Sarah Thomas (centenarian)

Thomas was from Carmarthenshire and was a native of Whitland where her parents were farm labourers on Ffynoncyll farm near Whitland.[1] She died at her daughter's home in Pencoed Cottages in Burry Port after moving from Llanelly where she had lived with her husband.[1] Shortly before Christmas in 1896 Thomas was believed to be dead and was examined by a doctor. She was in fact in a comatose state, and remained so for 30 hours. She eventually awoke and her "first request" after waking was for her pipe and tobacco. Thomas smoked a clay pipe for 60 years and preferred smoking to eating in her final years.[2] In her obituary the The Llanelly Mercury and South Wales Advertiser reported that she "indulged in the fragrant weed with the zest of a person half her years".[1] She consumed three ounces of shag every week, which was supplied to her for free by Messrs Franklyn and Davey.[2] She was survived by her daughter; a second daughter had died several years previously.[1] Thomas had 16 grandchildren by her surviving daughter.[1] She was buried in Llanelly Cemetery.[1]

A letter was written to the royal courtier Dighton Probyn detailing Thomas's extreme age. The private secretary to the Princess of Wales replied enclosing a cheque for £5 and 6 shillings (representing a shilling for every year of her life) for Thomas (equivalent to £583 in 2019) and advised the recipient "to spend it in the way you most think advisable for her comfort and pleasure".[3][2]

The readers of the South Wales Daily News were urged to enter Thomas for a competition for a £2 weekly pension for a year (equivalent to £233 in 2019) offered by Tit-Bits magazine.[4]