One of the earliest surviving photographic images of a man from Pwllheli has been auctioned for £537.

The tiny Victorian photograph, which also links to Welsh religious history, is one of the earliest commercially produced photographic portraits of a Welsh historical figure.

Auctioned by Dominic Winter Auctioneers on 20 May, Lot 119 is a circa 1841 daguerreotype portrait of Philip Constable Ellis (1822-1900), the Welsh Anglican priest who would later become one of the earliest and most influential supporters of the Anglo Catholic Tractarian movement in North Wales.

What makes the image especially significant is its date and provenance. The portrait bears the stamp “Beard Patentee”, linking it to the earliest days of photography in Britain. Richard Beard opened Europe’s first public photographic studio in London in March 1841 and shortly afterwards secured the exclusive patent rights to the daguerreotype process in England and Wales. Licensed photographers were required to stamp portraits “Beard Patentee”.

If the contemporary handwritten dating of around 1841 is correct, the portrait would place Ellis among the earliest Welsh people ever to be commercially photographed, at a moment when photography itself was still startlingly new.

The image appears to show Ellis aged about 19 while an undergraduate at Jesus College, Oxford, shortly after matriculating in 1840 and before beginning the religious career that would make him a notable and sometimes controversial figure in Welsh ecclesiastical life.

Born near Pwllheli, Ellis later served in Holyhead, Llanfaes, Penmon and Llanfairfechan, becoming a key figure in the spread of Anglo Catholicism in North Wales. He introduced ritual reforms, held daily services and became known for his uncompromising religious convictions, reportedly refusing three offers to become a cathedral dean in Wales.

The daguerreotype carried an estimate of £300-£500.

“It sold for £537 so over its top estimate!” an auction spokesperson said.

“There was competitive bidding, which took the price up.”