Leona Thomas

Leona retired from teaching in Edinburgh, where she was born and grew up, after 40 years in harness. She is enjoying the new experiences and challenges that retirement is bringing and looks forward to more moments to remember with Steve, her partner of over 30 years.

In 2014 she started transcribing the memoirs of her father, the first book of which is entitled 'Through Ice and Fire' detailing his time on the Russian Arctic Convoys in 1942 aboard HMS Ulster Queen, and his virtual imprisonment in Archangel when the ice threatened to trap them in harbour for the winter surviving only on starvation rations. However there are hopefully more books to come which will detail his pre-WW2 exploits in Antarctica on RRS Discovery II in the 1930's - and more!

Leona has been overwhelmed with the interest and support shown for her work with the Russian Arctic Convoy veterans and continues to attend functions and give talks to highlight the amazing service this dwindling band of men gave.

A committed vegetarian since her teenage years and amateur genealogist, animal lover and gardener, she also loves crafts and now has (a little) more time to enjoy sewing, embroidery and the challenge of her new skill - bobbin lacemaking. She was involved in stitching a group panel for The Great Tapestry of Scotland and completed a solo panel for her father's Arctic Convoy PQ18 as part of the Scottish Diaspora Tapestry. She also helped with the design of another panel for a local convoy veteran, James Simpson. Following that she worked with another stitcher to complete the only Antarctic panel for the Diaspora Tapestry featuring her father's ship, RRS Discovery II. She also worked with the School of Ancient Crafts, the group replicating the embroidery panels of Mary Queen of Scots, and the finished hanging is now on permanent display in Edinburgh Castle. In February 2016 she was commissioned by the Foreign Office to do an embroidery to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the first convoy to Russia in 1941 - 'Operation Dervish'. She was asked to travel to Russia where she presented it in person to the Maritime Museum in Arkhangelsk in August 2016 and was presented to the Princess Royal.

2020 UPDATE - AUGUST: during lockdown she worked on her next book, a work of historical fiction based on the available research and stories about three of her Prussian ancestors in the 19th century. Using what was known about the real-life characters, she interwove their exploits with scenarios involving imaginary compatriots based on their actual lives. The main characters are a small town apothecary and innkeeper, his son - a distinguished surgeon and first man-midwife in the area and his son, a sea captain who ended up in N. Ireland and married a local girl.

Entitled 'Prussian Blue: three generations of one family brought to life', it was published on Kindle ebook format and in paperback in August 2020.

2021 UPDATE - JULY: Her next book is called 'Always the River: The river gives and the river takes away - a genealogical mystery spanning the centuries'

When Kate heads off to university in York, she is unaware that her grandmother Sue’s new-found hobby of family research will unearth a force which will bind her to that place, but in another time as the malevolent spirit of the river threatens to reach out into the present.

As succeeding generations are uncovered by Sue’s research, Kate experiences the mysterious hold the river has had over her family while the reader encounters the chilling story of Laura, Kate’s four times great-grandmother, who finds herself cast out by her family and having to exist hand to mouth. She is haunted by a voice which both befriends her and makes demands upon her.

Can Laura’s determination and strength of will overcome what the river has in store for her and her family?

Will Kate ever truly know the full story of Laura and her tragic past six generations earlier?

In this darkly sinister and chilling mystery set in both 19th century and present-day Yorkshire, we are witness to the struggles and tragedies that were daily events for the people who worked on and by the rivers and canals. As the story unfolds, the events of the past are revealed as the terrible truth is uncovered.

Set on and by the River Ouse and adjoining waterways, this family saga is woven around actual historical events and family research.

Published on Kindle ebook format and in paperback in July 2021

2023 UPDATE - FEBRUARY: her latest book 'The River Looks After Its Own', the sequel to 'Always the River' has been released.

THE LONG ANTICIPATED SEQUEL TO 'ALWAYS THE RIVER' - NOW THE FAMILY SAGA CONTINUES THROUGH TWO MORE GENERATIONS...

It is 1882 and we follow young Kate's life immediately after the tragic drowning of her mother and brother. As an orphan taken in by her aunt and uncle, she soon realises she has to make her own way in life. But the malevolent influence of the river that has stalked her family's lives threatens to make its presence known once more. Bound up in the events of the turn of the century and the Great War, Kate fights to protect her family from the difficult times that threaten to engulf them. Meanwhile, her great granddaughter Sue continues her family research while her own granddaughter Kate is at university in York. Kate finds that she has times when she slips into her namesake's life and becomes increasingly bound up in finding the reason why. Items and experiences build the bridge between the past and the present. The well-drawn characters of the inimitable Granny Sue, young and old Kate once more line up to charm the readers of this genealogical mystery time-slip novel set in Leeds, Lincoln, Hull and York. Although best read in sequence, this book can also be read as a standalone.