1949 in Wales

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1949 to Wales and its people.

← 1948 1947 1946 1945 1944 1949 in Wales → 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954
Centuries:	18th 19th 20th 21st
Decades:	1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s
See also:	List of years in Wales 1949 in The United Kingdom Ireland Scotland

Incumbents

• Prince of Wales - vacant
• Princess of Wales – vacant
• Archbishop of Wales
  • David Prosser, Bishop of St David's (retired)
  • John Morgan, Bishop of Llandaff (elected)[1]
• Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales – Wil Ifan

Events

• Easter - Urdd Gobaith Cymru holds its first "Celtic camp".[2]
• 20 May - Council for Wales and Monmouthshire first meets, with Huw T. Edwards as its first chairman.[3]
• 12 June - Britain’s first all-world Muslim conference is held in Cardiff.
• 21 September
  • The first comprehensive school in Wales is opened in Holyhead, Anglesey.[4]
  • A meteorite falls through the roof of the Prince Llewelyn Hotel, Beddgelert.
  • John Morgan is enthroned as Archbishop of Wales.[1]
• 4 November - Cwmbran is designated as the first New Town in Wales under powers of the New Towns Act 1946.
• 26 December - The Gwyn Nicholls memorial gates at Cardiff Arms Park are officially opened.[5]
• date unknown
  • Closure of the granite quarry at Llanbedrog.
  • Sale of Bron-y-garth, Porthmadog, ancestral home of Sir Lewis Casson.
  • Bodnant Garden donated to the National Trust.[6]
  • Meteorologist David Brunt is knighted.
  • Gwynfor Evans is elected to Merionethshire County Council.[7]
  • Jack Jones spends three months in the USA promoting the Moral Re-Armament Movement.

Arts and literature

• May - Dylan and Caitlin Thomas settle at the Boat House, Laugharne.
• Geraint Evans stars in The Marriage of Figaro at Covent Garden.
• Huw Menai is granted a civil list pension.

Awards

• National Eisteddfod of Wales (held in Dolgellau)
  • National Eisteddfod of Wales: Chair - Roland Jones, "Y Graig"[8]
  • National Eisteddfod of Wales: Crown - John Tudor James, "Meirionnydd"[9]
  • National Eisteddfod of Wales: Prose Medal - withheld[10]

New books

English language

• Dannie Abse - After Every Green Thing[11]
• Stan Awbery - Labour's Early Struggles in Swansea
• David James Davies - Towards an Economic Democracy
• Cledwyn Hughes - A Wanderer in North Wales
• Arthur Leach - Charles Norris of Tenby and Waterwynch
• Gordon Macdonald, 1st Baron Macdonald of Gwaenysgor - Newfoundland at the Cross Roads
• Thomas Mardy-Jones - Character, Coal and Corn — the Roots of British Power[12]
• Bertrand Russell - Authority and the Individual[13]
• Gwyn Thomas – All Things Betray Thee[14]

Welsh language

• Aneirin Talfan Davies - Gwyr Llen
• Richard Davies (Isgarn) - Caniadau Isgarn (posthumously published)[15]
• John Daniel Vernon Lewis - Bydd melys fy myfyrdod: detholiad o lyfr y Salmau[16]
• Kate Roberts - Stryd y Glep[17]
• Louie Myfanwy Thomas
  • as Jane Ann Jones - Y bryniau pell[18]
  • as Ffanni Llwyd - Diwrnod yw ein bywyd (submitted to National Eisteddfod; published 1954)
• William Nantlais Williams - Emynau'r daith

Music

• Ivor Novello - King's Rhapsody[19]
• Grace Williams - Fantasia on Welsh Nursery Tunes - first recording, made by London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mansel Thomas (first recording of any work by a female Welsh composer)

Film

• Blue Scar, starring Kenneth Griffith and Rachel Thomas[20]
• The Last Days of Dolwyn, starring Emlyn Williams, Richard Burton and Hugh Griffith
• Yr Etifeddiaeth (The Heritage), documentary by Geoff Charles and John Roberts Williams, depicting traditional ways of life in rural North Wales, with narration by Cynan; the first film to be made in the Welsh language
• The Fruitful Year, a promotional film about Wales, commissioned by the Post Office National Savings
• The Road to Yesterday, travelogue made for troops serving abroad

Broadcasting

• January - Glyn Griffiths writes: "It would be advisable now for Wales to weigh in with its campaign of aggravation and persuasion to get a Welsh Radio Corporation."[21]

Sport

• Football - John Charles joins Leeds United
• Netball - The Welsh team plays its first international matches, against Scotland and England
• Rugby Union
  • 26 March - France beats Wales 5–3 at the Stade Colombes in Paris
  • 26 December - Rhys Gabe officially opens the Gwyn Nicholls Memorial Gates at Cardiff Arms Park.[22]
• Steeplechasing - The first Welsh Grand National to be run at Chepstow Racecourse is won by Dick Francis riding Fighting Line.

