A portrait of Patrick Francis Campbell Johnston (1802-1892) son of Sir Alexander Johnston (1775-1849), gouache on oval paper, with watermark of 1810 to reverse of portrait and inscription "Hillerman" to reverse, mounted, glazed and framed, portrait...

A portrait of Patrick Francis Campbell Johnston (1802-1892) son of Sir Alexander Johnston (1775-1849), gouache on oval paper, with watermark of 1810 to reverse of portrait and inscription "Hillerman" to reverse, mounted, glazed and framed, portrait 16.5 x 12.5cm. Sir Alexander Johnston (1775-1849) was Chief Justice of Ceylon and Advocate Fiscal of Ceylon. He was also President of the Council Ceylon and a founding member and Vice President of the Royal Asiatic Society. Johnston was responsible for bringing the Mahavamsa, Sri Lanka's historical epic, to European attention when he sent manuscripts of it and other Sinhala chronicles to Europe for publication during his tenure as Chief Justice. Jonhston encouraged the translation of the Mahavamsa and other works in order to bring British colonial law into alignment with local traditions and values.