1926 in Wales
Encyclopedia
This article is about the particular significance of the year 1926 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...
.
Incumbents
- Prince of WalesPrince of WalesPrince of Wales is a title traditionally granted to the heir apparent to the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the 15 other independent Commonwealth realms...
- Edward, Prince of WalesEdward VIII of the United KingdomEdward VIII was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth, and Emperor of India, from 20 January to 11 December 1936.Before his accession to the throne, Edward was Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall and Rothesay...
, son of King George V of the United KingdomGeorge V of the United KingdomGeorge V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936.... - Princess of WalesPrincess of WalesPrincess of Wales is a British courtesy title held by the wife of The Prince of Wales since the first "English" Prince of Wales in 1283.Although there have been considerably more than ten male heirs to the throne, there have been only ten Princesses of Wales. The majority of Princes of Wales...
- vacant - Archbishop of WalesArchbishop of WalesThe post of Archbishop of Wales was created in 1920 when the Church in Wales was separated from the Church of England , and disestablished...
- Alfred George EdwardsAlfred George EdwardsAlfred George Edwards was elected the first Archbishop of the disestablished Church in Wales.The son of a priest of the Church of England, Edwards was born in Llanymawddwy in Gwynedd. He studied at Jesus College, Oxford before being appointed Warden of Llandovery College in 1875... - ArchdruidArchdruidThe Archdruid is the title used by the presiding official of the Gorsedd.The Archdruid presides over the most important ceremonies at the National Eisteddfod of Wales including the Crowning of the Bard, The Award of the Prose Medal and Chairing of the Bard. From 1932 only former winners of the...
of the National Eisteddfod of WalesNational Eisteddfod of WalesThe National Eisteddfod of Wales is the most important of several eisteddfodau that are held annually, mostly in Wales.- Organisation :...
- ElfedHowell Elvet LewisHowell Elvet Lewis CH known by his bardic name Elfed , independent minister, hymn-writer, and poet served as Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales from 1924 to 1928.-Early life:...
Events
- 28 April - J. G. Parry-Thomas breaks the world land speed record on Pendine SandsPendine SandsPendine Sands is a length of beach on the shores of Carmarthen Bay on the south coast of Wales. It stretches from Gilman Point in the west to Laugharne Sands in the east. The village of Pendine is situated near the western end of Pendine Sands....
, in his new car, "BabsBabs (Land speed record car)Babs was the land speed record car built and driven by John Parry-Thomas. It was powered by a 27-litre Liberty aero-engine.Babs began as 'Chitty 4', one of Count Louis Zborowski's series of aero-engined cars named 'Chitty Bang Bang'. As it was built at Zborowski's estate of Higham Park near...
". - 1 May - A lockoutLockout (industry)A lockout is a work stoppage in which an employer prevents employees from working. This is different from a strike, in which employees refuse to work.- Causes :...
of mineworkers leads to the declaration of the UK General Strike of 1926UK General Strike of 1926The 1926 general strike in the United Kingdom was a general strike that lasted nine days, from 4 May 1926 to 13 May 1926. It was called by the general council of the Trades Union Congress in an unsuccessful attempt to force the British government to act to prevent wage reduction and worsening...
. Police and miners clash eighteen times in the course of industrial disputes in the South Wales coalfieldSouth Wales CoalfieldThe South Wales Coalfield is a large region of south Wales that is rich with coal deposits, especially the South Wales Valleys.-The coalfield area:...
. - October - Miners begin to return to work in large numbers.
- 14 October - David Lloyd GeorgeDavid Lloyd GeorgeDavid Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM, PC was a British Liberal politician and statesman...
becomes the first Welshman to lead the Liberal Party. - The first parachuteParachuteA parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag, or in the case of ram-air parachutes, aerodynamic lift. Parachutes are usually made out of light, strong cloth, originally silk, now most commonly nylon...
jump from an RAF plane is made at RAF SealandRAF SealandRAF Sealand was a former Royal Air Force station in Flintshire, north Wales and operated between 1916 and 2006.Under defence cuts announced in 2004 RAF Sealand was completely closed in April 2006. All remaining RAF units were moved to RAF Leeming...
in FlintshireFlintshireFlintshire is a county in north-east Wales. It borders Denbighshire, Wrexham and the English county of Cheshire. It is named after the historic county of Flintshire, which had notably different borders...
. - Edward, Prince of Wales visits Llandrindod WellsLlandrindod WellsLlandrindod Wells , colloquially known locally as "Llandod", is a town and community in Powys, within the historic boundaries of Radnorshire, mid Wales, United Kingdom. It was developed as a spa town in the 19th century, with a boom in the late 20th century as a centre of local government. Before...
for a scout jamboreeJamboree (Scouting)In Scouting, a jamboree is a large gathering of Scouts who rally at a national or international level.The 1st World Scout Jamboree was held in 1920, and was hosted by the United Kingdom...
