1915 in Wales explained

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1915 to Wales and its people.

Incumbents

• Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales – Dyfed^[1]
  • Lord Lieutenant of Anglesey – Sir Richard Henry Williams-Bulkeley, 12th Baronet Lord Lieutenant of Brecknockshire – Joseph Bailey, 2nd Baron Glanusk^[2]
• Lord Lieutenant of Caernarvonshire – John Ernest Greaves^[3]
• Lord Lieutenant of Cardiganshire – Herbert Davies-Evans^[4]
  • Lord Lieutenant of Carmarthenshire – John William Gwynne Hughes Lord Lieutenant of Denbighshire – William Cornwallis-West^[5]
• Lord Lieutenant of Flintshire – William Glynne Charles Gladstone (until 13 April); Henry Gladstone, later Baron Gladstone (from 23 June)^[6]
• Lord Lieutenant of Glamorgan – Robert Windsor-Clive, 1st Earl of Plymouth
• Lord Lieutenant of Merionethshire – Sir Osmond Williams, 1st Baronet^[7]
• Lord Lieutenant of Monmouthshire – Ivor Herbert, 1st Baron Treowen
  • • Lord Lieutenant of Montgomeryshire – Sir Herbert Williams-Wynn, 7th Baronet Lord Lieutenant of Pembrokeshire – John Philipps, 1st Viscount St Davids Lord Lieutenant of Radnorshire – Powlett Milbank^[8]
• Bishop of Bangor – Watkin Williams^[9]
• Bishop of Llandaff – Joshua Pritchard Hughes^[10]
• Bishop of St Asaph – A. G. Edwards (later Archbishop of Wales)^[11]
• Bishop of St Davids – John Owen^[12]

Events

• January - A memorial to Captain Robert Falcon Scott, in the form of a model lighthouse, is erected on an island in Roath Park Lake, commemorating the support given to Scott's expedition by the people of Cardiff.^[13]
• 26 February - The Welsh Guards regiment is created.
• 4 April - Three German prisoners-of-war escape from an internment camp at Llansannan in Denbighshire, but are quickly recaptured.^[14]
• 23 April - The body of Will Gladstone, recently killed at the Western Front, is re-buried in the churchyard of St Deiniol's, Hawarden, Flintshire, Wales.^[15] With special permission from King George V of the United Kingdom, he becomes the last casualty to be officially repatriated to the United Kingdom during the First World War.^[16]
• 25 April - At Gallipoli, Able Seaman William Charles Williams of Chepstow helps secure lighters on HMS River Clyde under continuous fire. He is posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross - the first such award made to a member of the Royal Navy in World War I.^[17]
• 7 May - When is sunk by a German torpedo, notable survivors include David Alfred Thomas, Viscount Rhondda and tenor Gwynn Parry Jones.^[18]
• 26 July - The Glamorganshire Canal closes between Abercynon and Pontypridd.^[19]
• 11 September - The first branch of the Women's Institute in Britain opens at Llanfair PG, Anglesey.
• 1 October - For his conduct at the Battle of Hooge, Lt. Rupert Price Hallowes of Port Talbot is posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.
• November - The 38th (Welsh) Division is posted to France.
• 15 November - Sir James Cory, 1st Baronet, becomes MP for Cardiff, following the death in action of the previous incumbent, Lord Ninian Crichton-Stuart.
• 25 November - In the Merthyr Tydfil by-election, caused by the death of Keir Hardie, Charles Stanton becomes Independent Labour Party MP for Merthyr.
• 4 December - First submarine to be launched at Pembroke Dock, .
• Welshmen continue to enlist for military service in World War I, including architect Percy Thomas, who joins the Artists' Rifles.
• Sir William Rice Edwards becomes surgeon-general of Bengal.

Arts and literature

• August - Clough Williams-Ellis marries Amabel Strachey.^[20]
• unknown date - Gomer Berry and William Ewart Berry become owners of The Sunday Times.

Awards

• National Eisteddfod of Wales (held in Bangor)
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Chair - T. H. Parry-Williams, "Eryri"^[21]
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Crown - T. H. Parry-Williams^[22]

New books

English language

• Caradoc Evans - My People: Stories of the Peasantry of West Wales^[23]
• John Gwenogvryn Evans (ed.) - Poems from the Book of Taliesin, amended and translated
• Arthur Machen - The Great Return^[24]
• John Cowper Powys - Wood and Stone

Welsh language

• William Evans (Wil Ifan) - Dros y Nyth
• Eluned Morgan - Plant yr Haul

Music

• David Roberts - Y Tant Aur (2nd edition)
• William Penfro Rowlands - "Blaenwern" (hymn tune), in Henry H. Jones' Cân a Moliant

Film

• The Birth of a Nation directed by Welsh-descended D. W. Griffith.

Sport

• Boxing - Llew Edwards wins the British and Commonwealth featherweight titles.

