Sarah Thomas (5 February 1788 – 29 January 1897) was a Welsh

centenarian A centenarian is a person who has reached the age of 100. Because life expectancies at birth worldwide are well below 100, the term is invariably associated with longevity. The United Nations estimated that there were 316,600 living centenarian ...

who died aged 108.

Biography

Thomas was from

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire (; or informally ') is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. ...

and was a native of

Whitland Whitland (, , or , , from the medieval ) is a town and Community (Wales), community in Carmarthenshire, Wales. Geography The Whitland Community (Wales), community is bordered by the communities of: Henllanfallteg; Llanboidy; and Eglwyscummin, a ...

where her parents were farm labourers on Ffynoncyll farm near Whitland. She died at her daughter's home in Pencoed Cottages in

Burry Port Burry Port () is a port town and community in Carmarthenshire, Wales, on the River Loughor, Loughor estuary (Moryd Llwchwr), to the west of Llanelli and south-east of Kidwelly. Its population was recorded at 5,680 in the 2001 census and 6,156 ...

after moving from

Llanelly Llanelly () is a village, Community (Wales), community, and parish in the county of Monmouthshire, South East Wales. It formerly existed in the historic county of Brecknockshire. The population of the community and ward at the 2011 United Kin ...

where she had lived with her husband. Shortly before Christmas in 1896 Thomas was believed to be dead and was examined by a doctor. She was in fact in a

comatose A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. The person may ...

state, and remained so for 30 hours. She eventually awoke and her "first request" after waking was for her pipe and tobacco. Thomas smoked a clay pipe for 60 years and preferred smoking to eating in her final years. In her obituary ''The Llanelly Mercury and South Wales Advertiser'' reported that she "indulged in the fragrant weed with the zest of a person half her years". She consumed three ounces of

shag Shag or Shags may refer to: Animals * Shag or cormorant, a bird family ** European shag, a specific species of the shag or cormorant family ** Great cormorant another species of the family Persons * Shag (artist), stage name of the American a ...

every week, which was supplied to her for free by Messrs Franklyn and Davey. She was survived by her daughter; a second daughter had died several years previously. Thomas had 16 grandchildren. She was buried in Llanelly Cemetery. A letter was written to the royal courtier

Dighton Probyn General (United Kingdom), General Sir Dighton Macnaghten Probyn, (21 January 1833 – 20 June 1924) was a British Army officer and an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be ...

detailing Thomas's extreme age. The private secretary to the

Princess of Wales Princess of Wales (; ) is a title used since the 14th century by the wife of the Prince of Wales. The Princess is the apparent future queen consort, as "Prince of Wales" is a title reserved by custom for the heir apparent to the Monarchy of the ...

replied enclosing a cheque for £5 and 6 shillings (representing a

shilling The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currency, currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 1 ...

for every year of her life) for Thomas () and advised the recipient "to spend it in the way you most think advisable for her comfort and pleasure". The readers of the '' South Wales Daily News'' were urged to enter Thomas for a competition for a £2 weekly pension for a year () offered by ''

Tit-Bits ''Tit-Bits from all the interesting Books and Newspapers of the World'', more commonly known as ''Tit-Bits'' and later as ''Titbits'', was a British weekly magazine founded by George Newnes, a founding figure in popular journalism, on 22 Octo ...

'' magazine.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Sarah 1788 births 1897 deaths 19th-century Welsh women People from Burry Port Welsh women centenarians