1963 in Wales
Encyclopedia
This article is about the particular significance of the year 1963 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...
- Charles, Prince of WalesCharles, Prince of WalesPrince Charles, Prince of Wales is the heir apparent and eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Since 1958 his major title has been His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. In Scotland he is additionally known as The Duke of Rothesay... - 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...
- Edwin MorrisAlfred Edwin MorrisAlfred Edwin Morris was the Bishop of Monmouth and Archbishop of Wales in the middle of the 20th century. After World War I service with the RAMC he went up to St John’s College, Oxford. Ordained in 1924 he became Professor of Hebrew and Theology at St David's College, Lampeter, holding the... - 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 :...
- CynanAlbert Evans-JonesSir Cynan Evans-Jones CBE , more commonly known within Wales by his bardic name of Cynan, was a Welsh poet and dramatist.-Early life:...
Events
- 2 February - Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg holds its historic first protest 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....
, in the form of a sit-down at Trefechan Bridge. - 28 March - Labour PartyLabour Party (UK)The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
candidate Neil McBrideNeil McBrideNeil McBride was a British Labour Party politician.He was Member of Parliament for Swansea East from a by-election in 1963 until his death shortly before the October 1974 general election...
wins the Swansea East by-electionSwansea East by-election, 1963The Swansea East by-election, 1963 was a parliamentary by-election held for the British House of Commons constituency of Swansea East on 28 March 1963....
caused by the death of Labour Member of ParliamentMember of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) David MortDavid MortDavid Llewellyn Mort was a British Labour Party politician.Born in Briton Ferry, Glamorgan, he left school aged thirteen when his father died. After initially working in an outfitters shop, he subsequently entered the local steel works...
. - August - Mandy Rice-DaviesMandy Rice-DaviesMandy Rice-Davies , is a Welsh former model and showgirl best known for her role in the Profumo affair and her association with Christine Keeler, which discredited the Conservative government of British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan in 1963.-Early life:She was born Marilyn Rice-Davies in...
gives evidence at the trial of Stephen WardStephen WardStephen Thomas Ward was an osteopath and artist who became notorious as one of the central figures in the 1963 Profumo affair, a British public scandal which profoundly affected the ruling Conservative Party government...
, including the famous phrase, "Well, he would, wouldn't he?" - Dunraven CastleDunraven CastleDunraven Castle was a mansion on the South Wales coast near Southerndown. It was built in 1803 and demolished in 1963.The site of the castle was the location for several earlier buildings, the first of which is said to have been built by Armand Botiler in the mid-12th century...
is demolished.
Arts and literature
- A scientific journal in the Welsh languageWelsh languageWelsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
, Y Gwyddonydd, is launched.
Awards
- National Eisteddfod of Wales (held in LlandudnoLlandudnoLlandudno is a seaside resort and town in Conwy County Borough, Wales. In the 2001 UK census it had a population of 20,090 including that of Penrhyn Bay and Penrhynside, which are within the Llandudno Community...
)
- National Eisteddfod of Wales: Chair - withheld
- National Eisteddfod of Wales: Crown - Tom Parri Jones
- National Eisteddfod of Wales: Prose Medal - William Llywelyn Jones
New books
- Kenneth O. Morgan - David Lloyd George, Welsh Radical as World Statesman
- 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...
- Essays in Skepticism - R. S. ThomasR. S. ThomasRonald Stuart Thomas was a Welsh poet and Anglican clergyman, noted for his nationalism, spirituality and deep dislike of the anglicisation of Wales...
- The Bread of Truth - Clough Williams-EllisClough Williams-EllisSir Bertram Clough Williams-Ellis, CBE, MC was an English-born Welsh architect known chiefly as creator of the Italianate village of Portmeirion in North Wales.-Origins, education and early career:...
- Portmeirion, the Place and its Meaning
Music
- 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...
- Pantycelyn (oratorio) - Daniel JonesDaniel Jones (composer)Daniel Jenkyn Jones OBE was a composer of classical music, who worked in Britain. He used both serial and tonal techniques...
- The Knife (opera) - Grace WilliamsGrace Williams-Biography:Williams was born in Barry, near Cardiff, Wales.She was educated at Barry County School, and won a scholarship to Cardiff University . She then went to the Royal College of Music, London, where she was taught by Ralph Vaughan Williams...
