Born on August 19, 1869, at Jaffna, he was educated at St. John's College, Jaffna. then at St. Thomas, College, Colombo. Thereafter he held the Divinity scholarship till 1891 and was Liturgy Prizeman, besides editing the College Magazine. Qualifying as a lawyer he practised in Jaffna until 1901 and then in Colombo until 1913. In 1912 he was called to the Bar, Gray's Inn, and
proceeded to Malaya the next year to set up in practice there. He soon made a name for himself in politics
and the law while at the same time not neglecting his theological studies. While in Malaya he obtained the degrees
of D. D. and D. Th.Returning in 1924 Dr. Tambyah forsook the law and was ordained a Deacon. Two years later he was ordained Priest and appointed to St. John's Church, Chundikuli. He remained here till 1938 when he went as Priest-in-Charge, Bandarawela. Early in 1940 he was transferred to Holy Trinity Church, San Sebastian and died at the age of 71 years. At the time of his death he was Vicar of Holv Trinity Church, San Sebastian Vice-Principal of the 'Divinity School', Colombo. He was married to the daughter of the late Mudaliyar J. W. B. Kumarkulasinghe and his sister Elizabeth Nesamani was married to Mudaliyar A. Barr-Kumarakulasinghe.
Catholic Tastes
Dr. Tambyah was a man of wide culture and Catholic tastes. He founded and edited the "Ceylon Review" the first Law Magazine published in Ceylon. He was the author of the "Digest of the Law Contract" and "Commentary on the Ceylon Penal Code" and "Commentary on the Ceylon Labour Ordinance", besides editing the "Ceylon Law Review" and "Tambyahs Reports". While a law student Dr. Tambyah edited the "Law-Students Magazine' and the 'Period'.
He also edited collections of poems by various writers and in 1897 came out with the "Garland of Ceylon Verse" the first collection of published poems written in Ceylon.
Later on in life he wrote "Foregleams of God", Psalms of a Saiva Saint and a "Tamil Mystic". Foregleams of God is a comparative Study of Hinduism, Buddhism and Christianity. Pslams of a Saiva Saint consists of 366 translations with notes and a long long introduction and is a Christian Laymans endeavour to understand a great Hindu poet.