Sir William James Thomas, 1st Baronet (10 March 1867 – 3 January 1945) was a Welsh industrialist and philanthropist.
[1][2][3] The grandson of a coalowner in the Rhondda Fach, James Thomas (died 1901), he lost both parents (Thomas and Jane Thomas) as a child, and was brought up by his grandparents.
[2] He inherited his grandfather's fortune, and became a director of the Great Western Railway, Barry Docks, and numerous other industrial concerns.
He married Maud Mary Cooper (died 1952) in 1917,[4] and they had three children: In 1914, Sir William James Thomas sold his coal interests to United National Collieries Ltd, and thereafter made substantial donations to charitable causes, particularly medical causes.
[5] Among other things, his donations were instrumental in the establishment of the Welsh National School of Medicine.