Spouse Nevil Story Maskelyne Cousin Amy Dillwyn | Parents John Dillwyn Llewelyn Grandparent Lewis Weston Dillwyn | |
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Full Name Thereza Mary Dillwyn Llewelyn Born 1834 Penllergaer, Wales Children Mary Story Maskelyne, Thereza Story Maskelyne Died February 1926, Wroughton, United Kingdom Similar John Dillwyn Llewelyn, Amy Dillwyn, Lewis Weston Dillwyn | ||
Thereza Dillwyn Llewelyn (1834 – February 1926) was a Welsh pioneer photographer and astronomer.
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Early life
She was born at Penllergare House in Glamorganshire, the eldest daughter of pioneer photographer John Dillwyn Llewelyn and Emma Thomasina Talbot, who was a cousin of Henry Fox Talbot. Her Aunt, Mary Dillwyn, is claimed to be the earliest female photographer in Wales. Unsurprisingly, Thereza developed an interest in photography, and also astronomy. Both were uncommon endeavours for women in the Victorian era.
Photography
Thereza assisted her father with his photographic experiments, which included the pruduction of some of the earliest photographs of the moon. These were taken during the mid-1850s from her father's equatorial observatory at Penllergare Valley Woods. She also helped him develop a means to photograph snow crystals.
As well as practicing photography alongside her father, Thereza was often the subject of her father's photographs. One of these portraits, taken around 1854, has a photogram of ferns as a vignette border rather than the lace, ink and watercolour, or papercut borders that were common at the time. This decorative method was adopted by Thereza herself for at least one of her photographs: a portrait of her sister, Elinor.
Marriage
She married Nevil Story Maskelyne on 29 June 1858. Through him, she began a correspondence with Charles Darwin.
Together they had two daughters: Mary Arnold-Forster, wife of H. O. Arnold-Forster, and Thereza Rucker, wife of Arthur William Rucker.
British Library
In 2012, the British Library acquired the Dillwyn Llewelyn/Story Maskelyne photographic archive, which includes a selection of Thereza's journals, memoirs, and photographs.