Mesac Thomas

The Right Reverend Mesac Thomas (10 May 1816 – 15 March 1892) was an Anglican bishop in Australia.^[1][2][3][4]

Thomas was born in Aberystwyth, Ceredigion (Cardiganshire), Wales, to Welsh parents:^[5] his father was a John Thomas of Shrewsbury;^[6] and his mother was Elizabeth, née Williams^[4] (daughter of Edward Williams, of Llwynyrhedydd). ^[7] He was educated at Oswestry School,^[7] Shrewsbury^[8] and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he graduated B.A. in 1840 and M.A. in 1843.^[6] Ordained in 1840,^[9] he was a Curate at Bishop Ryder Church, Birmingham^[10] before holding incumbencies at Tuddenham^[11] and Attleborough.^[12]

In 1851 he became Secretary of the Colonial Church and School Society,^[13] a post he held for twelve years until his consecration as the inaugural Bishop of Goulburn in 1863.^[14] Thomas was consecrated on 25 March 1863 and installed on 8 April 1864. During his long incumbency^[15] he travelled widely within his diocese ^[16][17] and oversaw the completion of the diocese’s cathedral^[18] and a home for its future bishops.^[19] Bishop Thomas married on 7 November 1843 Mary Campbell Hasluck,^[4] the second daughter of Thomas Hinton Hasluck, of Handsworth, near Birmingham.^[7] Thomas died in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia on 15 March 1892.^[7] In March 1892 his death (in office) was announced in British newspapers.^[20][21]

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