John Dillwyn Llewelyn (Welsh, 1810-1882)
John Dillwyn Llewelyn, 1850s
Salt print from a collodion negative
14.0 x 11.0 cm, mounted on album page
Initialed "J.D.Ll." in ink on mount
John Dillwyn Llewelyn (Welsh, 1810-1882) married Henry Fox Talbot’s cousin Emma; their daughter was Mary Thereza; all family members were photographers. Llewelyn was a wealthy landowner and magistrate, a distinguished botanist, a Fellow of the Royal Society and of the Linnean Society and a founding member of the Royal Institution of South Wales. Many of his landscape views were made around his Welsh estate of Penllergare, near Swansea, and around the Welsh coast. Talbot’s frequent visits and correspondence with his cousin Emma kept Llewelyn current with the latest advances in the medium. Although Llewelyn travelled extensively, England, Scotland and particularly his native Wales provided the subjects for his photographs. The Llewelyn country home at Penllergare bustled with scientific undertakings, reflecting a broad range of interests, including botany, zoology and astronomy. Photography became another interest shared amongst the family, with Emma often making prints from her husband John’s negatives and Mary Thereza herself taking up photography in the 1840s.
Recommended reading:
Noel Chanan, The Photographer of Penllergare, A Life of John Dillwyn Llewelyn 1810-1882 (London: Impress, 2013)