David Alfred Thomas, 1st Viscount Rhondda

Mr. David Alfred Thomas

David Alfred Thomas, 1st Viscount Rhondda PC (26 March 1856 – 3 July 1918), sometimes known as D. A. Thomas and styled Lord Rhondda from 1916 to 1918, was a Welsh industrialist and Liberal politician. He was UK Member of Parliament (MP) for Merthyr Tydfil from 1888 until the January 1910 general election, then MP for Cardiff until the December 1910 general election, when he left politics to concentrate on his business interests. He was made a member of the Privy Council in 1916.

David Alfred Thomas travelled aboard Lusitania with his daughter Margaret Mackworth and his secretary Arnold Rhys-Evans. On board, they also became friends with Dr Howard Fisher and his sister-in-law, Dorothy Conner, who were traveling to France to work in the field hospitals. Father and daughter were separated during the sinking, but both survived, as did Fisher and Conner.

Family and background

David Alfred Thomas was born in Ysgyborwen, Glamorgan, Wales on 26 March 1856 as the son of Welsh coal magnate Samuel Thomas of Aberdare. He was educated at Caius College, Cambridge, and returned to Wales to become the senior partner in the Cardiff-based Thomas and Davey. This company owned several collieries in the Rhondda Valley. Despite being born into wealth and privilege, D. A.’s needs were simple. A Labour politician had even commented, “There goes Thomas — with the income of a duke and the tastes of a peasant.”

Subsequently, D. A. Thomas married Sybil Haig on 27 June 1882. Their only child, Margaret Haig Thomas, later Lady Humphrey Mackworth and even later Viscountess Rhondda, was born in 1883. D. A. educated his daughter in matters of business and she became a champion for women’s equality everywhere. As D. A. would say of her daughter, “Margaret and I are not like father and daughter. We’re buddies.”

Involvement in politics

D. A. Thomas was elected Member of Parliament (MP) as a Liberal for Merthyr Tydfil in 1888. He subsequently became MP of Cardiff as well, and he held these positions until the 1910 General Election. Although Thomas was reputedly an agnostic, he was a supporter of Nonconformity in his constituency. He even laid the foundation stone of of Soar Welsh Calvinistic Church, Cwmaman, and many others.

When the First World War broke, David Lloyd George sent D. A. Thomas to arrange the supply of munitions for the British armed forces. In April of 1915, D. A. Thomas and his daughter Margaret, who was now her personal assistant and proxy, went to take a look at Thomas’ interests in the Pennsylvania coal mines. He also was launching a new barge service on the Mississippi and planning extensions of Canada’s railroad system. His secretary, Arnold Rhys-Evans, also came along.

Sources

http://www.rmslusitania.info/people/saloon/david-alfred-thomas/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Alfred_Thomas,_1st_Viscount_Rho...

Further Reading

http://www.cvhs.org.uk/timeline/chron.html