A GEORGE V GOLD FREEDOM CASKET, S. BLANCKENSEE & SON LTD., BIRMINGHAM, 1924 rectangular, the domed lid with enamelled arms of the the County Borough of Newport (Monmouthshire) flanked by ivory-backed scroll pierced panels, the sides with similar panels, the front enamelled with initials for James Henry Thomas flanked by shaped panels painted in enamel with Newport views of St. Paul's National School, Commercial Street and Newport Harbour, the rear dated 1924 between panels of St. Paul's Church and the G.W.R. Chepstow Castle steam locomotive, with bead and rail rims and panelled corners of flowers on a matted ground, on beaded bun feet, the interior with crushed cream satin lining and presentation plaque, also containing the scroll pronouncing 'The Right Honourable James Henry Thomas' an 'Honourary Freeman of the County Borough of Newport', underside inscribed 'SUPPLIED BY HOSKIN NEWPORT MON.', in original leather fitted case with blue velvet and cream satin lining stamped for Hoskin of Newport, 9 carat 35cm wide, 15.5cm high, 11.5cm deep The presentation inscription reads: Presented to the Right Honourable James Henry Thomas M.P., His Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the Colonies, by a few friends on his being made an Honourable Freeman of his native town of Newport, Mon., on May 8th 1924. Provenance: the Right Hon. J.H. Thomas (Newport 1874-London 1949) and thence by family descent. J.H. Thomas, in spite of leaving school at twelve, had a remarkable career as a Trade Unionist and Labour politician. By the age of fifteen he was an engine cleaner on the Great Western Railways, passing his fireman's exams three years later. He became an official of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants and in 1913 helped organize the National Union of Railwaymen becoming its general secretary in 1917 and presiding over the successful rail strike of 1919. With Union backing, he had been elected to Parliament in 1910 as MP for Derby. He was appointed Secretary of State for the Colonies in the incoming Labour government of 1924 under Ramsay MacDonald. In the second Labour government of 1929 Thomas was made Lord Privy Seal with special responsibility for employment. Appointed Secretary of State for the Dominions in 1930, retaining the position in Ramsay MacDonald's controversial National Government (1931-1935): as a result he was expelled from the Labour Party and the NUR, although the electors of Derby remained faithful when he stood as an independent candidate. Thomas served as Secretary of State for the Colonies again from 1935 until May 1936, when he was forced to resign from politics because he had been implicated in leaks to friends about the forthcoming Budget. Retiring from public life to his home on the Sussex coast, he published his autobiography 'My Story' the following year. According to his obituary in The Times (22nd January 1949, p.6) he was 'always effective on the platform, he had a special gift for after-dinner speaking and succeeded in translating his homeliness into an asset. Members of all parties liked him for his humour, courage and broad humanity...' The G.W.R.'s 4-6-0 Castle class locomotive featured on the back of the casket had only just been completed, in February of 1924. Ironically the Chepstow Castle's life also ended in Newport when scrapped at Cashmore's, having been withdrawn from service in 1962.