1. Shenton Thomas was appointed to the Straits Settlements in 1934, serving as Governor until 1942, when he became a Japanese prisoner-of-war after the fall of Singapore.
12 Facts About Shenton Thomas
1. 2.
Shenton Thomas served again as Governor of the Straits Settlements after the war, from 1945 until 1946, when the territory was broken up.
3.
Thomas Shenton Whitelegge Thomas was born on 10 October 1879, in Southwark, London to The Rev Thomas William Thomas and his wife Charlotte Susanna Thomas.
4.
Shenton Thomas was educated at St John's School, Leatherhead and Queens' College, Cambridge.
5.
Shenton Thomas taught at Aysgarth School in Yorkshire prior to entering the Colonial Service.
6.
In 1909, Shenton Thomas was appointed as Assistant District Commissioner, East Africa Protectorate.
7.
Shenton Thomas was a prisoner-of-war during the Japanese occupation of Singapore having decided to stay in Singapore during the war.
8.
Shenton Thomas was imprisoned in Cell 24 of Changi Prison along with missionary Ernest Tipson.
9.
Shenton Thomas's brother was Hugh Whitelegge Thomas, a colonial commissioner and Cambridge cricketer.
10.
Shenton Thomas married Lucy Marguerite Montgomery daughter of James Montgomery on 11 April 1912 at St Jude's Church, Kensington, London.
11.
Shenton Thomas died on 15 January 1962, at his home in London.
12.
Shenton Thomas is widely associated in his role as governor with the loss of Singapore and his civilian administration's apparent failures to properly assess the growing Japanese threat and make appropriate defences.