John Thomas (1752-1827)
John Thomas, a Quaker, was Superintendent of Works on the construction of the Kennet and Avon Canal. He had made his money as a grocer (John Thomas, Sons & Co), a firm which continued trading as late as 1938, at 17 and 18 Redcliffe Street, Bristol. He owned the prestigious Prior Park near Bath from 1809 until his death on 3 March 1827. His grandfather, John Thomas (c.1690-1760), had worked with Abraham Darby (1678-1717), playing a key role in perfecting sand casting of iron pots.[1]
John Thomas (c.1690-1760), married Grace Zeane in Bristol in 1714. Their son Samuel Thomas settled at Keynsham as a wire drawer, and married Esther Derrick in 1746. Their son John was born in 1752, and commenced business as a grocer. In 1776 he married Elizabeth Ovens, of Bristol and they had ten children. John Thomas was a keen promoter of waterways, in particular the Somersetshire Coal Canal and the Kennet and Avon Canal. John and Elizabeth Thomas's fifth son, George Thomas, born 1791, was a noted Bristol Quaker Philanthropist. He died in 1869.[2]