Births

• 16 January - David Michael Davies, 2nd Baron Davies (died 1944)^[25]
• 11 February - Mervyn Levy, artist (died 1996)^[26]
• 20 February - Mary Jones, actor (died 1990)
• 25 March - Dorothy Squires, singer (died 1998)^[27]
• 2 April - Patrick Gibbs, RAF Wing Commander, author and film critic (died 2008)^[28]
• 9 April - Bill Clement, Welsh international rugby player and Secretary of the WRU (died 2007)
• 13 May - Hrothgar John Habakkuk, economic historian (died 2002)^[29]
• 4 June - David Bell, writer and curator (died 1959)
• 1 July - Alun Lewis, poet (died on active service 1944)^[30]
• 3 July - Ifor Owen, illustrator (died 2007)
• 30 August - Lillian May Davies, later Princess Lilian, Duchess of Halland, fashion model and Swedish princess (died 2013)^[31]
• 4 September - Roland Mathias, poet and critic (died 2007)^[32]
• 10 September - Geraint Bowen, poet and Archdruid (died 2011)^[33]
• 22 September - Thomas Williams, politician (died 1986)
• 23 September - John Samuel Rowlands, GC (died 2006)^[34]
• 11 October - T. Llew Jones, writer (died 2009)^[35]
• 10 November - Leslie Manfield, Wales international rugby union player (died 2006)
• 26 December - Keidrych Rhys, poet and journalist (died 1987)^[36]

Deaths

• 6 January - Owen Roberts, educator, 79^[37]
• 24 January - Charles Taylor, naval officer and Wales rugby international, 51 (killed in action)^[38]
• 30 January - Thomas Benbow Phillips, pioneer settler, 85
• 5 March - George "Honey Boy" Evans, musician and entertainer, 44 (cancer)^[39]
• 21 March - Edward Pegge, Wales international rugby player, 50
• 13 April - William Glynne Charles Gladstone, Lord Lieutenant of Flintshire, 29
• 25 April - William Charles Williams, posthumous Victoria Cross recipient, 34 (killed in action)
• 6 June - John Lloyd, political reformer, 81 ^[40]
• 31 July - Billy Geen, soldier and Wales international rugby union player, 24 (killed in action)^[41]
• 4 September - David Gwynne-Vaughan, botanist, 44^[42]
• 7 September - Robert Lewis-Lloyd, rower and barrister, High Sheriff of Radnorshire, 79
• 26 September - Keir Hardie, Scottish-born serving MP for Merthyr Tydfil (Labour) and pacifist, 59 (died in Scotland)^[43]
• 27 September - Richard Garnons Williams, soldier and Wales international rugby union player, 59 (killed in action)^[44]
• 30 September - Rupert Price Hallowes, posthumous Victoria Cross recipient, 34 (killed in action)^[45]
• 2 October - Lord Ninian Crichton-Stuart, Scottish-born British Army officer and serving MP for Cardiff (Unionist), 32 (killed in action)^[46]
• 22 November - Llewellyn John Montfort Bebb, Principal of St David's College, Lampeter, 53^[47]
• 29 November - Rachel Davies (Rahel o Fôn), Baptist preacher, 69^[48]
• 10 December - David Jenkins, composer, 66
• 17 December - Sir John Rhys, philologist, 75^[49]

