Evan Thomas (died after 1881) was a Welsh ironmonger who became an inventor and manufacturer of

safety lamp A safety lamp is any of several types of lamp that provides illumination in places such as coal mines where the air may carry coal dust or a build-up of flammable gases, which may explode if ignited, possibly by an electric spark. Until the d ...

s for miners. He was the original proprietor of the Cambrian Lamp Works, established in Aberdare in 1860. In 1867, Thomas patented an improvement to the design of the safety lamp that would prevent the glass in the lamp from becoming loose by using

india rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Types of polyisoprene ...

. In 1868, he obtained a patent for "an improvement in the construction of miners' safety lamps, in such a manner as to enable petroleum or other mineral oils to be consumed therein". Thomas's best-selling lamp, the "no. 7", improved on a lamp invented in 1816 by

William Reid Clanny William Reid Clanny FRSE (1776 – 10 January 1850) was an Irish physician and inventor of a safety lamp. Life Clanny was born in Bangor, County Down, Kingdom of Ireland. He trained as a physician at Edinburgh, and served as an assistant surge ...

, and was successful in passing tests set in 1886 by the Royal Commission on Accidents in Mines; it was selected as one of the four recommended types of lamp. In 1879, Evan Thomas was reported to have gone into partnership with John Davies in the

ironmongery Ironmongery originally referred, first, to the manufacture of iron goods and, second, to the place of sale of such items for domestic rather than industrial use. In both contexts, the term has expanded to include items made of steel, aluminium ...

he ran in Ferndale. This partnership was separate to the lamp business, and Thomas exhibited under his own name at the 1881 International Electric Exhibition at Crystal Palace. At some stage, Thomas went into partnership with a Mr Williams, to create the company known as Evan Thomas & Williams. After 1978, the firm continued to trade from an address in Robertstown Industrial Estate,

Aberdare Aberdare ( ; ) is a town in the Cynon Valley area of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, at the confluence of the Rivers Dare (Dâr) and River Cynon, Cynon. Aberdare has a population of 39,550 (mid-2017 estimate). Aberdare is south-west of Merthyr Tydf ...

. Evan Thomas & Williams were believed to be the oldest surviving firm of safety lamp manufacturers in the world, and continued to make replica lamps after the closure of the last mines in the

South Wales Coalfield The South Wales Coalfield () extends across Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Bridgend, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Merthyr Tydfil, Caerphilly, Blaenau Gwent and Torfaen. It is rich in coal deposits, especially in the South Wales ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Evan People from Aberdare 19th-century Welsh businesspeople Welsh inventors