1839 in Wales
Encyclopedia
This article is about the particular significance of the year 1839 to Wales
and its people
.
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
and its people
Welsh people
The Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...
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Events
- March - John FrostJohn Frost (Chartist)John Frost was a prominent Welsh leader of the British Chartist movement in the Newport Rising....
loses his position as a magistrate because of his Chartist sympathies. - May 8 - Henry VincentHenry VincentHenry Vincent was active in the formation of early Working Men's Associations in Britain, a popular Chartist leader, brilliant and gifted public orator, prospective but ultimately unsuccessful Victorian MP, and later an anti-slavery campaigner.- Early life :Henry Vincent was born in High Holborn,...
is arrested after addressing a Chartist meeting and taken to prison at MonmouthMonmouthMonmouth is a town in southeast Wales and traditional county town of the historic county of Monmouthshire. It is situated close to the border with England, where the River Monnow meets the River Wye with bridges over both....
. - May 13 - Beginning of the Rebecca RiotsRebecca RiotsThe Rebecca Riots took place between 1839 and 1843 in South and Mid Wales. They were a series of protests undertaken by local farmers and agricultural workers in response to perceived unfair taxation. The rioters, often men dressed as women, took their actions against toll-gates, as they were...
. - July 25 - William Ewart GladstoneWilliam Ewart GladstoneWilliam Ewart Gladstone FRS FSS was a British Liberal statesman. In a career lasting over sixty years, he served as Prime Minister four separate times , more than any other person. Gladstone was also Britain's oldest Prime Minister, 84 years old when he resigned for the last time...
marries Catherine GlynneCatherine GladstoneCatherine Glynne Gladstone was the wife of British Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone for 59 years, until his death in 1898.-Family:...
of Hawarden. - August 27 - Mary Anne Lewis, widow of Cardiff MP Wyndham LewisWyndham Lewis (politician)Wyndham Lewis was a British politician and a close associate of Benjamin Disraeli.Lewis was the son of Reverend Wyndham Lewis, of Tongwynlais, Glamorganshire. He sat as Member of Parliament for Cardiff from 1820 to 1826, for Aldeburgh from 1827 to 1829 and for Maidstone from 1835 to 1838.Lewis...
, marries Benjamin Disraeli. - October 5 - Opening of West Bute Dock.
- November 4 - Newport RisingNewport RisingThe Newport Rising was the last large-scale armed rebellion against authority in mainland Britain, when on 4 November 1839, somewhere between 1,000 and 5,000 Chartist sympathisers, including many coal-miners, most with home-made arms, led by John Frost, marched on the town of Newport,...
: several thousand coal miners march on the Westgate Hotel in NewportNewportNewport is a city and unitary authority area in Wales. Standing on the banks of the River Usk, it is located about east of Cardiff and is the largest urban area within the historic county boundaries of Monmouthshire and the preserved county of Gwent...
to liberate ChartistChartismChartism was a movement for political and social reform in the United Kingdom during the mid-19th century, between 1838 and 1859. It takes its name from the People's Charter of 1838. Chartism was possibly the first mass working class labour movement in the world...
prisoners. 28 people are shot dead by police. - November 23 - Zephaniah WilliamsZephaniah WilliamsZephaniah Williams was born near Argoed, Sirhowy Valley, Monmouthshire, with much of his childhood spent near the then village of Blackwood, also living for some periods in Caerphilly and Nantyglo...
, one of the leaders of the Chartist march on Newport, is arrested on board ship at CardiffCardiffCardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
. - Chartist riot in LlanidloesLlanidloesLlanidloes is a town along the A470 road and B4518 road in Powys, within the historic county boundaries of Montgomeryshire , Mid Wales.It is the first town on the River Severn...
. - Sir Thomas Frankland Lewis resigns as chairman of the Poor Law CommissionPoor Law CommissionThe Poor Law Commission was a body established to administrate poor relief after the passing of the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834. The commission was made up of three commissioners who became known as "The Bashaws of Somerset House", their secretary and nine clerks or assistant commissioners...
, to be replaced by his son, George Cornewall LewisGeorge Cornewall LewisSir George Cornewall Lewis, 2nd Baronet PC was a British statesman and man of letters.-Family:He was born in London, the son of Thomas Frankland Lewis of Harpton Court, Radnorshire and his wife Harriet Cornewall...
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New books
- William Bingley - Excursions in North Wales
- Maria James - Wales and other Poems
- William Williams (Caledfryn) - Drych Barddonol
Births
- January 9 - Sarah Jane ReesSarah Jane ReesSarah Jane Rees , also known by her bardic name of "Cranogwen", was a Welsh teacher, poet, editor and temperance campaigner....
(Cranogwen), writer (d. 1916) - March 7 - Ludwig MondLudwig MondDr Ludwig Mond , was a German-born chemist and industrialist who took British nationality.-Education and career:...
, German-born industrialist (d. 1909) - March 31 - Thomas Henry Thomas (Arlunydd Penygarn), artist (d. 1915)
- September 24 - John Neale DaltonJohn Neale DaltonCanon John Neale Dalton KCVO CMG was a chaplain to Queen Victoria and tutor to King George V of the United Kingdom.-Life history:...
, royal chaplain and tutor (d. 1931)
Deaths
- May 11 - "Doctor" John Harries, Cwrt-y-cadno, physician, 54
- May 16 - Edward Clive, 1st Earl of PowisEdward Clive, 1st Earl of PowisEdward Clive, 1st Earl of Powis , known as the Lord Clive between 1774 and 1804, was a British peer and politician.-Background:...
, 84 - May 20 - Rice ReesRice ReesRice Rees was a Welsh cleric and historian.-Life:Rees was born at Ton, near Llandovery, Carmarthenshire, Wales, and christened in the local Independent chapel. From 1819, he was educated for a short time at Lampeter grammar school, under Eliezer Williams, before being educated at home and by his...
, historian, 35 - December 29 - Hopkin Bevan, minister and author, 74