Antony Charles Thomas, (26 April 1928 – 7 April 2016)Who's Who was a British historian and archaeologist who was Professor of Cornish Studies at Exeter University, and the first Director of the Institute of Cornish Studies, from 1971 until his retirement in 1991. He was recognised as a Bard of the Cornish Gorseth with the name Gwas Godhyan in 1953.List of new Bards during the 1950s -Gorseth Kernow official website .

Birth, early life and education He was born 26 April 1928 in Camborne, Cornwall,Antony Charles, son of Donald Woodroffe & Viva Warrington Holman. Born 26 April 1928 and baptized (presumably at Camborne Wesley Chapel) 10 June 1928 (Cornwall Record Office: MR/CB/902, No 41, page 15). the son of Donald Woodroffe Thomas and Viva (née Warrington) Thomas.

He attended Elmhirst Preparatory day school, Camborne and Upcott House School, Okehampton. In 1940 he received a scholarship to Bradfield College, but on the advice of a family friend was instead sent to Winchester College on a 'Headmaster's Nomination'. In 1945 at the age of 17 he joined the army as a Young Soldier and later was an ammunition examiner in the Royal Army Ordnance Corps; he would serve in Northern Ireland, Portsmouth, Scotland and Egypt, the latter of which helped inspire his interest in archaeology. He demobilised in 1948 at which point he matriculated into Corpus Christi College, Oxford, receiving a BA Honours degree in Jurisprudence in 1951. He then studied under V. Gordon Childe at the UCL Institute of Archaeology and received a Diploma in Prehistoric Archaeology in 1953.

Academic career

Thomas' first public lecture was entitled 'The Glebe Lands of Camborne' for the Camborne Old Cornwall Society in 1946, while on a week's leave from the Army in Portsmouth.Thomas 2012, p. vii His academic career officially began as a part-time Workers' Educational Association lecturer in archaeology in Cornwall 1954–58. He became Lecturer in Archaeology at the University of Edinburgh from 1958 to 1967. From 1967 to 1971, he was appointed the first Professor of Archaeology at the University of Leicester. During this period, he became a FSA in 1960 and was awarded a Leverhulme FellowshipLeverhulme Trust website, giving current terms for research fellowships for 1965 to 1967.

In 1972 Thomas founded and became director of the Institute of Cornish Studies, affiliated with the University of Exeter at which he was the first Professor of Cornish Studies. At this time he also launched and edited its learned journal, Cornish Studies. He defined its field as:ISC homepage. "the study of all aspects of man and his handiwork in the regional setting (Cornwall and Scilly), past, present and future. The development of society, industry and the landscape in our fast changing world is as much of concern … as the history of those vast topics in the recent and remote past."

In 1983, he was awarded a Doctorate of Literature by the University of Oxford. He was Sir John Rhys Fellow of the University of Oxford and Visiting Senior Research Fellow at Jesus College from 1985 to 1986.

He retired as Director of the Institute and Professor of Cornish Studies in 1991; he was awarded an emeritus Fellowship at Exeter by the Leverhulme Trust (1992–94). Thomas was also awarded Doctor of Letters, honoris causa, by the National University of Ireland in 1996.

Archaeological work Thomas' first archaeological excavation was at the Bronze Age barrow on Godrevy headland, St Ives Bay in 1950, and he initially saw himself as a prehistorian. He was Director of excavations at Gwithian, Cornwall (1949–1963), which revealed an important post-Roman occupation.

He was best known for his contributions to early medieval archaeology, particularly to the archaeology of early Christianity in Britain and Ireland. After Gwithian, excavations at early Christian sites included Nendrum Monastery, County Down in 1954; a chapel at East Porth, Teän, Isles of Scilly in 1956; Iona Abbey, Argyll in 1956–1963; Ardwall Island, Kirkcudbright; and Abercorn, West Lothian 1964–65. His first major work in this field was The Early Christian Archaeology of North Britain (1971), followed by similarly influential volumes including Christianity in Roman Britain to AD 500 (1981) and And Shall These Mute Stones Speak?: post-Roman inscriptions in Western Britain (1994).

Roles in organizations Learned societies He was a board member of the Royal Institution of Cornwall and Honorary Librarian of its Courtney Library until 2011,This position is now held by Bernard Deacon. Pers. comm. with Charles Thomas, 4 January 2012. having previously served as its president in 1970–71. He was a Fellow of the British Academy, and also President of the Council for British Archaeology 1970–73.University of Wales press description of author. and Who's Who

He was President of the Cornwall Archaeological Society 1984–88 and of the Society for Medieval Archaeology, 1986–89.Society for Medieval Archaeology

He was President of the Society for Landscape StudiesSociety for Landscape Studies website. from 1993. He was president of the Cornish Methodist Historical Association in 1993. He was Chairman of the Society for Church Archaeology, 1995–98.

Quangos He was Chairman of the BBC South West Regional Advisory Council, 1975–80; of the Department of the Environment Area Archaeology Committee, Cornwall and Devon, 1975–79; and of the Cornwall Committee for Rescue Archaeology 1976–88.

He was a Member of the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1983–97, its Acting Chairman, 1988–89 and Vice Chairman, 1991–97).This body is now called Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England and is generally known as "English Heritage".

