Tailor, Bryn-du, Anglesey

John Thomas was a labourer's son from Cellan, Ceredigion. In 1853 he moved to Liverpool, and by the beginning of the 1860s he had learnt the rudiments of photography. In 1863 he began taking photographs of the famous by inviting a number of well-known preachers to sit for their portraits. The enterprise was a success and by 1867 he was confident enough to establish his own photographic business, The Cambrian Gallery. He worked as a photographer for about forty years, and during that time he travelled widely in north, mid and south Wales taking photographs of landscapes as well as people.