Incumbents

• Prince of Wales
  Prince of Wales
  Prince 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 Wales
  Charles, Prince of Wales
  Prince 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 Wales
  Princess of Wales
  Princess 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...
  
   - Camilla, The Duchess of Cornwall
  Camilla, The Duchess of Cornwall
  Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall is the second wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, and is the current holder of the titles of Princess of Wales, Duchess of Cornwall, Duchess of Rothesay and Countess of Chester...
  
   (does not use title)
• First Minister
  • Rhodri Morgan
    Rhodri Morgan
    Hywel Rhodri Morgan is a Welsh Labour politician who, as First Secretary for Wales, and subsequently First Minister, was leader of the Welsh Assembly Government from 2000 to 2009. A former leader of Welsh Labour, he was the Assembly Member for Cardiff West from 1999 to 2011...
    
     (until 9 December)
  • Carwyn Jones
    Carwyn Jones
    Carwyn Howell Jones is a Welsh politician and the First Minister of Wales. The third official to lead the Welsh Government, Jones has been Assembly Member for Bridgend since 1999. In the coalition government of Welsh Labour and Plaid Cymru, he was appointed Counsel General for Wales and Leader of...
    
    
• Deputy First Minister of Wales - Ieuan Wyn Jones
  Ieuan Wyn Jones
  Ieuan Wyn Jones, AM is a Welsh politician, who was the Deputy First Minister in the Welsh Assembly Government from 2007 until 2011. Jones is the current leader of Plaid Cymru and Member of the National Assembly for Wales for the Ynys Môn constituency...
  
  
• Presiding Officer of the National Assembly for Wales
  Presiding Officer of the National Assembly for Wales
  The Presiding Officer of the National Assembly for Wales is the Speaker of the National Assembly for Wales, elected by the Members of the National Assembly for Wales to chair their meetings ; to maintain order; and to protect the rights of Members.He or she also heads the Corporate Body of the...
  
   - Dafydd Elis-Thomas
  Dafydd Elis-Thomas
  Dafydd Elis Elis-Thomas, Baron Elis-Thomas, PC, AM, is a Welsh politician and was the Presiding Officer of the National Assembly for Wales until 2011...
  
  
• Secretary of State for Wales
  Secretary of State for Wales
  The Secretary of State for Wales is the head of the Wales Office within the British cabinet. He or she is responsible for ensuring Welsh interests are taken into account by the government, representing the government within Wales and overseeing the passing of legislation which is only for Wales...
  
  
  • Paul Murphy (until 5 June)
  • Peter Hain
    Peter Hain
    Peter Gerald Hain is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for the Welsh constituency of Neath since 1991, and has served in the Cabinets of both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, firstly as Leader of the House of Commons under Blair and both Secretary of State for...
    
    
• Archbishop of Wales
  Archbishop of Wales
  The post of Archbishop of Wales was created in 1920 when the Church in Wales was separated from the Church of England , and disestablished...
  
   - Barry Morgan
  Barry Morgan
  Barry Cennydd Morgan has been the Archbishop of the Church in Wales since 2003.-Early life:Morgan was born in Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen, Neath Port Talbot and studied history at University College, London and theology at Selwyn College, Cambridge...
  
   (Bishop of Llandaff
  Bishop of Llandaff
  The Bishop of Llandaff is the Ordinary of the Church in Wales Diocese of Llandaff.-Area of authority:The diocese covers most of the County of Glamorgan. The Bishop's seat is located in the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul , in the village of Llandaff, just north-west of the City of...
  
  )
• Archdruid
  Archdruid
  The 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 Wales
  National Eisteddfod of Wales
  The National Eisteddfod of Wales is the most important of several eisteddfodau that are held annually, mostly in Wales.- Organisation :...
  
   - Dic Jones
  Dic Jones
  Dic Jones , was a Welsh language poet and the Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales.He was born Richard Lewis Jones at Tre'r-ddôl in Ceredigion. The son of a farmer, Jones himself farmed on at Fferm yr Hendre at Blaenannerch in Aberporth...
  
  

Events

• 1 January
  • The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams
    Rowan Williams
    Rowan Douglas Williams FRSL, FBA, FLSW is an Anglican bishop, poet and theologian. He is the 104th and current Archbishop of Canterbury, Metropolitan of the Province of Canterbury and Primate of All England, offices he has held since early 2003.Williams was previously Bishop of Monmouth and...
    
