Morgan Thomas

Morgan Thomas (15 December 1824 – 7 March 1903) was a Welsh-Australian surgeon and public benefactor.

Thomas was born in Glynneath, Glamorganshire, Wales on 15 December 1824. He practised surgery, both as a private individual and for the government,

After retiring in 1870 at his home in Adelaide on 7 March 1903; he was 78 years old. He had outlived his wife; they had never had children. His body was interred in the North Road Cemetery and a monument installed above it.

In his will he had bequeathed £65,679 in total to the Adelaide Library, Museum and Art Gallery. It was reported that the library was in great need, and highly appreciative, of Thomas's money, as the government had cut its funding by £1,000. Thomas's bequest had been the first made to all of those institutions simultaneously.

In 1906 three tablets, made of wood and copper, were designed by H. P. Gill, the director of the School of Design and Technical Art, to honour Thomas. They were installed in the library, the museum and the art gallery. Each tablet had a leek, an oak and a Welsh Dragon engraved onto it to represent Thomas's Welsh origin.