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Archifdy Ceredigion Archives
The John Turnor Mathias Collection


Acc. 1580

Ref: JTM

Reference: [GB 0212] JTM
Title: Records of the Cardigan photographer John Turnor Mathias
Date(s): 19th - early 20th cent.
Level: Fonds
Extent: 0.221m3

Administrative & Archival History:
The basis of the Mathias collection is the work of the Cardigan photographer John Turnor Mathias, who was active between 1858 and 1871. In an 1871 trade directory he is listed as 'watch & clock maker, jeweller, optician, engraver, dentist & photographer, & boot & shoe warehouse & fancy repository' of 29 Pendre. The collection held by Ceredigion Archives is of particular interest as a representative sample of the (unsold) stock of a small town photographer, including bought-in material. It also includes a large number of snapshots associated with Lisle Mathias, active in the interwar years, and material relating to T.T. Mathias, active from the 1940s, through whom the collection presumably descended.

The bulk of the collection consists of studio portraits of individuals and groups, as well as photographs of places and events in and around Cardigan, many of which have been reproduced in publications. Most of these are printed in the small carte de visite format and some are mounted as such. There are a great many duplicates, some of which are poor quality prints or are taken from damaged negatives, whilst other might represent unsold stock.

The studio portraits include a large number of striking images of women in Welsh national costume, a number of who are shown variously knitting and holding baskets or eggs. Many of the accoutrements, down to the knitting, appear to be the photographer's props. There are also many portraits of couples, possibly newlyweds, as well as families and other groups, individuals and pairings. Local dignitaries and worthies are also represented, with portraits of mayors and especially ministers, singly and in clusters. An album, containing 840 numbered studio portraits, appears to have been intended as a stock book or catalogue, although unfortunately the accompanying lists of names are mostly incomplete.

The photographs of Cardigan offer a unique insight into the Victorian town. There are street scenes and views of buildings and places such as the gaol, mostly demolished in 1880, the town hall, and the brickworks, and images of events such as elections, the laying of chapel foundation stones, and of flood damage. There are also many al fresco group photographs, of cycling clubs, Sunday schools and volunteers. Further a-field there are views of scenic villages such as St Dogmaels and Cilgerran, as well as several gentry houses. At the limits of Mathias' range there are pictures of Marine Terrace at Aberystwyth, the Carmarthen velodrome and the Albert Memorial at Tenby Castle.

Bought-in stock of this time includes cartes de visite of famous statesmen, both European and American, and views of notable resorts such as Llandrindod Wells.

The snapshots belonging to Lisle Mathias illustrate the adventures of Cardigan's 'bright young things'. These young people are shown sporting at the beach or posturing in groves, posed beside automobiles in the manner of Bonnie and Clyde, or holidaying on the Continent, where they visited Paris and attended bullfights. One of the cars was registered to Elsie J. M. Daniel in 1924.

The later material associated with T.T. Mathias includes correspondence concerning old photographs as well as photographic magazines and equipment catalogues, and collections of newspaper cuttings. There are also some picturesque nineteenth century studio portraits mounted for display, including some with calendars for 1948. These may have been made as gifts or for sale.

Finally, there is a selection of twelve photographs that were borrowed from L.V. Mathias by the BBC in 1968. Thus the Mathias collection winds up with records of the recycling and wider recognition of the remarkable body of work produced by a provincial Victorian photographer.


Scope and Content:
1. Mounted photograph of Capel Mair, St Mary's Lane, opened September 1870.

2. Photographs in envelope inscribed 'Hope Chapel foundation stone'.
There are three different images repeated on fourteen prints, five of them mounted on card, all of which are of the same image. The Hope English Congregational Church, on Pendre and Bath House Road, was sold in 1976 and subsequently demolished. The foundation stone was laid on 8 May 1879.
A further print shows a distant view of the gaol.

3. Package of twenty-seven photographs, mostly of gentry houses, unidentified except for Castle Green House, Parc-y-Gors, Llandygwydd. Other subjects include: views of Cilgerran; a farmhouse or gentry house; sketch of thatched cottage and gate; a park, possibly in Llandrindod Wells.