See also

• 1915 in Ireland

Notes and References

1. Rhys . James Ednyfed . Rees, Evan (Dyfed; 1850-1923), Calvinistic Methodist minister, poet, and archdruid of Wales . s-REES-EVA-1850 . National Library of Wales . 2 August 2018 . 1959.
2. Book: Dod's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage of Great Britain and Ireland, Including All the Titled Classes. Dod. 1921. 356.
3. Book: National Museum of Wales. Adroddiad Blynyddol. The Museum. 1935. 3.
4. Book: The county families of the United Kingdom; or, Royal manual of the titled and untitled aristocracy of England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. Dalcassian Publishing Company. 1860. 443.
5. Book: Potter, Matthew . The concept of the 'master' in art education in Britain and Ireland, 1770 to the present . Routledge . Abingdon, Oxon . 2016 . 9781351545471 . 149.
6. Book: Ivor Bulmer-Thomas. Gladstone of Hawarden: A Memoir of Henry Neville, Lord Gladstone of Hawarden. Murray. 1936. 197.
7. Davies . Sir William Llewelyn . s-WILL-BRO-1800 . Williams family, of Bron Eryri, later called Castell Deudraeth, Meirionnydd. 30 January 2020.
8. Book: Whitaker's Almanack. Joseph Whitaker. Whitaker's Almanack. 1913. 847.
9. Book: Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage. Burke's Peerage Limited. 1925. 2437.
10. s-HUGH-JOS-1807 . Hughes, Joshua (1807-1889), bishop . William Thomas . Havard . William Havard . 26 October 2021.
11. [Who's Who (UK)#Who Was Who|''Who was Who 1897–2007'']
12. s-OWEN-JOH-1854. Owen, John (1854-1926), bishop. Thomas Iorwerth Ellis. 1959. 19 March 2022.
13. Book: Morgannwg: Transactions of the Glamorgan History Society. 1988. 50.
14. Book: Gary Dobbs. Cardiff and the Valleys in the Great War. 31 March 2015. Pen and Sword. 978-1-4738-5778-0. 42.
15. Web site: Hawarden – 1914-1918 War Memorial. Clwyd Family History Society. 17 January 2014. 1 January 2014.
16. Book: Van Emden, Richard. Richard van Emden. The Quick and the Dead. Bloomsbury. London. 978-1408822456. 131–133. 7 June 2012.
17. http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/3034251/WILLIAMS,%20WILLIAM%20CHARLES
18. Book: John Bourne. Who's Who in World War I. June 2002. Routledge. 978-1-134-76752-6. 285.
19. Book: Cardiff Naturalists' Society. Reports and Transactions. 1971. 14.
20. Military Marriages: a Trio of Interesting Weddings. The Sketch. llustrated London News and Sketch. 11 August 1915. 108.
21. Web site: Winners of the Chair. National Eisteddfod of Wales. 4 April 2022.
22. Web site: Winners of the Chair. National Eisteddfod of Wales. 4 April 2022.
23. Book: David T. Lloyd. Writing on the Edge: Interviews with Writers and Editors of Wales. 1997. Rodopi. 90-420-0248-4. 7.
24. Book: S. T. Joshi. The Weird Tale. 1 January 2003. Wildside Press LLC. 978-0-8095-3122-6. 19.
25. s2-DAVI-DAV-1880. Gwilym Davies. Davies, David of Llandinam (1880-1944), first BARON DAVIES (created 1932). 2001. 4 April 2022.
26. News: Levy, Ceri. Obituary: Mervyn Levy . https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220501/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/obituary-mervyn-levy-1347766.html . 1 May 2022 . subscription . live . 17 May 1996. . London . 20 March 2011 .
27. Book: Harris M. Lentz. Obituaries in the Performing Arts. 1998. McFarland & Company. 978-0-7864-0748-4. 210.
28. Web site: Wing Cdr Patrick Gibbs: Air ace and journalist . https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220525/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/wing-cdr-patrick-gibbs-air-ace-and-journalist-815380.html . 25 May 2022 . subscription . live . The Independent. London . Nicolas Barker . 25 April 2008 . 4 March 2009.
29. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1413579/Sir-John-Habakkuk.html Obituary
30. Web site: Alun Lewis | Welsh poet. Encyclopædia Britannica. 6 July 2020.
31. Web site: Princess Lilian, Duchess of Halland . The Royal Court of Sweden . 4 April 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100724021715/http://www.royalcourt.se/royalcourt/royalfamily/hrhprincesslilian.4.396160511584257f2180001074.html . 24 July 2010 . dead.
32. Web site: Roland Mathias. 17 October 2007. Sam Adams. The Guardian. 5 December 2019.
33. Web site: Obituary for Geraint Bowen. 5 August 2011. 1 July 2018. The Independent.
34. News: 7 June 2006. Air Marshal Sir John Rowlands, obituary . 22 November 2021. The Telegraph.
35. Web site: Colli 'un o eiconau'r genedl'. BBC Cymru. Welsh. 17 September 2019.
36. Book: International Who's who in Poetry. International Biographical Centre. 1970. 259.
37. News: The Times. Death of Sir Owen Roberts, a Pioneer of Technical Education. 6. 8 January 1915.
38. Web site: World War One: The Wales rugby internationals who died on the battlefield. 25 May 2014. Robin Turner. WalesOnline. 14 October 2019.
39. Book: Frank Cullen. Florence Hackman. Donald McNeilly. Vaudeville old & new: an encyclopedia of variety performances in America. 2007. Psychology Press. 978-0-415-93853-2. 365.
40. s-LLOY-JHN-1833. LLOYD, JOHN (1833-1915), political reformer and antiquary. 1959. National Library of Wales. Robert Thomas Jenkins. 8 February 2019.
41. Book: Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News. June 1915. George S. Maddick. 673.
42. s-GWYN-THO-1871. Gwynne-Vaughan, David Thomas (1871-1915), botanist. 1959. National Library of Wales. Robert Thomas Jenkins. 8 February 2019.
43. Web site: James Keir Hardie (1856-1915). BBC History. 8 February 2019.
44. Book: Archaeologia Cambrensis. 1916. W. Pickering. 358.
45. Book: Paul Oldfield. Victoria Crosses on the Western Front - 1917 to Third Ypres: 27 January–27 July 1917. 30 September 2016. Pen & Sword Books Limited. 978-1-4738-8488-5. 803–.
46. Book: The Scots Law Times. 1921. W. Green & Son. 132.
47. s3-BEBB-MON-1862. Bebb, Llewellyn John Montfort (1862-1915), cleric. 2001. National Library of Wales. Thomas Iorwerth Ellis. 8 February 2019.
48. s-DAVI-RAC-1846. Davies, Rachel (Rahel o Fôn; 1846-1915), lecturer and preacher. 1959. National Library of Wales. Robert (Bob) Owen. 5 December 2019.
49. Web site: Rhys, Sir John (1840-1915), Celtic scholar. Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Ifor Williams. 15 August 2019.