Thomas Valpy French (1 January 1825 – 14 May 1891) was an English Christian Missionary in India and Persia, who became the first Bishop of Lahore, in 1877, and also founded the St. John's College, Agra, in 1853.

[3] Thomas Valpy French was born on New Year's Day in 1825, in Abbey, Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England, the son of Rev.

Peter French and his wife, Penelope Arabella the daughter of the educationalist, Richard Valpy of Reading, Berkshire.

[7] 1861 saw French moving to the Punjab, where he started a new mission, which was the first in the area, though bad health forced him to leave for England by the end of 1862.

[8] In 1877, on St. Thomas' Day at Westminster Abbey, London, French was appointed the first Anglican Bishop of a large new diocese of Lahore, which included, all of the Punjab and northwestern India, and remained so until 1887,[9][10] during the time he founded the Lahore Divinity College, which opened on 21 November 1870 and also remained its Principal for many years,[11][12] he supervised the translation of the Bible and Prayer Book into Hindustani and Pashto,[13] and also made visits to Kashmir and Iran (1883), where he was the first Episcopal bishop to visit the country,[14] before returning to England, due to bad health in 1887.