Singleton Abbey, first built in the late 18th century, was the residence of John Henry Vivian, an industrial pioneer who had amassed great wealth through his involvement with the copper industry. His son, Henry Hussey Vivian, and his wife Flora, were friends of Calvert Jones and Dillwyn Llewelyn. The house is now part of the University of Wales, Swansea, campus.

The Reverend Calvert Richard Jones (1804-77) was a friend of John Dillwyn Llewelyn, who owned the Penlle'r-gaer estate just outside Swansea, and who was an eager practitioner of early photography. Dillwyn Llewelyn was himself a cousin by marriage to Fox Talbot, and utilised his knowledge of chemistry to further the processes with which Fox Talbot had been working.

Calvert Jones followed the progress of Dillwyn Llewelyn and Fox Talbot with interest. He was originally a maritime painter, but took up the new technology of photography with enthusiasm, initially making daguerrotypes, but progressing to Fox Talbot's calotype process. He travelled extensively in France and Italy, developing his own methods for taking panoramic views, and working alongside Hippolyte Bayard, whose photographic discoveries preceded those of Louis Daguerre.