Peter Thomas

1939-2007

David Peter Thomas was born 30 June 1939 in Manchester, England, and died 20 July 2007 in St. Andrews, New Brunswick. Thomas attended elementary school in Manchester, England. At the age of eleven, his family moved to South Wales, where he attended Pontardawe Grammar School. Thomas earned a bachelor and master’s degree in English literature at the University of Wales in Cardiff. He then taught and played rugby in Dudley, UK, for a year, and moved on to teach at Truro High School in Cornwall, UK, from 1963 to 1965. It was at Truro High School that Thomas met his future wife, Helen, who also taught at the school. In 1966, Thomas and his wife immigrated to the United States, where he received his PhD from New York State University in Binghamton. From New York, the couple moved to Vancouver before they settled in Fredericton, NB, in the fall of 1968. From 1968 until his retirement in 1997, Thomas worked at the University of New Brunswick as an English professor. In 2000, he moved to St. Andrews with his wife, and lived there until his death in 2007. Thomas published numerous works in various genres including poetry, plays, short stories, novels, book reviews, bibliographies, articles, and editorials. His publications included Strangers From a Secret Land: The Voyages of the Brig Albion and the Founding of the First Welsh Settlements in Canada (1986) which was nominated for the Governor General’s Award in 1987, and won the Welsh Arts Council’s Annual Award for a work of non-fiction, as well as the Canadian Historical Association Regional History Award.  In 1981, Thomas became editor of The Fiddlehead and nurtured Fiddlehead Poetry Books which became Goose Lane Editions. In March 2012, Goose Lane published Master and Madman: The Spectacular Rise and Disastrous Fall of the Honorable Anthony Lockwood, RN, a biography started by Thomas and finished by Nicholas Tracy after Thomas’ death.

Source: Ketch, Amy. "David Peter Thomas." New Brunswick Literary Encyclopedia, Winter 2012. Accessed 1 June 2023.

Predominant New Brunswick Residences:

Fredericton, Saint Andrews

Archival Material

• Peter Thomas fonds
  ⌄
  Location

  Provincial Archives of New Brunswick

  Retrieval Number

  MC3456

  Extent

   1.2 m of textual records

  Scope and Content Note

  Material about Peter Thomas' publications and career. Includes drafts of his manuscripts.

• Correspondence of Professor Peter Thomas
  ⌄
  Location

  University of New Brunswick Archives & Special Collections

  Retrieval Number

  Accession 2020.009

  Date Range of Material

  1908-1981

  Extent

  2 cm of textual material

  Scope and Content Note

  Unprocessed. One file folder (2 cm) containing thirteen letters from Peter Thomas to Deian Hopkin and draft article on Llewellyn Davies.