Shenton Thomas

Sir Shenton Thomas GCMG GCStJ
21st Governor of the Straits Settlements
In office 1945–1946
Preceded by	Japanese occupation
Succeeded by	Position abolished
In office 1934–1942
Preceded by	Sir Cecil Clementi
Succeeded by	Japanese occupation
Governor of the Gold Coast
In office 1932–1934
Monarch	George VI
Preceded by	Geoffrey Northcote (acting)
Succeeded by	Geoffrey Northcote (acting)
Governor of Nyasaland
In office 1929–1932
Preceded by	Sir Hubert Winthrop Young
Succeeded by	Wilfred Bennett Davidson-Houston
Personal details
Born	Thomas Shenton Whitelegge Thomas (1879-10-10)10 October 1879 Southwark, London, UK
Died	15 January 1962(1962-01-15) (aged 82) London, UK
Spouse	Lucy Marguerite (Daisy) Montgomery ​ ​ (m. 1912⁠–⁠1962)​
Children	Mary Bridget Thomas (daughter)
Occupation	Colonial administrator

St Jude's Church, Kensington, London, where Thomas married in 1912

Sir Thomas Shenton Whitelegge Thomas GCMG GCStJ (10 October 1879 – 15 January 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.

Life

Queens' College, Cambridge football team 1900-1901, including Sir Shenton Thomas (second from right, middle row), Charles Tate Regan and Samuel Day.

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 helped established the King George V National Park in Malaya (later renamed the Taman Negara). 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.

See also

• Elizabeth Choy - Singaporean educator and WWII resistance worker

External links

• Singapore Infopedia entry