Union (DBU), is an organisation of Dutch Burghers. The union was established on 18 January 1908,〔 by Richard Gerald Anthonisz. == History == On 12 November 1907 Richard Gerald Anthonisz (1852–1930) organised a preliminary meeting of men and women of the Dutch Burgher community at the Lindsay School Hall in Bambalapitiya to consider the establishment of a Dutch Burgher Union. A small committee was appointed to draft a constitution for the union. The inaugural general meeting of the union was held on 18 January 1908 at the Pettah Public Library, with 267 enrolled members present. At the meeting Frederick Charles Loos CMG (1934-1911), a Proctor and Member of the Legislative Council was elected as the first president of the union, with Anthonisz as Honorary Secretary (a position he retained until 1915). The second president of the union was Henry Lorenz Wendt (1958-1911) however he died two months after his election and in 1912 was replaced by Fedrick Henry de Vos (1857–1920). In 1913 Sir Hector William van Cuylenburg was elected as the fourth president of the union. In 1916, Anthonisz was elected President, a position he held for twenty-four years until his death in 1930.〔 The first writ described the vision of union, and it stated ".. promote the moral, intellectual and social well-being of the Dutch and Dutch Burgher descendants in Ceylon (Sri Lanka).. and among many others .. the promotion of fellowship, self-help, self-reliance and thrift." Membership of the Dutcher Burgher Union was governed by strict genealogical qualifications, with members having to demonstrate an uninterrupted line of patrilineal descent from a European employee of the Dutch East India Company. Now it functions in Colombo as centre of Dutch Burgher's social and community activities. Initially the union sublet two rooms at Sea View, Kollupitiya however the union shortly afterwards set about raising funds to establish permanent accommodation.〔 In 1913 the union acquired land in Cinnamon Gardens on Buller's Road (now known as Bauddhaloka Mawatha) and Serpentine Road, where it constructed a two storey building. The ground floor of the building contains a vestibule which leads to a large public room, with a sprung teak floor, which was used for lectures and dances. A carved wooden staircase leads to the upper floor, which houses a billiard room, bar, card rooms, a drawing room and a reading room.〔 There is also a wing containing residential quarters for outstation members and space at the rear of the building which was initially used for horses and carriages and subsequently for car parking. The grounds also contained tennis courts and a netball court. As the suburb developed the union was forced to sell much of its grounds for new roads and to pay for increasing property rates. The Dutch Burgher Union still operates in Colombo as a centre for social and community activities. Nowadays, the union limits its function as a book states "once a powerful secret society but now only a gloomy billiard hall near Buller Road, draped in dust and cobwebs".〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Dutch Burgher Union of Ceylon」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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