Nisha Rathode (Editor)

Shenton Thomas

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Preceded by
  
Sir Cecil Clementi

Nationality
  
British


Children
  
Mary Bridget Thomas

Name
  
Shenton Thomas

Shenton Thomas httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediams11bShe

Preceded by
  
Geoffrey Northcote acting

Preceded by
  
Sir Hubert Winthrop Young

Born
  
October 10, 1879 Southwark, London, United Kingdom (
1879-10-10
)

Died
  
January 15, 1962, London, United Kingdom

Spouse
  
Lucy Marguerite Montgomery (m. 1912)

Education
  
St John's School, Leatherhead

Succeeded by
  
Wilfred Bennett Davidson-Houston

Sir Thomas Shenton Whitelegge Thomas (October 10, 1879 – January 15, 1962) commonly known as Sir Shenton Thomas, was the last Governor of the Straits Settlements. He served from 1934 to 1942, during which time the Second World War broke out, and again from September 1945 to April 1946, when the Straits Settlements was dissolved.

Contents

Life

Shenton Thomas was born on 10 October 1879, in Southwark, London to The Rev Thomas William Thomas and his wife Charlotte Susanna (Susie) née Whitelegge. He was educated at St. John's School, Leatherhead and Queens' College, Cambridge. He taught at Aysgarth School in Yorkshire prior to entering the Colonial Service. Before he went to Malaya as the colonial administrator, Thomas was the Governor of Nyasaland from 1929 to 1932. He was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George (GCMG) in 1930.

Thomas was a prisoner-of-war during the Japanese occupation of Singapore (15 February 1942 - 15 August 1945) having decided to stay in Singapore during the war. He was imprisoned in Cell 24 of Changi Prison along with Ernest Tipson. Thomas established the King George V Park in Malaya (later renamed the National Park of Malaysia). Today, Shenton Way, located in Singapore's business district, is named after him. After the war, Thomas remained as the 11th British High Commissioner in Malaya (9 November 1934 - 1 April 1946), until the Malayan Union was established and succeeded the British administration in the Straits Settlements (except for Singapore, which was created a separate colony), Federated Malay States and Unfederated Malay States, where the post of Governor-General of the Malayan Union was created.

Thomas died on 15 January 1962, at his home in London. He was 82.

Family

He married Lucy Marguerite (Daisy) Montgomery (1884-1978) daughter of James Montgomery on 11 April 1912 at St Jude's Church, Kensington, London, with issue:

  • Mary Bridget Thomas (1914 - 1998), born in Nairobi, Kenya, who married 1st Lt-Col Jack Leslie Harry Lotinga and married 2nd in 1965 Nicholas Eliot, 9th Earl of St Germans.
  • Legacy

    Shenton Way, a major road in Singapore's central business district, was named after him.

    References

    Shenton Thomas Wikipedia