1938 in Wales
Encyclopedia
This article is about the particular significance of the year 1938 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...
- vacant - 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...
- Charles Alfred Howell GreenCharles Alfred Howell GreenCharles Alfred Howell Green was the first bishop of the newly established diocese of Monmouth and subsequently Bishop of Bangor during which time he also served as Archbishop of Wales... - 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 :...
- J.J.John James Williams (J. J.)John James Williams , commonly known by his bardic name of "J.J.", was a Welsh poet and served as Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales from 1936 to 1939.-References:...
Events
- 14-19 January - A storm causes extensive damage in AberystwythAberystwythAberystwyth is a historic market town, administrative centre and holiday resort within Ceredigion, Wales. Often colloquially known as Aber, it is located at the confluence of the rivers Ystwyth and Rheidol....
; the promenade and pier are largely destroyed by 90 mph winds. - 8 May - William Ormsby-GoreWilliam Ormsby-Gore, 4th Baron HarlechWilliam George Arthur Ormsby-Gore, 4th Baron Harlech KG, GCMG, PC , known as William Ormsby-Gore until 1938, was a British Conservative politician and banker.-Background:...
succeeds his father as Baron Harlech. - October - The first scheduled night flight in the UK begins operating between 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...
and Weston-super-MareWeston-super-MareWeston-super-Mare is a seaside resort, town and civil parish in the unitary authority of North Somerset, which is within the ceremonial county of Somerset, England. It is located on the Bristol Channel coast, south west of Bristol, spanning the coast between the bounding high ground of Worlebury...
. - November - Completion of the Temple of Peace and HealthTemple of Peace, CardiffThe Welsh National Temple of Peace and Health, as known as the Temple of Peace, is a non-religious civic building in the civic centre of Cardiff, Wales. It was designed by the architect Sir Percy Thomas.-Location:...
in Cathays ParkCathays ParkIn addition to the large lawn in front of the City Hall, Cathays Park includes three formal gardens. All of the spaces are within conservation areas and many of the surrounding buildings are listed. The open spaces are very important to the image of the city. Several important buildings overlook...
, Cardiff. - Excavation of Llantwit Major Roman VillaLlantwit Major Roman VillaThe Llantwit Major Roman Villa was a Roman L-shaped courtyard villa located at what is now Caermead, immediately north of the town of Llantwit Major in the Welsh county of South Glamorgan....
, by V. E. Nash-WilliamsVictor Erle Nash-WilliamsVictor Erle Nash-Williams was a noted Welsh archaeologist.Educated at the Lewis School, Pengam, and at the University College in Cardiff, he was appointed Keeper at the National Museum of Wales...
, begins (continues to 1948).
Arts and literature
- Ivor NovelloIvor NovelloDavid Ivor Davies , better known as Ivor Novello, was a Welsh composer, singer and actor who became one of the most popular British entertainers of the first half of the 20th century. Born into a musical family, his first successes were as a songwriter...
appears in Henry VHenry V (play)Henry V is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to be written in approximately 1599. Its full titles are The Cronicle History of Henry the Fifth and The Life of Henry the Fifth...
at Drury Lane TheatreTheatre Royal, Drury LaneThe Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is a West End theatre in Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, a borough of London. The building faces Catherine Street and backs onto Drury Lane. The building standing today is the most recent in a line of four theatres at the same location dating back to 1663,...
, produced by Lewis CassonLewis CassonSir Lewis Thomas Casson MC was a British actor and theatre director and the husband of Dame Sybil Thorndike.-Early life:...
. - Augustus JohnAugustus JohnAugustus Edwin John OM, RA, was a Welsh painter, draughtsman, and etcher. For a short time around 1910, he was an important exponent of Post-Impressionism in the United Kingdom....
resigns from the Royal AcademyRoyal AcademyThe Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...
.
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 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...
)
- National Eisteddfod of Wales: Chair - Gwilym R. JonesGwilym R. JonesGwilym Richard Jones was the first person to have been awarded all three major literary awards at the National Eisteddfod of Wales. Jones was awarded the crown in 1935, the chair in 1938 and the prose medal in 1941...
- National Eisteddfod of Wales: Crown - Edgar H. Thomas
- National Eisteddfod of Wales: Prose Medal - Elena Puw Morgan
New books
- Richard BennettRichard BennettRichard Bennett may refer to:* Richard Bennett , film star and father of actresses Constance Bennett and Joan Bennett* Richard Bennett , English cricketer...
- Methodistiaeth Caersws - Tom Beynon - Gwrid ar Orwel ym Morgannwg
- Edward Tegla DaviesEdward Tegla DaviesEdward Tegla Davies was a Methodist minister and a popular Welsh language writer, born at Llandegla-yn-Iâl, Denbighshire, north Wales....
- Stori Sam - Idris DaviesIdris DaviesIdris Davies was a Welsh poet. He was born in Rhymney, near Caerphilly in South Wales, the Welsh-speaking son of colliery chief winderman Evan Davies and his wife Elizabeth Ann. Davies became a poet, originally writing in Welsh, but later writing exclusively in English...
