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]