Thomas Strangman

Who was Thomas Strangman?

Sir Thomas Joseph Strangman QC was a British barrister who spent much of his career in India.

Strangman was educated at Charterhouse School and Trinity Hall, Cambridge and was called to the bar by the Middle Temple in 1896. He practised in Bombay, where he was a member of the Legislative Council and was appointed Advocate-General of Bombay in 1914. In this role he was the first lawyer to successfully prosecute Gandhi. He was knighted in the 1920 New Year Honours.

In 1922 he returned to England and attempted to enter politics for the Conservative Party, unsuccessfully contesting Crewe 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. He was highly successful in this practice and took silk in 1938. He became a bencher of Lincoln's Inn in 1944.

He was also at various times chairman of the Eastern Bank, the Banque Belge pour l'Etranger, the Shanghai Electric Corporation and the Singapore Traction Company.