Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot (1803-1890), Politician

Sitter in 3 portraits
A South Wales landowner and industrialist. He saw the potential of his family's estates as a site for an extensive ironworks, served by railways. A Liberal Member of Parliament from 1830 until his death, in 1834 he introduced a bill to improve the old harbour at Aberavon, realising that improved transportation could stimulate industrial growth. A further bill provided for the harbour's expansion and a change of name to Port Talbot in his honour. As Chairman of the South Wales Railway Company he pioneered the introduction of railways to South Wales. He also invested in the area's extractive and metal production industries, with the Port Talbot ironworks opening in 1831.