“THOMAS, WILLIAM, of Llanidloes, was the eldest son of a small farmer, and was born at Bryncoch, Llanwyddelan, in or about the year 1823. He at an early age shewed considerable mechanical aptitude and skill, and having served an apprenticeship to the trade of a wheelwright, he subsequently established a small iron foundry in the neighbourhood of Trefeglwys, where he made agricultural implements, and machines for some of the neighbouring lead mines. In 1851 he removed to Llanidloes, where he greatly extended the business, and gained a wide reputation for the manufacture of machinery used in lead mining and dressing, not only in Wales, but in distant parts of the world. He also supplied large quantities of iron castings from his foundry for several of the Welsh railways. He was for many years a member of the Town Council, and at the time of his death an Alderman of the Borough of Llanidloes, of which he had also been Mayor six times. He was also a County Magistrate. He was a consistent Liberal and Nonconformist, and for 40 years took a prominent part in the political, commercial, and municipal life of his adopted town. He died on the 3rd of August, 1893, aged 70 years, and was buried in the Dolhafren Cemetery, Llanidloes.”
Taken from: Montgomeryshire Worthies (1894) by Richard Williams