John Thomas was born in the village of Glan-rhyd, Cardiganshire, west Wales on April 14th 1838.
He was the son of David and Jane Thomas, his father was a
labourer who died on 3rd February 1855, and his mother was
well-educated as she could write fluently in both English and Welsh -
an unusual accomplishment at the time. This contributed to John’s
education. John was educated in the village school at Cellan, as a pupil and then
later as a pupil-teacher. Thomas then worked as an apprentice as a draper’s assistant
in Lampeter.
In 1853 when he was 15 years old, he left his home town to travel to Liverpool in order to continue his work as a draper, and in his memoirs he admitted that he viewed the prospect through the rose-tinted spectacles of adolescence, and spending a sleepless night before his departure the following day, which was strengthened by family prayer and parental blessings (i).
His memoirs also recounts in detail the journey in which he took, which highlights the difficulty of travelling by land and the isolation of rural communities; it was a 3 day journey totalling a 140 miles. He began his journey on May 8th 1853, walking 10 miles to Tregaron and stayed overnight with Dafydd Jones the egg-carrier. Both of them set out early the next morning, walking 40 miles through Pontrhydfendigaid, Devil’s Bridge and over the Plynlimon Mountain where they were knee-deep in snow, eventually arriving at Llanidloes where they rested for the night. Early the next morning they walked to Newtown where Dafydd Jones sold his eggs at market, but Thomas missed the fly-boat. These were long narrow boats towed by 2 horses travelled along the canal. So Thomas stayed overnight in Newtown in order to catch the fly-boat the next morning. The fly-boat pulled the boat from Newtown to Rednal, near Oswestry, Shropshire where Thomas caught the Great Western Railway to Liverpool.
His memoirs also recounts in detail the journey in which he took, which highlights the difficulty of travelling by land and the isolation of rural communities; it was a 3 day journey totalling a 140 miles. He began his journey on May 8th 1853, walking 10 miles to Tregaron and stayed overnight with Dafydd Jones the egg-carrier. Both of them set out early the next morning, walking 40 miles through Pontrhydfendigaid, Devil’s Bridge and over the Plynlimon Mountain where they were knee-deep in snow, eventually arriving at Llanidloes where they rested for the night. Early the next morning they walked to Newtown where Dafydd Jones sold his eggs at market, but Thomas missed the fly-boat. These were long narrow boats towed by 2 horses travelled along the canal. So Thomas stayed overnight in Newtown in order to catch the fly-boat the next morning. The fly-boat pulled the boat from Newtown to Rednal, near Oswestry, Shropshire where Thomas caught the Great Western Railway to Liverpool.
For Thomas’ first 10 years in Liverpool, he worked in a Drapery
Trading House, as a draper which was an occupation that he had held in
Lampeter. He married Elizabeth Hughes on 23rd August 1861, at St Peter's Church, Everton. Elizabeth was from Glan-dwr, Bryneglwys, Denbighshire, and she was the daughter of Williams Hughes, a joiner and was 9 years older than her husband.
John Thomas' profession as a draper began to have a detrimental effect on his health, with its long hours and indoor work. Therefore, Thomas decided to change his working environment and he answered many advertisements and considered various types of employment, finally finding a job as a “town traveller on commission” for a firm trading in writing materials, stationary and photographs of famous personalities of the time, this enabled Thomas to work mostly outside.
This was the first time that ordinary people of the middle and lower classes of society could afford to buy photographs and collect small photographic portraits (carte de visite). Publishing and selling these photographs was a lucrative business especially as it was a very fashionable pastime for all social classes. While employed in this job, Thomas covered the area of north Wales, on his first business visit there he was asked for his collection of photographs of Welsh celebrities. He only had two Welsh prominent figures, which were included in the selection of the “Great Personalities of the World”. These two Welshmen were Reverend Thomas Vowler Short, Church of England Bishop of St. Asaph, and Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, a Conservative Member of Parliament. Thomas recounts the reaction of the people to there being only two Welsh prominent figures “They would chide and reproach me, saying that another Welsh world existed, apart from that of bishops and landowners." (ii). Thomas realised that there was a commercial potential for the inclusion of Welshmen amongst the renowned photographed personalities of the time. To a certain extent, Thomas felt that portraying Wales and its Welsh personalities was his duty as a Welshman - "I felt the blood of Glyn Dwr and Llywwelyn rise to my head, since I was jealously proud of my land and nation at the time”. (iii)
In order to fulfil this gap in the photographic market, Thomas was of course required to take up photography, of which he had no previous knowledge of. To begin with, Thomas made an agreement with a photographer to take negatives from which he could get prints made, and Thomas’ task in this union was to supply the sitter - the celebrities. Over the Whitsun of 1863, Thomas was able to influence a number of Welsh ministers of religion to Liverpool, in order to sit for their portraits. He proposed to give each of them several copies of their photographs in return for the permission to publish them. He advertised in Welsh newspapers and periodicals, and when he next set out for north Wales he took these portraits with him, which were well received. In this same year his eldest and only daughter was born Jane Claudia Thomas and she would soon help John in his photographic business.
