Casgliadau Arlein

This long case clock was made in the 1840s by Thomas Stephens of Mydroilyn, Cardiganshire. He made the pieces when he was in his twenties in preparation for his wedding and setting-up home with his new wife in the cottage of his smallholding, Rhosgochfach, Mydroilyn. Like many rural craftsmen of the period, he is listed in the 1851 census as ‘farmer of 9 acres and carpenter’. He had worked with his father making internal fixtures for coasting vessels at the shipbuilding yard of Cei Bach, Cardiganshire. Wood was plentiful in the area, coming in from Cardiganshire, Carmarthenshire and Brecon as well as by sea from Quebec. Many of the ships were built by the timber merchants for the timber trade. By the 1871 census, when he was 50 years old Thomas Stephens had moved to a larger farm next door to his smallholding and was a ‘carpenter employing 2 men’. He died in 1909.