Owen Thomas (1812-91), was an eminent Welsh Calvinistic Methodist minister and author of an epoch-making biography of the preacher John Jones of Tal-y-sarn (1796-1857).
Born in Holyhead, Anglesey. His father was a stonemason and when the family moved to live in Bangor in 1827, he followed in his father’s trade. He began to preach in 1834 and in 1838 began his education at the newly-formed Theological College at Bala, followed by Edinburgh University under Thomas Chalmers. Owen Thomas was the leading statesman of his denomination in the period 1850-90. He exercised his ministry in Pwllheli, Newtown, London and Liverpool, and his scholarly articles and biographical work gained him a D.D. from Princeton University in 1877. He died in 1891 and was buried in Anfield cemetery , Liverpool
Thomas wrote The Atonement Controversy in Welsh Theological Literature and Debate, 1707-1841, published by the Trust in John Aaron’s English translation.
[Author image by permission of Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru/The National Library of Wales.]