John Adrian St. Valentine Jayewardene

John Adrian St. Valentine Wijesinghe Jayewardene (1877–1927) was a Ceylonese (Sri Lankan) lawyer who became a judge of the Supreme Court of Ceylon.

Early life and education A son of James Alfred Jayewardene (a Proctor who was the Deputy Coroner of Colombo), John's brothers included Hector Alfred Jayewardene (an advocate and member of the Colombo Municipal Council), Colonel Theodore Godfrey Wijesinghe Jayewardene (a Member of the State Council for Balangoda electorate), and Eugene Wilfred Jayewardene, who also became a Judge of the Supreme Court.

Jayewardene was educated at the Royal College, Colombo, and called to the bar at the Inner Temple, becoming a barrister.

Career In 1901, he returned to Ceylon and began his practice as an advocate. In 1904, he published the Law of Partition in Ceylon, which he revised and published again 20 years later.

From 1922 to 1924 he served as the district judge of Colombo and in 1923 was appointed acting puisne justice thereafter confirmed as Judge of the Supreme Court of Ceylon.

Personal life In 1906, he married Ethel Charlotte Irene, daughter of Mudaliyar Francis William Tillekeratne Dissanayake. Their only child, daughter, Clodagh Jayasuriya, was elected to parliament. A nephew, Junius Richard Jayewardene, became the first executive President of Sri Lanka.