. - Orthopaedic surgeon Robert JonesRobert Jones (surgeon)Sir Robert Jones, 1st Baronet, KBE, CB was a British orthopaedic surgeon who helped to establish the modern specialty of orthpaedic surgery in Britain....
is created a baronet (Jones of Rhyl). - Sir William Henry Hoare VincentWilliam Henry Hoare VincentSir William Henry Hoare Vincent , was a Welsh civil servant and diplomat.The youngest son of James Crawley Vincent and grandson of the dean of Bangor, he was educated at Brecon and Trinity College, Dublin...
represents IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
at the League of NationsLeague of NationsThe League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
. - England footballer Dixie DeanDixie DeanWilliam Ralph Dean , better known as Dixie Dean, was an English football player. Dean originally started his career with Birkenhead based Tranmere Rovers before moving on to Everton, the club he had supported as a child, where he became one of the most prolific goal-scorers in English football...
fractures his skull in a motorcycle accident near HolywellHolywellHolywell is the fifth largest town in Flintshire, North Wales, lying to the west of the estuary of the River Dee.-History:The market town of Holywell takes its name from the St Winefride's Well, a holy well surrounded by a chapel...
. He goes on to make a full recovery.
Awards
- National Eisteddfod of WalesNational Eisteddfod of WalesThe National Eisteddfod of Wales is the most important of several eisteddfodau that are held annually, mostly in Wales.- Organisation :...
(held in SwanseaSwanseaSwansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands...
)
- National Eisteddfod of Wales: Chair - D. Gwenallt JonesD. Gwenallt JonesGwenallt , poet, critic, and scholar, was one of the most important figures of 20th-century Welsh-language literature.-Early life:...
- 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
- David Davies - The Influence of the French Revolution on Welsh Life and Literature
- Thomas Mardy Rees - Seth JoshuaSeth JoshuaSeth Joshua , was a Welsh Presbyterian minister and Evangelist who was noted for his influence before during and after the 1904-1905 Welsh Revival as well as for being a direct influence on the ministry of Evan Roberts, one of the leading figures of that revival...
and Frank Joshua - Bertrand RussellBertrand RussellBertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, and social critic. At various points in his life he considered himself a liberal, a socialist, and a pacifist, but he also admitted that he had never been any of these things...
- On Education, Especially in Early Childhood
Music
- David John de LloydDavid John de LloydDr David John de Lloyd was a Welsh musician and composer.Born in Skewen, de Lloyd grew up in Aberystwyth, where he attended both school and university. In 1905, he became the college's first B.Mus. graduate. He also studied in Leipzig and Dublin. In 1926, he replaced Sir Walford Davies as...
succeeds Walford Davies as Professor of Music at the University of Wales, AberystwythUniversity of Wales, AberystwythAberystwyth University is a university located in Aberystwyth, Wales. Aberystwyth was a founding Member Institution of the former federal University of Wales. As of late 2006, the university had over 12,000 students spread across seventeen academic departments.The university was founded in 1872 as...
.
Sport
- BoxingBoxingBoxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
- 5 April - Dick PowerDick PowerDick Power was a Welsh professional heavyweight boxer. Born in Crumlin in Monmouthshire, Power became the Welsh heavyweight champion in 1926.-Boxing career:...
beats Tom NorrisTom NorrisTom Norris was a Welsh professional heavyweight boxer. Born in Clydach Vale in the Rhondda, Norris became the Welsh heavyweight champion in 1925.-Boxing career:...
at Taff Vale Park in PontypriddPontypriddPontypridd is both a community and a principal town of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales and is situated 12 miles/19 km north of the Welsh capital city of Cardiff...
to become the new Welsh heavyweight champion.
- 5 April - Dick Power
- Cricket - The South Wales and Monmouthshire Cricket Association is founded.
- Rugby leagueRugby leagueRugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
- Wales defeat New Zealand 34-8.
Births
- 25 January - Richard DaviesRichard Davies (actor)Richard Davies is a Welsh actor, from Dowlais, Merthyr Tydfil, Wales whose film and TV work covers many years but is probably best known for his performance as the exasperated schoolmaster Mr Price in the LWT popular situation comedy Please Sir!.Davies uses a broad Welsh accent for much of his...
, actor - 21 February - Danny CanningDanny CanningLeslie Daniel "Danny" Canning is a Welsh former professional footballer. A goalkeeper, he made over 100 appearances in The Football League during spells with Cardiff City, Swansea Town and Nottingham Forest.-Career:...
, footballer - 2 May - Clive JenkinsClive JenkinsDavid Clive Jenkins was a British trade union leader. "Organising the middle classes", his stated recreation in Who's Who, sums up both his sense of humour and his achievements in the British trade union movement....
, trade union leader (d. 1999) - 17 May - Tenniel EvansTenniel Evans-Family:Walter Tenniel Evans was born in Nairobi, Kenya. His middle name derived from the illustrator Sir John Tenniel, a distant relation. His daughter, Serena Evans, is an actress, and his son, Matthew, is a television director....
, actor - 27 July - Eddie ThomasEddie ThomasEddie Thomas MBE , was a Welsh boxing champion and boxing manager.Thomas was born in Merthyr Tydfil. After a highly successful amateur boxing career, he turned professional in 1946. He won the Welsh welterweight title in 1948, the British welterweight title in 1949, and the European welterweight...