4. Package of twenty miscellaneous photographs, some duplicates of (3) including: building Tea Exchange, opposite the Guildhall; view of St Dogmaels; Cilgerran church; gentry houses, other houses, shops and cottages; landscape; portraits of children, including one equestrian group; old prints of Aberystwyth Castle & St Dogmael's Abbey; a strip of three views of Newport (Pembs.), including one of the castle showing second Victorian building phase (1880s?).
Packaging is reused Turners of Newcastle packaging with postmark '43. Pencil note, 'Churches for album'.

5. Envelope labelled 'Naval Reserve 1878' containing photographs of the Naval Reserve posed in front of the Guildhall, with 'pet post' and '1878' chalked on doors. Three different images are repeated on twenty different prints, twelve mounted on card.

6. Envelope labelled 'election' containing one hundred and six prints, twenty-four of them mounted on card. There are eighteen images of an overwhelmingly male election crowds and one of a municipal election poster, dated 1872, although the election depicted appears to be that of 1910, two images may be of an earlier event. Carriages feature prominently on several images and many of the crowd sport bowlers and top hats. Boys strike pugilistic in some images. See also Mathias 50.

7. Five miscellaneous photographs. Three are labelled on reverse, showing: the lych gate, St Peter's, Carmarthen; a procession along North Road, Cardigan; possibly the Eisteddfod in Parc-y-rifle, Cardigan, 1909. Another, mounted in a folder, shows an early (male) cycling club.
The last photograph shows a gravestone inscribed, 'Elizabeth Williams of Cardigan, Wales. Died at sea, 22 May 1857, aged 38 years'. It is contained in an envelope upon which is written, 'This is another print from a negative of 1863' with a note on envelope, 'Mrs Williams' tomb at Spain'. I wonder was there any tragedy?'

8. Twenty miscellaneous prints in an envelope inscribed, 'Mr Morgan ..., market ...'. Six are duplicates of the election collection (6), including one mounted on card. Other images are: seven portraits of men, including two of a trumpeter; a horse omnibus or wagon in the 1880s; two showing the Band of Hope and another organisation, both posed outside the Guildhall; women in traditional dress outside T.T. Lewis' emporium (mounted on card); street view with Guildhall.

9. Eleven prints, five mounted on card. There are four images: two are of women in traditional dress outside T.T. Lewis' emporium; one is a street view with church tower; one is of three women in what may be costumes, with a boy and girl, posed in front of the Guildhall doors, upon which is a poster for an amateur concert at the Corn Market.

10. Twenty-four photographs, five mounted on card, mostly of Capel Mair (independent or Congregationalist). There are four images of the second chapel, completed in 1832, one showing its demolition, and two of the third (and present?) chapel, opened in 1870. Two apparently unrelated images are of a gentry house or townhouse garden, and a farmhouse or row of houses.

11. Sixteen photographs, ten mounted on card. All but one are of the same image, a group photograph of the Cardigan United Sunday School, probably posed at the Guildhall on the occasion of a picnic outing, 17 July 1878. The remaining photograph shows a similar group and is dated 1875.

12. Two prints of workers constructing a haystack, one mounted on card, in an envelope marked, 'rick of hay'. For negative see Mathias 51.

13. Six mounted photographs, including one duplicate, showing groups of early cyclists, two of which include women. At least one of these is of the Cardigan Cycling Club, with or including policeman, taken outside the Black Lion in about 1890. Many of the men in these groups favour caps, often with circular badges on the front - possibly club badges. Both women and men wear boaters.

14. Photograph mounted on stiff black card of naive or artless painting showing top-hatted man in stocks. Observers are either pelting or waving. The date 1844 is written on the print. Glass negative in Mathias 51.

15. Album for eight studies, 'Christmas Annual of "The Practical Photographer" 1892', labelled, 'Rev. ... Davies Capelmair'. It contains two unidentified male portraits and four signed images of Daniel Davies, photographed and engraved by H. Hughes.
Davies was the Independent or Congregationalist minister associated with Capel Mair from 1812 to about 1864, dying in 1867.

16Nineteen prints, six mounted on card, of Cardigan High Street. There are eight different images, four showing the same view of the junction of Chancery Lane and the High Street, two the same perspective of the Shirehall, one taped up as a negative copy.