- Gwalia Deserta - Ness EdwardsNess EdwardsOnesimus Edwards was a Welsh Labour Party politician.A trade unionist, Ness Edwards was imprisoned in 1917 as a conscientious objector to the conscription of the First World War. He was elected Member of Parliament for Caerphilly at a by-election in 1939 following the death of Labour MP and...
- History of the South Wales Miners Federation - Richard HughesRichard Hughes (writer)Richard Arthur Warren Hughes OBE was a British writer of poems, short stories, novels and plays.He was born in Weybridge, Surrey. His father was a civil servant Arthur Hughes, and his mother Louisa Grace Warren who had been brought up in Jamaica...
- In Hazard - Edward Morgan Humphreys - Dirgelwch Gallt Y Ffrwd
- Jack JonesJack Jones (novelist)Jack Jones was a Welsh novelist and playwright who began writing in the 1930s.-Early years:Jack Jones was born in 1884 at Tai-Harri-Blawdd in Merthyr Tydfil, the son of a coal miner. He joined his father to work in the mine aged 12. At the age of 17 he joined the army and was posted to South...
- Bidden to the Feast - Edith Picton-TurbervillEdith Picton-TurbervillEdith Picton-Turbervill was a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom.She was elected Member of Parliament for the marginal The Wrekin at the 1929 general election. Picton-Turbervill held the seat until 1931 when it was gained by the Conservatives.- External links :...
- Myself When Young - William PlomerWilliam PlomerWilliam Charles Franklyn Plomer CBE was a South African author, known as a novelist, poet and literary editor. He was educated mostly in the United Kingdom...
(ed.) - Kilvert's Diary, 1870-1879 - Ifor WilliamsIfor WilliamsSir Ifor Williams was a Welsh scholar who laid the foundations for the academic study of Old Welsh, particularly early Welsh poetry....
(ed.) - Canu AneirinAneirinAneirin or Neirin was a Dark Age Brythonic poet. He is believed to have been a bard or 'court poet' in one of the Cumbric kingdoms of the Old North or Hen Ogledd, probably that of Gododdin at Edinburgh, in modern Scotland...
New drama
- James Kitchener DaviesJames Kitchener DaviesJames Kitchener Davies , also known as J. Kitchener Davies, was a Welsh poet and playwright who wrote mostly in the Welsh language...
- Susannah - Charles Langbridge MorganCharles Langbridge MorganCharles Langbridge Morgan , was an English-born playwright and novelist of English and Welsh parentage. The main themes of his work were, as he himself put it, "Art, Love, and Death", and the relation between them...
- The Flashing Stream - Emlyn WilliamsEmlyn WilliamsGeorge Emlyn Williams, CBE , known as Emlyn Williams, was a Welsh dramatist and actor.-Biography:He was born into a Welsh-speaking, working class family in Mostyn, Flintshire....
- The Corn is GreenThe Corn is GreenThe Corn Is Green is a semi-autobiographical play by Emlyn Williams.At its core is L. C. Moffat, a strong-willed English school teacher working in a small poverty-stricken coal mining town in the late 19th century...
Music
- Tudor DaviesTudor Davies-Biography:Tudor Davies was born in Cymmer, near Porth, South Wales, on 12 November 1892. He studied in Cardiff and at the Royal College of Music in London. He served as an engineer in the Royal Navy during World War I...
plays the lead in the first English-language production of Verdi's Don CarlosDon CarlosDon Carlos is a five-act grand opera composed by Giuseppe Verdi to a French language libretto by Camille du Locle and Joseph Méry, based on the dramatic play Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien by Friedrich Schiller...
, at Sadler's Wells.
Film
- Naunton WayneNaunton WayneNaunton Wayne , was a British character actor, born in Llanwonno, South Wales. He was educated at Clifton College....
appears as Caldicott in The Lady VanishesThe Lady Vanishes (1938 film)The Lady Vanishes is a 1938 British thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and adapted by Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder from the 1936 novel The Wheel Spins by Ethel Lina White...
.
Broadcasting
- 1 March - BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
Radio broadcasts the world première of Arwel HughesArwel HughesArwel Hughes OBE , was a Welsh orchestral conductor and composer.Hughes was born in Rhosllannerchrugog near Wrexham and was educated at Ruabon Grammar School and at the Royal College of Music, where he studied with Ralph Vaughan Williams and C. H. Kitson...
's latest composition, Tydi a Roddaist.
Sport
- Rugby UnionRugby unionRugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
- 5 February - Scotland beat Wales 8–6 at Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Births
- 6 January - William EdwardsWilliam Edwards (politician)William Henry Edwards, also known as Will Edwards was a British Labour politician.Edwards was born in Amlwch, Anglesey. His father was a tenant farmer and his mother was a seamstress. He was educated at the local Grammar School and at Sir Thomas Jones' Comprehensive School...
, politician (d. 2007) - 20 April - Andrew VicariAndrew VicariAndrew Vicari is a Welsh painter working in France who has established a career painting portraits of the rich and famous. Despite being largely unknown in his own country, Vicari was Britain's richest living painter....
