1926 in Wales explained

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1926 to Wales and its people.

Incumbents

• Archbishop of Wales – Alfred George Edwards, Bishop of St Asaph^[1]
• Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales – Elfed^[2]

Events

• 28 January – Orthopaedic surgeon Robert Jones is created a baronet (Jones of Rhyl).^[3]
• 2 February – Spelling of the town of Carnarvon changed to Caernarvon (modern-day Caernarfon); the county makes the same change on 1 July.
• 28 April – J. G. Parry-Thomas breaks the world land speed record on Pendine Sands, in his new car, "Babs".
• 1 May – A lockout of coal miners leads to the declaration of the 1926 United Kingdom general strike. Police and miners clash eighteen times in the course of industrial disputes in the South Wales coalfield.^[4]
• June - England footballer Dixie Dean fractures his skull in a motorcycle accident near Holywell but goes on to make a full recovery.
• 23 June – Llwyn-on Reservoir inaugurated for water supply to Cardiff.
• 6 August – Edward, Prince of Wales visits Llandrindod Wells for a scout jamboree.
• October – Miners begin to return to work in large numbers.
• 14 October – David Lloyd George becomes the first Welshman to lead the Liberal Party.^[5]
• 29 November – New Jubilee Bridge (Queensferry) across the River Dee is opened.
• unknown dates
  • The first parachute jump from an RAF plane is made at RAF Sealand in Flintshire.
  • Sir William Henry Hoare Vincent represents India at the League of Nations.^[6]
  • The Roman amphitheatre at Isca Augusta near Caerleon is excavated by Victor Erle Nash-Williams.

Arts and literature

Awards

• National Eisteddfod of Wales (held in Swansea)
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Chair - D. Gwenallt Jones, "Y Mynach"^[7]
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Crown - David Emrys Jones

New books

• Joseph Alfred Bradney - Memorandum, being an attempt to give a chronology of the decay of the Welsh language in the eastern part of the County of Monmouth^[8]
• David Davies - The Influence of the French Revolution on Welsh Life and Literature^[9]
• Thomas Mardy Rees - Seth Joshua and Frank Joshua
• Bertrand Russell - On Education, Especially in Early Childhood
• Hilda Vaughan - Here are Lovers^[10]

Music

• David John de Lloyd succeeds Walford Davies as Professor of Music at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth.
• Peter Warlock - Capriol Suite

Film

• Ivor Novello stars in The Triumph of the Rat.^[11]

Broadcasting

• The organisers of the National Eisteddfod refuse to allow proceedings to be broadcast on radio.^[12]

Sport

• Boxing
  • 5 April - Dick Power beats Tom Norris at Taff Vale Park in Pontypridd to become the new Welsh heavyweight champion.
• Cricket - The South Wales and Monmouthshire Cricket Association is founded.^[13]
• Rugby league - Wales defeat New Zealand 34–8.

Births

• 12 January – T. Glynne Davies, poet, novelist and broadcaster (d. 1988)^[14]
• 15 January – Malcolm Davies, rugby player (d. 2011)^[15]
• 25 January – Richard Davies, actor (d. 2015)^[16]
• 3 February – John Davies, cricketer (d. 2005)
• 21 February – Danny Canning, footballer (d. 2014)
• 2 May – Clive Jenkins, trade union leader (d. 1999)^[17]
• 8 May – Sir Ronald Waterhouse QC (d. 2011)
• 13 May – Alwyn Davies, chemist (d. 2023)
• 17 May – Tenniel Evans, actor (d. 2009)^[18]
• 27 July – Eddie Thomas, boxing champion and manager (d. 1997)^[19]
• 30 July – Gareth Alban Davies, poet and Hispanist (d. 2009)^[20]
• 1 August – Robert Thomas, sculptor (d. 1999)
• 23 September – Courtenay Meredith, Wales and British Lions rugby player (d. 2024)^[21]
• 26 September – Catherine Glyn Davies, historian and translator^[22] (d. 2007)
• 2 October (at Clevedon, Somerset) – Jan Morris (as James Morris), author (d. 2020)
• 9 October – Ruth Ellis, murderer (executed 1955)^[23]
• 14 December – Margaret John, actress (d. 2011)^[24]
• 20 December – Geoffrey Howe, politician (d. 2015)^[25]
• 30 December – Clifford Williams, actor and director (d. 2005)

Deaths

• February – Thereza Dillwyn Llewelyn, astronomer and photographer, 91/92^[26]
• 7 February – William Evans Hoyle, director of the National Museum of Wales, 71^[27]
• 17 March – Sir David William Evans, lawyer, public servant, and Wales international rugby player, 59^[28]
• 16 April – William Lewis, mineralogist, 79
• 20 May (in London) – Thomas Rees, academic, 56
• 24 May – John Williams, royal physician, 85
• 14 June – Rees Thomas, rugby player, 43/44
• 3 August – Ernest Willows, aviation pioneer, 40 (killed in a balloon accident)^[29]
• 10 August – John Humphreys Davies, academic, 55^[30]
• 20 August – Billy Trew, Wales rugby union captain
• 5 October – Dorothy Tennant (Lady Stanley), artist, 71^[31]
• 13 October – Eliseus Williams (Eifion Wyn), poet, 59^[32]
• 4 November – John Owen, Bishop of St David's, 72^[33]
• 30 November – Ellis Ellis-Griffith, politician, 66