, boxing champion and manager (d. 1997) - 30 July - Gareth Alban DaviesGareth Alban DaviesGareth Alban Davies , was a Welsh poet, educator and Hispanist who spent the largest span of his academic career lecturing at the University of Leeds...
, poet and Hispanist (d. 2009) - 1 August - Robert ThomasRobert Thomas (sculptor)Robert Thomas was a Welsh sculptor born in Cwmparc in the Rhondda Valley. He is best known for his work in bronze sculptures, many of which are on public display...
, sculptor (d. 1999) - 23 September - Courtney MeredithCourtney MeredithCourtney Meredith was a Welsh international rugby union prop who played club rugby for Neath. He won fourteen caps for Wales and also played for invitational club the Barbarians. Meredith was a powerful prop, and was much praised by second row players for his tight packing, which allowed them the...
, Wales and British Lions rugby player - 2 October - Jan MorrisJan MorrisJan Morris CBE is a Welsh nationalist, historian, author and travel writer. She is known particularly for the Pax Britannica trilogy, a history of the British Empire, and for portraits of cities, notably Oxford, Venice, Trieste, Hong Kong, and New York City.With an English mother and Welsh father,...
(as James Morris), author - 9 October - Ruth EllisRuth EllisRuth Ellis , née Neilson, was the last woman to be executed in the United Kingdom. She was convicted of the murder of her lover, David Blakely, and hanged at Holloway Prison, London, by Albert Pierrepoint.-Biography:...
, murderess (d. 1955) - 20 December - Geoffrey HoweGeoffrey HoweRichard Edward Geoffrey Howe, Baron Howe of Aberavon, CH, QC, PC is a former British Conservative politician. He was Margaret Thatcher's longest-serving Cabinet minister, successively holding the posts of Chancellor of the Exchequer, Foreign Secretary, and finally Leader of the House of Commons...
, politician - 30 December - Clifford Williams, actor and director
- date unknown - Sir Ronald WaterhouseRonald WaterhouseSir Ronald Waterhouse, GBE, QC was a retired High Court judge who led a three-year inquiry into the Wales child abuse scandal in the 1990s. Ronald Gough Waterhouse was born in Holywell, Flintshire, Wales, UK...
, QC
Deaths
- 7 February - William Evans HoyleWilliam Evans HoyleDr William Evans Hoyle was the first director of the National Museum of Wales between 1909 and 1926. Trained as a medical anatomist, Hoyle is most famous for his monographic studies on cephalopods from major exploring expeditions of his era including the Challenger, the Albatross, the British...
, director of the National Museum of Wales, 71 - 17 March - Sir David William EvansDavid William EvansSir David William Evans was a Welsh lawyer and public servant, who played a leading role in the fight against tuberculosis in Wales. In his early adult life, Evans was a very keen sportsman and played rugby union for Oxford University and Cardiff...
, lawyer, public servant, and Wales international rugby player, 59 - 20 May (in London) - Thomas Rees, academic, 56
- 24 May - John Williams, royal physician, 85
- 10 August - John Humphreys DaviesJohn Humphreys DaviesJohn Humphreys Davies was a Welsh lawyer, bibliographer and educator.Born at Llangeitho, Ceredigion, he received his education at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth and Lincoln College, Oxford, before being called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn. His interest in Welsh literature is...
, academic, 55 - 20 August - Billy TrewBilly TrewBilly Trew was a Welsh international centre, outside half and wing who played club rugby for Swansea Rugby Football Club. He won 29 caps for Wales and is seen as one of the key players of the first Golden Age of Welsh rugby union...
, Wales rugby union captain - 23 August - Ernest WillowsErnest WillowsErnest Thompson Willows was a pioneer Welsh aviator and airship builder the first person in the United Kingdom to hold a pilots certificate for an airship when the Royal Aero Club awarded him Airship Pilots Certificate No. 1....
, aviation pioneer, 40 - 5 October - Dorothy TennantDorothy TennantDorothy Tennant was a Victorian neoclassicist painter , born in Wales. She studied painting under Edward Poynter at the Slade School of Fine Art and with Jean-Jacques Henner in Paris. In 1890, she married the explorer of Africa, Henry Morton Stanley, and became known as Lady Stanley...
(Lady Stanley), artist, 71 - 13 October - Eliseus Williams (Eifion Wyn)Eliseus Williams (Eifion Wyn)Eliseus Williams, better known by his bardic name Eifion Wyn , was a Welsh language poet, born in Porthmadog in the old county of Caernarfonshire, north Wales...
, poet, 59 - 4 November - John OwenJohn Owen (bishop)John Owen was the Professor of Welsh at the St David's College, as well as the Dean of St Asaph. He became the Bishop of St David's in 1897....
, Bishop of St David's, 72 - 30 November - Ellis Ellis-GriffithSir Ellis Ellis-Griffith, 1st BaronetSir Ellis Jones Ellis-Griffith, 1st Baronet PC KC , was a British barrister and Liberal politician.Born in Blaenau Ffestiniog, Ellis-Griffith was the son of Thomas Morris Griffith, a builder...
, politician, 66