Richard Beaumont-Thomas

Richard Beaumont-Thomas (25 May 1860 – 14 February 1917) was the managing director of a major South Wales iron, steel and tinplate manufacturing company named Richard Thomas and Co Ltd,[1] which eventually merged with Baldwins[2] to become Richard Thomas and Baldwins.

Biography

He was born on 25 May 1860 at Oxford, the eldest son of his father, tinplate manufacturer Richard Thomas.[3] Richard Beaumont Thomas married Nora Anderson, the fourth daughter of James Anderson a Tea Merchant, of Dundee and Elizabeth Ann Downes at Holy Trinity Church, Tulse Hill, London on 2 August 1888.

Richard and Nora produced four children:

  • Vera Nora Beaumont-Thomas (12 June 1889 – 24 November 1900)
  • Colonel Lionel Beaumont-Thomas MC MP (1 August 1893 – 7 December 1942)
  • Irene Murial Beaumont-Thomas (born 9 October 1894)
  • Reginald Alexander Beaumont-Thomas (born 3 September 1903)

Inventions

During 1885, assisted by Robert Davies, Richard Beaumont-Thomas invented a cleaning machine and a dusting machine.[4] These machines made possible the continuous production of tinplate. Richard Beaumont-Thomas continued this inventive streak, in 1897 together with his brother Hubert Spence-Thomas, a continuous tinning machine was patented.[5] The patents for these inventions were issued and utilised by the tinplate industry globally.

Will

Richard Beaumont-Thomas died on 14 February 1917 leaving a will of £449,285-18-9 pounds sterling. The will, due to its complexity, was converted into a Private Bill, an Act of Parliament named the Beaumont Thomas Estate 1929 (19 & 20 Geo.5),[6][7] read in the House of Lords.

References
  1. Dictionary of Welsh Biography
  2. Baldwins
  3. "THOMAS, RICHARD (1838 - 1916), industrialist | Dictionary of Welsh Biography".
  4. Men of Steel, The History of Richard Thomas and his Family, David Wainwright, Quiller Press, 1986
  5. Patents
  6. "Chronological Tables - Private Acts".
  7. Hansard
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