THOMAS, ZECHARIAS (1727-1816), Baptist minister;
b. at Esgair-ithri, Caeo, 13 (or 24?) Aug. 1727, the youngest of five children born to Thomas Morgan Thomas and Jane, his wife, previously of Tŷ-Hen in the same parish, and brother of Joshua Thomas, Leominster (q.v.) and Timothy Thomas ‘I,’ Aberduar (q.v.). He was baptized at Maes-y-berllan in 1748, during an apprenticeship at Hay, but returned and became a member at Pant Teg on the occasion of his marriage in 1754 to Jane (d. 3 Dec. 1781, aged 54), daughter of Rees Thomas from the Llandysul district. He began to preach there in 1757, but in 1762 moved to Beudyau, Caeo, to assist his brother Timothy as pastor of Aberduar and its branches, and was ordained there in 1771 as co-pastor with David Saunders ‘I’ (q.v.) and David Davies — as co-pastor because apparently of a difference of opinion on the rite of laying on of hands. In 1790, after some years of anxiety arising from the expiry of the lease of Beudyau, he moved to Llwyn-y-wermwd, Llan-y-crwys, where he remained until his death on 16 Jan. 1816 at the age of 89. He was buried at Bwlch-y-rhiw. [Six children were born to him, among them being David Thomas (1756-1840) of Llwyn-y-wermwd, a prominent supporter of the cause at Bethel (Caeo) and Bwlch-y-rhiw, and Benjamin Thomas (1761-1835), minister at Prescott, Devon (see B.B.C.S., vi, 276).]
Bibliography:
- Ser. G., 1820, 361-5;
- Hanes y Bed. (1885 ed.), 388, 431, 526, et seq.;
- N.L.W. MSS. 7166, 10785, 12357;
- J.T.J., ii, 571-2.
Author:
Benjamin George Owens, M.A., Aberystwyth