Honours Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, 1958. Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, 1960. Honorary Member of the Royal Irish Academy, 1973. Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, 1975. Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, 1982. Fellow of the British Academy, 1989. Honorary Fellow of St David's University College, Lampeter, 1992.Now a constituent college of the University of Wales, at Lampeter Fellow of University College London, 1992. Honorary Doctor of Literature National University of Ireland, 1996. Honorary Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, 2000. William Frend Medal, Society of Antiquaries of London, 1982."The Frend Medal, named after its donor, our Fellow William Frend. It is awarded for contributions to knowledge of the archaeological and material remains of the early Christian Church." SAL website Jenner Medal, Royal Institution of Cornwall, 2008.First awarded in 1936, the Jenner Medal is presented to individuals in recognition of a serious body of work with Cornish history. It was named after Henry Jenner (1848-1934), first Grand Bard of the Cornish Gorseth. DL (Deputy Lieutenant of Cornwall), 1988. CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire), 1991. See full Biography in Gathering the Fragments, 2012, pp. 177–183, .

Personal life In 1953, Thomas married Molly Sims, though they soon after divorced; she later married Neville Marriner. In 1959, Thomas married writer Jessica Mann a week after she completed her Cambridge finals, and they had two sons and two daughters.Who's Who His grandson Fred Thomas is a politician.Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003.

Thomas was a member of Mebyon Kernow.

Thomas died from bronchopneumonia at his home in St Clement, Cornwall, on 7 April 2016.

Publications

Key publications (in date order) 1967: Christian Antiquities of Camborne 1971: The Early Christian Archaeology of North Britain 1971: Britain and Ireland in Early Christian Times 1973: St Ninian’s Isle and its Treasure (with A. Small and D. Wilson). 1974: Military Insignia of Cornwall (with D. Ivall). 1981: Christianity in Roman Britain to AD 500 1985: Exploration of a Drowned Landscape 1986: Celtic Britain 1988: Views and Likenesses: photographers in Cornwall and Scilly 1839–70 1993: Tintagel, Arthur and Archaeology 1994: And Shall These Mute Stones Speak?: post-Roman inscriptions in Western Britain 1998: Christian Celts, Messages and Images 1999: Silent in the Shroud 1999: The Penzance Market Cross 2002: Whispering Reeds (with D. R. Howlett). 2003: Vita Sancti Paterni 2012: Gathering the Fragments

Alphabetical list of publications (incomplete)

An Archaeological Survey of the Rame Peninsula. Institute of Cornish Studies. 1974. 'An Archaic Place-name Element from the Isles of Scilly'; The Bulletin Board of Celtic Studies, Vol XXVIII, Pt II, May 1979, pp. 229–233. And shall these mute stones speak?: post-Roman inscriptions in western Britain; Cardiff : University of Wales Press, 1994. 'Archaeology and Local Government', New Approaches to our Past, T C Carvill (ed), University of Southampton Department of Archaeology, 1978, pp. 63–77. 'Archaeology in Cornwall'; Summer Meeting Programme, Royal Archaeological Institute, 1973, pp. 10–13. Bede, Archaeology, and the Cult of Relics: Jarrow Lecture 1973; 1973 Britain and Ireland in Early Christian times : A.D. 400-800; Library of medieval civilization series; London : Thames and Hudson, 1971 The Bronze Age in the South West, Papers in Regional Archaeology series, 1; Bristol : Univ. of Bristol, Archaeological Review, 1969 'Bronze Age Spade Marks at Gwithian, Cornwall'; The Spade in Northern and Atlantic Europe, Alan Gailey and Alexander Fenton (eds), Ulster Folk Museum, Institute of Irish Studies, Belfast, 1970, pp. 10–17. 'Carwynnen Quoit'; Camborne Festival Magazine, November 1985, pp. 14–15. Celtic Britain; Ancient peoples and places series; London : Thames and Hudson, 1997. Originally published: 1986 . "The character and origins of Roman Dumnonia"; Article from Rural Settlement in Roman Britain (Council for British Archaeology Research Report 7), 1966, pp. 74–98. Christian Antiquities of Camborne; H.E. Warne, 1967 Christian Celts : messages & images; Stroud : Tempus, 2003 Originally published: 1998 Christian Sites in West Penwith Excursion Guide : Saturday, 6 April 1968 / The Society For Medieval Archaeology and the Cornwall Archaeological Society; Truro : Cornwall Office Services (printers), 1968 Christian sites in West Penwith : excursion guide, Thursday 27 June 1974 [for] the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland; [Redruth], Institute of Cornish Studies, 1974. General note '... produced for the RSAI Summer Conference (Penzance), 1974 Christianity in Roman Britain to AD 500 ; London : Batsford Academic and Educational, c1981. . 'Chun Castle and Quoit'; Summer Meeting Programme, Royal Archaeological Institute, 1973, pp. 56–59. The cliff castle at The Rumps, St. Minver (Series: Cornwall Archaeological Society. Field Guides; no.9 ); Cornwall Archaeological Society, 1963. 'Coast and Cliff Names of Gwithian and the North Cliffs'; Journal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall New Series Vol.5, Pt.1, 1965, pp12–36; with corrections and additions in Vol.5, Pt.3, 1967, pp291–6. 'The context of Tintagel : a new model for the diffusion of Post-Roman Mediterranean imports'; Cornish Archaeology 27, 1988, pp. 7–25; also offprint(Institute of Cornish Studies Varia series, No. 8). Cornish Chapel Stories; Lambessow : Summaries and Plain Digits, 2008 [compiled and edited under the nom de plume 'Cornubiensis']. 'Cornish Dialect Studies 2: Cornish Dialect Derivatives of Middle English stoc 'stump', sticken 'to stick' '; Cornish Studies 6, 1978, pp14–19. . 'Cornish Dialect Studies 3: Arthur Rablen's 1937 Essay'; Cornish Studies 8, 1980, pp37–47. . Cornish Studies and Cornish Topics : Some Notes on the Scheme of Subject-headings, in Use in the Catalogue of the Library at Lowenac, Camborne; Worthing : E. D. Paine [Printing], 1970