Eryl Thomas

Who was Eryl Thomas?

Eryl Stephen Thomas was a Bishop of Monmouth and a Bishop of Llandaff.

An Anglesey man, after education at St John's College, Oxford, Eryl Thomas served curacies and a vicarage in East Wales and as Warden of a theological college before appointment as Dean of Llandaff in 1954. In this post he completed the restoration of the war-damaged cathedral begun under his predecessor Glyn Simon. He vigorously exposed an important case of misuse of funds in the Church in Wales, incurring thereby some ill-will. His sociability and opposition to the Sunday Closing legislation of public houses irritated Nonconformist abstentionists. Thomas played an important role in Jewish-Christian dialogue in the Cardiff area. A prominent representative of the Anglo-Catholic school he was renowned for his pastoral and preaching gifts. In 1968, he became Bishop of Monmouth and, in 1971, was translated to Llandaff. In 1975, in the context of a court case, where he had to pay a small fine, Thomas felt obliged to resign. However, Thomas went on to serve successfully for many years as Assistant Bishop in the diocese of Swansea and Brecon.

Thomas was ably supported by his wife, Jean, with whom he had four children.