David Thomas (minister)
{{Infobox person
| name = Rev David Thomas
| image = Rev David Thomas.jpg
| birth_date = 16 August 1811
| birth_place = Merthyr Tydfil
| death_date = 7 November 1875
| death_place = Bristol
| burial_place = Arnos Vale Cemetery
| monuments = David Thomas Memorial Congregational Church, Bristol
| alma_mater = Highbury College, London; University of Glasgow
| occupation = Congregationalist minister
| employer = Highbury Chapel, Cotham, Bristol
| organization =
}}
David Thomas (1811-1876) was a Victorian Congregationalist minister, who was minister at Highbury Chapel in Cotham, Bristol from 1844 to 1875.{{Cite book |last=Thomas |first=H. Arnold |url=https://archive.org/details/memorials-david-thomas |title=Memorials of the Rev. David Thomas, B.A., of Bristol |date=1876 |publisher=Hodder and Stoughton |year= |location=London}}
Early Life
David Thomas was born 16 August 1811, the youngest child of a haulier in Methyr Tydfil, who died when Thomas was an infant.{{Cite book |last=Thomas |url=https://archive.org/details/memorials-david-thomas/page/n13/mode/2up |title=Memorials of the Rev. David Thomas |date=1876 |pages=1}} His mother was a devout Calvinist Methodist, who took him to prayer meetings three or four times a week, inspiring in him an early interest in religion.
Thomas was educated in Methyr at a school kept by the Welsh poet and author, Taliesin Williams. He left school aged sixteen and went to work as a clerk at the headquarters of Barclays Bank in Lombard Street, London, where he stayed three years.{{Cite book |last=Thomas |url=https://archive.org/details/memorials-david-thomas/page/2/mode/2up |title=Memorials of the Rev. David Thomas |date=1876 |pages=3-6}}
Career
Thomas had long wished to be a minister and went to study at Highbury College, London, which was the leading nonconformist theological college in the country. After two years he proceeded to the University of Glasgow, where he obtained prizes for Logic and Moral Philosophy, before passing his BA. In January 1836, aged 24, he became minister of Zion Chapel in Bristol.{{Cite book |last=Cozens |first=Henry B. |url=https://archive.org/details/cozens-zion-congregational-bristol/page/20/mode/2up |title=The Church of the Vow: a record of the Zion Congregational Church, Bedminster, Bristol, 1830-1930 |date=1930 |publisher=St Stephen's Press |location=Bristol |pages=21-22}} In July 1836 he married Charlotte Saunders, who died of consumption within a year. Following that he lived for a time with the publisher and writer, Joseph Cottle.{{Cite book |last=Thomas |url=https://archive.org/details/memorials-david-thomas/page/14/mode/2up |title=Memorials of the Rev. David Thomas |date=1876 |pages=15-19}}
David Thomas continued at Zion Chapel for six years, during which time he developed a considerable reputation as a preacher. In 1839 he married Eliza Leonard, their first child being born in 1841. Following a period of ill health he went with his family to Madeira in 1842-3, convalescing further in Torbay and Burnham in Somerset.{{Cite book |last=Thomas |url=https://archive.org/details/memorials-david-thomas/page/20/mode/2up |title=Memorials of the Rev. David Thomas |date=1876 |pages=21-3o}}
File:Highbury Chapel Cotham 1902.jpg
During Thomas' absence from Bristol, Highbury Chapel in Cotham was built. He was asked to become its first minister in July 1844.{{Cite book |last=Caston |first=Moses |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=dsMCAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA214#v=onepage&q&f=false |title=Independency in Bristol: with Brief Memorials of Its Churches and Pastors |date=1860 |publisher=W. Mack |location=Bristol |pages=213-14 |chapter=Ch. 15: Highbury Chapel, Cotham}} He served there for the next thirty years, during which time the chapel grew in size and developed a strong reputation.{{Cite book |last=Thomas |url=https://archive.org/details/memorials-david-thomas/page/30/mode/2up |title=Memorials of the Rev. David Thomas |date=1876 |pages=31-42}} At the same time he helped establish additional congregational chapels in Cotham and Redland to serve the rapidly growing population. His congregation established a chapel and school near Durdham Down in autumn 1849 and a mission chapel on Salmon Street, Kingsdown in 1860.{{Cite book |last=Caston |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=dsMCAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA216#v=onepage&q&f=false |title=Independency in Bristol |date=1860 |pages=216-17}} Thomas also helped establish Redland Park Congregational Church in 1861.{{Cite web |title=Redland Park United Reformed Church: the beginning |url=https://www.redlandparkurc.org/the-beginning.html |access-date=29 April 2025 |website=Redland Park United Reformed Church}}
