[1] Born to a family of lawyers, his father was Frederick de Saram, a proctor and notary public and his mother was Myra Loos, daughter of Frederick Charles Loos, a proctor and unofficial member of Legislative Council of Ceylon.

He returned to Ceylon in 1937, having qualified as a barrister and became an advocate starting his legal practice in the unofficial bar.

[8] In his 40 first-class games for Ceylon and Oxford University, de Saram made 2789 runs at an average of 39.84 with six centuries and a highest score of 208.

He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) (Civil Division) in the 1949 King's Birthday honours for his service to sport.

He was also actively involved with S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia, and was conferred the status of being an honorary Thomian.

In 1942, he was deployed with the 2nd Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment to defend the vital Royal Navy base at Trincomalee.

Colonel de Saram lead a detachment opening fire on an armed mod near the Ceylon Transport Board depot at Ratmalana.

Thus, de Saram, along with several other disgruntled Christian officers of the army, navy and police, began to plot a coup along the lines of that waged by General Ayub Khan in Pakistan.

However, an officer, who had been brought in on the plot the morning of the set date, warned the government and several of the plotters were arrested.

The conviction was eventually overruled on appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, which ruled that the new Act had denied the right to a fair trial.

For his military service he was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) (Military Division) in the 1950 King's New Year's Honours, having been awarded a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) (Civil Division) in the 1949 King's Birthday honours for his service to sport.