William Bevil Thomas (1757–1825) was a prominent

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...

land developer Land development is the alteration of landscape in any number of ways such as: * Changing landforms from a natural or semi-natural state for a purpose such as agriculture or housing * Subdividing real estate into lots, typically for the purpose ...

and

sea captain A sea captain, ship's captain, captain, master, or shipmaster, is a high-grade licensed mariner who holds ultimate command and responsibility of a merchant vessel.Aragon and Messner, 2001, p.3. The captain is responsible for the safe and efficie ...

notable in the history of St. John's,

Colony of Newfoundland Newfoundland Colony was an English and, later, British colony established in 1610 on the island of Newfoundland off the Atlantic coast of Canada, in what is now the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. That followed decades of sporadic English ...

, and in the history of

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

. Thomas was born in St John's and came from a line of merchant

mariner A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. The profession of the s ...

s from

Devon, England Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon i ...

. He was genealogically connected with many other prominent families in Newfoundland, Britain and

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

Daniel Woodley Prowse Daniel Woodley Prowse, (September 12, 1834 – January 27, 1914) was a lawyer, politician, judge, historian, essayist, and office holder. Born in Port de Grave, Newfoundland (now Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada), he was the fourth of the ...

wrote: "The family of the Thomases are probably the most ancient in this Colony." They carried on business at Dartmouth and St. John's in partnership with a Mr. Stokes, as Thomas & Stokes.Prowse, D.W., ''A history of Newfoundland from the English, colonial, and foreign records'', first published in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

in 1895, and has been reprinted several times. Thomas's shipping operations brought him along a triangular route that included

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

, the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

and Newfoundland. In 1757, he married Elizabeth Way in

Dartmouth, England Dartmouth () is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the England, English county of Devon. It is a tourist destination set on the western bank of the estuary of the River Dart, which is a long narrow tidal ria that runs inland ...

. The couple's two sons, William Thomas and Henry Phillips Thomas, were prominent men in the generation after their father. According to Prowse:

...officials and merchants vied with each other in creating country residences and farms ..finest of all, Brookfield, the property of William and Henry P. Thomas.

..William Thomas was foremost in every benevolent work. As a very young man he was secretary to the society for improving the condition of the poor; he was equally distinguished as a merchant and a politician. He filled all positions well, whether presiding at a religious meeting or as president of the Chamber of Commerce. Through a professedly religious man, sometimes the old leaven broken out him. He was very active, and fond of directing everybody. Often, as he paced his long wharf, if one of his ships was beating in the Narrows, say his fine brig the ''Cynthia'', Captain Goldsworth, he could be heard muttering, "Luff, confound you, Goldsworth, luff, you lubber!' Brookfield, the fine house at Devon Row, their Water Street premises, and the beautiful cottage at Topsail, are monuments to the large progressive ideas of the Thomases, and especially of the constructive ability of Henry Phillips Thomas.

The author also mentions that William Thomas was one of the most prominent

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

merchants who rallied for a local

legislature A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its p ...

during the administration of Sir Thomas Cochrane.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, William Bevil 1757 births People from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador Canadian sailors 1825 deaths