Bare Facts

Caitlin was born in 1914, the daughter of Mary Yvonne Majolier and Francis Macnamara. She was brought up in England, Ireland and France. Caitlin writes about her childhood and teenage years in chapter 2 of her 1986 book, and in Parts 2 and 3 of her 1997 book. Another account of their childhood at both Blashford, Hampshire, and with their grandmother in France, has been given by her sister, Nicolette, in Two Flamboyant Fathers. Their sister, Brigit, also talks about their childhood in Speaking of Caitlin.... on this site

Caitlin married Dylan Thomas in Penzance in 1937. They had three children: Llewelyn, Aeronwy and Colm. The family were constantly on the move, living in Blashford, Laugharne, Wiltshire, Chelsea, Bishopston, Talsarn, New Quay, Llansteffan (Blaencwm), Oxford, Italy and South Leigh. In May 1949, the Thomases' moved into the Boat House, Laugharne.

Caitlin later lived in Italy with Giuseppe Fazio, and had a son, Francesco. Following a long illness, she died in Catania on 31 July 1994, aged 80. She was buried next to Dylan in Laugharne.

Her Wikipedia entry gives further information on the details of her life, with a fuller account given in Paul Ferris’ 1993 biography, as well as in her own work. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caitlin_Thomas

Caitlin’s books:

Leftover Life to Kill, Putnam 1957.

Not Quite Posthumous Letter to My Daughter, Putnam 1963.

Caitlin: Life with Dylan Thomas, Secker & Warburg 1986 (with G. Tremlett).

Double Drink Story: My Life with Dylan Thomas, Virago 1997.

As well as several unpublished manuscripts detailed in Ferris, 1993 p247.

Material about Caitlin:

Angela Biandioni (1958) Caitlin all’Elba in Il Mondo August 5.

John Brinnin (1955) Dylan Thomas in America, chapters 4 and 7.

Anatole Broyard (1993) Kafka Was the Rage, Vintage, chapter 15.

Nicolette Devas, her sister (1966) Two Flamboyant Fathers, Collins.

Nicolette Devas (1978) Susannah’s Nightingales, Collins.

Hannah Ellis, her granddaughter (2016) Caitlin:the monster that destroyed Dylan Thomas…or was she? at https://www.discoverdylanthomas.com/caitlin-monster-destroyed-dylan-thomas

Paul Ferris (1993) Caitlin: The Life of Caitlin Thomas, Pimlico.

Aeronwy Thomas, her daughter (1994) The Usual Litany of Rows and Rages, in New Welsh Review, Spring

Aeronwy Thomas (2009) My Father’s Places, Constable.

Dylan Thomas (2014) The Love Letters of Dylan Thomas, Orion.

There are, as well, numerous newspaper articles about, and interviews with, Caitlin. Some of these are detailed on pp126-127 of Ralph Maud’s 1970 book, Dylan Thomas in Print, and you can search for them online at https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/ and at https://search.findmypast.co.uk/search/british-newspapers

You might also want to listen to Vincent Kane’s 1977 interview with Caitlin https://www.discoverdylanthomas.com/leftover-wife-caitlin-thomass-interview-vincent-kane

The Majoliers

The most useful source on Caitlin's mother's family is Devas’ 1978 book, Susannah’s Nightingales. It tells us a great deal about Caitlin's French relations, and the time she and her sisters spent at Bel Ombre, the Majolier home in Congénies, near Nîmes.