Anne Griffith-Jones

Anne Laugharne Phillips Griffith-Jones (1890–1973) was the founder of Tanglin Preparatory School (now known as Tanglin Trust School), a well-known international school primarily catering for British expatriate students in Singapore.

Griffith-Jones was born in Wales in 1890. During World War I, she served as a welfare officer at a munitions factory in Wales, for which she was awarded an MBE.

In 1923, Griffith-Jones travelled to Singapore for what was intended to be a three-month holiday to visit her brother, who was living there at the time. However she decided to stay and, in spite of having no formal teaching qualifications, opened a primary school. At the time, many British expatriates living in Singapore sent their children away to boarding school in Britain at an early age. Griffith-Jones saw a gap in the market to provide British-style education in Singapore so that parents could postpone boarding school until an older age. The school opened initially within the premises of the Tanglin Club, with just five students. It soon became very popular and grew rapidly. Within the school, Griffith-Jones was affectionately known as "Miss Griff".

In 1935, Griffith-Jones opened a second school, the Tanglin Boarding School in the Cameron Highlands (now part of Malaysia). This too was intended as a near-by alternative for expatriate families living in the region who would otherwise have to send their children to boarding schools in Britain. Many children who attended the...
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