This is a picture I have been in possession of for a number of years. It is a painted picture of the Llewellyn family from Clydach, Swansea in or around the turn of the 20th century. My great-grandfather is the youngest of nine children in this portrait, standing on his mother’s left.

At the centre of this picture is Martha Llewellyn. Recently widowed with the death of her husband, Rhys occurring only three years prior. Martha was born and raised near the Black Mountains and Brecon Beacons National Park and likely met Rhys around this area before moving south to the Swansea area. Rhys worked as a driver in a tin-plate mine; the working conditions he was exposed to likely contributed to the kidney failure that caused his death.

Martha would later lose two of her sons. The first, Arthur, occurring only a couple of years after this picture was made. Arthur was just a few weeks shy of his 14th birthday. The second, David, was just 22. He had died after suffering from tuberculosis.

Martha would later remarry. She died in 1944, aged 93. An exceptionally long life for someone of this time.

The Llewellyn Family
All ages as of 1900 (approximate year of photograph)

TOP (L-R) (standing)
David (15), Arthur(11), Mary Hannah (26), William Beynon (24), Ivor (13)

FRONT (L-R)
Elizabeth (18), Gwendoline (8), Martha (48), Llewelyn Francis (5), Martha (22)