THOMAS
,
IORWERTH RHYS
(
1895
-
1966
),
politician
;
b.
22 Jan. 1895
, the son of
David William
Thomas
,
Cwm-parc, Glam.
He was educated at a local elementary school, and in
1908
, at 13 years of age, he began working at the
Dare colliery
,
Cwmdare
,
Aberdare
. He attended evening classes in economics and history in order to improve his education, and in
1918
he joined the
Labour Party
. In
1922
he was promoted to the position of
checkweighman
at
Cwm-parc
. He was a prominent figure within the
South Wales Miners' Federation
and the
National Union of Mineworkers
for more than 30 years, and held a number of offices in the
Park and Dare Lodge
, the largest in the
south Wales
coalfield. During the
1926
coalminers' strike
Thomas
was sentenced to three months imprisonment as the
chairman
of the
Park and Dare Lodge
as a result of his involvement in industrial disturbances. He was elected a member of the
Rhondda Borough Council
in
1928
, chaired many of its committees and served as its
chairman
in
1938-39
. He remained a member until
1951
. He
served, too, on a number of joint industrial councils for Wales and Monmouthshire
, and was a member of the
South Wales Electricity Board
,
1947-49
.
In
1950
he was elected
M.P. (Lab.)
for
Rhondda West
as a successor to
Will
John
, and continued to represent the constituency until his death in
1966
. He was much
interested in economic and industrial matters
.
Thomas
was a consistent opponent of
Welsh nationalism
, and fought tooth-and-nail against the
Parliament for Wales
agitation of the
1950s
. He publicly attacked
Plaid Cymru
on several occasions, and in
Oct. 1965
he was highly critical of the recommendations of the
Hughes-Parry
Report on the
Legal Status of the Welsh Language
. In
1960
he supported the
Conservative government
's measure to open public houses on Sundays.
He m. in
Oct. 1920
Annie Mary
, dau. of
D.J.
Davies
. She, too, was active in the
Labour politics
of the area. She died in
July 1956
. They had one son and one daughter. He d.
3 Dec. 1966
at his home
94 Park Road
,
Cwm-parc
.
Bibliography:
-
Who was who?
;
-
Dod's Parliamentary Companion
;
-
The Times
and
Western Mail
,
5 Dec. 1966
;
-
The Biographical Index of W.W. Price,
Aberdâr
(at the National Library of Wales and Aberdare
Public Library)
.
Author:
Dr John Graham Jones, Aberystwyth
