The author seeks to trace the history of Admiralty law of England and Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) was a British Colony for nearly one hundred and fifty years and the British were responsible for the development of many of her commercial law and maritime law. The introduction of maritime law to the island of Ceylon could be related to parallel developments in this area of law of England. In order to appreciate the issues relating to admiralty law of Sri Lanka, specially in relation to the application of English law, it is necessary to examine the recent developments of the admiralty law of England.