Richard Bebb is a native of the Rhondda Valley, Glamorgan and graduated in Social Anthropology from the London School of Economics. In 1970 he settled in Kidwelly, Carmarthenshire, and began his career as an antiques dealer creating WelshAntiques.com which specialises in furniture from Wales.

Always absorbed in its social and domestic context, he commenced his study of these distinctive artefacts around 1990, travelling extensively throughout Wales (as well as England and the United States) to examine both furniture and archival material in private houses and public institutions.