Early Swansea Photography

Margam Castle Daguerreotype

The whole-plate daguerreotype of Margam Castle taken by the Rev. Calvert Richard Jones on 9th March 1841, is one of the earliest accurately dated Welsh photographs and the only daguerreotype by Calvert Jones known to have survived. Its early date and high quality make it a crucial image in the history of photography. For over a hundred years the photographer's work was neglected and only now is his genius gaining its just recognition.

Further Reading

• National Library of Wales. "Calvert Richard Jones and the Daguerreotype of Margam Castle." Exhibition text. National Library of Wales, 2000.

NLW photograph album 1

The album contains 89 photographs of the Vivian and Dillwyn Llewelyn families and their homes in the Swansea area. Most photographs are acknowledged to be the work of John Dillwyn Llewelyn and Thereza Mary Dillwyn Llewelyn. The subject matter concentrates very much on the houses of their social circle and their immediate localities, notably Penlle'r-gaer, Margam and Singleton. This album bears the inscription "J. Traherne Moggridge from his mother, Jany 1st 1858", the mother in question being Fanny, sister of John Dillwyn Llewelyn, who married Matthew Moggeridge of Woodfield, Monmouthshire. The National Library of Wales purchased this item from R. O. Dougan.

Additional notes supplied by Mr Richard Morris of Swansea (PDF document)

NLW photograph album 2

This album contains 101 photographs depicting the Dillwyn Llewelyn and Vivian families and views near Swansea. Of particular note are views of the Mumbles, Singleton, the waterfall at Penlle'r-gaer, Three Cliffs Bay, portraits of Sir Henry De La Beche with his grandchildren and a charming view of a picnic on the walls of Oystermouth Castle. This album appears to have been a gift to Montague Earle Welby, the future husband of Mary Dillwyn, from Mrs Vivian, as it is inscribed "M. E. Welby, from Mrs Vivian". The National Library of Wales purchased this item from R. O. Dougan.

Additional notes supplied by Mr Richard Morris of Swansea (PDF document)

NLW photograph album 3

This album is of a larger format than NLW photo albums 1 and 2. Most striking of the 64 photographs are the larger prints showing views around the Penlle'r-gaer estate, especially the boating lakes, waterfall and woods. There are also views of the Dulas Valley. Not all of the prints are of the larger size and amongst the smaller prints there is a touching portrait of Thereza Dillwyn Llywelyn with her future husband Nevil Story-Maskelyne.

Additional notes supplied by Mr Richard Morris of Swansea (PDF document)

NLW photograph album 249

This album contains 17 salt prints of views in the Gower area including Caswell Bay, Oxwich Church, Penlle'r-gaer and Sketty Hall. The album includes impressive, evocative views by Mary Dillwyn of the coastal villages of Oystermouth and Mumbles. A view of Oystermouth is taken from the castle using a window to frame the fishing boats on the beach, a cluster of fishermen's cottages above the high water mark, and Mumbles lighthouse in the distance. Another view of the Mumbles imparts an almost Mediterranean feel to this part of the Gower.

Additional notes supplied by Mr Richard Morris of Swansea (PDF document)

NLW photograph album 900

Amongst the 73 photographs in this album are portraits of Calvert Richard Jones, his wife Portia and family, friends and pets. Also included are maritime studies, street scenes in Cardiff and possibly Bristol, exterior views of country houses including Somerville, Heathfield &, Foxton. Each image has been carefully mounted and an ink border drawn around it. A small number of pictures are captioned, all of country houses. The remainder are not captioned. The album also includes a view of the upper lake at Penllergaer by John Dillwyn Llewellyn.

Additional notes supplied by Mr Richard Morris of Swansea (PDF document)

NLW photograph album 3900 - Mary Dillwyn photograph album

The album contains 42 salt prints and 1 loose albumen print. Seventeen of the prints in the album are initialled MD, and it is from these photographs that the album became known as the Mary Dillwyn Album. The photographs in the album date from ca.1853 and main themes: flower studies, fowl studies, and portraits reflect the interests of the family. The Dillwyn Llewelyns were a cultured family, especially interested in all aspects of scientific endeavour, and the pages of the album offer an insight on the individuals closely connected with intellectual life of south Wales and beyond. In addition there are a small number dealing with everyday life at Penlle'r-gaer, including two evocative images of building a snowman. 

