 Joseph
Edwards was the son of a very poor stone cutter. Born in 1814 at Penylan,
Abercanaid, he began work with his father in the stone cutter's yard at
Ynysgau. From Merthyr he moved to Swansea, but after a short time decided
to go to London to seek his fortune. After many disappointments he obtained
employment and, after two years he was able to become a student at the Royal
Academy Schools. Within a short period he won academy medal for the best
specimen work copied from an antique piece of sculpture. The best of his
marble statues is that called Religion, a beautiful draped figure
designed for a tomb in Kensal Green Cemetry, London. A similar figure was
fashioned by him to stand above the vault of the William Harris family in
Cefn Coed Cemetry. |