John Thomas' profession as a draper began to have a detrimental effect on his health, with its long hours and indoor work. Therefore, Thomas decided to change his working environment and he answered many advertisements and considered various types of employment, finally finding a job as a “town traveller on commission” for a firm trading in writing materials, stationary and photographs of famous personalities of the time, this enabled Thomas to work mostly outside.
This was the first time that ordinary people of the middle and lower classes of society could afford to buy photographs and collect small photographic portraits (carte de visite). Publishing and selling these photographs was a lucrative business especially as it was a very fashionable pastime for all social classes. While employed in this job, Thomas covered the area of north Wales, on his first business visit there he was asked for his collection of photographs of Welsh celebrities. He only had two Welsh prominent figures, which were included in the selection of the “Great Personalities of the World”. These two Welshmen were Reverend Thomas Vowler Short, Church of England Bishop of St. Asaph, and Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, a Conservative Member of Parliament. Thomas recounts the reaction of the people to there being only two Welsh prominent figures “They would chide and reproach me, saying that another Welsh world existed, apart from that of bishops and landowners." (ii). Thomas realised that there was a commercial potential for the inclusion of Welshmen amongst the renowned photographed personalities of the time. To a certain extent, Thomas felt that portraying Wales and its Welsh personalities was his duty as a Welshman - "I felt the blood of Glyn Dwr and Llywwelyn rise to my head, since I was jealously proud of my land and nation at the time”. (iii)
In order to fulfil this gap in the photographic market, Thomas was of course required to take up photography, of which he had no previous knowledge of. To begin with, Thomas made an agreement with a photographer to take negatives from which he could get prints made, and Thomas’ task in this union was to supply the sitter - the celebrities. Over the Whitsun of 1863, Thomas was able to influence a number of Welsh ministers of religion to Liverpool, in order to sit for their portraits. He proposed to give each of them several copies of their photographs in return for the permission to publish them. He advertised in Welsh newspapers and periodicals, and when he next set out for north Wales he took these portraits with him, which were well received. In this same year his eldest and only daughter was born Jane Claudia Thomas and she would soon help John in his photographic business.
In 1865 his son William Thelwell Thomas was born, who became
a surgeon and consultant at an early age, a lecturer in the medical department
at Liverpool University, and a senior consultant at the Royal Infirmary.
In 1866 his second son was born Robert Arthur Thomas. By 1867, Thomas had worked for two years as a manager for
Harry James Emmens, who was a renowned photographer based in Seel Street,
Liverpool. However, Thomas was only given the responsibility of recording the
names of the customers and looking after the details and sending the finished
products to their respective homes. Thomas realised that he was succeeding well
enough and was confident enough to rent his own premises at 66 St Anne Street,
Liverpool, where he built a make-shift gallery in the garden, employed his own
skilled photographer and started learning the skill from him.
Later he would move his photographic business to 47 Everton Road and even though his photographic business was established in Liverpool, it would essentially be a Welsh business.
At first Thomas’ wife Elizabeth did not approve of John
leaving the security of his job in order to become a photographer, but after a
few months she became an enthusiastic saleswoman in his photographic business.
She also never made any disapproving observations about his long absences which
was essential for his work taking him throughout Wales over long periods of
time.
The name for Thomas’ photographic business was originally intended as the “Cambrian House”, however a visit from John Griffith a journalist from Y Gohebydd changed his mind by telling Thomas “Cambrian House indeed, everybody will think it a shop selling little pins and cotton ball – call it the Cambrian Gallery” (iv) thus the name stuck.
Even from its beginning Thomas' photographic business was very successful for over 40 years, Thomas not only had his gallery in Liverpool, for a few years he kept a small establishment in Llangollen, as his welsh studio.
Thomas captured many new Welsh personalities of the time which of course sold well, through which he published a classified catalogue of his photographs. They were given headings such as bards, poets, musicians, singers, missionaries, church dignitaries and ministers of the Calvinistic Church of Wales. Thomas did photograph subjects and places as well as people, subjects such as rural and street scenes, ancient buildings such as castles and mansions, chapels and churches, post offices, railway stations, and places of scenic beauty which he found on his various visits throughout Wales. These places of beauty in rural Wales were usually rather remote places, and were probably un-photographed at that time.
