He completed his education at Highbury House School[5] St Leonards-on-Sea, where he excelled as a sprinter and pursued a degree in music at Trinity Hall, Cambridge.
The Alfred House Estate of the De Soysa family covered a large area of about 125 acres stretching from what is now Duplication road to Cinnamon Gardens; and Thunmulla Junction to Charles Circus.
The earlier subdivisions were however made by the de Soysa family itself, which constructed several stately mansions within the property and gifted the land in front of Lakshmigiri to Royal College, Colombo, now the University grounds (playing fields).
[10] In the book India House, Colombo by Sarvodaya Vishvalekha, Lakshmigiri is described as an extravagant mix of Baroque and Italianate architecture reminiscent of a retreat of Queen Victoria with gates inspired by those of Buckingham Palace.
It is said that he built the western and eastern towers of Lakshimigiri, to be able to observe the races taking part at the Colombo Racecourse Airstrip, situated just down the road.
In 1893 he built the Chevaliar Jusey de Silva ward at the Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children and in 1913 inaugurated the Ceylon School for the Deaf and Blind, Ratmalana.
Unfortunately, it was during this time that many ornaments, antiques, chandeliers & valuable furniture was ransacked by these British troops prior to their exodus from Sri Lanka.
They were honoured to house the head of the community, Syenda Taher Saifuddin, on all five of his visits to Sri Lanka at Lakshmigiri.
[22] The mansion is also described in the books; Architecture and Nationalism in Sri Lanka: The Trouser Under the Cloth by Anoma Pieris and India House Colombo by Sarvodaya Vishvalekha.