Peter John Mitchell Thomas, Baron Thomas of Gwydir, (31 July 1920 – 4 February 2008) was a British

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

politician. He was the first Welshman to become

Chairman of the Conservative Party The chairman of the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom is responsible for party administration and overseeing the Conservative Campaign Headquarters, formerly Conservative Central Office. When the Conservatives are in government, the off ...

, serving from 1970 to 1972, and the first Conservative to serve as

Secretary of State for Wales The secretary of state for Wales ( cy, ysgrifennydd gwladol Cymru), also referred to as the Welsh secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Wales Office. The incumbent is a member ...

, holding that office from 1970 to 1974.

Early and family life

Thomas was born in

Llanrwst Llanrwst ('church or parish of Saint Grwst'; ) is a market town and community on the A470 road and the River Conwy, in Conwy County Borough, Wales, and the historic county of Denbighshire. It developed round the wool trade and became known als ...

, where his father was a

solicitor A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and ...

. He was educated at the village school, and then Epworth College in

Rhyl Rhyl (; cy, Y Rhyl, ) is a seaside town and community in Denbighshire, Wales. The town lies within the historic boundaries of Flintshire, on the north-east coast of Wales at the mouth of the River Clwyd ( Welsh: ''Afon Clwyd''). To the we ...

, before reading law at

Jesus College, Oxford Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship ...

. He joined the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

(RAF) in 1939, on the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. He was shot down while serving as a bomber pilot in 1941, and spent four years in prisoner-of-war camps in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

, moving from Stalag Luft VI to

Stalag Luft III Stalag Luft III (german: Stammlager Luft III; literally "Main Camp, Air, III"; SL III) was a ''Luftwaffe''-run German prisoner-of-war camps in World War II, prisoner-of-war (POW) camp during the Second World War, which held captured Allies of World ...

and then at

Stalag XI-B Stalag XI-B and Stalag XI-D / 357 were two German World War II prisoner-of-war camps ('' Stammlager'') located just to the east of the town of Fallingbostel in Lower Saxony, in north-western Germany. The camps housed Polish, French, Belgian, So ...

. He continued his legal studies while imprisoned, and was also an amateur actor. He became a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and givin ...

after the war, and was called to the Bar in 1947 at

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's I ...

. He practised on the

Wales and Chester circuit Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in 2 ...

, and took silk in 1965. He became deputy chairman of Cheshire

quarter sessions The courts of quarter sessions or quarter sessions were local courts traditionally held at four set times each year in the Kingdom of England from 1388 (extending also to Wales following the Laws in Wales Act 1535). They were also established in ...

in 1966, and then of Denbighshire quarter sessions in 1968, serving in both offices until 1970. He was a

Crown Court The Crown Court is the court of first instance of England and Wales responsible for hearing all indictable offences, some either way offences and appeals lied to it by the magistrates' courts. It is one of three Senior Courts of England and W ...

recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...

from 1974 to 1988, and also sat as an arbitrator on the Court of Arbitration of the

International Chamber of Commerce The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC; French: ''Chambre de commerce internationale'') is the largest, most representative business organization in the world. Its over 45 million members in over 100 countries have interests spanning every sec ...

in Paris. He was bilingual in Welsh and English, and took an active part in the

Gorsedd A gorsedd (, plural ''gorseddau'') is a community or meeting of modern-day bards. The word is of Welsh origin, meaning "throne". It is spelled gorsedh in Cornish and goursez in Breton. When the term is used without qualification, it usually ...

, attending

Eisteddfod In Welsh culture, an ''eisteddfod'' is an institution and festival with several ranked competitions, including in poetry and music. The term ''eisteddfod'', which is formed from the Welsh morphemes: , meaning 'sit', and , meaning 'be', means, ac ...

au under the

bard In Celtic cultures, a bard is a professional story teller, verse-maker, music composer, oral historian and genealogist, employed by a patron (such as a monarch or chieftain) to commemorate one or more of the patron's ancestors and to praise ...

ic name Pedr Conwy (Welsh: Peter from Conway). He married Tessa Dean in 1947. She was the daughter of actor and film and theatrical producer

Basil Dean Basil Herbert Dean CBE (27 September 1888 – 22 April 1978) was an English actor, writer, producer and director in the theatre and in cinema. He founded the Liverpool Repertory Company in 1911 and in the First World War, after organising unof ...

and his wife, Lady Mercy Greville. His wife died in 1985, and he outlived both of their two sons. He was survived by his two daughters upon his death in February 2008 at the age of 87.

