Thomas Southorn
Sir Wilfrid Thomas Southorn, known as Tom, was a British colonial administrator, spending the large part of his career in Ceylon before serving as Colonial Secretary of Hong Kong, then Governor of The Gambia.
Education
He was educated at Warwick School and Corpus Christi College, Oxford.Colonial service career
He had joined the Ceylon Civil Service in 1903, and was appointed Additional Assistant Colonial Secretary in 1909, Principal Assistant Colonial Secretary in 1920, and Principal Collector of Customs and Chairman of the Post Commission in 1923.He was the Colonial Secretary of Hong Kong from 1925 to 1936 and served as Acting Administrator of the colony from February to March 1930 and from May to September 1935, and then in November the same year, at either end of the tenure of Sir William Peel as governor. His official residence was Mountain Lodge.
In 1936, he was made Governor of the Gambia, notably describing the colony as "a geographical and economic absurdity". He left The Gambia in March 1942.