GATE MUDALIYAR JAMES EDWARD COREA was born on the 2nd of December 1865 and was the eldest child of Mudaliyar Johannes Christoffel Corea and Sophia Ameresekera. He attended Royal College, Colombo and in 1887, he joined Government service and worked for the Provincial Road Committee at Kurunegala. A year later, he was moved to the District Road Committee in Chilaw.

In the same year, James Edward married Frances Eleanor Terentia Ameresekera, daughter of D.C. Ameresekera, who was a Proctor of the Supreme Court, Kurunegala. Together, they had ten children: Drayton, Melita Avilda Terentia, Edward Stanley Tarrant, Aelian, Ouida, Acland, Edward, Ariel, Lettie and Lesley.

In 1899, James Edward was appointed as Mudaliyar of Pitigal Korale North, and in addition, he was also Inquirer into Crimes of the Chilaw District, and was in charge of the rural police in Pitigal Korale North. James was also the Chairman of the Village Committee and President of the Council of Irrigation. He owned many coconut estates and paddy-lands, as he was a proprietor and planter.