Thomas Richards (1800-1877), from Dolgellau, was educated in London after his father's death. He was working as a medical practitioner when he began publishing his first short stories and novellas anonymously in English and Scottish literary magazines. For later publications, such as the novel Reginald Trevor (1829), he assumed the pseudonym Edward Trevor Anwyl. In 1832, he and his family left Britain for Tasmania. There, Richards took up work as journalist and editor and he continued to write stories about his native Wales. Today, he is regarded as one of the founders of the Australian short story.