Lewis Weston Dillwyn

Lewis Weston Dillwyn on a lithograph by Eden Upton Eddis , 1833

Lewis Weston Dillwyn (* 1778 in Walthamstow , Essex , † 1855 ) was a member of the Royal Society and the Linnean Society of London as well as a British politician and member of parliament. His parents, William Dillwyn (1743-1824), a Quaker from Pennsylvania, and Sarah Dillwyn (nee Weston) had returned to England from the colonies in 1777 during the most difficult phase in Philadelphia during the American Revolutionary War and had settled in Higham Lodge, Walthamstow, Essex.

William Dillwyn was a vocal warrior against slavery, traveling through England and Wales. It was on one of those trips that he arranged for George Haynes to take over the Cambrian Pottery in Swansea , Glamorganshire . Lewis W. Dillwyn was sent to Swansea by his father in 1802 to take control of the pottery. Although Dillwyn had no prior experience in the production of ceramics , he became enthusiastic about the activity and the quality of the products improved during his leadership of the manufacture.

Dillwyn married Mary Adams in 1807, the daughter of Colonel John Llewelyn from Penllergare, Llangyfelach and had six children with her, including the photographer John Dillwyn Llewelyn (1810-1882).

Lewis Weston Dillwyn was also recognized for his publications on botany and conchology , including The British Confervae , an illustrated study of British freshwater algae published in 1809. The illustrators for this book include William Jackson Hooker , Ellen Hutchins, and William Weston Young . Dillwyn is recognized as the discoverer of several species of Cladophora .

He retired from pottery in 1817 and became High Sheriff of Glamorgan in 1818 . In 1834 he was elected to the first reformed parliament. Dillwyn became Mayor of Swansea in 1839 . Dillwyn was one of the founders of the Royal Institution of South Wales and the Association's first President. In 1840 he published a short work on the history of Swansea.

Works

• Lewis Weston Dillwyn: A Descriptive Catalog of Recent Shells ( English ). John and Arthur Arch, Cornhill 1817.
• Dawson Turner , Lewis Weston Dillwyn: The botanist's guide through England and Wales ( English ). Phillips and Fardon, London 1805.
• Lewis Weston Dillwyn, Friedrich Weber, Daniel Matthias Heinrich Mohr (German version): Great Britain's Conferven . Heinrich Dieterich, Göttingen 1803.

Web links

• Lewis Dillwyn at Hansard (English)

predecessor	Office	successor
Christopher Cole	Member of Parliament for Glamorganshire 1832–1837	Edwin Wyndham-Quin