Llewellyn Harries (1901–1992) was born in Cardiff, Wales, to a coal-mining family, and studied to be an accountant. Concerned by the plight of the unemployed during the Great Depression, Llewellyn and his wife, Bessie, joined the Society of Friends, or Quakers, and began to make plans for cooperative living. Soon after, they heard about and visited the Bruderhof, where they eventually became members.
