Lucy Thomas

Lucy Thomas, (baptised 11 March 1781 – 27 September 1847), was a Welsh businesswoman and colliery owner known as the mother of the Welsh steam coal trade. Thomas, with her son, took over the running of her husbands coal mine after his death in 1833. Much of Thomas subsequent success as a businesswoman were embellished by Merthyr historian Charles Wilkins, who wrote one of the few articles on her life in 1888. It is now believed that, George Insole, a Cardiff agent was the architect of her success, though this does not diminish Thomas position as one of the few women coal owners in industrial Britain.

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