Constituency : Manchester 1858-80
Thomas was a philanthropic cotton manufacturer from Bolton. He was educated at Bolton Grammar School, apprenticed to a cotton firm then went into business on his own. He created the village of Barrow Bridge ( not far from me ) as a non-sectarian industrial community. He also built schools and reading rooms for his workers. He was a member of the Anti-Corn Law League and President of the Manchester Chamber of Commerce from 1845 to 1860. His expertise on cotton was much in demand and he was a commissioner for both the Great Exhibition in 1851 and the Paris Exhibition in 1855. He also sat on the Royal Commission assimilating the mercantilist law of the UK which brought him to Gladstone's attention.
Thomas was first elected at the age of 61, unopposed in an 1858 by-election after the sudden death of Thomas Potter. Thomas's election marked a healing of Liberal divisions in the city after Potter and our next subject had stood as Palmerstonians to evict Milner Gibson and Bright in 1857. He was a signatory to an address trying to persuade Cobden to accept office in 1859.
In 1861 Thomas retired from business to concentrate on his new career , selling out to future MP William Callender. He now wished to be a landowner and acquired estates in Gloucestershire, Hertfordshire and Oxfordshire. In 1861 he spoke in favour of Gladstone's proposed abolition of the paper tax and reduction of income tax " The remission.. was a relief to the wealthy classes.. capitalists and landed proprietors". He maintained that the government was obliged to "raise an equitable amount from each respective portion of the country". He was greatly affected by the Cotton Famine and called on the government to do more to obtain fresh supplies from India. He disliked Wood's tariff policy in India , with labour costs a quarter of Lancashire's he foresaw a native textile industry "extremely injurious to us". He supported decimalisation.
Thomas was in favour of an extension to the franchise and in a Commons speech in 1865 linked the issue to retrenchment -"If a larger number of practical men were admitted to Parliament there would be fewer blunders and extravagancies in the navy and the other public departments than there were at present". Accordingly he was a member of the Reform Union and denounced fellow Liberals who sought to delay the necessary legislation. He also pressed for a more just administration of India. He had a particular bee in his bonnet about medical officers posted in India asking the relevant Secretaries of State questions on the subject regularly over many years. In the 1870s his parliamentary contributions tail off markedly as his health declined. He was disturbed by the growth of republicanism in the north west and wrote letters to the press decrying it.
Gladstone created Thomas a baronet in 1869 for his services to public life and the cotton industry.
Thomas stood down in 1880. In 1881 he presented a set of four busts to Manchester City Council ; they were Cobden, Bright, Villiers and Gladstone.
He died in Lytham in 1885 aged 87.
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