In addition to his religious work, Thomas was closely involved as a liberal in the social and political life of the city, including the Women's suffrage movement.{{Cite book |last=Ashworth |first=Lilias |url=https://archive.org/details/bristol-suffrage-report-1875/page/n3/mode/2up |title=Report of the Bristol & West of England Society for Women's Suffrage, 1875 |date=1876 |publisher=Bristol & West of England Society for Women's Suffrage |location=Bristol |pages=5}}
By 1865 Thomas was regarded as 'one of the most powerful preachers of the present day.' {{Cite book |last=Thomas |url=https://archive.org/details/memorials-david-thomas/page/366/mode/2up |title=Memorials of the Rev. David Thomas |date=1876 |pages=367 |chapter=Reprinted extract from the Christian World, April 1865}} That year he was asked to serve as Chairman of the Congregationalist Union of England and Wales. From then on he was recognised as one of the leaders of his denomination, preaching often at national meetings.{{Cite book |last=Thomas |url=https://archive.org/details/memorials-david-thomas/page/60/mode/2up |title=Memorials of the Rev. David Thomas |date=1876 |pages=60-64}} His obituary in the Western Daily Press suggested that, by the time of his death, he was regarded as the Bristol's leading nonconformist minister.{{Cite book |last=Thomas |url=https://archive.org/details/memorials-david-thomas/page/872/mode/2up |title=Memorials of the Rev. David Thomas |date=1875 |pages=373 |chapter=Reprinted obituary from the Western Daily Press, 9 November 1875}} Thomas died on 7 November 1875, aged 64, apparently of a heart attack. His death followed bouts of ill health and a spate of family bereavements.{{Cite book |last=Thomas |url=https://archive.org/details/memorials-david-thomas/page/74/mode/2up |title=Memorials of the Rev. David Thomas |date=1876 |pages=65-77}}
Memorialisation
File:David Thomas House, Bristol.jpg
After his death, Thomas' son, Arnold Thomas, published an 80-page biography of his father, followed by ten of his sermons and an appendix of obituary notices.{{Cite book |last=Thomas |url=https://archive.org/details/memorials-david-thomas |title=Memorials of the Rev. David Thomas |date=1876}} Arnold Thomas later took on the ministry of Highbury Chapel.{{Cite book |last=Michlem |first=Nathaniel |url=https://archive.org/details/micklem-arnold-thomas/page/30/mode/2up |title=Arnold Thomas of Bristol: collected papers and addresses, with a memoir by Nathaniel Micklem, M.A. |date=1925 |publisher=George Allen & Unwin Ltd. |location=London |pages=31}}
On 30 March 1878 the David Thomas Memorial Congregational Church was opened in St Andrews, Bristol, in memory of the 'distinguished minister of Highbury Chapel'.{{Cite book |last=Latimer |first=John |url=https://archive.org/details/annalsofbristoli00lati/page/512/mode/2up |title=The Annals of Bristol in the Nineteenth Century |date=1887 |publisher=W. & F. Morgan |location=Bristol |pages=513}} Nearly the full cost of £6,300 was contributed before the opening service.
Following the closure of the church in 1988, most of the building was demolished, leaving only the tower, the facade and a small chapel intact. Behind this, a sheltered accommodation apartment block for older people, 'David Thomas House', was constructed.{{Cite web |title=David Thomas House |url=https://housingcare.org/housing-care/facility-info-447-david-thomas-house-st-andrews-england |access-date=27 April 2025 |website=Housing Care}} The church's records were deposited at Bristol Archives.{{Cite web |title=David Thomas United Reformed Church, 1878 - 1988 |url=https://archives.bristol.gov.uk/records/39378 |access-date=27 April 2025 |website=Bristol Archives Catalogue}}
The public footpath next to the church, connecting Belmont Rd and Effingham Rd, is called 'David Thomas Lane'.