    , broadcasts a New Year message on BBC
    BBC
    The 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...
    
     television. He warns against losing sight of our "real treasure" and says: "Our hearts will be in a very bad way if they’re focused only on the state of our finances." http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/2009/01/01/archbishop-of-canterbury-warns-that-money-isn-t-everything-55578-22585830/
  • Record numbers of swimmers participate in New Year's Day charity swims at Amroth
    Amroth, Pembrokeshire
    Amroth is a holiday resort village, east of Tenby, Pembrokeshire in West Wales, noted for long sandy beach.-History:The name is Welsh, and probably means "On Rhath".The beach stretches the whole length of the village...
    
    , Saundersfoot
    Saundersfoot
    Saundersfoot is a community in Pembrokeshire, west Wales. It is known as a seaside resort, and along with nearby Tenby is one of the most visited Welsh holiday destinations.-Harbour:...
    
     and Abersoch
    Abersoch
    Abersoch is a large village in the community of Llanengan in Gwynedd, Wales. It is a popular coastal seaside resort with approximately 1,000 inhabitants, on the east-facing south coast of the Llŷn Peninsula at the southern terminus of the A499. It is about south-west of Pwllheli and south-west of...
    
    .http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_west/7806159.stm
• 2 January - Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson
  Tanni Grey-Thompson
  Carys Davina "Tanni" Grey-Thompson, Baroness Grey-Thompson, DBE is a Welsh athlete and TV presenter.Grey-Thompson was born with spina bifida and uses a wheelchair. She is considered to be one of the most successful disabled athletes in the UK...
  
   denies having criticised the failure to include all UK Paralympic gold medal-winners in the UK New Year Honours List.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7807923.stm
• 9 January - The UK Prime Minister, Gordon Brown
  Gordon Brown
  James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
  
  , visits south Wales as part of a 3-day tour of the regions http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7818858.stm.
• 11 January - Eight rescuers are injured as four mountain rescue teams help bring two climbers to safety from the summit of Snowdon
  Snowdon
  Snowdon is the highest mountain in Wales, at an altitude of above sea level, and the highest point in the British Isles outside Scotland. It is located in Snowdonia National Park in Gwynedd, and has been described as "probably the busiest mountain in Britain"...
  
  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7822915.stm.
• 15 January - Welsh Conservative Assembly Members issue an announcement saying that they give their unanimous support to Nick Bourne
  Nick Bourne
  Nicholas Henry Bourne is a Welsh Conservative politician. He served as the Leader of the Welsh Conservative Party and as a member of the National Assembly for Wales for the Mid and West Wales electoral region from August 1999 until May 2011...
  
   as leader of the Assembly group.http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/betsanpowys/
• 19 January - The Cardiff International Sports Stadium opens, replacing the old Cardiff Athletics Stadium
  Cardiff Athletics Stadium
  The Cardiff Athletics Stadium was an athletics and football stadium in Cardiff, Wales. It opened in 1989 and was demolished in 2007, replaced by the Cardiff International Sports Stadium....
  
  
• 22 January - After having been the only police force in the UK to record an increase in crime during 2007-2008, South Wales Police
  South Wales Police
  South Wales Police is one of the four territorial police forces in Wales. Its headquarters are based in Bridgend.Covering Wales' capital city, Cardiff, as well as Bridgend, Merthyr Tydfil, Swansea, and the western South Wales Valleys, it is the largest police force in Wales in terms of population,...
  
   witnesses a 4% drop in crime in its area, according to the latest British Crime Survey http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2009/01/23/home-office-report-shows-4-crime-drop-in-south-wales-91466-22758058/.
• 26 January - Corus announces the loss of up to 1,100 jobs at its plants in Wales and the mothballing of the Llanwern
  Llanwern
  Llanwern is an electoral ward and community in the urban-rural fringe of the City of Newport, South Wales. Llanwern ward is bounded by the M4 and Langstone to the north, Ringland, Liswerry and the River Usk to the west, the River Severn to the south and the city boundary to the east...
  
   hot strip mill http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7850113.stm.
• 2 February - After a 24-hour search, the Llanberis mountain rescue team recovers the bodies of two brothers from south-west England who went missing on Snowdon
  Snowdon
  Snowdon is the highest mountain in Wales, at an altitude of above sea level, and the highest point in the British Isles outside Scotland. It is located in Snowdonia National Park in Gwynedd, and has been described as "probably the busiest mountain in Britain"...
  
   on January 31 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/north_west/7864422.stm.
• 8 February - At the 51st Grammy Awards
  51st Grammy Awards
  The 51st Annual Grammy Awards took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA on February 8, 2009. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss were the biggest winners of the night, jointly winning five awards including Album of the Year and Record of the Year...
  