From this selection of subjects, his most well-known theme is his photographs of chapels, which were new buildings and were a source of pride for the congregation, he included a variety of Welsh nonconformist denominations. If Thomas was to have favoured a particular denomination then it would be the Calvinistic Methodist denomination, as this was his religion. He attended the Calvinistic Methodist chapel on Fitzclarence Street, Liverpool (which has since been demolished and Fitzclarence Street has been turned into a park). These chapels were mostly attended by people who had moved from the Welsh-speaking countryside to take advantage of the prosperity and amenities that city life offered. This urban community “in exile” represented an energetic Welsh-speaking middle-class, from which Thomas drew many of his customers.
Thomas was aware of the value that his glass plate negatives possessed, as on his retirement he carefully selected over 3,000 of them and sold them for a reasonable price to Sir Owen Morgan Edwards, an educationalist, historian, and the editor of the Welsh language magazine Cymru. Edwards used these plates to illustrate the articles of Welsh life and this meant that Thomas had secured the preservation of a selection of images dating from 1867 to the turn of the century. Edwards understood this importance of the collection and commented “that no-one has such a complete collection of views of Welsh historic sites” (v).
Thomas died due to his failing health on October 14th 1905 at his son’s home Dr Albert Ivor Thomas, and he was buried in Anfield cemetery, Liverpool. On hearing of John Thomas’ death Sir Owen Morgan Edwards wrote a letter to John Thomas’ son paying his respects to a great photographer and friend.
The name for Thomas’ photographic business was originally intended as the “Cambrian House”, however a visit from John Griffith a journalist from Y Gohebydd changed his mind by telling Thomas “Cambrian House indeed, everybody will think it a shop selling little pins and cotton ball – call it the Cambrian Gallery” (iv) thus the name stuck.
Even from its beginning Thomas' photographic business was very successful for over 40 years, Thomas not only had his gallery in Liverpool, for a few years he kept a small establishment in Llangollen, as his welsh studio.
Thomas captured many new Welsh personalities of the time which of course sold well, through which he published a classified catalogue of his photographs. They were given headings such as bards, poets, musicians, singers, missionaries, church dignitaries and ministers of the Calvinistic Church of Wales. Thomas did photograph subjects and places as well as people, subjects such as rural and street scenes, ancient buildings such as castles and mansions, chapels and churches, post offices, railway stations, and places of scenic beauty which he found on his various visits throughout Wales. These places of beauty in rural Wales were usually rather remote places, and were probably un-photographed at that time.
From this selection of subjects, his most well-known theme is his photographs of chapels, which were new buildings and were a source of pride for the congregation, he included a variety of Welsh nonconformist denominations. If Thomas was to have favoured a particular denomination then it would be the Calvinistic Methodist denomination, as this was his religion. He attended the Calvinistic Methodist chapel on Fitzclarence Street, Liverpool (which has since been demolished and Fitzclarence Street has been turned into a park). These chapels were mostly attended by people who had moved from the Welsh-speaking countryside to take advantage of the prosperity and amenities that city life offered. This urban community “in exile” represented an energetic Welsh-speaking middle-class, from which Thomas drew many of his customers.
Thomas was aware of the value that his glass plate negatives possessed, as on his retirement he carefully selected over 3,000 of them and sold them for a reasonable price to Sir Owen Morgan Edwards, an educationalist, historian, and the editor of the Welsh language magazine Cymru. Edwards used these plates to illustrate the articles of Welsh life and this meant that Thomas had secured the preservation of a selection of images dating from 1867 to the turn of the century. Edwards understood this importance of the collection and commented “that no-one has such a complete collection of views of Welsh historic sites” (v).
Thomas died due to his failing health on October 14th 1905 at his son’s home Dr Albert Ivor Thomas, and he was buried in Anfield cemetery, Liverpool. On hearing of John Thomas’ death Sir Owen Morgan Edwards wrote a letter to John Thomas’ son paying his respects to a great photographer and friend.
Footnotes
(i) John Thomas 1838 - 1905 photographer, Hilary Wollen and Alistair Crawford, page 10.
(ii) A Welsh Way of Life, Iwan Meical Jones, page 36.
(iii) A Welsh Way of Life, Iwan Meical Jones, page 36.
(iv) John Thomas 1838 - 1905 photographer, Hilary Wollen and Alistair Crawford, page 14.
(v) John Thomas 1838 - 1905 photographer, Hilary Wollen and Alistair Crawford, page 14.
(i) John Thomas 1838 - 1905 photographer, Hilary Wollen and Alistair Crawford, page 10.
(ii) A Welsh Way of Life, Iwan Meical Jones, page 36.
(iii) A Welsh Way of Life, Iwan Meical Jones, page 36.
(iv) John Thomas 1838 - 1905 photographer, Hilary Wollen and Alistair Crawford, page 14.
(v) John Thomas 1838 - 1905 photographer, Hilary Wollen and Alistair Crawford, page 14.