17. Photographs of the third Capel Mair (see 10) and Mount Zion, English Baptist (mounted), opened in 1880.

18. Four photographs mounted in grey board frames. Two show the opening of Cardigan Intermediate (Grammar) School, 23 September 1898, one the laying of the Guildhall foundation stone in 1858, the remaining photograph is an unidentified school group (also included in 41.4).

19. Four mounted views of Cilgerran in an envelope marked, 'Old Prints of Kilgerran'.

20. Mounted photograph of an unidentified divine, 'Late Rev Phillips ...'.

21. Seven miscellaneous photographs and a card with an engraving of the Mercantile quay and warehouse, 'Thomas Edwards, Bridge End, Cardigan'. Two are of ship paintings; one, mounted in a folder, depicts the aftermath of the Mwldan flood of 1875. The remaining four images are unidentified: a townscape; a quayside; two estuary views.

22. Photograph mounted on card of a three storey building with store on the ground floor. The location is unknown and may be outside the UK. An English language sign in the store window might suggest an American or Australian setting.

23. Six card mounts, each with an early photograph and a calendar or greetings message stuck below, one of which has come unstuck. The photographs are portraits or groups, except for one chapel. The calendars are all for 1948.

24. 147 photographs. There appear to be three sections: (1) family pictures, probably of the Mathias family, including holiday snaps; (2) contamination from commercial stock; (3) studies or failed prints. In addition there are a number of images that might be either family pictures or commercial stock (4).
Other holiday snaps in Mathias 45.

24/1 Ninety-one photographs all of which appear to be Mathias family pictures. These are mostly portraits and holiday snaps. These images mostly appear to belong to the interwar and second world war period. A handful of pictures are earlier.

24/1/1 The portraits include a passport photograph of Lisle Mathias, dated 1919, and a studio portrait of a photographer with camera.

24/1/2 The subjects of the holiday snaps include a tent and a chalet, a Newcastle Emlyn pageant, beach parties and portraits with motor cars, as well as trips abroad. Foreign locations include Paris and a bullring. There are also two much earlier pictures of a boating party.

24/2 Twenty-one photographs, thirteen of which are mounted on card. These include: four views of Llandrindod Wells, published by Villiers & sons, photographers royal, of Llandrindod Wells; a variety of portraits, of both groups and individuals, one female portrait having Masonic insignia; images of unidentified gentry houses, Cardigan Guildhall, Capel Mair, Cardigan, and an unlocated Hermon Baptist chapel.

24/3 Twenty-six landscape and architectural photographs, some of which appear to be working copies. Some of the images might relate to the Mathias family rather than being commercial stock.

24/4 Nine apparently miscellaneous individual and group portraits. These might relate to the Mathias family or else represent commercial stock.

25. Six portrait photographs, three mounted on card, from two images, of Levi James, mayor in 1887.

26. Twenty-two photographs, seventeen mounted on card, from envelope labelled, 'Brickyard'. The most common are a general view of brickworks, as reconstituted by William Woodward from 1871, with gaol (demolished 1880) in background, views of the waterwheel and a display stand of vases or urns and statues. There are also a number of images of Woodward's cabinet making works.

27. Twenty-nine miscellaneous photographs, six mounted on card, depicting buildings or places. These include views of Cardigan streets and buildings as well as of Aberystwyth, Plas Pantsaeson, Monington, and two unlocated farmhouses.

28. Series of twenty-two photographs of Cardigan taken in the 1930s, including views of Bridge Parade, with locations written on reverse.

29. Twelve photographs of Cardigan and area that were borrowed from L.V. Mathias by the BBC, with covering letter dated 6 July 1968.

30. Three photographs mounted in melinex. There are two images of Llechryd, showing the same view, but taken at different times, and what may be a wedding group, taken at the Gwbert Inn (later Cliff Hotel) in the early 1900s.

31. Eighteen photographs mounted on card. As well as sundry portraits and views, the subjects include: a Mount Zion Sunday School outing to Tresaeth; 1897 Bethania Jubilee Procession; cyclists in 1896; net fishing.

32. Selection of eleven early photographs of Cardigan, with one reproduction of an engraving of the Guildhall, eight mounted on card, some cut down, in an envelope marked, 'good to copy'.

33. Ten prints, two mounted on card, of two photographs of the Cardigan Fife and Drum Band.

34. Eleven prints in an envelope marked, 'Mount - Zion Treat; Cycle Club do; our views'. The pictures are mostly of the first event, with a single image of early cyclists and one of thespians in action.