   in Los Angeles, Best Pop Vocal Album
  Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album
  The Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality pop music albums...
  
   goes to Duffy
  Duffy (singer)
  Aimée Ann Duffy , known as Duffy, is a Welsh singer-songwriter. Her 2008 debut album Rockferry entered the UK Album Chart at number one. It was the best-selling album in the United Kingdom in 2008 with 1.68 million copies sold...
  
   for Rockferry
  Rockferry
  Rockferry is the debut studio album by Welsh blue-eyed soul singer Duffy, released on 3 March 2008 in the United Kingdom by A&M Records. It was released in the United States by Mercury Records. Duffy worked with several producers and writers on the album, including Bernard Butler, Steve Booker,...
  
  .
• 11 February - Four people are killed in a mid-air collision
  Porthcawl Mid-Air Collision
  The Porthcawl mid-air collision occurred just before 11 am on 11 February 2009 when two Royal Air Force single-engine propeller aircraft collided close to the town of Porthcawl in South Wales...
  
   between two light aircraft near Kenfig
  Kenfig
  Kenfig is a village and former borough in Bridgend, Wales.The borough contributed with other Glamorgan towns to sending a member of parliament to Westminster until the Reform Act of 1832...
  
  . They are two female air cadets from Rhondda, aged 13 and 14, and two RAF instructors.http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2009/02/12/families-pay-tribute-to-girls-killed-in-double-plane-crash-91466-22913954/
• 18 February
  • Duffy
    Duffy (singer)
    Aimée Ann Duffy , known as Duffy, is a Welsh singer-songwriter. Her 2008 debut album Rockferry entered the UK Album Chart at number one. It was the best-selling album in the United Kingdom in 2008 with 1.68 million copies sold...
    
     wins the Best Female and British Breakthrough Act awards at the 2009 BRIT Awards
    2009 BRIT Awards
    The 2009 BRIT Awards ceremony took place on Wednesday 18 February 2009. It was the 29th edition of the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music awards. The awards ceremony was held at Earls Court Exhibition Centre in London, and was broadcast live on ITV1 on 18 February at 8pm...
    
    ; her album Rockferry wins Best Album.
  • The inquest opens into the Kenfig air crash of 11 February.http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2009/02/18/inquest-into-tragic-plane-crash-opened-91466-22956418
• 21 February - Rescuers have to abseil 500 feet (152.4 m) down a sheer rock face in the dark to rescue a team of three climbers stuck on Snowdon
  Snowdon
  Snowdon is the highest mountain in Wales, at an altitude of above sea level, and the highest point in the British Isles outside Scotland. It is located in Snowdonia National Park in Gwynedd, and has been described as "probably the busiest mountain in Britain"...
  
  .http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/north_west/7904379.stm
• 6 March - Boxer Joe Calzaghe
  Joe Calzaghe
  Joseph William Calzaghe, CBE, MBE is a Welsh former professional boxer. He is the former WBO, WBA, WBC, IBF, The Ring & British super middleweight champion and The Ring light heavyweight champion....
  
   wins a court action against his former manager Frank Warren
  Frank Warren (promoter)
  Frank Darren Warren is an English boxing manager and promoter.-Early life and early career:The son of a bookmaker, Warren trained as a solicitor's clerk with J Tickle & Co on Southampton Row in London....
  
  , claiming £2 million in unpaid fees.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7946431.stm
• 1 June - ftrmetro Swansea bus rapid transit
  Bus rapid transit
  Bus rapid transit is a term applied to a variety of public transportation systems using buses to provide faster, more efficient service than an ordinary bus line. Often this is achieved by making improvements to existing infrastructure, vehicles and scheduling...
  
   system begins operation.http://www.goftr.com/swansea/home.php
• 21 July - The first race meeting is held at Ffos Las racecourse
  Ffos Las racecourse
  The Ffos Las racecourse is a horse racing, equestrian sports and conferencing venue situated just off the B4317 road, opposite the Glyn Abbey Golf Club, in a rural area called Ffos Las between Trimsaran and Carway and is about north of Llanelli...
  
  , the first new National Hunt racecourse to be built in the United Kingdom for 80 years.http://www.newswales.co.uk/?section=Sport&F=1&id=17109
• 22 July - Official opening of the new Cardiff City stadium, Wales' 2nd largest stadium, when Cardiff City F.C.
  Cardiff City F.C.
  Cardiff City Football Club are a Welsh professional football club based in Cardiff, Wales. The club competes in the English football pyramid and is currently playing in the Football League Championship. Cardiff City is the best supported football club in Wales, averaging approximately 22,500 for...
  
   drew against Glasgow
  Glasgow
  Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
  
  's Celtic F.C.
  Celtic F.C.
  Celtic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which currently plays in the Scottish Premier League. The club was established in 1887, and played its first game in 1888. Celtic have won the Scottish League Championship on 42 occasions, most recently in the...
  
