In 1888 he married Frances Eleanor Terentia, daughter of D. C. Ameresekera, Proctor of the Supreme Court, Kurunegala and they had ten children.

Roper Lethbridge in 'The Golden Book of India'; a genealogical and biographical dictionary of the ruling princes, chiefs, nobles, and other personages, titled or decorated, of the Indian empire, with an appendix for Ceylon, written in 1900, mentions James Edward Corea: 'COREA, Abhayaratna Gunasekara Wi-kramasundara Wijayasekere, James Edward, Gate Mudaliyar; born 1866.

[7] James Edward Corea owned vast coconut estates and paddy fields in and around the Chilaw area.

Arnold Wright, writing in 1907 in his book Twentieth Century Impressions of Ceylon, noted: "James Edward Corea Abhayaratna Vijayasekera Mudaliyar Pitigal Korale, North Chilaw was educated at Colombo Academy (now Royal College, Colombo), and entered Government Service in 1887."

Also he was inspector of coaches and inquirer into crimes of the Chilaw District and in charge of the Rural Police of Pitigal Korale North.

He owned Karrukkuwa, Tittakada and Tambagalle coconut estates in Chilaw district as well as large tracts of paddy lands.

When the British governed the island of Ceylon, they re-introduced the 'Mudaliyar Class,' first set up by the Portuguese and then the Dutch colonial rulers.

When Mahatma Gandhi, the 'Father of India,' visited Ceylon for the first time in 1927, he travelled to Chilaw and met with the Corea Family including Gate Mudaliyar J.E.Corea.