| H. W. Thambiah | |
| Honorific-Suffix: | QC |
| Office1: | Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Ceylon |
| Term Start1: | 1960 |
| Term End1: | 1972 |
| Office2: | Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Canada |
| Term Start2: | September 1975 |
| Term End2: | December 1977 |
| Birth Date: | 1906 5, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Jaffna, Ceylon |
| Death Date: | 1997 |
| Nationality: | Sri Lankan |
| Alma Mater: | St. John's College, Jaffna Jaffna Central College University College, Colombo Ceylon Law College |
| Profession: | Lawyer |
| Blank1: | Ethnicity |
| Data1: | Ceylon Tamil |
Henry Wijeyakone Thambiah (also spelt Tambiah) (1906–1997) was a Ceylonese academic, diplomat, lawyer and judge, born in Sri Lanka during British colonial rule. He was a Commissioner of Assize, High Commissioner and judge of the Supreme Courts of Ceylon and Sierra Leone.[1] [2]
Thambiah was born on 28 May 1906 in Jaffna in northern province of Ceylon.[3] He was the son of David Thambiah, a surveyor, and Thangamma, daughter of Dr William Thillayampalam Paul and sister of Dr S. C. Paul. Both his parents died when he was child.[4] Thambiah was educated at St. John's College, Jaffna and Jaffna Central College from where he passed the London matriculation in the first division.[3] [4] His ambition was to be an engineer. After school he entered University College, Colombo and graduated in 1928 with a BSc (Hons) degree in maths and physics.[3] [4] He taught physics for a year before becoming interest in the legal profession. He joined Ceylon Law College in 1930 and qualified as an attorney-at-law in 1933, winning a prize for coming first in the examinations.[3] [4] He received a LLB (Hons) degree from the University of London in 1934, coming first amongst overseas students.[3]
Thambiah married Leela, daughter of C. D. A. Sherrard from Point Pedro. They have four children – Gulendran, Rajendran Jeyanathan, Rajeswari and Anthony Sudir.[3]
After qualifying Thambiah practised law. Thambiah also worked as a visiting lecturer University of Ceylon and Ceylon Law College and an examiner at the Council of Legal Education between 1938 and 1953.[3] [4] [5] He obtained a PhD from the University of London in 1949 and in 1954 he was called to the Inner Temple.[3] [4] In 1956 he became a QC.[3] [4] He then joined the judicial service in 1956, serving as a Commissioner of Assize for five years before being appointed to the Supreme Court in 1960.[3] He was a Supreme Court judge for twelve years.
After retiring Thambiah moved to West Africa, serving as a judge on the Supreme Court of Sierra Leone and an appeals court judge in the Gambia.[3] He was awarded a LLD by the University of London in 1973 for his services to Sri Lankan law.[4] He was president of the Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka from 1974 to 1976.[6] Thambiah returned to Sri Lankan in 1975 and started the Tamil section of the Law Faculty at the University of Colombo.[3] He served as the Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Canada from September 1975 to December 1977.[3] [4] He then served as chair of the Law Commission.
Thambiah was awarded the Deshamanya title, the second highest civilian honour in Sri Lanka, in 1993.[3] He died in 1997 aged 91.[4]
Thambiah wrote many books during his life:[3]