  
• 1 August - The National Eisteddfod of Wales
  National Eisteddfod of Wales
  The National Eisteddfod of Wales is the most important of several eisteddfodau that are held annually, mostly in Wales.- Organisation :...
  
   opens at Bala.
• 8 August - The first test of the Ashes 2009 series, seeing England against Australia in Cricket
  Cricket
  Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
  
  , begins at Cardiff's SWALEC Stadium.
• 12 August - Wales begins the process of digital switchover with the turning off of parts of the analogue signal from the Kilvey Hill transmitter.
• 29 September - On his 70th birthday, Rhodri Morgan
  Rhodri Morgan
  Hywel Rhodri Morgan is a Welsh Labour politician who, as First Secretary for Wales, and subsequently First Minister, was leader of the Welsh Assembly Government from 2000 to 2009. A former leader of Welsh Labour, he was the Assembly Member for Cardiff West from 1999 to 2011...
  
   announces that he will stand down as First Minister in December.
• 22 October - The St David's Centre in Cardiff re-opens as one of the largest shopping centres in the United Kingdom
  United Kingdom
  The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
  
   after its multi-million pound extension and the reconstruction of the surrounding area.
• November - Mererid Hopwood
  Mererid Hopwood
  Mererid Hopwood is a Welsh poet who made history in 2001 by becoming the first woman ever to win the bardic Chair at the National Eisteddfod of Wales....
  
  , the first woman to be nominated for the position of Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod, withdraws her name from consideration, leaving T. James Jones
  T. James Jones
  T. James Jones is a Welsh poet and dramatist, and is Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales. He is also known by the bardic name Jim Parc Nest....
  
   as the only candidate.
• 12 November - Health & Social Services Minister Edwina Hart
  Edwina Hart
  Edwina Hart, MBE, AM is a Welsh Labour politician who has represented the constituency of Gower since the National Assembly for Wales was established in 1999. Hart was appointed Minister for Health and Social Services in the Welsh Government in May 2007.-Background:Hart was born and raised in...
  
   declines a request by Liberal Democrat Kirsty Williams
  Kirsty Williams
  Victoria Kirsty Williams is a British politician. She is the leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats and the Member of the Welsh Assembly for Brecon and Radnorshire.-Early life:...
  
   to review how £1 billion has been spent on NHS services in Wales.
• 13 November - The agreement A New Understanding is signed by representatives of the Welsh Assembly Government and the Welsh Local Government Association.http://www.egovmonitor.com/node/30822
• 18 November - A report by the All Wales Convention finds that public opinion is narrowly in favour of increasing the powers of the Welsh Assembly.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/wales_politics/8350333.stm
• 21 November
  • Dannie Abse
    Dannie Abse
    Daniel Abse, better known as Dannie Abse , is a Welsh poet.-Early years:Abse was born in Cardiff, Wales to a Jewish family. He is the younger brother of politician and reformer Leo Abse and the eminent psychoanalyst, Wilfred Abse...
    
     receives the Wilfred Owen
    Wilfred Owen
    Wilfred Edward Salter Owen MC was an English poet and soldier, one of the leading poets of the First World War...
    
     Poetry Award.
  • Pride In Barry announces the planned placement of a Blue Plaque on 19 Porth Y Castell, Barry, in memory of boxer Jack Petersen
    Jack Petersen
    Jack Petersen was a Welsh boxer, who held the British heavyweight boxing title on two separate occasions.-Early life and career:...
    
    .
• 9 December - Carwyn Jones
  Carwyn Jones
  Carwyn Howell Jones is a Welsh politician and the First Minister of Wales. The third official to lead the Welsh Government, Jones has been Assembly Member for Bridgend since 1999. In the coalition government of Welsh Labour and Plaid Cymru, he was appointed Counsel General for Wales and Leader of...
  
   takes office as First Minister for Wales
  First Minister for Wales
  The First Minister of Wales is the leader of the Welsh Government, Wales' devolved administration, which was established in 1999. The First Minister is responsible for the exercise of functions by the Cabinet of the Welsh Government; policy development and coordination; relationships with the...
  
