«<1 MONTHLY. I> 
Vol. XVIII. 
COLOMBO, JUNE 1st, 1899. 
No, 12. 
"PIONEERS OF THE PLANTING ENTERPRISE IN CEYLON," 
(Third Scries,) 
JOHN CAPPER: 
MEKCHANT, I'LANTEE, JOURNALIST, 1837-1886*. 
HE name of Mr. John Capper 
as an old and notable Colo- 
nist, was placed in one of the 
early lists of " ]>ioneers " to 
be enrolled in our annals of 
the Planting and Commercial 
as well as Journalistic Enter- 
prise of Ceylon. But it was not till our visit to 
England in 189(3 that we could command the needful 
information to make o>ir biographical notice an 
adequate one. Mr. Capper himself had shortly be- 
fore taken a special interest in our proposal, and at 
our request, readily wrote out some dozen pages 
of " Recollections " of his early days in Ceylon ; 
but these had to be closed abruptly for the 
reason given in a pathetic little note which accom. 
panied the manuscript, and which we venture tore- 
produce as follows : — 
" MEJto : to J. Feuguson, Esq. 
London, December 25tb, 1805. 
" When I promised to send for publicaiion some of 
my Ceylon experiences 1 was in good health : since that 
date I have been ulllictcd with paralysis nUecting 
my muscular and cerebral powers. Please therefuio 
kindly edit those leinaiks raid onuc or modify any 
wliioh apyeir to need revision— this for my sake. 
With best wishes for yout future health and 
prosperity. — J. Capper. " 
Iilr. Capper was then in his 8?nd year. Later 
in in February and June 1S9G we had friendly 
notes from him (besides an interview)with reference 
to securing a sufficiently good photograph, from 
which to prepare an illustration for our 
Tropical Agriculturist, The one eventually used 
was a copy of that placed in the Ceylon (Lon- 
don) Association album and had been taken by 
Walery of Regent Street some years previously* 
To turn now to the subject of what has become 
our Memoir : ;Mr. John Capper was born in 1814 of 
an East Anglian, and we believe Nonconformist, 
family, though he himself became an Anglican Low 
Churchman. After a good plain education, he took 
to journalism early in life, and when only 20 years 
of age was engaged in the oflice of a weekly 
paper called the "Mining and Steam Ifaviga- 
tion Gazette " of which lie became Sub-Editor, and 
he continued his connection with the press, until he 
started for Ceylon in 1S37, This same year wit- 
nessed the arrival here, of his future rival in Ceylon 
Journalism, A. M. Ferguson, who was two years 
Mr. Capper's junior in age. Mr. Capper came out 
as Assistant to the lirni of Ackiand and Boyd, 
then fast developing into the leading Planting and 
Mercantile House in Colombo. Mr, Ackiand was 
an able, all-round man who took a keen interest 
* Although 18SG was the year in which Mr. Capper finally quitted Coylou ; yot he continued to net 
AS London Correspondent for his firm's paper, the " Times of Ceylon," until 1801, 
