Greetings to all!

Full contents of the site may be viewed by invitation only.  If interested send me a request for an invitation From The Admin Tag on the right.

This Site is a Tribute to my Grandmother Mrs. Elizabeth Margaret (Elsie) Pereira nee Baldesing 

This site is complied with information received from living relatives and is not in any way intended to offend any individual or family. My sincere thanks to the following for their contributions.
Annesley Abraham, Benita Pietersz, Bridget Kumarapperuma, Chryso Abraham, Dagmar Abraham, Dinesh  Ludwick, Gordon Taylor, Jacintha DeBruin, Jennifer Abraham, Mariz Fernando, Patricia De Silva,  Paulette Nugara, Rosie Kumar, Trevor Perera.
     A great proportion of the early ancestors were illiterate and relied on scribes in churches and government offices to record their details of the information recorded, this resulted in phonetic spelling of names. It was not until wide spread education happened that families then took full control of their names and how they were spelt. Hence there maybe dependencies in the spelling of names. a good example is (Baldsing and Baldesing)
  
 Nearly all of the families represented here are by either direct relationship or marriage. they are spread all over the World, mainly Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Australia, The UK, Canada and Germany. 

Health Notes:
 I have compiled a list of Medical Conditions that run in the family, contact me if you need any  help on Family Medical History.

Religion Notes:
Taylor’s were originally Anglican, some members of the family became members of the (DRC) Dutch Reform Church (Presbyterian). Some converted to the Catholic Church like the authors  siblings. Author remained a member of the DRC his children were baptized at the DRC Maligakande, Colombo 10, Ceylon (See Lanka).

Baldesing’s and Pereira's are all Catholics. 

Other Notes:
Bridget Pereira converted to Buddhism through marriage.

Oliver Taylor Changed his name from Taylor to Tirimanne and became a Buddhist for reasons  unknown. Nevertheless according to a ruling by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Ceylon, Sir Richard Ottley in 1827 - 1833: If the male ancestors were Dutch, Portuguese and or other Europeans, whoever may have been the  female parent, if the parents were married, the offspring would be deemed a Burgher.

Clans:
There are some Baldesing/Pereira clan members living in Trincomalee. There are two spellings  (Baldsing and Baldesing)

There are two known Taylor clans in Ceylon (Sri Lanka), one in the up-country region of Kandy and  the other (our clan) in the lowland region of Colombo.
 For a definition of the word Mudaliyar visit
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceylonese_Mudaliyars
 https://www.scribd.com/document/331081943/Encyclopaedia-of-Ceylon -> Encyclopeadia of Ceylon



Burghers:
The Burgher people of (Ceylon) Sri Lanka:
Are the Eurasian descendants of Portuguese, Dutch, British colonists  and other Europeans from the  16th to 21st centuries.
  
 Note:
The term Burgher was legally defined by Chief Justice of Ceylon, Sir Richard Ottley, in an  authoritative pronouncement, when he gave evidence before the Commission which was appointed in  connection with the establishment of a Legislative Council in Ceylon in 1883. He stated that, "The name Burgher belongs to the descendants of the Dutch, Portuguese and other Europeans born in  Ceylon, and the right to distinction must not be decided by the Country from which their father or  paternal ancestor came. So whatever the number of generations through which the family has passed  in this Island, if the male ancestors were Dutch, Portuguese and or other Europeans, whoever may  have been the female parents, if the parents were married, the offspring would be Burgher. If the  parents were not married, the country of the mother would decide the question. If the right to be  denominated Burgher be once lost by the legitimate father being a Sinhalese or other Indian, it  cannot be recovered."

Various types of cousin relationships:

o	First cousins are the people in your family who have two of the same grandparents as you. 

o	Second cousins have the same great-grandparents as you, but not the same grandparents. 

o	Third cousins have in common two great great grandparents and their ancestors. When cousins descend from common ancestors by a different number of generations they are called “removed.”

o	Once removed means there is a difference of one generation. Your mother's first cousin               would be your first cousin, once removed. She is one generation younger than your                 grandparents and you are two generations younger than your grandparents.

o	Twice removed means that there is a two-generation difference. Your grandmother's first               cousin would be your first cousin, twice removed because you are separated by two                generations.

Half and Step Relationships:
Half relationships exist between individuals who have a common ancestor but descend from different  spouses of that ancestor. For example, half-brothers may have the same father but different  mothers 
 or the same mother but different fathers. The children of these half-brothers would be half-cousins, because they share only one of the grandparents. Half-relationships are still considered  consanguineous (blood) relationships along the line which the two individuals share.  Step relationships (including "in-law" relationships) are relationships, which occur through  marriage. Your relationships with your step-relatives are not consanguineous as they are only  related to you through marriage, not blood. They are not considered a part of your direct or  lineal 
 lines, but they can still be an important part of your family tree

Homeland:
Sri Lanka, is one of the smallest of the South Asian nations, 29 km southeast of India across the Palk Strait in the 
 Indian Ocean. Sri Lanka was not the name by which the  
 Island was always known. 
 The Greeks and Romans knew it as Taprobane,  
 The Arabian sailors as Serendib,  
 The early Europeans in Asia as Zeilan or Seilan,
 The Portuguese as Ceylao,
 The Sikhs as Singhadeep
 And the British as Ceylon.  
 The Island nation has also been referred to as  
 "The Pearl of the Indian Ocean"

Ancient names for Sri Lanka, 1972 AD 
Ceylon 	  (English) 	  1796 AD 
Ceilon 	  (Dutch) 	          1656 AD 
Cilao 	  (Portuguese) 	  1505 AD 
Pa-outchow (Chinese) 	  1407 AD 
Ilankai        (Thamil) 	          1284 AD 
Serendib     (Arabic) 	          0622 AD 
Lakdiva       (Sinhala) 	  0307 BC
Taprobane   (Greek) 	          0336 BC
Sihala 	  (Pali)       	  0543 BC 
Lanka 	  (Sanskrit) 	  4713 BC 

Area total: 65,610 sq km
 Coastline: 1,340 km