Who is John Gwyn Jeffreys?

John Gwyn Jeffreys was born in Swansea on 18 January 1809 and was a descendent of one of the oldest families in Wales. From a young age he was interested in natural history, specifically shell collecting.

At the age of seventeen he was apprenticed to a Swansea solicitor, and for many years successfully practised his profession in the town. He continued to collect and study shells, spending his holidays dredging in Swansea Bay.