Births

• 1 January - Sue Jones-Davies, actress, singer and local politician
• 7 February - Martin Daunton, historian and academic
• 2 March - J. P. R. Williams, rugby player[23]
• 5 March - Mike Gwilym, actor
• 9 March - Neil Hamilton, politician
• 22 March - John Toshack, footballer and football manager[24]
• 22 May
  • Ieuan Wyn Jones AM, politician[25]
  • Derek Quinnell, rugby player[26]
• 5 June - Ken Follett, novelist[27]
• 11 June - Tom Pryce, racing driver (killed in racing accident 1977)[28]
• 14 June - Alan Evans, darts player (died 1999)
• 23 June - Hilary Boyd, novelist
• 16 July - Angharad Rees, actress (died 2012)[29]
• 15 August - Richard Deacon, sculptor and academic
• 25 August - Martin Amis, novelist[30]
• 24 October - Nick Ainger, politician
• 29 October - Alun Ffred Jones AM, politician
• 18 November - William Graham AM, politician
• 15 December (in Epsom) - Jane Hutt AM, politician[31]
• date unknown
  • Anthony O'Donnell, actor
  • M. J. Trow, writer

Deaths

• 20 January - Artie Moore, wireless operator (born 1887)[32]
• 21 January - Jimmy Thomas, politician, 72[33]
• 21 January - Rowley Thomas, Wales international rugby player, 85
• 7 March - T. Gwynn Jones ("Tir-na-Nog"), poet and journalist, 77
• 20 April - Sir Evan Davies Jones, 1st Baronet, civil engineer and politician, 90[34]
• 21 April - Sir Alfred Thomas Davies, civil servant, 88
• 27 April - Evan Morgan, 2nd Viscount Tredegar, 55
• 1 May - Horace Lyne, Wales international rugby player and WRU president, 88[35]
• 3 May - David John Tawe Jones, composer, 64
• 8 May - Abel J. Jones, teacher, writer and public servant
• 6 June - Walter E. Rees, Secretary of the Welsh Rugby Union, 86
• 3 July - William McCutcheon, Wales international rugby player, 78/79[36]
• 23 July - John Bodvan Anwyl (Bodfan), lexicographer, 74[37]
• 10 August - William Jones Williams, public servant, 86
• 26 August - Edgar Chappell, sociologist, 70[38]
• 1 September - Dr Teddy Morgan, Welsh international rugby player, 69
• 24 October - T. Rowland Hughes, author, 46
• 9 November - William Dowell, Wales dual code rugby international, 64
• 16 December - George Maitland Lloyd Davies, pacifist politician, 59[39]

