Thomas Graham (barrister)

The Honourable Sir Thomas Graham KC
Prime Minister of Cape Colony Acting
In office June – August 1902
Monarch	Edward VII
Governor	Walter Hely-Hutchinson
Preceded by	Gordon Sprigg
Succeeded by	Gordon Sprigg
Judge President of the Eastern Districts Local Division of the Supreme Court of South Africa
In office 1913–1937
Preceded by	John Gilbert Kotzé
Judge of the Eastern Districts Court of the Supreme Court of South Africa
In office 1904–1913
Attorney-General of Cape Colony
In office 1902–1904
Prime Minister	Gordon Sprigg
Preceded by	James Rose Innes
Succeeded by	Victor Sampson
In office January – June 1898
Prime Minister	Gordon Sprigg
Preceded by	Thomas Upington
Succeeded by	Richard Solomon
Colonial Secretary of Cape Colony
In office 1900–1902
Parliament of Cape Colony
In office 1898–1904
Personal details
Born	5 May 1860 Grahamstown, Cape Colony
Died	7 May 1940(1940-05-07) (aged 80) Union of South Africa
Nationality	British, South African
Political party	Progressive
Alma mater	St. Andrew's College Clare College, Cambridge
Profession	lawyer, judge

Sir Thomas Lynedoch Graham KC (5 May 1860 – 7 May 1940) was a South African judge and politician.

Early life and education

Graham was born in Grahamstown, Cape Colony, which had been founded by his ancestor, Colonel John Graham, in 1812. He was educated at St Andrew's College, Grahamstown and Clare College, Cambridge and was called to the bar by the Inner Temple in 1885.

Legal and political career

Returning to South Africa, he became an advocate of the Supreme Court of Cape Colony. In 1898, he took silk and was elected to the Cape Colony Legislative Council, the Upper House of the Parliament of Cape Colony. Soon afterwards he was appointed Attorney-General in Sir Gordon Sprigg's third government. However, in June 1898 a vote of no confidence was passed in the government, which resigned.

Two years later, Sprigg was back in government, with Graham as Colonial Secretary. In 1902 he became Attorney-General again and from June to August he acted as Prime Minister while Sprigg attended the Coronation of King Edward VII in London.

In 1904 Sprigg's government fell again and Graham was appointed a judge. In 1913 he was appointed Judge-President of the Eastern Districts Local Division of the Supreme Court of South Africa, with his seat in his hometown. He held this post until his retirement in 1937.

He was knighted in the 1920 New Year Honours.

Sport participation

In September 1882, Graham participated in the Oxford and Cambridge Challenge Cup tennis tournament, played on grass in Oxford, where he lost in the first round to Robert Wallace Glen Lee Braddell, the son of Sir Thomas Braddell. In 1891 he won the South African Doubles Lawn Tennis Championship. Graham was also a keen cricketer and represented the Cape Town-based, Western Province Cricket Club, as a fast bowler.

References

• Obituary, The Times, 8 May 1940