William Kyffin Thomas

rdf:langString William Kyffin Thomas

rdf:langString William Kyffin Thomas (4 November 1821 – 4 July 1878) was a newspaper proprietor in South Australia.William, the son of Robert Thomas, was born in Fleet Street, London and emigrated to South Australia with his father in 1836 on the Africaine. From that time until the day of his death, he was intimately associated with the fortunes of the South Australian Register, for the last twenty-five years of his life as one of the proprietors. To his industry and ability in the different capacities in which he acted was due to a large extent the high character and phenomenal success of the Register, and the weekly and afternoon journals issued from the same office—the Adelaide Observer and Evening Journal. The firm which conducted these papers bore the name of the subject, being known as W. K. Thomas & Co., and consisted of John Harvey Finlayson and Robert Kyffin Thomas, the latter being the elder son of William Kyffin Thomas, and grandson of the founder of the Register. Thomas was a founding member of the Flinders Street Baptist Church and served as its secretary for many years. He died on 4 July 1878 in Glenelg, South Australia and was buried in West Terrace Cemetery. William was survived by his wife Mary Jane, née Good, six daughters and three sons.