Education
He was appointed Dean of Llandaff in 1954., and in this post completed the restoration of the war-damaged cathedral begun under his predecessor Glyn Simon.
He was appointed Dean of Llandaff in 1954., and in this post completed the restoration of the war-damaged cathedral begun under his predecessor Glyn Simon.
An Anglesey man, after education at Street John"s College, Oxford, Eryl Thomas served curacies in the Diocese of Street Asaph before being appointed to a parish (Risca) in South Wales then as Warden of Street Michael"s College, Llandaff. Stephen Thomas was in some ways a charismatic figure, he was renowned for his pastoral and preaching gifts, but he could also divide opinion. There is some suggestion that Thomas was considered as a candidate for episcopal appointments during the 1950s, but was not in the event chosen to head a diocese until 1968 when he was elected and consecrated as Bishop of Monmouth.
He was translated to Llandaff in 1971.
In 1975, in the context of a court case which resulted in a fine, Thomas felt obliged to resign, and he remained outside public ministry for a number of years. His appointment as Assistant Bishop in the diocese of Swansea and Brecon from 1988 saw a return to pastoral and episcopal work in the remaining years of his life.
Politically Thomas is known to have been on friendly terms with the then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, and a letter, which is in the public domain refers to her gratitude for his encouragement "when times are difficult and criticism is so cruel". Although Thatcher invites Thomas to "Please write again" it is not known whether any further correspondence survives.
lieutenant is not clear to what extent his political leanings were towards the Conservative Party, but the content of the letter makes reference to a television interview with Thatcher in an edition of the Thames Television programme "television Eye" which Thomas had seen.