35. Concert tickets. There are twenty-four pristine 5s numbered tickets for the Cardigan Eisteddfod & Arts Exhibition Grand Concert, 14 July 1880, and two 1s tickets, one cut (clipped?), for a concert held in aid of the building fund at Mount Zion, Cardigan, 22 February 1905. The Eisteddfod concert tickets may have been unsold.

36. Four prints of a portrait of three clergy, one torn and one mounted as a carte de visite, in an envelope marked, 'Clergy'.

37. Nine prints of photograph or engraving, two mounted as cartes de visite, of J.P. Williams of Blaen-y-waen.

38. Eleven photographs, four mounted on card, in envelope marked Priory Street and Mount Zion Chapel. There are views of the foundation laying ceremony as well as the completed chapel and the chapel banner.

39. Seventeen prints, suitable for mounting as cartes de visite, of police officers, one shown with a woman.

40. Eleven prints, three mounted on card, one in a folder, in an envelope marked, 'Mwldan Flood' (1875). There are three images of flood damage and one of the raised aqueduct supplying the brickworks.

41. Fifty-seven miscellaneous photographic prints.

41/1. Fourteen prints, mostly duplicates of images found elsewhere in the Mathias collection. Duplicate images include: views of Cilgerran; views of gentry houses and other buildings. Less common images include: a family and a group portrait of three children; beached ships, possibly in the Teifi estuary below Cardigan.

41/2. Ten prints, subjects including: the Carmarthen Velodrome; an unidentified rural public event; Marine Terrace, Aberystwyth; three seaside groups; a snapshot of women with umbrellas; snapshots featuring a car (YV 7330) and a motorcycle; portrait of nurse or maid posed with a book; portrait of a group of nurses or maids, two holding hands.

41/3. Two prints with inscriptions on reverse.
Portrait of sailors, 'Jack Bryan, Myself in Cardiff 1919'.
Group portrait of theatrical cast printed as postcard, with stamp, but not franked. Addressed to, 'Mr Lewis, 5 Priory Street, Cardigan, S Wales'. Message, 'With Best Wishes From Howard'.

41/4. Sixteen generally poor-quality prints. These include: portraits, both group and individual, including dog; wedding group with top hats; a cyclist and a horse and trap. The portraits include an image of a school group, also found mounted in Mathias 18.

41/5. Twelve prints, all but two mounted on card, five as cartes de visite. Subjects include: fishing with nets; women in Welsh national costume; a pennyfarthing with rider; a scenic waterfall; sundry group and individual portraits.

42. Twenty-seven miscellaneous photographs contained in a Safeway carrier bag.

42/1. Four presentation folders containing photographs.
Image of a baby facing one of a group of men seated or sprawled on the capstone of Pentre Ifan, Pembs.
Five images in single folding mount of individual and family portraits, a farm scene and a figure in a scenic location.
Portrait of a policeman (No. 17), with (?) wife and infant child.
Wedding group (1920s-1930s?), folder marked, 'Harry Jones, 8 Windsor Rd., Neath'.

42/2. Three prints mounted on card. These show: men reclining on a beach; group of women in front of seaside rocks; woman with baby in perambulator.

42/3. Fourteen miscellaneous prints, six mounted on card, one in a folder. Images include several common within the Mathias collection: streets scenes and scenic views; group portraits, including one of the Cardigan cycling club; gentry houses and other buildings; child on pony (from broken plate).
Also included is a letter, dated 13 December 1954, from the Western Mail accompanying the return of prints of old photographs.

42/4. Images of: Mount Zion, Cardigan, Sunday school (two prints); unidentified family group, with dog.

43. Eighteen miscellaneous photographic prints, eleven mounted on card of which nine are cartes de visite. The cartes are mostly portraits of famous personages. Un-mounted images include: Four prints of three views of a rural row of shops and houses; or cottages; portrait of a woman; an excursion group with wagon. Also included is a Kodak wallet containing a blank carte and two negatives, one glass and broken.

44. Fifteen labelled envelopes generally containing multiple prints of one or more images.

44/1. 'Ministry (?) students'. Two group portraits of nine young men, each with distinctive head and facial hair. One image mounted on card, the other, unmounted, appears to be a preliminary composition.

