Welsh Journals

'THE DEATH OF SARAH DILLWYN' A PAINTING BY C. R. LESLIE RICHARD MORRIS In Swansea Museum hangs a painting, 'The Death of Sarah Dillwyn', that is well known to visitors, yet behind the caption lies a story of love and sadness for the Dillwyn family, Sarah's parents and siblings. The painting is by C. R. Leslie and depicts the death of Sarah Llewelyn Dillwyn, the youngest daughter of Lewis Weston and Mary Dillwyn. Not that long ago, when Swansea Museum was making an inventory of its possessions, there was some doubt as to whether they actually owned the painting, there being no documents or evidence of acquisition. On behalf of the Museum I contacted the family and was told that they had indeed given it to the Museum, it being rather morbid! Sarah Dillwyn, or Sally, as she was usually called by the family, was born on 9th August 1818. The name Sarah was quite common in the ancestry of the Dillwyn family. It was the name of the wife of William Dillwyn who had emigrated to America, as a Quaker around 1682. It was also the name of the second wife of his grandson William, the father of Lewis Weston Dillwyn. Mary Dillwyn's mother was Sarah Adams of Oxford, who had a brief affair with her father, Colonel John Llewelyn, probably when he was a student at Oxford as the dates would fit this period. Later in life, Col. Llewelyn made Mary's eldest son his heir. The principal references to Sarah's childhood come from the Diaries of Lewis Weston Dillwyn. In these she is normally referred to as Sally, possibly to distin- guish her from Lewis's sister Sarah. Her birth was announced in The Cambrian on 15th August 1818. Sarah was born at Penllergare' where the Dillwyns were living. She was the youngest of the children of Lewis and Mary Dillwyn. According to her father, the birth was attended by Dr Collins and she was described by Dillwyn as 'large & heavy as her Sister Mary was when 5 Months old'. Already Lewis Weston Dillwyn was thinking about the future of his family and on the 27th September 1818 he records signing his will and that he was making provision for the girls to have legacy of £ 10,000 each, with a small extra provision for Willy, the second son. Dillwyn's own personal property would be divided equally between Willy and Lewis. John, of course, as the elder son, yet to take over