, artist - 14 May - Clive RowlandsClive RowlandsClive Rowlands OBE is a former Welsh rugby union footballer and later coach.A teacher by profession, Rowlands played club rugby at scrum-half for Abercraf, Pontypool, Llanelli and Swansea...
, rugby player and coach - 13 June - Gwynne HowellGwynne HowellGwynne Howell is a Welsh bass, particularly associated with Verdi and Wagner roles.-Life and career:Born in Gorseinon, Wales, he studied at the RMCM, where he sang Leporello in concert, and Hunding, Fasolt, and Pogner in staged performances.He joined the Sadler's Wells Theatre in 1968, and the...
, bass - 6 July - Tony LewisTony LewisAnthony Robert Lewis CBE is a former Welsh cricketer, who went on to become the face of BBC Television cricket coverage in the 1990s, and become president of the MCC. Lewis attended Christ's College, Cambridge and played for Cambridge University. He also played county cricket for Glamorgan, and...
, cricketer - 6 August - Rees DaviesRees DaviesSir Robert Rees Davies CBE , was a noted Welsh historian.He was born in Merionethshire, and educated at Bala grammar school. He was bilingual in Welsh and English. He received a First in his degree from University College, London, where he later returned as a lecturer...
, historian (d. 2005) - 9 October - Denzil DaviesDenzil DaviesDavid John Denzil Davies is a former British Treasury Minister . He served for 35 years as the Member of Parliament for Llanelli for the Labour Party from 1970 to 2005, and is a member of the Privy Council.-Early life:He attended Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School for Boys in Carmarthen, and then...
, politician - 1 November - Delwyn WilliamsDelwyn WilliamsDavid John Delwyn Williams, known as Delwyn Williams, is a British Conservative Party politician and solicitor.He was educated at Welshpool High School and the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, where he obtained a LLB degree. He subsequently qualified as a solicitor...
, politician - 15 December - Michael BogdanovMichael BogdanovMichael Bogdanov , is a British theatre director known for his work with new plays, modern reinterpretations of Shakespeare, musicals and work for Young People.-Early years:...
, theatre director
Deaths
- 3 February - James BevanJames BevanJames Bevan was a Wales international rugby union three-quarter who played club rugby for Clifton RFC and Newport...
, First Wales rugby union captain, 81 - 9 February - Dick HellingsDick HellingsRichard 'Dick' Hellings was an English born rugby union forward who played international rugby for Wales and club rugby for Llwynypia. Hellings was noted for his strength built from years cutting coal as a Rhondda miner...
, Wales international rugby player, 63 - 30 March - Jack ElliottJack Elliott (rugby player)John "Jack" Elliott was a Welsh rugby union scrum-half who played club rugby for Cardiff and international rugby for Wales, winning three caps....
, Wales international rugby player, 66 - 16 April - Sir William PriceWilliam Price (industrialist)Sir William Price , born in Wales, was a farmer and industrialist, Director of United Dairies Ltd. He was knighted in 1922, on the nomination of David Lloyd George, by King George V . A fluent speaker of Welsh, he was nominated because of his company's deliveries of milk during the General strike...
, industrialist - 8 May - George Ralph Charles Ormsby-Gore, 3rd Baron Harlech, 83
- 28 May - Alfred BriceAlfred BriceAlfred "Bobby" Brice was a Welsh international rugby union forward who played club rugby for Aberavon and Cardiff. A three times Triple Crown winner, Brice was known for his tough and aggressive tackling play....
, Wales international rugby player, 66 - 23 June - Allen Clement Edwards, politician, 69
- 22 July - Giotto GriffithsGiotto GriffithsGriffith 'Giotto' Griffiths was a Welsh international rugby union half-back who played club rugby for Llanelli and international rugby for Wales.-Rugby career:...
, Wales international rugby player, 73 - 22 October (in Dublin) - Sir John Purser GriffithJohn Griffith (engineer)Sir John Purser Griffith was an Irish civil engineer.John Griffith was educated at Trinity College Dublin and gained a license in civil engineering in 1868. He served a two year apprenticeship under Dr Bindon Blood Stoney, the Engineer in Chief of the Dublin Port and Docks, before working as...
, civil engineer, 90 - 4 November - John Thomas JobJohn Thomas JobJohn Thomas Job , was a Welsh minister, hymn-writer and poet.He was born at Llandybie in Carmarthenshire, and educated locally. He went on to Trefeca College to train as a Methodist minister. In 1894, he married Etta Davies, and they had three children...
, minister, hymn-writer and poet, 71 - 28 November - Reginald Arthur (Reggie) GibbsReggie GibbsReginald "Reggie" Arthur Gibbs was a Welsh international rugby union wing who played club rugby for Penarth and Cardiff. He was capped 16 times for his country and captained his team on one occasion...
, shipowner and rugby footballer, 56 - 29 December (at sea) - Eluned MorganEluned Morgan (author)Eluned Morgan , was a Welsh-language author from Patagonia.Born aboard the ship Myfanwy en route from Britain to Patagonia in South America, she was the daughter of Lewis Jones who gave his name to the city of Trelew, in Argentina...
, writer, 68 - date unknown - Gwynfil Evans (Barry Western), novelist