See also

• 1949 in Northern Ireland

References

1. Mary Gwendoline Ellis. "Morgan, John (1886-1957), Archbishop of Wales". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
2. National Library of Wales (1947). Annual Report - National Library of Wales. p. 16.
3. Great Britain. Council for Wales and Monmouthshire (1950). A Memorandum by the Council on Its Activities. H.M. Stationery Office.
4. Jonny Muir (15 January 2014). The UK's County Tops: Reaching the top of 91 historic counties. Cicerone Press. p. 99. ISBN 978-1-84965-963-5.
5. "Key - Gwyn Nicholls Memorial Gates 1949". Cardiff Rugby Museum. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
6. Tony Russell (15 March 2015). The Finest Gardens in Wales. Amberley Publishing Limited. p. 27. ISBN 978-1-4456-4137-9.
7. Lawrence Goldman (7 March 2013). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography 2005-2008. OUP Oxford. p. 355. ISBN 978-0-19-967154-0.
8. "Winners of the Chair". National Eisteddfod of Wales. 17 November 2019.
9. "Winners of the Crown". National Eisteddfod of Wales. 17 November 2019.
10. "Winners of the Prose Medal". National Eisteddfod of Wales. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
11. Dannie Abse (1949). After Every Green Thing. Hutchinson.
12. John Graham Jones. "Mardy-Jones, Thomas Isaac (1879-1970), economist and politician". Welsh Biography Online. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
13. Kenneth Blackwell; Harry Ruja; Sheila Turcon (2 September 2003). A Bibliography of Bertrand Russell: I. Separate Publications II. Serial Publications III. Indexes. Routledge. p. 188. ISBN 978-1-134-81890-7.
14. David James (6 October 2015). The Cambridge Companion to British Fiction, 1945-2010. Cambridge University Press. p. 31. ISBN 978-1-107-04023-6.
15. William Llewelyn Davies. "DAVIES, RICHARD ('Isgarn'; 1887-1947), farmer-shepherd and poet". Welsh Biography Online. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
16. Llyfr y Salmau: Cyfieithiad Cymraeg o'r Llyfr Cyntaf, sef Salmau I-XLI, gyda nodiadau ar y testun Hebraeg. Gwasg John Penry. 1967. p. 117.
17. Kate Roberts (1949). Stryd y glep: Stori hir fer ar ffurf dyddiadur. Digwydd stori yn un o'r blynyddoedd yn union o flaen rhyfel 1939-45. Gwasg Gee.
18. Meic Stephens (23 September 1998). The new companion to the literature of Wales. University of Wales Press. p. 719. ISBN 978-0-7083-1383-1.
19. Simon Callow (3 August 2012). "Ivor Novello, master of the musical". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
20. "Blue Scar (1949)". Screenonline. British Film Institute. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
21. Asa Briggs (1995). The History of Broadcasting in the United Kingdom: Volume IV: Sound and Vision. OUP Oxford. pp. 106–. ISBN 978-0-19-212967-3.
22. Dai Smith; Gareth Williams (1 January 1980). Fields of Praise: The Official History of the Welsh Rugby Union, 1881-1981. University of Wales Press. p. 129. ISBN 978-0-7083-0766-3.
23. G. L. Hough (1 January 1989). Chambers dates. Chambers. p. 57. ISBN 978-0-550-11831-8.
24. John Toshack (12 November 2018). Toshack's Way: My Journey Through Football. deCoubertin Books. p. 23. ISBN 978-1-909245-71-6.
25. Who's Who in European Politics. Bowker-Saur. December 1990. p. 323. ISBN 978-0-86291-911-5.
26. Peter Jackson (1998). Lions of Wales: A Celebration of Welsh Rugby Legends. Mainstream. p. 214. ISBN 978-1-84018-026-8.
27. Carlos Ramet (1999). Ken Follett: The Transformation of a Writer. Popular Press. p. 9. ISBN 978-0-87972-798-7.
28. Peter Jackson (6 October 2011). Triumph and Tragedy: Welsh Sporting Legends. Mainstream Publishing. p. 61. ISBN 978-1-78057-174-4.
29. "Poldark actress Angharad Rees dies from cancer". BBC News. 21 July 2012. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
30. David Scott Kastan (2006). The Oxford Encyclopedia of British Literature. Oxford University Press. p. 34. ISBN 978-0-19-516921-8.
31. "UK: Wales: AMs". BBC News. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
32. "Welcome". Artie Moore Amateur Radio Society. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
33. Williamson, Philip (2004). "Thomas, James Henry". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. 54. Oxford University Press. pp. 342–3. ISBN 0-19-861404-7.
34. William Llewelyn Davies. "Jones, Sir Evan Davies (1859-1949), 1st baronet, of Pentower, Fishguard, civil engineer, Lord Lieutenant of Pembrokeshire". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
35. Dai Smith; Gareth Williams (1 January 1980). Fields of Praise: The Official History of the Welsh Rugby Union, 1881-1981. University of Wales Press. p. 310. ISBN 978-0-7083-0766-3.
36. "Death details at freebmd.org.uk". freebmd.org.uk. 31 December 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
37. Thomas Herbert Parry-Williams. "Anwyl, John Bodvan ('Bodfan'; 1875-1949), minister (Congl.), lexicographer, and author". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
38. William Llewelyn Davies. "Chappell, Edgar Leyshon (1879-1949), sociologist, a pioneer of town and village redevelopment, and writer". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
39. John Ellis Meredith. "Davies, George Maitland Lloyd (1880-1949), Calvinistic Methodist minister and apostle of peace". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 22 September 2019.