Richard Morris THOMAS

[thomas143]

Hi

I am trying to find any information on the origins of my 3 x Great Grandfather Richard Morris Thomas.

I have no record of his birth but it seems certain that he was born in or around Carmarthen Ca 1776.

He worked in London when he was young probably in the cloth trade and later was a merchant living in Italy and Malta. At some point (I suspect his business failed) he joined the colonial service and served as British consul in Malta and Algiers. In the early 1830's he took up a position as Protector of Slaves in Mauritius before ending up as Governor of the British Virgin Islands around 1840. He died in Headington asylum, Oxford in 1843.

I have found a death notice in the Carmarthen newspaper Yr Haul (Attached).  My amateur translation from the Welsh tell me that he was the son of a Samuel Thomas - auctioneer of Carmarthen. This is the only piece of information that I have about his origins. It was suggested at one tine that Samuel may have been a Sheriff of the city - but This is certainly not definite.

His family continued to have connections with Carmarthen for many years. His son Richard James Francis Thomas (Born London 1812) married Elizabeth Esther Jones, the daughter of a Carmarthen solicitor, Thomas Jones, in Carmarthen in 1839. Her sister Arabella Jones married into the Phillips family who I believe were local landowners.

I am looking for any help or information on his family ie Where and when exactly was he born, Who was his mother, did he have brothers or sisters etc. Any information or suggestions gratefully received.

Thanks

[hanes teulu]

The National Library of Wales has a will for Louisa Thomas, relict of Samuel Thomas, Auctioneer, Carmarthen

http://cat.llgc.org.uk/cgi-bin/gw/chameleon/skin=profeb&lng=en

possibility?

regards

[hanes teulu]

Check for Samuel Thomas, bond 1820 and bond 1856

Note - the link posted earlier doesn't take you to the required screen. Google "national Library Wales wills on line" and click on "190000 on line wills". At foot of page click on  "NLW wills catalogue"

regards

[Morganllan]

Hello thomas143

Welcome to Rootschat!

There was a Carmarthen Town Sheriff called Samuel Thomas around 1787-8 when Jermiah Owen was Mayor. He is mentioned in this article on the Cwmgwili familiies, which also refers to various members of the Philipps family:

http://carmarthenshirehistorian.org/cgi-bin/twiki/view/Historian/CwmgwiliAndItsFamilies

Link to NLW Will of Samuel Thomas, 1820, as identified by hanes teulu 

http://hdl.handle.net/10107/737638

Kind Regards
Morgan

[hanes teulu]

The 1820/1856 bonds refer to a "Louisa Thomas"

Carmarthen FHS transcriptions include the marriage -
1 April 1815 Samuel Thomas, widower, to Louisa Woods, widow, at St Peter's Parish

regards

[thomas143]

Hanes / Morgan

Thank you very much for your replies.

The bonds certainly tie in with the few facts that I have though I suppose there's no way I can be certain that this is the right Samuel Thomas.

Where do the Carmarthen FHS transcriptions reside ? Are they accessible from Norfolk ?

The marriage you refer to is between widow and widower meaning that even if this is the correct Samuel Thomas his wife Louisa is not the mother of Richard Morris Thomas - I need to find an earlier marriage.

Any suggestions for where I might look to find a record of his birth which might then lead me to his mother and connections to any brothers or sisters ?

As you can tell I am not an expert in this field and have even less knowledge of Welsh records.

Thanks

Chris

[James Thomas]

I've spent the last 15 years looking for these answers with an extra question : Great grand dad Richard was a black man and his position was unfamiliar for a black man in these days. Why was it for him to be at the Queen's service in these times ot racial stereotypes and downned upon?

You say he was a merchant, how did he get on buy in slavery minded europe then ? most of all, who is his mother ? African? black britton ?  one thing for sure , the picture we have of him in our history book in Mauritius shows he looks exactly like my dad and i recently recognised a Thomas from south Africa in a whole bunch of people( yes, he was sent to cape town after mauritius) looked same as Richard.

I believe he started a family there too as he started mine by 'wedding' ( taking under care would be more proper) an Indian ( Tamilian) woman in servitude under the french rule. The chief colonist in Mauritus ( Adrien d'Epinay) had his house burnt down with his wife and kids beaten. some 1 year  after the incident, he was sent to Cape Town by royal order.

Research on my side shows that the Thomas family in Mauritius ( One of the largest by the way,like in Wales took back the name some6generations ago ( i'm still looking for the ancestor who made the change, my guess is it was a father or mother along with his sons, the reasons i don't know. ) Before that we all had south indian family names and all the Thomas i meet here tell the same story about the name change 6 generations before. Especially strangely truthful when you did not know these Thomases before.

My research wants to go beyond Richard to his ancestors and most noticeably to his mother. Who was she ?

Cofion

James

Keep up the research ,long-distanced cousin.We'll get to the end of it

UPDATE : the part of Richard Morris Thomas life in Mauritius

https://books.google.mu/books?id=0NdVKMaRXdwC&pg=PT284&lpg=PT284&dq=richard+morris+thomas+mauritius&source=bl&ots=0AmjTgx55t&sig=L7X8-vKXHNA5koR5F9QHM9_vDN8&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=richard%20morris%20thomas%20mauritius&f=false

[hanes teulu]

A warm welcome to Rootschat. Had you seen?

http://newspapers.library.wales/view/3330675/3330678/16/

see end column "Died"

[thomas143]

James

Surprised to receive a reply to this post after several years !

I have to tell you that I know for certain that Richard Morris Thomas was not black. He was born in Wales around 1776 and died in the UK in 1843.

As far as I know he only had only living son - Richard James Francis Thomas - who was born in Malta in 1812. What I cannot be sure of though is that he did not father any other children during his various postings around the world.

I would be extremely interested to hear whether you have any firm evidence that you are directly descended from him and any other information you may have about connections between him and any Thomas family in Mauritius.

Best Regards

Chris Thomas