o<l MONTHLY. 
Vol. XVIII.] 
COLOMBO, OCTOBER 1st, 1898. 
[No^ 4. 
"PIONEERS OF THE PLANTING ENTERPRISE IN CEYLON." 
(Third Scries.) 
CAPT. JOHN KEITH JOL.LY, 
FIRST CHAIRMAN OF THE PLANTERS' ASSOCIATION OF CEYLON; 
PROPRIETARY PLANTER, 1843—1865. 
'^A@/Cjj^ regret being unable to pre- 
kM-IiM '^^"'^ ^ portrait of Captain 
*jLi/M\ Jolly, one of our earliest 
and most esteemed Planting 
I'ioneers and tlie lirfct Cliair- 
man of the Planters' Associ- 
ation. In view of his holding 
the latter position Captain Jolly would have appear- 
ed as one of the earliest in our list, were it not fo,- 
the absence of a portrait. Ajjplication was duly 
made to surviving relatives for such photograph or 
other portrait as would enable us to reproduce a col- 
lotype print ; but Lady Xynsey, the only surviving 
daughter (Cap!:. Jolly had no son) could not help 
us, and we quote a^ follows from the courteous 
answer receiveil :— " Fain would 1 send you one, 
but Captain Jolly was unfortunately never photo- 
graphed ; and the only miniature we have of him 
is in such youth that it wouKl convey nothing of 
himself to the very few who now remember him 
and could not interest others : so that, as I feel 
on the subject, it would be better to have no 
portrait than one of so distant a date. So will 
you be so kind as to put in a word that no worthy 
picture of him was to be had or I, his daughter, 
would most gladly have supplied it." We must, 
therefore, content ourselves with a brief biogra- 
phical notice of the veteran Captain and PLxnter, 
based mainly on notes kindly placed at our service 
by his nephew, Mr. Ste\\'art Jolly — hiiuseJf one 
of our early, but still surviving, and much-esteemed 
]3lanters. 
We find then that Cap tain John KEn ii Jolly 
was the son of Stewart Jolly, .Tasticc of the Peace 
and Deputy-Lieutenant of the Shires of Stirling and 
Dumbarton, by his wife Catherine Douglas. He 
was born in 1S07 and at an early age entered the 
IMaritime Service of the Hon. East India Company. 
In it he remained till the Company's Charter 
was withdrawn and the Eastern ports thrown 
open to free trade. i»o his service came to an 
end and with other officers he was pensioned otF. 
He commuted his pension, married, and in 184.3 
decided to settle and plant cofi'ee in Ceylon. He 
had l)efore that been oft'ered the command of 
an "opium clipper" by Messrs. Jardiii'e, Matlieson 
& Co. of China, which would have brought him 
an almost certain and speedy fortune ; but we 
are glad to learn that, for conscientious reasons, 
he felt bound to decline the oiler. So in 184.S, 
Captain Jolly and his wife arrived in Ceylon 
and settled at Katugastota near Kaiuly. Mrs. 
Jolly was sister of Mrs. Swan, wife of Mr. James 