See also

• 1926 in Northern Ireland

Notes and References

1. [Who's Who (UK)#Who Was Who|''Who was Who 1897–2007'']
2. s2-LEWI-ELV-1860 . Lewis, Howell Elvet ('Elfed'; 1860–1953), Independent minister, hymn-writer, poet. Emlyn Glasnant Jenkins. 2001. 12 April 2022.
3. Book: Roll of the baronets. Home Office, Standing Council of the Baronetage. 1926. 46.
4. Book: The Labour Year Book. 1927. Co-operative Printing Society Limited. 271–2.
5. Book: Timothy Venning. Compendium of British Office Holders. 25 July 2005. Palgrave Macmillan UK. 978-0-230-50587-2. 503.
6. s-VINC-ENT-1650. Vincent family. Robert Thomas Jenkins. 1959. 15 April 2022.
7. Web site: Winners of the Chair. National Eisteddfod of Wales. 3 October 2019.
8. Book: Nikolas Coupland. Alan Richard Thomas. English in Wales: Diversity, Conflict, and Change. 1990. Multilingual Matters. 978-1-85359-031-3. 81.
9. Book: Marion Löffler. Political Pamphlets and Sermons from Wales 1790-1806. 15 October 2014. University of Wales Press. 978-1-78316-101-0. 296.
10. Book: Wisconsin Library Bulletin. 1927. Division of Library Services, Department of Public Instruction.. 111.
11. Book: Alan Burton. Steve Chibnall. Historical Dictionary of British Cinema. 11 July 2013. Scarecrow Press. 978-0-8108-8026-9. 316.
12. Book: John Davies. Broadcasting and the BBC in Wales. 1994. University of Wales Press. 978-0-7083-1273-5.
13. Book: John Davies. Nigel Jenkins. Menna Baines. The Welsh Academy encyclopaedia of Wales. 2008. University of Wales Press. 978-0-7083-1953-6.
14. Book: Who was who. 1996. St. Martin's Press. 978-0-312-29366-6. 145.
15. Web site: Birth details at freebmd.org.uk. freebmd.org.uk. 31 December 2011. 1 January 2012.
16. Web site: Richard Davies, actor - obituary. 15 October 2015. The Telegraph. 19 June 2020.
17. Book: Historical Studies in Industrial Relations. 2006. Keele University Centre for Industrial Relations.
18. News: Tenniel Evans . The Guardian . London . 12 June 2009 . 27 March 2010 . Philip . Purser.
19. Book: Nat Fleischer. Nat Fleischer's All-time Ring Record Book .... O'Brien Suburban Press. 767.
20. Web site: Gareth Alban Davies: Poet who combined Welsh and Hispanic interests in his work . https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220501/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/gareth-alban-davies-poet-who-combined-welsh-and-hispanic-interests-in-his-work-1643001.html . 2022-05-01 . subscription . live . . Meic Stephens . Meic Stephens . 12 March 2009 . 18 December 2009.
21. News: Happy 95th Birthday Courtenay Meredith . 27 November 2022 . WRU . 23 September 2021.
22. Web site: Davies, Catherine Glyn ('Caryl') (1926-2007), historian of philosophy and linguistics, and translator. Mary Burdett Jones. Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. 24 September 2019.
23. Book: David K. Frasier. Murder Cases of the Twentieth Century: Biographies and Bibliographies of 280 Convicted Or Accused Killers. 1996. McFarland. 978-0-7864-0184-0.
24. Web site: Gavin & Stacey star Margaret John dies. 2 February 2011. Guardian. 4 December 2013.
25. Web site: John . Barnes . Geoffrey Howe: One of the architects of the Thatcher revolution who became one of the primary factors in her downfall . https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220501/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/geoffrey-howe-one-of-the-architects-of-the-thatcher-revolution-who-became-one-of-the-primary-factors-a6689811.html . 2022-05-01 . subscription . live . The Independent . 11 October 2015 . 11 March 2019.
26. Book: The Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine. 1925. Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society. 354.
27. Obituary: Dr. W. E. Evans. Nature. 20 Feb 1926. 64. 117. 277. 10.1038/117277a0. free.
28. News: 18 March 1926. The Times. Sir David Evans. 21.
29. Book: Aeronautics. 1960.
30. Web site: Davies, John Humphreys. Ellis. Thomas Iorwerth. Thomas Iorwerth Ellis. Welsh Biography Online. National Library of Wales. 18 January 2010.
31. Book: The Spectator. July 1929. F.C. Westley.
32. Web site: Williams, Eliseus (Eifion Wyn; 1867-1926), poet. T. H. Parry-Williams. Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. 25 May 2019.
33. Web site: Owen, John (1854-1926), bishop. Thomas Iorwerth Ellis. Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. 25 May 2019.