44/2. 'Good Templars (Rechabites)'. Six images, in twenty-nine prints, eleven mounted on card, of group portraits of Cardigan friendly societies.

44/3. Anonymous groups and individuals.
'Old Trumpeter & Post Riders'. Seven prints of five images. The trumpeter first holds, then blows, his trumpet.
'Group of Ministers'. Three prints of a single image. Fourteen ministers sit and stand around a cloth-draped, book-laden, table. One appears to read a book.
'Methodist Minister'. Seventeen prints of a dour portrait.
'Ministers'. Five prints of two portraits of an unidentified minister with prominent ears. One is a three-quarters view, in the other the subject stands, grasping a chair.

44/4. '.... views ...'. Twelve prints mounted on cards, two cartes de visite. Subjects include Cenarth and Cilgerran, St Dogmael's and Cardigan, as well as an unidentified waterfall.

44/5. Places.
'Pendre'. Eighteen prints, nine mounted on card of which seven are cartes de visite and one a postcard, of views of Pendre, Cardigan.
'Jail, Pendre'. Three prints, one mounted as a carte de visite, of Cardigan Goal forecourt and entrance facade.
'Kilfwys Chapel'. Single print of unlocated chapel, detached from carte de visite.

44/6. 'Group of People, view'. Eleven prints of three images. Two views show a large family group in front of a farmhouse. The third shows a woman in morning standing by a row of graves.

44/7. 'Rev Caleb Morris'. Twenty-five prints, twenty-four of which are cartes de visite, of four images. One, repeated eighteen times, is a photographic portrait, dated 1865, another, repeated three times, appears to be a highlighted version of this. Two further images show the reverend with a secular friend.

44/8. 'William Woodward - Mayor'. Forty-four prints, three mounted as cartes de visite, of four images. Three of these are of William Woodward, two when dressed in mayoral robes and regalia: a formal, seated, portrait of which there are no less than thirty prints; a three-quarters view of head and bust, also in mayoral robes (ten prints). There is also a single print of a (younger?) portrait in lay clothes and one of an intrusive, unidentified mayor.

44/9. 'Assa Evans, Solicitor'. Six prints of a single portrait.

44/10. 'Rev Jones, Tabernacle Methodist'. Twenty-four prints of four portraits of the Rev Jones, who sports a striking under-beard.

45. Three packets of photographs, prints and negatives, including many holiday snaps, from Squibbs of Cardigan, addressed to Mr L. Mathias. Other holiday snaps in Mathias 24/1.

45/1. Contains twenty-three negatives, apparently holiday snaps, a few taken in Paris (or Blackpool). Several cars feature in these, including a blue Bayliss Thomas, EJ 1236, registered in 1924 to Elsie J.M. Daniel of 24 High Street, Cardigan. There are also seven prints, three of which are holiday snaps, the remainder, including two cartes de visites and a collectors card of Glastonbury Abbey, appear to be intrusions.

45/2. Contains forty-four negatives, apparently holiday snaps, including some of Monte Carlo, one of a shop interior, as well as others of an exhibition including a fantastical State Express cigarette kiosk and Pears' Palace of Beauty. There are also twelve prints of holiday snaps and an intrusive early portrait of a woman, suitable for a carte de visite.

45/3. Contains two groups of thirty and twenty-eight holiday snaps, the latter including many shot in France.

46. Miscellaneous collection of correspondence, leaflets and publications.

46/1. Collection of photographic journals and similar publications.

46/1/1. Issue of 'Good Photography', vol. 3. December 1946.

46/1/2. Seven issues of 'Turners Photo Topics', Nos. 41-47, September 1947 to September 1949.

46/1/3. Four Wallace Heaton publications: 'Photo-news', December 1946; 'Photographic Guide', December 1950; 'Photo-graphic and Photo-news', Nos. 3. July 1947 & No. 15. November 1950.

46/1/4. Three issues of 'Amateur Photographer', for March, May and November 1950.

46/2. Telephone directory holder (post-WWII?), with advertisements for businesses in Aberystwyth, Aberaeron, Cardigan and Montgomery.

46/3. Two notebooks. One, cut down, has lists of '"Welcome" addresses' for October 1921 and those to which lists had been sent for 1923. The second has a list of bookshop addresses.

