Self-portrait of John Murray Thomas (1847-1924)

Description

John Murray Thomas (1847-1924) was born in Bridgend and was seventeen years old when he sailed for Patagonia with the first contingent of Welsh settlers on board the 'Mimosa' in 1865. His sister, Gwenllian, was also aboard the 'Mimosa', accompanied by her husband, the Rev. Abraham Matthews, and their eight-month-old daughter. Soon after landing, John Murray Thomas joined eighteen other men on the gruelling journey across the pampas from Porth Madryn beach to the Chubut Valley.

In November 1865, he went to Buenos Aires to train as an accountant. He remained there for a number of years and married Harriett Underwood, the daughter of one of the city's leading businessmen. He returned to Patagonia in 1874 and bought a ship named 'Gwenllian' to carry goods and passengers from Buenos Aires to Patagonia. Around the same period, he began taking a prominent role in the first expeditions which took place to search for gold and other minerals, as well as land. He was a pioneering photographer and took a large number of photographs of this key period in the history of the Settlement.

As well as leading a number of these early expeditions, he was also responsible for organising and financing several important expeditions, including the first major expedition to the Andes with Governor Fontana in 1885. He also played an important role in promoting the new Welsh settlement at Cwm Hyfryd (Bro Hydref) near the foot of the Andes. He was also associated with a number of other expeditions in search of gold during the 1890s. Following this pioneering period, he settled at his home Castell Iwan near Trerawson, but after the death of his wife he went to live with his daughter, Harriett Mulhall, in the Bryn Crwn area, near Gaiman. He died in 1924.