Thomas and Owen Owen were half-brothers, the sons of a Welsh farmer by his first and second wives.

Thomas Owen (1840-1898) was born at Bolton, Lancs., on 15 September 1840. In 1853 he was apprenticed to his uncle, Samuel Evans, at his drapery store in Bath, becoming a partner in 1863.. In 1877 he bought the Ely Paper Works, Cardiff, which in 1896 was described as the largest manufacturer of newspaper in the country. He was also chairman of the Bath Paper Works and of Evans and Owen Ltd.. He was Liberal MP for Launceston from 1892 to 1898, being succeeded by John Fletcher Moulton. A prominent figure in WM, he attended the second Ecumenical Methodist Conference in Washington DC in 1891. He died by accidental drowning in the grounds of his home, 'Cwmrhaeadr', Machynlleth on 10 July 1898.

His younger brother, Owen Owen (1847-1910) was born in October 1847 at Cwmrhaeadr. His mother, Esther Evans, was the daughter of the Rev. William Evans (1770-1854), who was a key figure in Methodism in North Wales and author of a biography of Edward Jones, Bathafarn. (1850). When Owen was three the family moved to a hill farm near Aberangell in the Dyfi Valley. His mother instilled strict Methodist principles into both boys. Owen was educated at Queen's College, Taunton and in 1860 was apprenticed, like his brother, to his draper uncle in Bath. This laid the foundations for a highly successful commercial career. In 1868 he moved to Liverpool, where he established the Owen Owen departmental store, specialising in quality goods at reasonable prices and showing a benevolent interest in the well-being of his staff. He worshipped at first at Brunswick WM chapel, but later was drawn to Unitarianism and became a member of their Hope Street church. In later years his range of commercial and financial interests widened. He died at Hampstead on 27 March 1910 after an operation for cancer.

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