Charles Edward Victor Seneviratne Corea was born in Chilaw, Sri Lanka, on 29 January 1871 to Charles Edward Bandaranaike Corea, a famous lawyer, and Henrietta Seneviratne.
He was the youngest out of five children, three boys and two girls, Charles Edgar Corea, James Alfred Ernest Corea, Agnes Corea and Evangeline Corea.
This family was acknowledged to be one of the wealthiest families in the whole of Ceylon.
Victor's family was severely affected when Charles Edward Bandaranaike Corea died in 1872, leaving five children, of whom the youngest, Victor Corea, was only one year old.
The five young children depended on their young, widowed 21-year-old mother to look after them.
He attended the prestigious S.
Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia, where he excelled in his studies.