Peter John Mitchell Thomas, Baron Thomas of Gwydir, (31 July 1920 – 4 February 2008) was a British Conservative politician. He was the first Welshman to become Chairman of the Conservative Party, serving from 1970 to 1972, and the first Conservative to serve as Secretary of State for Wales, holding that office from 1970 to 1974. Early life and career Thomas was born in Llanrwst, where his father was a solicitor. He was educated at the village school, and then Epworth College in Rhyl, before reading law at Jesus College, Oxford. He joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) in 1939, on the outbreak of the Second World War. He was shot down while serving as a bomber pilot in 1941, and spent four years in prisoner-of-war camps in Germany, moving from Stalag Luft VI to Stalag Luft III and then at Stalag XI-B. He continued his legal studies while imprisoned, and was also an amateur actor. He became a barrister after the war, and was called to the Bar in 1947 at Middle Temple. He practised on the Wales and Chester circuit, and took silk in 1965. He became deputy chairman of Cheshire quarter sessions in 1966, and then of Denbighshire quarter sessions in 1968, serving in both offices until 1970. He was a Crown Court recorder from 1974 to 1988, and also sat as an arbitrator on the Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris. He was bilingual in Welsh and English, and took an active part in the Gorsedd, attending Eisteddfodau under the bardic name Pedr Conwy (Welsh: Peter from Conway). Marriage He married Tessa Dean in 1947. She was the daughter of actor and film and theatrical producer Basil Dean and his wife, Lady Mercy Greville. His wife died in 1985, and he outlived both of their two sons. He was survived by his two daughters upon his death in February 2008 at the age of 87. Political career Thomas was elected to Parliament as MP for Conway in 1951, winning a narrow majority in the marginal seat over the Labour incumbent. He turned down the position of Under-Secretary of State for Wales at the Home Office to concentrate on his legal career, but later served as Parliamentary private secretary to Sir Harry Hylton-Foster (the Solicitor General and later Speaker) from 1954 to 1959. He was a member of the Council of Europe