The Observer (Ceylon)
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Front page of The Observer and Commercial Advertiser first issue, 4 February 1834
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| Type | Daily newspaper |
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| Owner(s) | Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited |
| Founded | 4 February 1834 |
| Language | English |
| Ceased publication | February 1982 |
| City | Colombo |
| Country | Sri Lanka |
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| OCLC number | 1781404 |
The Ceylon Observer was an English language daily newspaper in Sri Lanka published by Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited (ANCL). It was founded in 1834 as The Observer and Commercial Advertiser and was published from Colombo. It ceased publication in 1982.
The Observer and Commercial Advertiser was started on 4 February 1834 by Colombo based British merchants. It was under the control of E. J. Darley who was also its first editor. The merchants then appointed George Winter editor. The paper was published on Mondays and Thursdays but later became an afternoon daily. In its first year the paper's editor and publishers were tried for libel after the paper printed a letter criticising the superintendent of police but were acquitted.
Christopher Elliott, colonial surgeon for Badulla, became editor of the paper in 1835 and later its owner. Elliott changed the name of the paper to The Colombo Observer. The paper was critical of Governor Wilmot-Horton's administration which resulted in a pro-government paper, The Ceylon Chronicle, being established by a group of civil servants in 1837.The Colombo Observer supported Governor Stewart-Mackenzie's administration but opposed the Campbell and Torrington administrations. A monthly (later fortnightly, then weekly) sister newspaper, The Overland Observer, commenced in 1840.
Alastair Mackenzie Ferguson joined the staff of The Colombo Observer in 1846 and bought the paper in 1859 after Elliott became the Principal Officer of the newly created Civil Medical Department. Ferguson's nephew John Ferguson joined the paper in 1861. The paper changed its name to The Ceylon Observer in 1867. John Ferguson became joint-editor in 1870 and a partner in 1875. Following A. M. Ferguson's death in 1892 John Ferguson became editor of the paper. John Ferguson was succeeded as editor by his son Ronald Haddon Ferguson.
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