  .http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2009/12/01/carwyn-jones-victorious-91466-25299305
• 16 December - The Afan Lido leisure complex in Port Talbot
  Port Talbot
  Port Talbot is a town in Neath Port Talbot, Wales. It had a population of 35,633 in 2001.-History:Port Talbot grew out of the original small port and market town of Aberafan , which belonged to the medieval Lords of Afan. The area of the parish of Margam lying on the west bank of the lower Afan...
  
   is badly damaged by fire.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_west/8417484.stm
• 29 December - A crater approximately 10 feet (3 m) wide and 12 feet (3.7 m) deep appears in Brynmair Close, Aberaman
  Aberaman
  Aberaman is a village near Aberdare in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, south Wales.-Schools:*Blaengwawr Comprehensive School *Blaengwawr Primary *Oaklands Primary -Sport:...
  
  , Rhondda Cynon Taf. Nearby residents are evacuated as the cause is investigated.
• undated - Completion of The Tower, Meridian Quay, in the Maritime Quarter
  Maritime Quarter
  The Maritime Quarter, or Swansea Marina, is a residential area of Swansea, Wales, UK located immediately south of the city centre shopping core. It falls within Swansea's Castle ward...
  
   of Swansea
  Swansea
  Swansea 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...
  
  , the tallest building in Wales, standing at 107 m (351 ft).

Awards

• Glyndŵr Award
  Glyndwr Award
  The Glyndŵr Award is made for an Outstanding Contribution to the Arts in Wales. It is given by the Machynlleth Tabernacle Trust to pre-eminent figures in music, art and literature in rotation...
  
   - Llŷr Williams
  Llyr Williams
  Llŷr Williams is a Welsh pianist.-Childhood:Llŷr Williams was born in 1976 in the village of Pentre Bychan in Wrexham, Wales....
  
  
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Chair - withheld
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Crown - Ceri Wyn Jones
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Drama Medal - Dyfed Edwards
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Prose Medal - Siân Melangell Dafydd
• Gwobr Goffa Daniel Owen - Fflur Dafydd
  Fflur Dafydd
  Fflur Dafydd is an award winning novelist, singer-songwriter and musician. Whilst predominantly publishing in Welsh, she also writes in English. She records in Welsh, and her work is regularly played on Radio Cymru.-Early life:...
  
  
• Wales Book of the Year
  Wales Book of the Year
  The Wales Book of the Year is a Welsh literary award given annually to the best Welsh and English language works in the fields of fiction and literary criticism by Welsh or Welsh interest authors...
  
  :
  • English language: Deborah Kay Davies - Grace, Tamar and Laszlo the Beautiful
  • Welsh language: William Owen Roberts - Petrograd
• Kyffin Art Prize: Louisa Theunissen http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/8323446.stm
• Cân i Gymru
  Cân i Gymru
  Cân i Gymru is a Welsh television show broadcast on S4C annually. It was first introduced 42 years ago when BBC Cymru wanted to enter the Eurovision Song Contest. It usually takes place at Afan Lido in Port Talbot. It has taken place every year except 1973...
  
  : Elfed Morgan Morris - "Gofidiau"
• BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition
  BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition
  BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition is a competition for opera and art singers held every two years....
  
  :
  • Main Prize - Ekaterina Scherbachenko
    Ekaterina Scherbachenko
    Ekaterina Scherbachenko is a Russian operatic soprano. She was the 2009 winner of the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition. In April–May 2011 she appeared at La Scala, singing the role of Liù in Turandot....
    
    
  • Song Prize - Jan Martinik

New books

• Emyr Humphreys
  Emyr Humphreys
  Emyr Humphreys is a leading Welsh novelist, poet and author. He was born at Prestatyn in Flintshire, and attended University of Wales, Aberystwyth. He registered as a conscientious objector at the outbreak of the Second World War...
  
   - The Woman at the Window
• Nigel Owens
  Nigel Owens
  Nigel Owens is a Welsh international rugby union referee. He is an international and Heineken Cup referee and was the only Welsh referee at the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France....
  
   - Half Time
• Malcolm Pryce
  Malcolm Pryce
  For the footballer, see Malcolm Price.Malcolm Pryce is a British author, mostly known for his noir detective novels.Born in Shrewsbury, England, Pryce moved at the age of nine to Aberystwyth, where he later attended Penglais Comprehensive School before leaving to do some travelling. After working...
  
   - From Aberystwyth with Love
• John Powell Ward - The Last Green Year

Classical

• Catrin Finch
  Catrin Finch
  Catrin Anna Finch is a Welsh harpist born in Llanon, Ceredigion, Wales. She was the Official Harpist to the Prince of Wales from 2000 to 2004 and is Visiting Professor at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama and the Royal Academy of Music...
  
