Hector William van Cuylenburg

Lieutenant Colonel Sir Hector William van Cuylenburg, VD (23 January 1847 – 11 December 1915) was a Ceylonese lawyer, newspaper proprietor and legislator. He was elected as the first unofficial member representing the Burghers in the Legislative Council of Ceylon.

Early life and education Hector William van Cuylenburg was born on 23 January 1847, the son of Dr Petrus Henricus van Cuylenburg, the Assistant Colonial Surgeon in the Colonial Medical Department of Ceylon and Eliza Morgan, the fourth of nine children. He was educated at S. Thomas' College and Royal College, Colombo. The paper's initial editor was Mr Heath, the former Reuters Agent in Colombo, however he died a few months after the paper was established. In 1889 a new editor for the paper, George Wall, was appointed, who agitated for a more responsible form of government for the country. He was elected with 829 votes, with H Geo Thomas and Arthur Alvis receiving 466 votes and 273 votes respectively. A total of 1,568 Burghers (72.9%) of the total 2,149 registered voters casting their vote. Sir Hector van Cuylenburg held the position until his death in December 1915.

Honors In 1913 he was elected as the fourth president of the Dutch Burgher Union of Ceylon. In 1914 van Cuylenburg was appointed a Knight Bachelor.

Family On 10 July 1872 he married his cousin, Joselina Sissouw née Morgan, daughter of Sir Richard Morgan,