Sir Thomas Joseph Strangman QC (7 January 1873 – 8 October 1971) was a British

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

who spent much of his career in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. Strangman was educated at

Charterhouse School (God having given, I gave) , established = , closed = , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , president ...

and

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It is the fifth-oldest surviving college of the university, having been founded in 1350 by ...

and was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

by the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

in 1896. He practised in

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

, twice served as

Advocate-General of Bombay The Advocate-General of Bombay was charged with advising the Government of the British administered Bombay Presidency on legal matters. The Presidency existed from 1668 to 1947. Prior to 1858, when it was administered by the East India Company, th ...

(1908–1915 and 1916–1922), and as such was an ''ex officio'' member of the Bombay Legislative Council. As Advocate-General he was the first lawyer to successfully prosecute

Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

. He was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

in the 1920 New Year Honours. In 1922 he returned to England and attempted to enter politics for the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

, unsuccessfully contesting

Crewe Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The Crewe built-up area had a total population of 75,556 in 2011, which also covers parts of the adjacent civil parishes of Willaston ...

in 1923 and Wolverhampton East in 1924. He then returned to practise in Bombay. In about 1929 he returned to England permanently and specialised in Indian appeals before the

Judicial Committee of the Privy Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is the highest court of appeal for the Crown Dependencies, the British Overseas Territories, some Commonwealth countries and a few institutions in the United Kingdom. Established on 14 Augus ...

. He was highly successful in this practice and

took silk In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel ( post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister or ...

in 1938. He became a

bencher A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales or the Inns of Court in Northern Ireland, or the Honorable Society of King's Inns in Ireland. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher can ...

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

in 1944. He was also at various times chairman of the

Eastern Bank Eastern Bank is a bank based in Boston, Massachusetts. Before Demutualization, de-mutualizing in 2020, it was the oldest and largest Mutual savings bank, mutual bank in the United States and the largest community bank in Massachusetts. With 95 br ...

, the Banque Belge pour l'Etranger, the

Shanghai Electric Corporation Shanghai Electric (officially Shanghai Electric Group Company Limited) is a Chinese multinational power generation and electrical equipment manufacturing company headquartered in Shanghai. The company traces its roots to 1880. Shanghai Electri ...

and the

Singapore Traction Company The Singapore Traction Company (STC) was a tram, trolleybus and motor bus operator in Singapore from 1925 to 1971. Established as a result of the Traction Ordinance in 1925, it was initially owned by the Shanghai Electric Company. The company took ...

. In January 1928 Strangman's younger daughter, Josephine, married

Kenelm Lee Guinness Kenelm Edward Lee Guinness MBE (14 August 1887 – 10 April 1937) was a London-born racing driver of the 1910s and 1920s mostly associated with Sunbeam racing cars. He set a new Land Speed Record in 1922. Also an automotive engineer, he inve ...

of the Guinness brewing family. The marriage was dissolved in 1936.

Footnotes

References

*Obituary, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'', 12 October 1971 {{DEFAULTSORT:Strangman, Thomas 1873 births 1971 deaths People educated at Charterhouse School Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge Members of the Middle Temple Members of Lincoln's Inn British King's Counsel Indian barristers British businesspeople Knights Bachelor Lawyers awarded knighthoods British barristers 20th-century King's Counsel Conservative Party (UK) parliamentary candidates