William Thomas died at Perranporth, Cornwall, on August 16th, 1931, at the age of 74.
He was the eldest son of the late ‘Captain’ Charles Thomas, manager of Cook’s Kitchen and other
Cornish mines, and commenced his professional career with his father. He subsequently joined the teaching staff at the Camborne School of Mines, where he was lecturer on mining (also for the Cornwall County Council), on ore-dressing, and on mine surveying.
He resigned his position at Camborne eventually to take over the management of the Botallack Mine, St. Just, when the attempt was made to revive that well-known mine, and the last few years of his life were spent in partial retirement at Perranporth.
He was for a long term of years secretary of the Mining Association and Institute of Cornwall, and at the time of his death was one of the secretaries of the Cornish Engineering Institution, and a regular contributor to the Press. Occasionally he took part in the discussion of papers presented to the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy. For some years he was an examiner for the Royal School of Mines, and was for nine years, from 1892 to 1903, a Member of Council of the Institution.
Mr. Thomas was an original Member of the Institution, elected in 1892.
Vol. 41, Trans IMM 1931-32, pp.661-2
