Exploring Colonial Ceylon: Researching

The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, Kandy

Writing historical fiction often begins with an assumption: that research happens in libraries, archives, and books. In reality, it’s rarely so tidy. For The Star of Ceylon, my research unfolded across physical journeys, remembered places, photographs, memoirs, obscure publications, and—unexpectedly—YouTube videos filmed by other people from train windows.

Ceylon in 1906 was a place shaped by empire, geography, and movement. To understand it, I had to piece together what still existed, what had vanished, and what had never been photographed at all.

My Journey to Ceylon

The first and most obvious step was to travel there. This was my second visit, building on vivid memories from an earlier trip in the 1990s. I focused on Colombo, the tea-growing Central Highlands, and the southwest coast. At the time, I planned to base the story on a tea plantation and didn’t revisit Kandy. If I had known it would become the focal point of the book, I would have planned differently.

Despite this, the trip was extremely useful. In Colombo, I stayed at the Galle Face Hotel, which appears in the book. I wandered around Colombo, seeking relics of the colonial past, such as Cargill’s Stores, where Norton buys some clothes.

Discovering Nuwara Eliya

I also visited Nuwara Eliya in the Central Highlands, which features in the book. There, I spent time talking with a retired tea planter and visiting the golf club and the hotel where a pivotal scene takes place. These locations were almost exactly as they were during the time of my novel, creating a veritable time capsule. I stayed in a fabulous former planter’s bungalow in the middle of a plantation, surrounded by lush gardens, uniformed servants, and spectacular views. This setting inspired the government agent’s residence in Kandy.

Influences from Literature

Back in Britain, I revisited some of my original thinking. I was influenced by my reading of Growing by Leonard Woolf, which recounts his seven years as a young civil servant in Ceylon. Woolf’s journey from unquestioning acceptance of empire to growing disillusionment resonated with me. His experiences led him to resign during his first long leave back in London, where he fell in love with Virginia.

I drew valuable inspiration from this fascinating book. Woolf was assigned to the terrible, stinking pearl fishery and vividly described the pearl auctions there. This prompted me to dive deeper into the research of the pearl fishing process, which I included in my book when Stella’s party visits it. Woolf served in Kandy, his least enjoyable period, and regularly played tennis there. He lived in a house by the lake, much like my character Norton Baxter.

I shamelessly borrowed Woolf’s combination of love for the job with doubts about colonialism. His happiest time was when he was essentially doing his own thing down south in Hambantota as acting Government Agent, the youngest ever. While I didn’t send Norton to work there, I drew on Woolf’s references to hunting in that region and sent most of my characters on a disastrous hunting trip. This included my own visit to the salt pans and the national park back in the 90s. Fortunately, I still had a great photo album of my travels across Sri Lanka.

Another book that offered inspiration was rather dreadful—Sir Richard Burton’s blustering account of his years game hunting in Ceylon and helping to found the town of Nuwara Eliya in the 1850s. In The Star of Ceylon, I have Ronald, Stella’s brother, read this book. His insistence on visiting the pearl fishery and the Doric Bungalow, built in 1802-04 for the then governor, Lord North, leads to a diversion. By the mid-19th century, the bungalow was already a ruin.

I backed up Burton’s descriptions with an etching done in the early 19th century by James Cordiner. I also found a YouTube video (in Sinhala, so I couldn’t understand a word!) of someone visiting it recently. It’s very off the beaten track, and there’s not much left to see—just a pile of rubble. Stella’s visit occurred half a century after Burton’s, and the YouTuber visited more than a century later. In the absence of any other images, I used my imagination to decide the level of ruination likely in 1906.

The Doric Bungalow

Researching Historical Locations

YouTube came to my rescue once more. I took a virtual tour of Bogambara Prison (again, I couldn’t understand the commentary!), around the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic (which I had visited, but too long ago to remember the exact geography), and on a rail journey between Colombo and Kandy. Old black-and-white photographs from the Edwardian period provided insight into street scenes and architecture, including the interior of the kachcheri (the government offices), the Club, and the Queen Victoria Hotel.

Other useful resources included the old colonial annual “blue books,” which contained statistics about everything related to the country and its governance. I also stumbled upon a one-off compendium—a cross between a Lonely Planet Guide and Who’s Who. Coincidentally, this doorstopper of a book was published in 1906. It provided descriptions of every aspect of life at that time, along with photographs and names of all the key players.

My Top Tips for Researching a Historical Location

• Visit the location if possible. Capture the sounds, smells, and ambience away from tourist spots. Look for little details that will add colour and help bring your descriptions to life. While many places in Sri Lanka have changed, I found many that were almost exactly as they were in colonial days.

• Read widely and deeply. If you can’t visit in person, consult maps—especially historical ones. Diaries and memoirs are invaluable resources.

  
  

• Search YouTube for appropriate content. Old movies, newsreels, and rail journeys can provide a wealth of information. It’s amazing how many young travellers hang out of train windows for hours with their camera phones recording! Timing journeys is important, as roads were often just tracks, and there were only a couple of dozen motor cars in Ceylon at the time of my book.

  
  

• Use Google Earth. This tool helps you understand the topography of the area.

  
  

• Pay attention to clothing. Contemporary photos and sketches, along with visits to museums, will help here. Remember that if your book is set in the tropics, dress would be modified to lighter fabrics such as linens and muslins. It’s astonishing how many men wore heavy suits with stand-up collars and ties, even in the blistering heat. Standards, dear boy, standards!

  
  

I hope you found this post interesting – and for anyone curious about research, useful. I really enjoyed the chance to revisit all those wonderful places. If you'd like to find out more about The Star of Ceylon have a look at the book page and to buy click the orange button which will take you to the Amazon page. Or ask your local store to order for you.

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