- Trumpet Concerto
Film
- Richard BurtonRichard BurtonRichard Burton, CBE was a Welsh actor. He was nominated seven times for an Academy Award, six of which were for Best Actor in a Leading Role , and was a recipient of BAFTA, Golden Globe and Tony Awards for Best Actor. Although never trained as an actor, Burton was, at one time, the highest-paid...
and Elizabeth TaylorElizabeth TaylorDame Elizabeth Rosemond "Liz" Taylor, DBE was a British-American actress. From her early years as a child star with MGM, she became one of the great screen actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age...
star in Cleopatra. - Desmond LlewelynDesmond LlewelynDesmond Wilkinson Llewelyn was a Welsh actor, famous for playing Q in 17 of the James Bond films between 1963 and 1999.-Early life:...
makes his first appearance as "Q" in the James BondJames BondJames Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
series of films. - Rachel RobertsRachel Roberts (British actress)Rachel Roberts was a Welsh actress noted for her fervour and passion; Roberts is best remembered for her forthright screen performances in two key films of the 1960s, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning and This Sporting Life, in both of which she played the older mistress of the central male...
stars in This Sporting LifeThis Sporting LifeThis Sporting Life is a 1963 British film based on a novel of the same name by David Storey which won the 1960 Macmillan Fiction Award. It tells the story of a rugby league footballer, Frank Machin, in Wakefield, a mining area of Yorkshire, whose romantic life is not as successful as his sporting... - Jack Howells wins the Academy Award for Dylan ThomasDylan Thomas (film)Dylan Thomas is a 1962 short documentary film directed by Jack Howells. It won an Academy Award at the 35th Academy Awards in 1963 for Documentary Short Subject....
at the 35th Academy Awards35th Academy AwardsThe 35th Academy Awards, honoring the best in film for 1962, were held on April 8, 1963 at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica, California...
in the category of Best Documentary Short. As of 2011 it is the only Welsh film to have won an Oscar.
Broadcasting
- The ITV franchise Wales (West and North) Television (WWN) (also called "Teledu Cymru") becomes the only company in Independent Television history to go bankrupt, and is taken over by TWWTWWTWW may refer to:* Television Wales and the West, a commercial television contractor serving Wales and England from 1958-1968* TheWolfWeb, an internet message board for students at North Carolina State University...
.
English-language television
- The new science fiction series Doctor WhoDoctor WhoDoctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
, devised by Welshman Terry NationTerry NationTerry Nation was a Welsh screenwriter and novelist.He is probably best known for creating the villainous Daleks in the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who...
, makes its debut.
Births
- 22 January - Huw Irranca-DaviesHuw Irranca-DaviesIfor Huw Irranca-Davies , born Ifor Huw Davies, is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Ogmore since 2002...
, politician - 27 April - Russell T Davies, writer
- 14 May - Andrew LewisAndrew Lewis (composer)Andrew Lewis is a British composer known mainly for his acousmatic music, that is, electroacoustic music heard only over loudspeakers, though he also composes some chamber and orchestral music....
, composer - 8 June - Louise JonesLouise Jones (cyclist)Louise Jones is a Welsh former racing cyclist.- Career :Jones won the first gold medal for women in cycling at the Commonwealth Games, when women's cycling was introduced in Auckland, Australia in 1990. She finished fourth in the 1998 Commonwealth Games road race in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 1998...
, cyclist - 15 June - Nigel WalkerNigel WalkerNigel Walker is a former Welsh athlete and Wales international rugby union player. He is currently National Director at the . He was born in Cardiff....
, athlete and rugby player - August - Rebecca EvansRebecca EvansRebecca Evans is a Welsh operatic soprano.-Personal life:Born in the village of Pontrhydyfen near Neath, the same village as Hollywood actor Richard Burton....
, opera singer - 19 October - Phil DaviesPhil DaviesPhil Davies is a Welsh former rugby union footballer of the 1980s and 90s.-Rugby career:Davies played his club rugby for Llanelli and enjoyed a distinguished 46 cap career for Wales between 1985 and 1995...
, rugby union player - 1 November - Mark HughesMark HughesLeslie Mark Hughes, OBE , is a former Welsh international footballer. As an international footballer, he made 72 appearances and scored 16 goals....
, footballer and football manager - 7 December - Mark Bowen, footballer
- 16 December - Hugh MorrisHugh MorrisHugh Morris is the current managing director of England cricket, and a former Welsh cricketer, who played in three Tests for England in 1991...
, cricketer - 19 December - Paul RhysPaul RhysPaul Rhys is a British television, film and theatre actor.Rhys was born in Wales and studied at RADA, leaving with the Bancroft Gold Medal in 1987. While there, he obtained his first major screen role, in Absolute Beginners . Since then he has seldom been off the stage and screen...
, actor - 28 December - Simon Thomas, politician
Deaths
- 1 January - David MortDavid MortDavid Llewellyn Mort was a British Labour Party politician.Born in Briton Ferry, Glamorgan, he left school aged thirteen when his father died. After initially working in an outfitters shop, he subsequently entered the local steel works...
