A Pig of beauty is a joy forever

Thomas Stamford Raffles

When I saw the signature of this person, I immediately thought of E. W. Hornung's 'Gentleman Thief' called Raffles! Finding out about Thomas Raffles proved to be quite straightforward - he attended Cambridge University and thus the Alumni archives provided a lot of information. This, plus his obituary from 1926, built up a picture of him.

Thomas was admitted to Clare College on 6 Dec 1876, having been educated at Rugby School. He gained his BA in 1880 and an MA in 1883. He was ordained as a Deacon in 1880 and served at Whittington between 1880-82, and then Ashton on Mersey between 1882-83. In 1883 he became Rector of Owmby, before moving onto Langham, Essex in 1887. He stayed there until 1914 when he became Rector of Lexden until his death in 1926.

There is further information that we can find out about Thomas. For example he was born in Liverpool to Thomas Stamford Raffles, barrister and stipendiary magistrate for Liverpool, and Maria Cearns. His grandfather was Dr Thomas Raffles who was an Independent Minister at the Great George Street Congregational Church in Liverpool. There was a connection to the Thomas Stamford Raffles, formerly of the East India Company and later the founder of Singapore.

Our Thomas Raffles served as Deacon at Whittington, Shropshire where he met his future wife, Cecil Helen Lovett, daughter of Colonel Thomas Lovett of Henlle. They married on 6th November 1884. By the time of the 1891 census, Thomas and Cecil have two sons, Stamford and Reginald, and are living at The Rectory in Langham. It is likely that Thomas was well respected at Langham, because there remains a plaque in Langham church in memory of him.

Thomas died on 1st March 1926 at 29 Wimpole Street, London. This was the residence of George Alexander Sutherland, an eminent physician specializing in cardiology.