   - Goldberg Variations
  Goldberg Variations
  The Goldberg Variations, BWV 988, is a work for harpsichord by Johann Sebastian Bach, consisting of an aria and a set of 30 variations. First published in 1741, the work is considered to be one of the most important examples of variation form...
  
  (transcribed for harp)
• Rhydian - O Fortuna

Singles

• Vanessa Jenkins
  Ruth Jones
  Ruth Jones is a Welsh TV actress and writer. She starred in and co-wrote the multi-award winning TV comedy Gavin & Stacey and has appeared in many other successful comedies over recent years...
  
   and Bryn West
  Rob Brydon
  Rob Brydon is a BAFTA-nominated Welsh actor, comedian, radio and television presenter, singer and impressionist...
  
   - "Barry Islands in the Stream
  Islands in the Stream
  "Islands in the Stream" is the title of a song written by the Bee Gees and sung by American country music artists Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton. It was released in August 1983 as the first single from Rogers' album Eyes That See in the Dark and the second pop number-one for both Rogers and Parton...
  
  " featuring Sir Tom Jones
  Tom Jones (singer)
  Sir Thomas John Woodward, OBE , known by his stage name Tom Jones, is a Welsh singer.Since the mid 1960s, Jones has sung many styles of popular music – pop, rock, R&B, show tunes, country, dance, techno, soul and gospel – and sold over 100 million records...
  
   and Robin Gibb
  Robin Gibb
  Robin Hugh Gibb, CBE is a British singer and songwriter. He is best known as a member of the Bee Gees, co-founded with his twin brother Maurice , and elder brother Barry....
  
  

English language TV

• Doctor Who
  Doctor Who
  Doctor 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...
  
  - David Tennant
  David Tennant
  David Tennant is a Scottish actor. In addition to his work in theatre, including a widely praised Hamlet, Tennant is best known for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, along with the title role in the 2005 TV serial Casanova and as Barty Crouch, Jr...
  
   films his final scenes as The Doctor in Cardiff.
• Gavin & Stacey
  Gavin & Stacey
  Gavin & Stacey is a British comedy television series. A romantic comedy-drama, the show follows the long-distance relationship of Gavin from Billericay in Essex, England, and Stacey from Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. The writers of the show, actors James Corden and Ruth Jones, also...
  
  - series 3

Sport

• January - Simon Lawson of Cardiff wins the 28th annual Richard Burton
  Richard Burton
  Richard 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...
  
   10 km run http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_west/7823144.stm in a time of 31 minutes.
• March 21 - Wales are narrowly defeated by Ireland to finish third overall in the 2009 Six Nations Championship
  2009 Six Nations Championship
  The 2009 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2009 RBS 6 Nations because of the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the tenth Six Nations Championship, an annual rugby union competition contested by the six major Northern Hemisphere rugby union national teams...
  
   (rugby union
  Rugby union
  Rugby 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...
  
  ).
• June - The first race meeting is held at the newly-constructed Ffos Las racecourse
  Ffos Las racecourse
  The Ffos Las racecourse is a horse racing, equestrian sports and conferencing venue situated just off the B4317 road, opposite the Glyn Abbey Golf Club, in a rural area called Ffos Las between Trimsaran and Carway and is about north of Llanelli...
  
  .
• December 12 - Ryan Giggs
  Ryan Giggs
  Ryan Joseph Giggs OBE is a Welsh professional footballer who plays for Manchester United. Giggs made his first appearance for the club during the 1990–91 season and has been a regular player since the 1991–92 season...
  
   wins the BBC Sports Personality of the Year
  BBC Sports Personality of the Year
  The BBC Sports Personality of the Year is an awards ceremony that takes place annually in December. Devised by Paul Fox in 1954, it originally consisted of one titular award. Several new awards have been introduced, and , eight awards are presented. The oldest of these are the Team of the Year and...
  
   award for 2009.

Deaths

• 9 January - T. Llew Jones
  T. Llew Jones
  Thomas Llewelyn Jones was a Welsh language writer who, over a writing career of more than 50 years, was one of the most prolific and popular authors of children's books in Welsh. He wrote, and was generally known, as T. Llew Jones.- Biography :T. Llew Jones was born at 1 Bwlch Melyn, Pentrecwrt,...
  
  , writer, 93
• 10 January - Eluned Phillips
  Eluned Phillips
  Eluned Phillips was the only woman to win the bardic crown at the National Eisteddfod of Wales twice, a feat she accomplished in 1967 at Bala and 1983 at Llangefni....
  
