ABSTRACT
George Turnour’s work on the historical chronicles hovers as hidden presence behind the main writers of this section, Major Jonathon Forbes and William Knighton. Their passion was to discover a pure, reified Buddhism that would do justice to what they saw as the stormy but impressive history of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, and this cannot be understood without Turnour’s inspiration. The difference between them and others in this wave is their handling of doctrines that were interpreted negatively by their contemporaries. Secondary to them was the barrister, Henry Charles Sirr (1807-1872), Queen’s Advocate for the Southern Circuit of Ceylon and former Vice-Consul at Hong Kong. His presentation of Buddhism was almost entirely dependent on the writings of others, sometimes unacknowledged.1 I will include him only when he adds something new.