46/4. Miscellaneous business correspondence, catalogues, leaflets etc..

46/5. Century notebook containing lists and correspondence relating to the collection and exchange or sale, of old journals.

46/6. Four envelopes containing newspaper clippings. Many of these are reminiscences or chapel news from the Cardigan & Tivy-side Advertiser, whilst one envelope contains a collection of columns by Dr W.R. Mathews, Dean of St. Paul's.

46/7. Letter from Sam M. Powell to Mr Mathias, 28 December 1949, largely taken up with genealogical concerns and queries.

47. Sixty-eight mounted and one un-mounted photographs, mostly cartes de visite, but with some larger format.

47/1. Thirty-two cartes de visite by Mathias of Cardigan, mostly individual portraits with some group pictures.

47/2. Six cartes de visite or similar. Three copies of a male portrait, 'Yours truly ...'; a more elaborately mounted portrait of an elderly Rev Daniel Davies; a brightly retouched portrait of a man in military-style uniform; three prints of uniformed men, two of which show the beginning of hand-tinting.

47/3. Eleven cartes de visite of famous, non-local, figures.

47/4. Twenty larger format early mounted photographs. These are portraits of unidentified groups and individuals, including one of maids or similar. All but two are studio portraits, the exceptions being a group of women posed by rocks (two copies) and an un-mounted image of women in a boat.

48. 'Moccasins (for men, women and sons o' men)' photograph album containing 840 numbered portraits, presumably a stock book. These are roughly subdivided, between ministers, men and women, group and individual, full-length and bust, and, for women, costume.
Included with the album, in a front folder, are numbered keys, which identify a few of the portraits, mostly those of ministers, and two pencilled lists of names.

49. Duck & Son (of Cardiff) Print and Film Wallet containing fifty-three assorted and apparently miscellaneous prints, mostly portraits and snapshots. Several have notes on reverse. A snapshot of an army sergeant with a woman is labelled 'Russell & Marge', and two portraits are labelled 'E.M. Wilce' and 'Miss Dilys Hughes'. Another, possibly of a Mildred Machin or Machid, is addressed as a faux postcard to 'John Thomas, ?Dychwelfa, St Dogmaels', whilst a further snapshot is dated 8.4.18.

50. Six reused envelopes of prints labelled according to contents.

50/1. Envelope labelled, 'old Welsh tall hats, good', containing twenty-five prints, three mounted as cartes de visite, of women in traditional costume.

50/2. Envelope labelled 'Evan Rev Thomas, Ealing, Bethania', containing thirteen prints of four images showing a distinctively bearded man, one his own, with a woman and with another man.

50/3. Envelope labelled 'Old Ministers' containing eleven prints, two mounted as cartes de visite, of six different subjects. One is repeated six times and another appears to show a missionary baptism.

50/4. Envelope labelled 'Elections', containing a blank carte de visite and nine prints. Five of these are copies of an 1872 municipal election poster and two show election scenes, all of which are found in Mathias 6. The remaining two prints are of a marriage certificate, John Ferrier and Ann ... .

50/5. Envelope labelled 'William Williams, Minister', containing eleven prints, nine reproductions of an engraving and two of a silhouette.

50/6. Envelope labelled 'J.J. Jones, Mayor', containing twelve prints, one mounted as a carte de visite, of five different images. Also a detached carte de visite mount.

51. Contents of a Kodak photographic paper box. There are nine envelopes and eight loose prints.
Of the loose prints four are mounted as carte de visite or similar, and there is a detached carte mount. These are mostly portraits with one election scene. One mounted portrait is labelled on reverse, 'Miss Mathias, Boots Stores'.

51/1. Blank envelope containing four prints of a full length portrait of a woman in an elaborate costume holding a bouquet.

51/2. Envelope addressed to Mr N. Williams containing an assortment of movie still negatives, possibly from a Sherlock Holmes flick, as well as five miscellaneous prints, of individual portraits as well as a group photograph and a trio of ministers.

51/3. Envelope marked 'T.T. Mathias & relatives', containing thirteen prints. Four appear to be of T.T. and one could show him with his father, one of perhaps eight other males and females.

51/4. Envelope marked 'Mrs Owen, jeweller', containing two prints: of a group of dismounted cyclists straggling along a dusty road; of an event at the Carmarthen velodrome.