  , writer, 94
• 13 January - Dai Llewellyn
  Dai Llewellyn
  Sir David St Vincent "Dai" Llewellyn, 4th Baronet was a Welsh socialite. He was born in Aberdare, the son of 1952 Summer Olympics gold medallist showjumper Sir Harry Llewellyn, 3rd Baronet and the Hon Christine de Saumarez, who was the daughter of the 5th Baron de Saumarez, a family from Guernsey...
  
  , socialite, 62
• 22 January - Vic Crowe
  Vic Crowe
  Victor Herbert Crowe was a Wales international football player and later football manager.-Career:Crowe was born in Abercynon, South Wales but moved to Handsworth, Birmingham with his family when he was two years old...
  
  , footballer, 76
• 9 February
  • Gareth Alban Davies
    Gareth Alban Davies
    Gareth Alban Davies , was a Welsh poet, educator and Hispanist who spent the largest span of his academic career lecturing at the University of Leeds...
    
    , academic, 82
  • Reg Davies
    Reg Davies
    Ellis Reginald Davies was a Welsh professional footballer who played for Southend United, Newcastle United, Swansea Town and Carlisle United, and won six caps for Wales....
    
    , footballer, 79
• 10 February - Gerwyn Williams
  Gerwyn Williams
  Gerwyn Williams was a Welsh rugby union player, coach and author.-Biography:Williams was born in Glyncorrwg, Glamorgan, the son of Ephraim and Catherin Williams...
  
  , rugby player, 84
• 14 February - Bernard Albert Ashley
  Bernard Albert Ashley
  Sir Bernard Albert Ashley was a Welsh businessman and engineer. He was the husband of Laura Ashley, and was her business partner from the founding of their fashion-textiles-centred business....
  
  , entrepreneur, 82
• 19 February - Ian L. Jenkins
  Ian L. Jenkins
  Surgeon Vice Admiral Ian Laurence Jenkins CB, CVO was a Royal Navy medical officer and former Surgeon General of the British Armed Forces.- Career :...
  
  , former Surgeon General of the British Armed Forces, 64
• 26 February - Jackie Bowen
  Jackie Bowen
  Benjamin John "Jackie" Bowen was a Welsh international rugby league player. He originally played rugby for Llanelli under the union code later switching to league when he joined Wigan and represented the Welsh league team....
  
  , Wales international rugby league player, 93
• 2 March - Gerard Morgan-Grenville, environmentalist, 77
• 4 March - Wynne Roberts, hypnotist, 66
• 12 March - Huw Thomas
  Huw Thomas
  Hywel Gruffydd "Huw" Thomas was a Welsh broadcaster, barrister and Liberal Party politician.-Family and education:Huw Thomas was born in Pen-bre, near Llanelli, and was a fluent Welsh speaker...
  
  , broadcaster, lawyer and politician, 81
• 22 March - Emyr Price, historian, 64
• 23 March - Geoff Holmes
  Geoff Holmes
  Geoffrey Clarke Holmes was a Welsh cricketer and a director of the Cricket Board of Wales. He was Glamorgan's player of the year in 1988. Holmes joined Glamorgan after serving on the MCC groundstaff and made his first appearance for the county in 1978. He made runs consistently between 1984 and...
  
  , cricketer, 50
• 12 April - John Maddox
  John Maddox
  Sir John Royden Maddox, FRS was a British science writer. He was an editor of Nature for 22 years, from 1966–1973 and 1980-1995.-Career:...
  
  , biologist, 83
• May - Ralph Morgan
  Ralph Morgan (rugby)
  D. Ralph Morgan was a Welsh rugby union and professional rugby league footballer of the 1940s and '50s who at club level played rugby union for Machen RFC, Cross Keys RFC, Newport Police RFC, and Newport RFC, playing at Fullback, i.e. number 15, and at representative level has played rugby league...
  
  , rugby league player, 88?
• 14 May - Ken Hollyman
  Ken Hollyman
  Kenneth Charles "Ken" Hollyman was a Welsh professional footballer.-Career:Hollyman began his career playing for Cardiff Nomads before joining Cardiff City in 1939...
  
  , footballer, 86
• 16 May - Einion Evans, poet, 82
• 31 May - Brian Edrich
  Brian Edrich
  Brian Robert Edrich was an English cricketer. He was a left-handed middle-order batsman and a right-arm off break bowler. He also acted as assistant coach of Glamorgan. Born in Cantley, Norfolk, he died at Padstow in Cornwall, aged 86...
  
