John Dillwyn Llewelyn FRS FRAS (12 January 1810 – 24 August 1882) was a Welsh botanist and pioneer photographer.

Early life

He was born in the parish of

Llangyfelach Llangyfelach is a village and community located in the City and County of Swansea, Wales. Llangyfelach is situated about 4 miles north of the centre of Swansea, just west of Morriston. It falls within the Llangyfelach ward. To the west is open ...

, Swansea, Wales, the eldest son of

Lewis Weston Dillwyn Lewis Weston Dillwyn, FRS (21 August 1778 – 31 August 1855) was a British porcelain manufacturer, naturalist and Whig Member of Parliament (MP). Biography He was born in Walthamstow, Essex, the eldest son of William Dillwyn (1743–1824) and ...

and Mary Dillwyn, née Adams, the natural daughter of Col. John Llewelyn of Penllergaer and Ynysygerwn. His sister,

Mary Dillwyn Mary Dillwyn (1816–1906) is considered to be the earliest female photographer in Wales, who took photographs of flowers, animals, family and friends in the 1840s and 1850s. She provided a raw insight to the domestic lives of women and childr ...

(1816–1906), is remembered as the earliest female photographer in Wales. Upon coming of age he inherited his maternal grandfather John Llewelyn's estates of

Penllergaer Penllergaer ( cy, Penlle'r-gaer) is a village and community in the City and County of Swansea, Wales, to the east of Gorseinon, within the electoral ward of the same name. It is situated about 4.5 miles north west of Swansea city centre, near jun ...

and Ynysygerwn, near Swansea, and assumed the additional surname of Llewelyn. Educated privately, he met through his father (a Fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

and the

Linnean Society The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...

, and at one time a member of Parliament) many of the eminent men of his time. These included Sir David Brewster,

Michael Faraday Michael Faraday (; 22 September 1791 – 25 August 1867) was an English scientist who contributed to the study of electromagnetism and electrochemistry. His main discoveries include the principles underlying electromagnetic inducti ...

and

Charles Wheatstone Sir Charles Wheatstone FRS FRSE DCL LLD (6 February 1802 – 19 October 1875), was an English scientist and inventor of many scientific breakthroughs of the Victorian era, including the English concertina, the stereoscope (a device for di ...

. His father

had been sent to Swansea in 1803 by Lewis' father

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

to take over the management of the

Cambrian Pottery The Cambrian Pottery was founded in 1764 by William Coles in Swansea, Glamorganshire, Wales. In 1790, John Coles, son of the founder, went into partnership with George Haynes, who introduced new business strategies based on the ideas of Josia ...

. In 1833 he married Emma Thomasina Talbot, daughter of Thomas Mansel Talbot and Lady Mary Lucy, née Fox Strangways, the younger daughter of the Earl & Countess of Ilchester. Thomas was related to William Davenport Talbot and Mary was the sister of Elisabeth Talbot, the parents of

William Henry Fox Talbot William Henry Fox Talbot FRS FRSE Royal Astronomical Society, FRAS (; 11 February 180017 September 1877) was an English scientist, inventor, and photography pioneer who invented the Salt print, salted paper and calotype processes, precursors t ...

. Henry Talbot, through his botanic interests was a friend of

and spent some of his teenage years at Penrice, the home of the Welsh Talbots, also visiting Penllergaer. In 1835 he served as High Sheriff of Glamorgan.

Photographic interests

In January 1839, following the announcements of photographic processes by both William Henry Fox Talbot and Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre, Llewelyn, with the encouragement of Henry Talbot, began to experiment himself. He tried all the processes available. His earliest daguerreotype is dated 1840. A few of his early photogenic drawings have survived, including some cliché verre, dated 1839. Some thousand calotype and wet

collodion Collodion is a flammable, syrupy solution of nitrocellulose in ether and alcohol. There are two basic types: flexible and non-flexible. The flexible type is often used as a surgical dressing or to hold dressings in place. When painted on the skin, ...

negatives still exist together with albums in private and public collections and retained by the family. When the Royal Photographic Society was founded in 1853, Llewelyn was one of those who attended the foundation meeting at the Society of Arts in London, and was, for some years, a founder Council member. It was suggested at one time that he become country vice-president, but nothing seems to have come of that idea. He exhibited regularly in the early exhibitions of the Society as well as in Dundee, the

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

Art Treasures exhibition The Art Treasures of Great Britain was an exhibition of fine art held in Manchester, England, from 5 May to 17 October 1857.Paris exhibition in 1855. At this latter exhibition he was amongst those awarded a silver medal for his 'Motion' series. In 1856 he announced his own oxymel process which allowed collodion negatives to be preserved over many days. This was hailed as a boon by the Illustrated London News of July 1856. They wrote ''"We have heard of a new method of preserving collodion plates for a week or a fortnight discovered by Mr Llewelyn of Penllergare a gentleman to whom all photographers owe a world of thanks. The plates may be prepared at home and a boxful taken out and think of this ye tourists, as you travel along and a fine prospect meets your eye you have nothing to do but to stop your carriage, get out your camera, and in a few minutes you may secure a picture, drawn by Nature herself, that would have taken you hours to sketch..."'' He also took a number of stereo images using a camera he bought for his daughter Thereza's birthday in 1856. His last images would appear to date from the end of the 1850s after which it is possible that his health prevented any further photographic activity. He never took his camera outside

