Captain Lewis Holland Thomas
We know little about the early childhood of Lewis Holland Thomas, but we do know that he was born in Llanrwst in 1812. His family was connected to the Wyniaid family and Lewis used to go on holidays to stay at Gwydir Castle in the Conwy Valley. He would also go to stay at his father's property in Talsarnau in an old farmhouse on the side of a hill with trees above it, probably the old Caerffynnon.
He was a descendant of King Louis 1X of France. History told how the Lewis family would be at a high level financially at one time, then fall into great poverty and always on the losing side in a war. This is what happened to Lewis and his family when he was 12 years old. He was heir to a property in Meirionnydd, but his grandfather lost part of the family fortune because his son (Lewis' father) tried to help him financially, and he lost the rest of the money and had to sell the estate to pay debts. His father died young and the family was left very poor and Lewis, the eldest child in the family, and his two sisters and two brothers had to go to work.
Lewis was 12 years old when he went to live with a foster family near Llanbedr and became friendly with the son around the same age as him. He was very happy when Lewis was later placed to work on a farm close to home. But Lewis had a dream and that was to make his fortune and his great desire was to return to Talsarnau and regain what had been his father's property long ago.
He liked farm work enough but he didn't see this as a way to make a lot of money. So he thought the only way was to 'run away to sea'. Having lost his parents when he was about 9 years old, he settled with his aunt and uncle on Cae Cethin farm in Llanfair near Harlech. When he was around 12 years old he decided to go to sea and joined a ship in Barmouth. By the time he reached the age of 22 he had mastered his trade and in 1835 he was the master of the ship Enfield.
It seems that he made connections in ports in the western countries of America trading from Chile along the coast up to Mexico. L H Thomas was still connected with his family in north Wales and in 1842 he married his cousin Winifred. In this period he made several voyages to the Pacific where he traded successfully.
On the first voyage after marriage which lasted from 1842 to 1846 his wife accompanied him. This was his second voyage on the 146 ton Laura Ann. He had bought a share of the value of the ship jointly with his friend and business partner Richard Roberts, Liverpool, but who was from Meirionnydd.
The trading continued for 4 years in the countries of the south west and north America. It was during this period that their two daughters, Laura Ann and Mary Ellen were born in Valparaiso. In 1845 it was decided to sail home and arrive in London on January 4th 1846. During the voyage Winifred's health deteriorated and in April she died aged 29 and their two daughters were placed in the care of the older members of the family at Pinxton Rectory, Derbyshire .
In 1846 Captain L H Thomas sailed again for Valparaiso, and traded in Hong Kong, the Philippines, Hawaii, Honolulu, Tahiti and San Francisco. While in San Francisco, he invested heavily and bought a significant number of properties. He sold the Laura Ann along with the property making a substantial profit. He returned to Wales a rich man and bought Caerfynnon, Talsarnau. In 1855 he married Elizabeth, the daughter of his business partner Richard Roberts.
He became the patron of the local primary school even though it was a non-conformist school. They had 9 children although his two sons, Lewis and Richard, died very young.
L H Thomas died in Caerffynnon Hall, Talsarnau in September 1888 and his wife died in Cannes in 1904.
Lewis married his first wife Winifred Holland, his cousin, on 28 June 1842 when he was 30 years old. She went on a number of cruises with her husband and two daughters were born to them in Valparaiso, South America - Laura Anne in 1843 who was named after his ship and Mary Ellen in 1845.
Through his maritime connection with the Roberts company from Liverpool, Lewis became co-owner of the 'Laura Anne' and used to call at Mr Roberts' house. One night, he asked Lewis to come and see the family's baby in the bath. Lewis was fond of children and he thought very much that the pretty little girl playing in the water would one day become his wife.
During Lewis Holland Thomas' time in San Francisco, he had bought many installments there and became the owner of a large part of the land where this town was built. As well as being a successful ship Captain and businessman, he was also a Protestant lay preacher. He gained a reputation as an honest man and during his time in San Francisco, he was appointed guardian of a family of fatherless children, who would one day inherit property on an estate in San Francisco and Sauselito. After returning to Wales, he kept in touch with their solicitor and it is reported that a number of legal deeds and town plans, dated during the 1860s, were sent to him in Caerffynnon.
Having returned to Wales, a wealthy widower, having sold his property in San Francisco, Lewis Holland Thomas bought the Caerffynnon estate in 1851, which included Draenogan farm and other property, from Catherine Roberts, widow of Richard Roberts and set about building a new house on site. By 1856 Lewis had created a special house in Caerffynnon and built the house on the foundations of the old farmhouse, using maple trees from Canada to make doors, with a craftsman from Spain to make the patterns (mouldings) on the ceilings. A garden was created under the trees with a model of a farm next to it, as the Captain now likes soil more than salt.
It was Lewis' intention to try to help his family, his two sisters and his two brothers. But it was not successful. His favourite sister disappeared with her baby and they were never seen again. He paid for education and training for his brother who was interested in medicine, but unfortunately he turned to the bottle and nothing came of it and he died in the workshop. His younger brother and sister were not ready to take his help either; and the two were not invited to visit Caerffynnon. His other brother was a bit of a gypsy and his family didn't know anything about his background, only his name was 'Holland Thomas' and that he came from Meirionnydd County.
After leaving the sea, he devoted himself more to farming, and it was in Caerffynnon that he raised his second family, when he married for the second time in 1856 with Elizabeth Roberts, half Welsh and half Manx, the baby he had seen in the bath for many years previously, the daughter of Richard Roberts of Liverpool, co-owner of the "Laura Anne", and eight children were born to them - Anna, Lily, Mabel, Lewis, Fanny, Ethel, Richard and Winifred. His two eldest daughters from his first marriage, Laura Anne and Mary Ellen had also come to live in Caerffynnon.
The first daughter born to Lewis and Elizabeth was Anna Theodora in 1857, (she died aged 22 in 1879), then Elizabeth Gertrude (Lily) was born 1859, (she died following an accident in 1897), then Mabel Mary in 1861, before they had a boy Lewis Holland Thomas in 1863 (great sadness came to the family when he died before he was two years old). A daughter was born again in 1866, Fanny Maria Waddington. After eighteen months, in 1869, Richard was born but very sadly again, the second boy died in 1879 aged 10. The last child in the family was Winifred Holland born in 1873 (died 1908).
Although they went through periods of great bereavement, Lewis and Elizabeth lived happily together on the Caerffynnon estate and were very involved with the village of Talsarnau and the residents. Their children would not attend the local school, but instead receive lessons at home from a teacher and then go away to a boarding school when they were older.
But Lewis had a close connection with the local primary school. The first school in Talsarnau, together with the school house, was built in 1859, mainly through the contributions of the parishioners. In the school's Log Book in 1863 (which is in the Dolgellau Archives) and in the handwriting of Captain Lewis Holland Thomas, he is named, together with the Reverend Griffith Williams, as the founders of the school in Talsarnau, with the Captain as chairman of the governors. Meetings were held at the school to try to encourage parents to give their children a better education. According to the Log Book, Mrs Holland Thomas and her daughters would take a prominent part in running the school, assisting with sewing classes and the family would organize a Christmas party for the children annually.
On the occasion of the wedding of Ethel Holland Thomas and Sir Isambard Owen, a gift of a Bible was given.