  , former Glamorgan cricket coach, 86
• 5 June - Haydn Tanner
  Haydn Tanner
  Haydn Tanner was a Welsh international rugby union player who also played for the British and Irish Lions and the Barbarians....
  
  , Wales international rugby union player, 92
• 19 June - Major Sean Birchall, soldier, 33
• 6 July - Bleddyn Williams
  Bleddyn Williams
  Bleddyn Williams MBE , was a Welsh rugby union centre. He played in 22 internationals for Wales, captaining them five times, winning each time, and captained the British Lions in 1950 for some of their tour of Australia and New Zealand...
  
  , rugby player, 86
• 11 July - Geraint Owen
  Geraint Owen
  -Political career:Owen was a councillor for Plaid Cymru and had stood in assembly and parliamentary elections, contesting the Neath constituency in the 2005 election. Owen came second to Peter Hain in the election.-Personal life:...
  
  , actor and politician, 43
• 27 July - Aeronwy Thomas
  Aeronwy Thomas
  Aeronwy Bryn Thomas-Ellis translator of Italian poetry, was the second child and only daughter of the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas and his wife, Caitlin Macnamara.-Early life:...
  
  , writer and daughter of Dylan Thomas
  Dylan Thomas
  Dylan Marlais Thomas was a Welsh poet and writer, Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 11 January 2008. who wrote exclusively in English. In addition to poetry, he wrote short stories and scripts for film and radio, which he often performed himself...
  
  , 66
• 18 August - Dic Jones
  Dic Jones
  Dic Jones , was a Welsh language poet and the Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales.He was born Richard Lewis Jones at Tre'r-ddôl in Ceredigion. The son of a farmer, Jones himself farmed on at Fferm yr Hendre at Blaenannerch in Aberporth...
  
  , poet and archdruid, 75
• 28 August - Noel Jones, Anglican bishop, 76
• 6 September - David Glyndwr Tudor Williams
  David Glyndwr Tudor Williams
  Sir David Glyndwr Tudor Williams, QC, DL , was a Barrister and the first full-time Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, 1989–1996....
  
  , barrister and academic, 78
• 9 September - Stanley Cornwell Lewis
  Stanley Cornwell Lewis
  Stanley Cornwell Lewis MBE was a British portrait painter and illustrator.Lewis was born in Wales and studied at the Newport School of Art in Wales from 1923 to 1926. He was then awarded a place at the Royal College of Art where he studied from 1926 until 1930...
  
  , artist, 103
• 7 October - Helen Watts
  Helen Watts
  Helen Watts CBE was a Welsh contralto. She was born at Wales in Milford Haven and educated at the School of S. Mary and S. Anne, Abbots Bromley and the Royal Academy of Music. She began her career with the Glyndebourne Festival Chorus, and was a regular broadcaster on the Welsh Home Service...
  
  , operatic contralto, 81
• 10 October - Sir Bryan Hopkin
  Bryan Hopkin
  Sir William Aylsham Bryan Hopkin was a Welsh economist. He was chief economic adviser to the Treasury during the tenure of Denis Healey as Chancellor of the Exchequer....
  
  , economist, 94
• 11 October - Patrick Hannan
  Patrick Hannan (presenter)
  Patrick Hannan MBE was a Welsh political journalist, author and television and radio presenter.The son of an Irish doctor who migrated to Wales in the 1930s, he was born and raised in Aberaman, near Aberdare in South Wales...
  
  , radio and TV journalist, 68
• 17 October - Douglas Blackwell
  Douglas Blackwell
  Douglas Blackwell was an English actor with many television and film credits.Douglas blackwell is also the name pod many children it is the 17 most common first namee...
  
  , actor, 85
• 20 October - Hubert Rees
  Hubert Rees
  Hubert Rees was a Welsh character actor who had supporting roles in British television shows throughout the 1970s and 1980s.-Career:...
  
  , actor
• 12 November - Orig Williams
  Orig Williams
  Orig Williams was a Welsh professional wrestler and wrestling promoter. Williams spent his wrestling career in the persona of a villainous heel under the pseudonym "El Bandito", and after retiring as a fighter he became a promoter, manager and television presenter...
  
  , wrestler and TV presenter, 78
• 16 December - T. G. H. James
  T. G. H. James
  Thomas Garnet Henry James, CBE, FBA was a British egyptologist, epigrapher and museum curator best known for his career long association with the British Museum, serving with the Department of Ancient Egypt from 1951 to 1988, including 14 years as Keeper...
  
  , Egyptologist, 86