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

, though the family frequently visited mainland Europe. The majority of his images were taken around his estate of Penllergare, near Swansea, and around the Welsh coast. There are also a number taken in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

over several years, many in Bristol including some pioneer animal and bird images in Clifton Zoo, Yorkshire, Derbyshire and a few in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. His circle of photographic friends included Philip Henry Delamotte, Robert Hunt, Hugh Welch Diamond and especially his distant relative Calvert Richard Jones. Anecdotal diary references tell us that, in the 1840s, he was with his friend Antoine Claudet, conducting experiments on the daguerreotype process. It has been suggested that they were probably relating to the speed of exposure of the plate. Though he never published any photographic books, he did contribute to The Sunbeam edited by his friend Philip Henry Delamotte and other books. One book by Llewelyn that was scheduled for publication was "Pictures of Welsh Scenery" to be published by Joseph Cundall of Bond Street, in 1854. In "The Practice of Photography" published in 1853 written by Philip Delamotte (or Philip H De la Motte as the publication states) an advertisement in the back announced: "Now ready, price 16s .... "Series of Photographic Pictures of Welsh Scenery" by J D Llewelyn. Published in parts 10s 6d each." The book appears not to have been published for some unknown reason and there are no references to it in surviving letters either.

Other scientific interests

Observatory at former Penllergare Estate - geograph

Llewelyn had many scientific and technological interests beyond photography. He built a botanical collection. He assisted

with the first ever experiments in sub-marine telegraphy, off the

Mumbles Mumbles ( cy, Mwmbwls) is a headland sited on the western edge of Swansea Bay on the southern coast of Wales. Toponym Mumbles has been noted for its unusual place name. The headland is thought by some to have been named by French sailors, ...

, South Wales. He demonstrated a model boat powered with an electrical motor on the ornamental lake on his estate. He created the first private orchid house to replicate the original conditions of the plants in the South American jungles, heated with steam, complete with a heated waterfall. Llewelyn had an interest in astronomy. He built a stone observatory on the estate for the use of his daughter Thereza, starting construction in 1851. The observatory housed a 4¾-inch aperture refracting telescope on an equatorial mount.

Later life

Llewelyn moved to London in 1879 and died on 24 August 1882 at his home, Atherton Grange, in Wimbledon. Emma had died the previous year and both are buried at

Church, originally built by Llewelyn for his family and estate workers. Their eldest son John Talbot Dillwyn Llewellyn became High Sheriff of Glamorgan in 1878, mayor of Swansea in 1891, and M.P. for Swansea, 1895–1900 and was created a baronet in 1890 . Llewelyn's ancestors were both Welsh and American. His great-great-grandfather,

William Dillwyn William Dillwyn (1743, Philadelphia – 28 September 1824) was a British American-born Quaker of Welsh descent, active in the abolitionist movement in colonial America and after 1774, Great Britain. He was one of the twelve committee members of ...

, had emigrated to North America in the 17th century as a persecuted Quaker, and was granted land by

William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer and religious thinker belonging to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, a North American colony of England. He was an early advocate of democracy a ...

and some descendants of William still live in the United States; the Parrish Art Gallery and Museum, on Long Island being founded by one of them. Another descendant was the American painter Maxfield Parrish. A brief explanation of the different spellings of Penllergare/gaer is of interest. At the time of John Dillwyn Llewelyn's ownership of the estate, it was, and still is on the estate office seal, spelled Penllergare. The former village of Cors Einon later changed its name to Penllergaer, and the modern village of Gorseinon is now located a few miles away.

Penllergaer Today

A restoration project is currently taking place at

today by the Penllergare Trust. Guided by the unique archive of John Dillwyn Llewelyn's mid-nineteenth century photography, the upper lake will be de-silted, and steps, terraces, waterfalls and cascades will be repaired and restored to reinstate the picturesque and romantic design. The stone arched Llewelyn Bridge has now been completed; perhaps the only bridge of its type to be built in Britain in decades. The descendants of John Dillwyn Llewelyn are selling the estate piecemeal for housing developments.

Collections

Llewelyn's work is held in the following public collection: *

Swansea Museum The Swansea Museum in Swansea, Wales, UK is the oldest museum in Wales, created for and by the Royal Institution of South Wales in 1841 to house its collections and provide research and learning facilities. History Swansea Museum is the oldes ...

, Swansea."John Dillwyn Llewelyn"
''Luminous Lint''. Retrieved 15 June 2013.

References

Anglo-American Name Authority File, s.v. "Llewelyn, John Dillwyn", LC Control Number n81138072, cited 23 November 2005

Union List of Artists Names, s.v. "Llewelyn, John Dillwyn"

External links

The Restoration Project at Penllergare Valley Woods (Official Site)Works by John Dillwyn Llewelyn at the Swansea Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Llewelyn, John Dillwyn Welsh botanists 19th-century Welsh photographers 1810 births 1882 deaths Pioneers of photography Fellows of the Royal Society People from Swansea Welsh people of American descent High Sheriffs of Glamorgan 19th-century British botanists Dillwyn family