Thomas Williams of Llanidan
Thomas Williams | |
---|---|
Member of Parliament for Great Marlow | |
In office 1790–1802 | |
Preceded by | William Clayton Thomas Rich |
Succeeded by | Pascoe Grenfell Owen Williams |
Personal details | |
Born | 13 May 1737 |
Died | 30 November 1802 | (aged 65)
Thomas Williams (13 May 1737 – 30 November 1802) was a Welsh industrialist and Member of Parliament. At the time of his death, he was the richest man in Wales.
Life
Thomas Williams was born in Llanidan, Anglesey, the son of Owen Williams of Cefn Coch in Llansadwrn.[1]
In the 18th century, there was a significant shortage of food for labouring people. Williams, known to his Welsh speaking workmen as Twm Chwarae Teg ("Tom Fairplay"), once complained to the magistrate at Llanidan that the villagers on Anglesey raided his fields and stole the turnips intended for his cattle and used them to feed their families. His business rival, Matthew Boulton, called Williams the "copper king" – "the despotick sovereign of the copper trade". To his friend and agent he said, "Let me advise you to be extremely cautious in your dealings with Williams". He spoke of Williams as "a perfect tyrant and not over tenacious of his word and will screw damned hard when he has got anybody in his vice". Of the Cornish producers, Boulton said "they would not have submitted to be kicked and piss'd on by me as they have been by them" (Williams and his partner Wilkinson).
Williams' tenacity as a lawyer was very evident when acting for the Hughes family of
Williams emerged from the dispute as the managing partner with the Revd Edward Hughes and John Dawes in the Parys Mine Company. This under Williams control was cheap to run and extremely productive. His great problem was to obtain an attractive price for the copper. He faced a cartel of copper smelters whose aim was to buy cheap and sell dear. He moved decisively to establish his own smelting facilities and quickly entered into an agreement with John Mackay to establish an industrial complex at Ravenhead near St Helens in Lancashire. He also established warehousing and copper manufacturing and finishing facilities, and even a mint – thus creating a vertical organisation. In 1788, Williams purchased the Temple Mills at Bisham in Berkshire. He built himself a fine mansion there called Temple House and used the mills for smelting copper brought from his Welsh mines. He became MP for the nearby town of Marlow in Buckinghamshire.[2]
He also acted quickly to absorb or control other producers – notably the Cornish mines to produce a complete response to the cartel. Although always the driving force, Williams built up and controlled a major commercial organisation and surrounded himself with able staff. The Revd Edward was always a sleeping partner but younger brother Michael Hughes was an able manager. Other partners and staff included The
His business organisation was first rate. He developed the technique of establishing his various businesses in separate companies. Thus the Parys Mine Company controlled its own smelting in South Wales, Lancashire and copper manufacture at Holywell and Wraysbury. Likewise the Mona mine (adjoining Parys) output was smelted by the Stanley Company in both Lancashire and South Wales. Other Companies dealt with manufacture at Greenfield near Flint and in the Thames Valley, Chemical Works (vitriol) at Garston Liverpool and still others with warehousing and banking.
Williams had built copper works at
He was
Family
Williams married around 1763 Catherine Lloyd, daughter of John Lloyd of Anglesey. They had two sons and three daughters.[2]
References
- ^ Richard Thomas. "Williams, Thomas". National Library of Wales. Retrieved 4 July 2010.
- ^ a b c "WILLIAMS, Thomas (1737-1802), of Llanidan, Anglesey and Temple House, Berks". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
- J. R. Harris (1964) The Copper King: A biography of Thomas Williams of Llanidan. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press.
See also
- Oxford Dictionary of National Biography article by J. R. Harris, Williams, Thomas (1737–1802) revised May 2005 [1]accessed 21 November 2006]