EDWARD STANLEY TARRANT COREA was one of ten children born to Gate Mudaliyar James Edward Corea and his wife, Frances Eleanor Terentia Ameresekera. He was born in Chilaw in 1900, and his father was Gate Mudaliyar of Chilaw, as was his grandfather.

In 1918, he became a Clerk in Puttalam, and was later transferred to the Galle Kachcheri. In the early 1930s, he was the acting President of the Village Tribunals in Wellaboda Pattu. He was later appointed to permanent office.

He married Ida Lilian Rose Perera. They had one daughter, Ranee, who was born in 1937. She married Ernest Nihal Bertrand Corea, who was a journalist.