he represented an era where politics was conducted with a dignified aura and he had a reputation as being a man of integrity and humility. he served as governor-general during the tenure of different governments headed by the slfp led regime of sirimavo bandaranaike and the unp led regime of dudley senanayake. he upheld the law and the constitution to the letter and won respect and admiration of all political parties. william gopallawa was born on 17 september 1897 at the dullewe maha walauwa, dullewe in the matale district of ceylon. he is related to dullewe dissava, a signatory on behalf of the sinhalese to the kandiyan convention of 1815