Thomas Roberts Jernigan (1847–1920) was US consul in Kobe, Japan (1885–1889), and later US consul general in Shanghai, China (1893–1897). After leaving the diplomatic service he was Standard Oil Company's attorney in China, and served as chairman of the Shanghai International Settlement. From 1905, he went into private practice as a lawyer with Stirling Fessenden under the firm name Jernigan and Fessenden. Jernigan Road (now, Xianxia Road (仙霞路)) in Shanghai was named after him. He wrote a number of works on Chinese economics.