Cecil Thomas (1883 – 26 October 1960) was a British newspaper editor. Born in Newton-in-the-Isle in

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...

, Thomas was the younger brother of colonial administrator

Shenton Thomas Sir Thomas Shenton Whitelegge Thomas (10 October 1879 – 15 January 1962) was a British colonial administrator, best remembered as the Governor of the Straits Settlements at the time of the Japanese invasion during the Second World War. Bo ...

. Cecil became a journalist in 1908, and joined the ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...

'' in 1910. In 1934, Thomas was appointed as editor of the ''Mirror''. He served during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, during which he became known for writing lengthy letters in the paper, described life at its headquarters. In 1942, he was called to the

Home Office The Home Office (HO), also known (especially in official papers and when referred to in Parliament) as the Home Department, is the United Kingdom's interior ministry. It is responsible for public safety and policing, border security, immigr ...

Herbert Morrison Herbert Stanley Morrison, Baron Morrison of Lambeth, (3 January 1888 – 6 March 1965) was a British politician who held a variety of senior positions in the Cabinet as a member of the Labour Party. During the inter-war period, he was Minist ...

, and threatened that the paper could be closed if it continued to publish articles considered detrimental to the war effort. He retired in 1948. In his obituary in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', Thomas was described as "cherubic, courteous and unobtrusive", and in the ''Daily Mirror'' as "a tranquil man". In his spare time, he enjoyed painting.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Cecil 1883 births 1960 deaths English newspaper editors Daily Mirror people People from Cambridgeshire