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David Alfred Thomas, 1st Viscount Rhondda PC (26 March 1856 – 3 July 1918), sometimes known as D. A. Thomas and styled Lord Rhondda from 1916 to 1918, was a Welsh industrialist and Liberal politician. He was UK Member of Parliament (MP) for Merthyr Tydfil from 1888 until the January 1910 general election, then MP for Cardiff until the December 1910 general election, when he left politics to concentrate on his business interests. He was made a member of the Privy Council in 1916. ==Early life== The son of coal owner Samuel Thomas of Ysguborwen, David Thomas was a second-generation industrialist. His energy and flair for innovation swiftly led him to build a commercial empire larger than his father's. Samuel, a man not noted for a cheerful temperament, is said to have remarked on the day of his son's birth (during a thunderstorm), "Well, I see nothing for him but the workhouse."〔Rhondda, M. ''et al'' (1921) ''D. A. Thomas: Viscount Rhondda''. London: Longmans, Green & Co.〕 Although tradition cited D. A. Thomas' birthplace as being an old white-walled cottage in Aberdare, this is unlikely, given that the family home, Ysguborwen (also Aberdare), was completed in 1855.〔J. Vyrnwy Morgan, ''Life of Viscount Rhondda'' (London, 1918), p.29〕 This house was built as a suitable residence for a rising industrial entrepreneur, and sets Samuel Thomas' gloomy remark in context. Samuel Thomas was one of the pioneers of the Welsh Coal business. Samuel Thomas was a hard man, perhaps the secret of his business success, and his tastes were simple. He could never forget the hardships through which he had had to pass, and as the above quotation indicates, he was unable to shake off the fear of failure. A Welsh Baptist, he managed his household according to the "Protestant work ethic". This seems to have been its own reward, for Samuel attained civic office as High Constable of Merthyr, then the roughest town in Wales.〔J. Vyrnwy Morgan, ''Life of Viscount Rhondda'' (London, 1918), pp.30–23; Margaret Rhondda, ''This was My World'' (London, 1932, p.17〕 D.A. Thomas' mother, Rachel, is described as a contrast to the sometimes miserly, always prudent Samuel. She gave young David the love that he needed, nurturing the more sensitive side that D. A. Thomas' daughter, Margaret, was to cherish.〔J. Vyrnwy Morgan, ''Life of Viscount Rhondda'' (London, 1918), p.31; Margaret Rhondda, ''This was My World'' (London, 1932), pp.14–16〕 The family home, Ysguborwen, seems to have been a fairly typical Welsh home. At first, only the Welsh language was spoken there. After all, it was the language of both of David's parents. However, Mrs. Thomas, like many Welsh parents before and since, realising that the language of the business world was English, engaged an English nurse to get her children used to speaking English. In 1859, the family moved from Calfaria Welsh Baptist Chapel to Carmel, the English Baptist Chapel opposite. English was becoming the language of the valleys, and the language of respectability. Accordingly, the upwardly moble Thomases were going to be Anglo-Welsh.〔Morgan, ''Viscount Rhondda'', pp.32–3〕 D. A. Thomas' upbringing was stern and Victorian, teaching him discipline, mediated through love. That discipline remained with Thomas, in business and in politics. Towards the end of Thomas' life, William Brace, the Trade Union leader commented that 'Rhondda has the income of a Duke and the tastes of a Peasant.'〔'A Gentleman With a Duster,' ''The Mirrors of Downing Street'' (London, 1922), p.114〕 Thomas was educated at Manila Hall, Clifton, Bristol, before going up to Cambridge University〔''South Wales Daily News'', Saturday 18 February 1888.〕 Initially, Thomas was to have gone to Jesus College on a scholarship originally intended for the sons of Anglican Ministers.〔''Western Mail'', 1896〕 Since Samuel Thomas was neither an Anglican nor a minister, it would be interesting to know exactly how D. A. Thomas obtained such a scholarship. An attack of Typhoid fever, contracted in Clermont-Ferrand meant that Thomas was unable to take up the scholarship. As it was, Thomas obtained a scholarship to Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, where he studied mathematics, and would have finished top of his year, if it had not been for his indifferent health. Even so, Thomas was in the University Rowing and Boxing teams.〔Rhondda, ''D. A. Thomas'', pp.13–14; ''South Wales Daily News'', 4 July 1918〕 Thomas left Cambridge in 1880, on the death of his father. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「David Alfred Thomas, 1st Viscount Rhondda」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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