Solicitor of repute and much more

~ Shelton V. Perera

By Austin Perera

It was August 19, 2006 that yet another link from my short chain of friends was torn away with the passing of Shelton.

For many Shelton was a lawyer practising in a foreign country. However, Shelton meant more than one in the legal profession. I had known Shelton from 1939 as a boarder at St. Joseph’s College, Colombo. He was the youngest of four brothers – Douglas, Oliver, Durand and Terrence. He was in the small dormitory with my younger brothers Joe and Rienzie. He was affectionately called Kaputa, may be became he was of darker complexion than his brothers.

When St. Joseph’s was commandeered by the Royal Navy during the Second World War, the boarding was shifted to a coconut estate in Homagama where a branch school was established. Being a place with smaller numbers I came in closer contact with Shelton.

After his secondary education he read for his L.L.B. at the Peradeniya University. After his degree he passed his Advocates Final but due to changes in the legal profession he took oaths as an Attorney-at-Law and joined the highly respected law firm of Julius and Creasy.

After marriage to Leonie he decided to search for new pastures and soon settled down in England. He obtained a junior position in the most prestigious law firm of Farrer & Co. Farrers were prestigious because they are the solicitors to the Queen of England and to the Royal Family. Soon Shelton proved to be a solicitor of repute and Farrers placed him in charge of the Mid-East, Asia and the Far East Desk.

At this time I was attached to the Tea Board and was posted to London. This office I held being of state service was not free from political maladies. Thus on many occasions I had to seek Shelton’s advice.

So I say adieu for now. May hosts of angels blow their trumpets heralding your meeting our maker who with outstretched arms will invite you saying softly "Well done Shelton, my son".