The album itself is small in size, 110 x 90 mm. Each photograph has been trimmed and thoughtfully laid down on a page of coloured paper. Inside the front cover it carries the inscription Susan Franklen, Clementstone. Susan Franklen was a crippled niece of Mary Dillwyn's who died in 1860 aged twenty-five. On her death it seems the album passed back to the Dillwyn Llewelyn family. 

No other items by Mary Dillwyn to be found in public collections resemble this album in size, content or intimacy. Nor do they possess the undoubted feminine charm of this album. It is known that Mary Dillwyn used a smaller camera than her brother. This had the advantage of using a shorter shutter speed and may be a contributing factor to the intimacy and warmth of her portraits.

Welsh Pioneers

Swansea in the nineteenth century

At the beginning of the nineteenth century Swansea was a port and market town enjoying the prosperity of rapid industrial growth. Copper ores were brought at first from Cornwall, then north Wales and Ireland, then from Spain, Cuba and south America to be smelted at Swansea using the fuel of south Wales. The town became the world centre for nonferrous metallurgy. Within Wales only Merthyr Tydfil could compare in size with Swansea. But unlike Merthyr's "bleak and barren hills" Swansea was a pleasant place to live, a resort facing a beautiful bay, with mild sea air.

Welsh Pioneers

The ruling families remained in the area and took a keen personal interest in the new industries. The Vivan family of Singleton Abbey, originally from Cornwall, made their fortune from copper smelting. Both John Henry Vivan and his son Henry Hussey Vivian completed their education by studying metallurgy in Germany and France. The old established families were also well aware of the value of science. When the Royal Institution of South Wales, a predominantly scientific society, was established in Swansea in 1835, the founders included members of nearly all of Swansea's prominent families.

Who was who?

The array of family members, cousins and friends found in the Dillwyn Llewelyn albums can at first glance seem quite confusing. Below are brief biographical details of many of those featured or associated with the albums.

Penlle'r-gaer Estate

Penlle'r-gaer, to most people these days, is a small village on the outskirts of Swansea. Few people realise that secluded in a sheltered valley nearby once stood a small mansion surrounded by boating lakes, orchid houses, an observatory, an artificial waterfall and landscaped gardens planted with a true botanist's eye. The house itself has been demolished but the boating lakes, waterfalls, observatory and a few of the carefully selected trees and shrubs survive. The Penlle'r-gaer estate is now almost forgotten though one legacy remains to the present day.

The Dillwyn Llewelyn family at Penlle'r-gaer

Penlle'r-gaer was the home of the Dillwyn Llewelyn family from 1817-1936. Its heyday was undoubtedly during the years in which John Dillwyn Llewelyn and his family resided at Penlle'r-gaer. This cultured family shared numerous diverse interests including astronomy, botany, art and photography. It is for the latter pursuit that their place in posterity is assured.

In 1839, when William Henry Fox Talbot announced the discovery of his negative/positive photographic process to the world, it came as no surprise at Penlle'r-gaer. Sharing many of the family's interests he was a regular visitor to the Swansea area and had been acquainted with the Dillwyn Llewelyn family since childhood. Emma, John Dillwyn Llewelyn's wife, was his cousin. Finding kindred spirits he kept them informed of his photographic experiments, which were eagerly replicated, analysed and commented upon by his Welsh acquaintances.

Photography at Penlle'r-gaer

The most prolific period for photography at Penlle'r-gaer was the period 1841-1856. The National Library of Wales has five albums of photographs dating from this period as well as a number of single images. The albums combine informal family portraits with landscapes, still life studies and architectural studies. Within the Dillwyn Llywelyn circle identification of the creators of individual photographs can be difficult. This is in part due to photography being regarded as a family pastime with different family members involved in different stages of the process. These albums contain prints prepared from calotypes and wet collodion negatives. The relaxed nature of those family members and friends depicted in these early photographs is in stark contrast to the formal studio portraits of the time. It is their ease in front of the camera that betrays the familiarity with which the Dillwyn Llewelyn family and acquaintances felt for photography. It was not for another fifty years that the world at large would share this ease in front of the camera.

The end of an era

Interest in photography amongst the circle waned during the late 1850's. Both Thereza and Mary married and moved away from Penlle'r-gaer whilst Calvert Richard Jones is not known to have taken any further interest in photography after 1856.

By the 1860's photography had become increasingly commercial. Further technological advances had made the process of taking photographs easier and studios started to appear on every high street. An era that has assured a place in posterity for Penlle'r-gaer and the circle of people who gathered there was at an end, beautifully preserved in sepia.