Following on from the last post here is a bit more about Lucy Thomas.
Lucy Thomas was born in Llansamlet, the daughter of Job Williams and his wife Ann Williams (née James). Her exact date of birth is not known, but records show that she was baptised on 11 March 1781. Very little is known about her early life, but on 30 June 1802, she married Robert Thomas, a contractor of a coal level producing fuel for Cyfarthfa Ironworks.
In 1828 Robert Thomas took up an annual tenancy from Lord Plymouth for the opening and mining of a small coal level at Waun Wyllt, near Abercanaid, south of Merthyr. The contract forbade Robert Thomas from trading with the four local ironworks which were under the ownership of Lord Plymouth. Although little was expected from the level, it was the first to hit the ‘Four Foot Seam, a rich deposit of high quality steam coal. The mine initially sold its coal to local households in Merthyr and Cardiff, with a tramline being constructed from Thomas’ level to the Glamorganshire Canal to allow transportation to Cardiff Docks. Within a couple of years of the level being opened Robert was in contract with George Insole a Cardiff trader. In November 1830 Insole had agreed the shipment of 413 tons of steam coal from Waun Wyllt to London.
In 1833 Robert Thomas died. Lucy Thomas and their eldest son Robert were granted probate and from that time Insole’s payments for the coal dispatched were paid to them. Through Insole a contact was written with Messer’s Wood and Company to supply the London-based coal merchants for a quantity of 3,000 tons of coal per year. These early deals with the London markets helped establish the reputation of Welsh coal and how Thomas became known as ‘The Mother of the Welsh Steam Coal Trade’. Although Thomas and her son Robert were credited with this success, it is now believed that much of this success was down to Insole.
The embellishment of Thomas’ achievements are today attributed to Merthyr historian Charles Wilkins, who wrote an account of Thomas in 1888. Wilkins had a penchant for imaginative touches and his work gave the impression of Thomas as an enterprising woman who looked to set up new markets, whereas evidence now suggest that this work was conducted by her agents. Further research has also shown that coal had been shipped to London from Wales before either of the Thomas’ began extracting coal from their level, with shipments from Llanelli and Swansea being exported to the capital as early as 1824.
In the mid-1830s the lease for the Waun Wyllt level was terminated and Thomas instead leased the neighbouring Graig Pit which also exploited the ‘Four Foot Seam’.
In September 1847 Lucy Thomas contracted typhoid fever and died two weeks later on 27 September 1847 at her home in Abercanaid. She was buried at the family plot in the cemetery of the Hen Dy Cwrdd chapel at Cefn-Coed. Despite this evidence available today, the myth of a sole woman engaging in a near-total male dominated industry has endured. This myth was given further credence with the construction of a fountain on the High Street of Merthyr Tydfil in commemoration of Lucy Thomas and her son Robert. It was part funded by her granddaughter’s husband, William Lewis, 1st Baron Merthyr.
All of this being said, Lucy Thomas was indeed a remarkable woman who forged the way for women in industry.
