Career
Thom was the first President of the New Connection, while Kilham was its first secretary. He was mentioned in John Wesley"s Last Will and Testament as being "of Whitby" and listed as a "preacher and expounder of God"s Holy Word". Bethesda Chapel in Albion Street, Hanley (now a redundant church) has four monuments erected in memory of those who helped to establish the Methodist New Connexion in Hanley, including one dedicated to the memory of William Thom, describing him as "an able minister of the gospel".