Constituency : Caernarvonshire 1868-74, Caernarvon Boroughs 1882-86
Thomas's victory was one of the more celebrated of the election. It was a dramatic triumph over the Anglican squires and provoked a rash of evictions by the Tory landlords.
Thomas was a landowner himself , educated at Rugby and Oxford. In 1862 he sailed to Patagonia on a self-financed excursion to see if it was a suitable area for Welsh emigration. He co-authored the report recommending it and Puerto Madryn is named after his estate. The historian Kenneth Morgan described him as " a buccaneering landowner of unorthodox social and moral outlook"
Thomas was defeated in 1874 but returned for the borough seat at a by-election in 1882. He was defeated again in 1886 . He was created a baronet by Gladstone shortly afterwards.
Thomas was an inveterate gambler and died bankrupt after gambling his remaining assets on a horse race.
He died in 1891 aged 59.
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