W. N. T. Tam

William Ngartse Thomas Tam, OBE, JP (21 July 1900 – 8 April 1976) was a Hong Kong judge and member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong.

Biography

Third son of Lung Foo Thomas (alias Tam Ha Si) and reputed to have Kaiping roots, W. N. Thomas Tam was born in Hong Kong in 1900. In his early years he was known as William Ngartse THOMAS, his close friends called him Willie. He went to the Diocesan Boys School, graduated from the University of Hong Kong (BA 1920), and University College London (LLB 1923), and admitted in 1920 to Inner Temple before calling to the Hong Kong Bar. He also received a Diploma in Economics and Political Science from Oxford University in 1922. It was only at Oxford and subsequently that he used Tam as his surname, whereas his brother George and his descendants have retained Thomas as theirs.

He was member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong from 1939 until 1941 when Hong Kong fell under the Japanese occupation, he was appointed to the Chinese Cooperative Council set up the Japanese. After the war, Tam was appointed Judge of the Central Magistracy.^[1] During the war and shortly after he had a law practice with Kan Yuet Keung and George She.

Tam was a director of Tung Wah Group of Hospitals and was also Life Chancellor of the Po Leung Kuk. He was made Justice of the Peace in 1933 and was awarded Officer of the Order of the British Empire^[1] on the King's Birthday Honours 1951.

He married Jessie Pui-chun To, daughter of Dr. Ying Kwan To on 2 November 1929 at the St. John's Cathedral. They lived at the "Jessville" at Pok Fu Lam's hillsides which named after his wife and as her wedding present.^[2] He died on 8 April 1976 at the Hong Kong Sanatorium & Hospital at aged 75, leaving two children and two grandchildren. His son-in-law was Yang Ti-liang, former Chief Justice of Hong Kong.^[1]

There is a Jessie and Thomas Tam Charitable Foundation still extant.

References