, Labour MP for Swansea EastSwansea East (UK Parliament constituency)Swansea East is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.- Boundaries :The constituency comprises the electoral wards of Bonymaen, Cwmbwrla, Landore, Llansamlet, Morriston, Mynydd-Bach, Penderry, and St.Thomas...
, 74 - 13 March - Margaret DaviesMargaret DaviesMargaret Sidney Davies , was a Welsh art collector and patron of the arts. With her sister Gwendoline, she bequeathed a total of 260 works, particularly strong in Impressionist and 20th-century art, which formed the basis of the present-day National Museum Wales' international collection...
, philanthropist, 78 - 15 January - Morgan PhillipsMorgan PhillipsMorgan Walter Phillips was a colliery worker and trade union activist who became the General Secretary of the British Labour Party, involved in two of the party's election victories....
, politician, 60 - 15 March - William CoveWilliam CoveWilliam George Cove was a British politician. He served as a Labour Party Member of Parliament from 1923 to 1959....
, politician, 74 - 15 April - Edward V. RobertsonEdward V. RobertsonEdward Vivian Robertson was a United States Senator from Wyoming.Born in Cardiff, Wales, he served in the Third Battalion of the Welsh Regiment during the Second Boer War from 1899 to 1902. He then engaged in mechanical and electric power engineering from 1902 to 1912. Robertson emigrated to the...
, US senator, 81 - 25 May - William LewisWilliam Lewis (chemist)William Henry Lewis was Professor of Chemistry at the University of Exeter for more than 30 years.Lewis was educated at University College of Wales, Aberystwyth and Jesus College, Oxford...
, chemist - 17 June - John Cowper PowysJohn Cowper Powys-Biography:Powys was born in Shirley, Derbyshire, in 1872, the son of the Reverend Charles Francis Powys , who was vicar of Montacute, Somerset for thirty-two years, and Mary Cowper Johnson, a descendent of the poet William Cowper. He came from a family of eleven children, many of whom were also...
, novelist, 90 - 6 July - John Osborn WilliamsJohn Osborn WilliamsJohn Osborn Williams was the owner of the logging and pit prop exporting business known as The Labrador Development Company limited based in Port Hope Simpson from 1934-1948....
, politician in Newfoundland, 77 - 29 July - Frank MoodyFrank MoodyFrank Moody was a Welsh boxer who fought between 1914 and 1936. He is most notable for winning the British and Empire middleweight boxing championship in 1927 and 1928 and the light-heavyweight title from 1927 to 1929....
, British boxing champion, 62 - 11 September - William Richard WilliamsWilliam Richard WilliamsWilliam Richard Williams was a British civil servant and politician who made a particular specialism of the Post Office.-Post Office career:...
, civil servant and politician, 68 - 26 September - Goronwy Owen, politician, 82
- 1 October - Tal HarrisTal HarrisCharles "Tal" Harris was a Welsh international rugby union scrum-half who represented Wales and played club rugby for Aberavon.-Rugby career:...
, Wales international rugby player, 61 - 11 October - Emlyn Garner EvansEmlyn Garner EvansEmlyn Hugh Garner Evans was a British barrister, Royal Air Force officer, and politician. Early in his career he adhered to the Liberal Party and was once arrested in Nazi Germany for expressing anti-fascist views...
, lawyer and politician, 53 - 26 October - Horace Evans, royal physician, 60
- 16 December - Llewellyn EvansLlewellyn EvansLlewellyn Evans was a Welsh field hockey player who competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics.In 1908 he won the bronze medal as member of the team Wales.-External links:**...
, Olympic hockey player, 84 - 20 December - Reg SkrimshireReg SkrimshireReginald "Reg" Truscott Skrimshire was a Welsh international rugby union forward who played club rugby for Newport and county rugby for Kent. He won three caps for Wales and was the only Welsh representative on the 1903 British Isles tour.- Rugby career :Skrimshire was born in Crickhowell in 1878,...
, Wales and British Lions rugby union player, 85 - 26 December - Gwynn Parry JonesGwynn Parry JonesParry Jones , known early in his career as Gwynn Jones, was a Welsh tenor of the mid-twentieth century.-Life and career:...
, singer, 72 - 30 December - Rees WilliamsRees WilliamsDavid Rees Williams was a Welsh footballer. His regular position was as a forward. He was born in Abercanaid, Merthyr Tydfil. He played for Merthyr Town, Sheffield Wednesday, Manchester United, and Thames Association....
, footballer, 63 - date unknown - Philippa PowysPhilippa PowysCatharine Edith Philippa Powys , a novelist and poet, belonged to one of the most distinguished families in modern literature.-Family:Among her brothers were the novelists John Cowper Powys and Theodore Francis Powys and the essayist Llewelyn Powys as well as Littleton Charles Powys , headmaster...
, author