Shenton Thomas

Sir Shenton Thomas
His Excellency; 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; 10 October 1879; Southwark, London, UK
Died	15 January 1962 (aged 82); London, UK
Nationality	British
Spouse(s)	Lucy Marguerite (Daisy) Montgomery (m. 1912)
Children	Mary Bridget Thomas (daughter)
Occupation	Colonial administrator

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.

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

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.[1][2][3] He was educated at St. John's School, Leatherhead[4] and Queens' College, Cambridge.[5] 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[6] on 11 April 1912 at St Jude's Church, Kensington, London,[3] with issue:

Mary Bridget Thomas (1914 - 1998), born in Nairobi, Kenya, who married 1st, in 1936 (divorced 1954)[7] Lt-Col Jack Leslie Larry Lotinga, MC of the Royal Fusiliers[8] 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.

He is associated, in this role of Governor, with the loss of Malaya and Singapore and his civilian administration’s apparent failures to properly assess the growing Japanese threat and make appropriate defences.[9]

References

1881 UK Census: Aged 1 of St John Villas, Park Lane, Heigham, Norfolk - RG11/1951 f.9 p.11 - Thomas Shenton Whitelegge Thomas born Southwark
1901 UK Census: Aged 21 of The Vicarage, St Barnabas Road, Cambridge - RG13/1530 f.32 p.14 - Thomas Shenton W. Thomas born London
GRO Register of Marriages: JUN 1912 1a 348 KENSINGTON - Thomas S. W. Thomas = Lucy M. Montgomery
1891 UK Census: Pupil, aged 10, of St John's School, Leatherhead Surrey - RG12/549 f.98 p.8 - Thomas Shenton Thomas born St Bride's London
"Thomas, Thomas Shenton Whitelegge (THMS898TS)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
"Lucy Marguerite (née Montgomery), Lady Thomas". National Portrait Gallery.
Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Peerage, Baronetage, and Knightage, 101st edition, ed. L. G. Pine, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 1956, p. 2644
https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/34893/supplement/4262/data.pdf
Ronald McCrum (28 February 2017). The Men Who Lost Singapore, 1938-1942. NUS Press. ISBN 978-981-4722-39-1.

External links

Singapore Infopedia entry

Government offices
Preceded by Wilfred Bennett Davidson-Houston	Governor of Nyasaland 1929–1932	Succeeded by Sir Hubert Winthrop Young
Preceded by Geoffrey Northcote, acting	Governor of the Gold Coast 1932–1934	Succeeded by Geoffrey Northcote, acting
Preceded by Sir Cecil Clementi	Governor of Straits Settlements & British High Commissioner in Malaya 1934–1942	Succeeded by Sir Gerard Edward James Gent as Governor of the Malayan Union
Preceded by Sir Cecil Clementi		Succeeded by Sir Franklin Charles Gimson as Governor of Singapore

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[1] 1881 UK Census: Aged 1 of St John Villas, Park Lane, Heigham, Norfolk - RG11/1951 f.9 p.11 - Thomas Shenton Whitelegge Thomas born Southwark

[2] 1901 UK Census: Aged 21 of The Vicarage, St Barnabas Road, Cambridge - RG13/1530 f.32 p.14 - Thomas Shenton W. Thomas born London

[marriage-3] GRO Register of Marriages: JUN 1912 1a 348 KENSINGTON - Thomas S. W. Thomas = Lucy M. Montgomery

[4] 1891 UK Census: Pupil, aged 10, of St John's School, Leatherhead Surrey - RG12/549 f.98 p.8 - Thomas Shenton Thomas born St Bride's London

[5] "Thomas, Thomas Shenton Whitelegge (THMS898TS)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.

[6] "Lucy Marguerite (née Montgomery), Lady Thomas". National Portrait Gallery.

[7] Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Peerage, Baronetage, and Knightage, 101st edition, ed. L. G. Pine, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 1956, p. 2644

[8] ttps://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/34893/supplement/4262/data.pdf

[McCrum2017-9] Ronald McCrum (28 February 2017). The Men Who Lost Singapore, 1938-1942. NUS Press. ISBN 978-981-4722-39-1.

Governors of Singapore (1819–1959) (with italics * for the Acting)
Resident of Singapore (1819–1826)	William Farquhar Dr. John Crawfurd
Governors of the Straits Settlements (under British India) (1826–1867)	Robert Fullerton Robert Ibbetson Kenneth Murchison Sir Samuel George Bonham William John Butterworth Edmund Augustus Blundell
Governors of the Straits Settlements (under Colonial Office) (1867–1942)	Sir Orfeur Cavenagh Sir Harry St. George Ord Sir Andrew Clarke Sir William Jervois Sir Archibald Edward Harbord Anson * Sir William Cleaver Francis Robinson Sir Archibald Edward Harbord Anson * Sir Frederick Aloysius Weld Sir Cecil Clementi Smith William Edward Maxwell * Sir Charles Bullen Hugh Mitchell Sir James Alexander Swettenham * Sir Frank Athelstane Swettenham Sir John Anderson Sir Arthur Henderson Young Sir Laurence Nunns Guillemard Sir Hugh Charles Clifford Sir John Scott * Sir Cecil Clementi Sir Andrew Caldecott * Sir Thomas Shenton Whitelegge Thomas
Japanese Mayor of Syonan (1942–1945)	Shigeo Odate Kanichi Naito
British Military Administration of the Straits Settlements (1945–1946)	Lord Louis Mountbatten
Governors of the Crown Colony of Singapore (1946–1959)	Sir Franklin Charles Gimson Wilfred Lawson Blythe * Sir John Fearns Nicoll William Allmond Codrington Goode * Sir Robert Brown Black Sir William Allmond Codrington Goode