Background
He was the eldest son of Morgan Thomas of Tyhên in the parish of Caio, Carmarthenshire, where he was born on 22 February 1719.
He was the eldest son of Morgan Thomas of Tyhên in the parish of Caio, Carmarthenshire, where he was born on 22 February 1719.
In 1739 he was apprenticed to his uncle, Simon Thomas, who was a mercer and independent minister at Hereford.
Simon Thomas was the author of works in Welsh and in English, mostly printed at a private press of his own, including Hanes y Byd a"r Amseroedd, a summary of universal history. In 1746 Joshua Thomas married and settled in business at Hay, Breconshire, where he preached occasionally at the Baptist chapel of Maesyberllan, where he was appointed co-pastor in 1749. In 1754 he undertook the pastorship of the Baptist church in Leominster, where he kept a day-school until his death.
Thomas died at Leominster on 25 August 1797.
Two of Joshua"s brothers, Timothy (1720–1768) and Zechariah (1727–1816), were successively pastors of Aberduar church, Carmarthenshire. The former was the author or translator of several doctrinal works in Welsh, and a volume of hymns (1764).
As many as eleven members of Thomas"s family entered the Baptist ministry.