Richard Darton Thomas

Admiral Richard Darton Thomas (3 June 1777 – 21 August 1857) was a Royal Navy officer who went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Station.

Naval career
Thomas entered the Royal Navy on 26 May 1790 and was made midshipman in December 1792. He was present at the capture of Martinique in 1794 and was on the HMS Boyne (1790) when it was burned in 1795. He was promoted to Lieutenant on 15 January 1797 and took part in the Battle of Cape St Vincent later that year. He was promoted to Commander on 18 January 1803 and to Captain on 22 October 1805. He then served as Captain of the Ordinary at Portsmouth from 1822 to 1825 and again from 1834 to 1837. On 10 January 1837 he was appointed Rear Admiral, and served as Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Station from 5 May 1841 to December 1844. He was promoted to Vice Admiral on 8 January 1848 and eventually rose to the rank of Admiral in September 1854.

Thomas died on 21 August 1857 at Stonehouse, Devon, aged 80.

Family
He married Gratiana Williams, daughter of General Richard Williams on 2 October 1827. On 13 November 1850 his daughter Gratiana Mary Thomas (born 1822) married Sir Mathew Wharton Wilson (1827–1909), son of Sir Mathew Wilson, 1st Baronet, one of the Wilson baronets.