The sitter was a Labour politician. He was born at Abercrave in the Swansea Valley on 9 May 1903, the eldest son of County Councillor Howell Watkins, JP, a Baptist deacon and lay preacher. He received his education at the local elementary school, evening continuation classes, university tutorial classes, classes organised by the WEA and the National Council of Labour Colleges, and later (as the recipient of a bursary) at Coleg Harlech. He earned his living as a coalminer from the age of 13 and a half, 1917–1925, and then as the Labour Party agent in the Brecon and Radnor constituency, 1928–1933. He was general secretary of the Breconshire Association of Friendly Societies, 1937–1948. He was Powys County Council's first chairman following local government reorganisation in 1974.