Political career

Thomas was elected to

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

as MP for Conway in 1951, winning a narrow majority in the marginal seat over the Labour incumbent. He turned down the position of Under-Secretary of State for Wales at the Home Office to concentrate on his legal career, but later served as

Parliamentary private secretary A Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) is a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom who acts as an unpaid assistant to a minister or shadow minister. They are selected from backbench MPs as the 'eyes and ears' of the minister in the ...

to Sir

Harry Hylton-Foster Sir Harry Braustyn Hylton Hylton-Foster (10 April 1905 – 2 September 1965), was a British Conservative Party politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1950 until his death in 1965. He was also the Speaker of the House of Comm ...

(the Solicitor General and later

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** In ...

) from 1954 to 1959. He was a member of the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it has 46 member states, with a p ...

from 1957 to 1959, and sponsored the private members bill that became the Eisteddfod Act 1959. He served as Parliamentary Secretary at the

Ministry of Labour The Ministry of Labour ('' UK''), or Labor ('' US''), also known as the Department of Labour, or Labor, is a government department responsible for setting labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, training, a ...

1959–61, taking charge of the measures that abolished the requirements for employees to be paid in cash and the maximum wage for professional footballer (£14 per week in November 1960). He moved to become Under-Secretary of State at the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unit ...

in 1961, travelling to

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

with Lord Home in 1963 to sign the

Nuclear Test Ban Treaty The Partial Test Ban Treaty (PTBT) is the abbreviated name of the 1963 Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space and Under Water, which prohibited all test detonations of nuclear weapons except for those conducted ...

. He was promoted to Minister of State for Foreign Affairs in 1963, and was sworn of the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mo ...

in the

Queen's Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the King's Official Birthday, reigning British monarch's official birthday by granting various individuals appointment into Order (honour), national or Dynastic order of knighthood, dynastic ...

of 1964, but left office when his party lost the 1964 general election. In opposition, he was a spokesman on foreign affairs and then law from 1965 to 1966. Although he had held his Conway seat (and steadily increased his majority) since 1951, he narrowly lost to Labour at the 1966 general election, but returned as MP for Hendon South at the general election in June 1970, a position which he held until retiring in 1987. During the whole of

Edward Heath Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 191617 July 2005), often known as Ted Heath, was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1975. Heath a ...

's premiership he held the position of

. He was Secretary of State during a period of violent activism by proponents of the Welsh language, including bombings and a campaign by the Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg (Welsh Language Society) to remove English road signs. In February 1971, paralleling plans to reorganise local government in England, Thomas announced the plans to replace the existing 181 local councils with 7 new

county council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Ireland The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irela ...

s counties and 36 district councils. An extra county council was added later, for Cardiff. Thomas also served as

between 1970 and 1972. Thomas remained Welsh spokesman after the Conservative Party lost the general election in February 1974, but left the front bench when

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

became party leader in February 1975. He became active on backbench committees, and was president of the

Conservative Friends of Israel Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI) is a British parliamentary group affiliated to the Conservative Party, which is dedicated to strengthening business, cultural and political ties between the United Kingdom and Israel, as well as between the B ...

. He retired from the House of Commons at the 1987 general election, and was raised to the peerage for life in the Dissolution Honours that year,

gazetted A gazette is an official journal, a newspaper of record, or simply a newspaper. In English and French speaking countries, newspaper publishers have applied the name ''Gazette'' since the 17th century; today, numerous weekly and daily newspapers ...

as Baron Thomas of Gwydir, of Llanrwst in the County of

Gwynedd Gwynedd (; ) is a county and preserved county (latter with differing boundaries; includes the Isle of Anglesey) in the north-west of Wales. It shares borders with Powys, Conwy County Borough, Denbighshire, Anglesey over the Menai Strait, an ...

Arms

References

Obituary, ''The Times'', 7 February 2008 Obituary, ''The Daily Telegraph'', 7 February 2008Obituary, ''The Guardian'', 6 February 2008

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Peter 1920 births 2008 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MPs for Welsh constituencies Thomas of Gwydir Secretaries of State for Wales Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Welsh King's Counsel Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1959–1964 UK MPs 1964–1966 UK MPs 1970–1974 UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983 UK MPs 1983–1987 Royal Air Force officers Royal Air Force pilots of World War II World War II prisoners of war held by Germany Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford British World War II prisoners of war Chairmen of the Conservative Party (UK) Ministers in the Macmillan and Douglas-Home governments, 1957–1964 Stalag Luft III prisoners of World War II British World War II bomber pilots Shot-down aviators