Sir ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...

James Beveridge Thomson, KBE, SMN, PMN, PJKMalay:''Pingat Jasa Kebaktian'' (PJK) = Meritorious Service Medal, instituted 1950 (24 March 1902 – 31 March 1983), was a Scottish jurist and barrister who was the Chief Justice of the

Federal Court of Malaysia The Federal Court of Malaysia ( ms, Mahkamah Persekutuan Malaysia) is the highest court and the final appellate court in Malaysia. It is housed in the Palace of Justice in Putrajaya. The court was established during Malaya's independence in 1 ...

. He was also

Chief Justice of Fiji The chief justice is Fiji's highest judicial officer. The office and its responsibilities are set out in Chapter 5 of the 2013 Constitution of Fiji. The Chief Justice is appointed by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister Prime Mi ...

Life

Born in

Clydebank Clydebank ( gd, Bruach Chluaidh) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, Bowling and Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Mil ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, he attended

George Watson's College George Watson's College is a co-educational Independent school (United Kingdom), independent day school in Scotland, situated on Colinton Road, in the Merchiston area of Edinburgh. It was first established as a Scottish education in the eight ...

and graduated from the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

with first class honours in history. He was called to the

English Bar Barristers in England and Wales are one of the two main categories of lawyer in England and Wales, the other being solicitors. Barristers have traditionally had the role of handling cases for representation in court, both defence and prosecutio ...

(

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 1929. He was a resident magistrate in

Northern Rhodesia Northern Rhodesia was a British protectorate in southern Africa, south central Africa, now the independent country of Zambia. It was formed in 1911 by Amalgamation (politics), amalgamating the two earlier protectorates of Barotziland-North-West ...

, appointed

Puisne Judge A puisne judge or puisne justice (; from french: puisné or ; , 'since, later' + , 'born', i.e. 'junior') is a dated term for an ordinary judge or a judge of lesser rank of a particular court. Use The term is used almost exclusively in common law ...

, Fiji and Western Pacific, in 1945, and Puisne Judge in Malaya in 1947. He was

(and ''ex officio''

Chief Judicial Commissioner for the Western Pacific The Chief Justice of the High Commissioner's Court, more commonly known as the Chief Judicial Commissioner for the Western Pacific, was the chief judicial officer throughout the British Western Pacific Territories from 1877 through 1976. This was ...

) 1949–1953, and

Chief Justice of Tonga Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boa ...

. He was called to the

Scottish Bar The Faculty of Advocates is an independent body of lawyers who have been admitted to practise as advocates before the courts of Scotland, especially the Court of Session and the High Court of Justiciary. The Faculty of Advocates is a constitu ...

in 1955. From 1953, Thomson was back in Malaya. He was a judge in the High Court in

Ipoh , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Ipoh in Perak , pushpin_map = #Malaysia#Asia#Earth , pushpin_mapsize = 275px , pushpin_map_caption = Ipoh in Malaysia , coordinates ...

Perak Perak () is a state of Malaysia on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Perak has land borders with the Malaysian states of Kedah to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kelantan and Pahang to the east, and Selangor to the south. Thailand's ...

, from 1953 to 1957. In 1957, he was appointed as

Chief Justice of Malaya The high courts in Malaysia are the third-highest courts in the hierarchy of courts, after the Federal Court and the Court of Appeal. Article 121 of the Constitution of Malaysia provides that there shall be two high courts of co-ordinate jurisdi ...

, receiving a knighthood in 1959. After the formation of

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

in September 1963, Thomson served as its first

Lord President of the Federal Court The title of Lord President of the Supreme Court was formerly the title of the head of the judiciary in Malaysia, until 1994 when the office was renamed " Chief Justice of the Federal Court". The Lord President was head of the highest court in Mal ...

until May 1966.The Federal Court was known as the Supreme Court between 1985-1994. He was appointed KBE in 1966.

Family life

He married Dr Florence Adams, MRCP (Eng.), LRCP (Lond.). After Sir James Thomson's knighthood in 1959, she was known as '' Toh Puan Datin''

Lady The word ''lady'' is a term for a girl or woman, with various connotations. Once used to describe only women of a high social class or status, the equivalent of lord, now it may refer to any adult woman, as gentleman can be used for men. Inform ...

Florence Adams Thomson. She was a practising physician, working in

, where her husband was Resident Magistrate, and was Medical Officer in

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

. During their time in Malaysia, she became chief nutritionist at the Institute of Medical Research in

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

, carrying out research and authoring a number of articles on child nutrition in Malaysia. When in Scotland, and after their retirement, they lived at Craig Gowan,

Carrbridge Carrbridge ( sco, Carrbrig, gd, Drochaid Chàrr) is a village in Badenoch and Strathspey in the Scottish Highlands. It lies off the A9 on the A938, west of Skye of Curr and southeast of Tomatin, near Bogroy. It has the oldest stone bridge in ...

Badenoch and Strathspey Badenoch and Strathspey is a former district of Highland region, Scotland. The district was created under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 as one of the eight districts of the Highland region. The same legislation abolished countie ...

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...

region (formerly

Inverness-shire Inverness-shire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Nis) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. Covering much of the Highlands and Outer Hebrides, it is Scotland's largest county, though one of the smallest in populatio ...

Honours

Commonwealth honours

* : ** Honorary Commander of the

Order of the Defender of the Realm The Most Esteemed Order of the Defender of the Realm ( ms, Darjah Yang Mulia Pangkuan Negara) is a Malaysian federal award presented for meritorious service to the country. The Order Motto are 'Dipeliharakan Allah-Pangkuan Negara' (By the Grace o ...

(P.M.N.(K)) - Tan Sri (1958) * : ** Honorary Grand Commander of the

(S.M.N.(K)) - Tun (1966) * ** Order_of_the_British_Empire_(Civil)_Ribbon

Knight Commander of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(KBE) - Sir (1966)

Selected bibliography

* *

Notes

References

* *

External links

Photo of Sir James Thomson as first Lord President of the Malaysian Federal Court
!--You're looking particularly gloomy today, if I may say so, m'lud-->
Malaysian granny with child
photo by Dr. F. Adam Thomson, The Straits Times, 17 November 1950, Page 6 {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, James Beveridge 1902 births 1983 deaths Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Chief justices of Malaysia Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire People from Clydebank Chief justices of Tonga Chief justices of Fiji Colony of Fiji judges Scottish expatriates in Fiji British expatriates in Zambia Chief judicial commissioners for the Western Pacific Northern Rhodesia judges British Malaya judges Kingdom of Tonga (1900–1970) judges 20th-century Scottish lawyers Scottish barristers Honorary Commanders of the Order of the Defender of the Realm Honorary Grand Commanders of the Order of the Defender of the Realm