51/5. Half envelope addressed to T.T. Mathias containing fifteen prints, one mounted as a carte de visite. There are four different images, two each of different women, one of who, dressed in an elaborate costume, ignore a similarly dressed solemn woman, who kneels to her right.

51/6. Envelope marked 'Ready for Albums' containing fifty-three prints and two dismounted cartes de visites. There are many individual male and female portraits, as well as views of sites around Cardigan, including one of a large kitchen garden, together with reproductions of prints and paintings, including several ships.

51/7. Envelope marked 'To copy' containing two cartes de visite showing scenes of a ceremony at the Albert Memorial, Tenby Castle.

51/8. Envelope marked 'Twm Shon Caty' containing eleven prints of an image of an old man in a top hat and one print each of a couple in traditional costume and a child on a pony.

51/9. Envelope containing glass negative of naive painting showing man in stocks, dated 1844. Print is Mathias 14.

51/10. Two Kodak photo wallets.
One contains six prints, three on postcards of group portraits, young men at the Hampstead Baths and one a mixed group at the seaside. The remaining images show: a pony rider and bathing machines at Tenby; man with car (TH 890); group of women in drag or costume.
The second wallet contains two negatives, one, on glass, of a woman in traditional costume with child, the other of 'a rick of hay' (see JTM/12).

52/1. 'Old Women Duplicates'.

52/1/1. Collection of twenty-three prints of eleven images showing eight subjects, all old women posed in a studio with the same carpet and occasional table.

52/1/2. Fifteen prints of six images, three of singular old women, one also appearing in 52/1/1, three of pairs, presumably mothers and daughters, most in the same studio with the same carpet and table as 52/1/1.

52/1/3. Twenty-three prints of ten images of nine subjects, all women, mostly old, posed with same occasional table as previous, but with dramatic, plaited, cover.

52/2. Knitting duplicates.

52/2/1. Knitting and baskets. Sixteen prints of nine images of at least eight subjects, all relatively young women posed knitting and/or holding baskets, all but one in tall hats.

52/2/2. Knitting groups. Two prints of blurred image of four young women, one in a tall hat, one knitting, with three baskets & eggs. At least two of these women feature in a print of three young women, one knitting, two in tall hats, with two baskets and eggs. Five prints of portrait of young women in tall hat, knitting.

52/2/3. Twenty prints of thirteen images showing twelve subjects. Most are young women knitting and/or in tall hats and shawls. Also two older women and a tinted lady and two men, the last three mounted as cartes de visite (also one blank carte).

52/3. Mounted print showing trio of young women in traditional costume, carrying baskets or knitting.

52/4. Three prints, two mounted as cartes de visite, two of groups in front of the town hall, one of women posed in front of an emporium.

52/5. Three prints, two mounted on card, showing boats or ships, ashore at low tide at Cardigan.

52/6. Two prints showing an aged couple in traditional dress, one posed standing, the other seated.

53. Three miscellaneous items.

53/1 Group studio portrait, probably of a mother with her three daughters.

53/2 group studio portrait of two men with two women, possibly parents and offspring.

53/3 Studio portraits of a man and a woman, the latter clipped from a larger image, faded sepia, roughly mounted on card.

54. 144 cartes de visite, with three un-mounted prints, presumably representing a cross section of unsold stock.

54/1 Collection of 36 Mathias studio portraits, including one un-mounted.

54/2 Miscellaneous Mathias photographs, including two un-mounted. These include: view of park at Llandrindod Wells; views of houses in and around Cardigan; two examples of studio portrait of gentleman with handwritten superscription, 'Yours truly ... (name illegible); one family portrait mounted with flap for display.

54/3 Forty-nine reproductions of engravings, mostly sentimental or moral in nature, but also including two hunting scenes and pictures of Napoleon and Wellington at Waterloo.

54/4 Eighteen celebrity cards. Subjects, mostly living, include Charles I, Prinzess Dagmar, Miss Ellen Terry and Bismarck. Many cards produced in Germany.

54/5 Thirteen cards of famous men, almost all American Civil War Generals, including Jackson and Pope.

54//6 Nine miscellaneous cards. Subjects include aspects of the Albert Memorial, views of the Giant's Causeway and humorous calves. Collection includes two cards produced in Australia.


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