Thomas Sidgreaves

Sir Thomas Sidgreaves (25 October 1831[1] – 23 December 1889) was a British colonial judge who was Chief Justice of the Straits Settlements from 1871 to 1886.[2][3]

Sidgreaves was born in Preston, Lancashire into a Catholic family, the second son of George Sidgreaves.[4] He was educated at Stonyhurst College and the University of London, earning a B.A. in 1853. He was called to the bar at the Inner Temple in 1857.[5]

He was knighted in 1874 for service in British India.[2]

He married Barbara Young,[1] with whom he had six children, including Sir Arthur Sidgreaves, head of Rolls-Royce.[6]

He died by suicide in Great Malvern, shooting himself in the chest in his garden. He had been suffering from depression because of recent financial losses, though he was entitled to a yearly pension of £1,200 (equivalent to £167,000 in 2023). A jury returned a verdict of "suicide while of unsound mind" in the case. He was 60 years old.[7]

References

1. Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage. Burke's Peerage Limited. 1885. p. 1531. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
2. "Sir Thomas Sidgreaves". The Times. 24 December 1890. p. 4.
3. "The Late Sir Thomas Sidgreaves". Japan Daily Mail. 18 January 1890. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
4. Burnand, Sir Francis Cowley (1908). The Catholic Who's who and Yearbook. Burns & Oates. p. 365. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
5. "The Late T. Sidgreaves". The Law Times. Published at the office of The Law times: 25. 25 January 1890. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
6. "Sidgreaves, Sir Arthur Frederick (1882–1948), businessman". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/36085. Retrieved 2 May 2019. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
7. "The Suicide of Sir Thomas Sidgreaves". Straits Times. 4 February 1890. p. 2. Retrieved 2 May 2019.