1950 in Wales

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1950 to Wales and its people.

← 1949 1948 1947 1946 1945 1950 in Wales → 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955
Centuries:	18th 19th 20th 21st
Decades:	1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s
See also:	List of years in Wales 1950 in The United Kingdom Ireland Scotland

Incumbents

• Prince of Wales – vacant
• Princess of Wales – vacant
• Archbishop of Wales – John Morgan, Bishop of Llandaff
• Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales
  • Wil Ifan (outgoing)
  • Cynan (incoming)

Events

• 23 February – 1950 United Kingdom general election: For the first time ever, the Labour Party contests all Parliamentary seats in Wales. Following the election, Wales has 27 Labour MPs, 4 Liberals, 3 Conservatives and one National Liberal/Conservative.
  • The University of Wales seat is abolished at the dissolution, W. J. Gruffydd having been the last holder.
  • Roderic Bowen is re-elected for Cardiganshire, with the largest Liberal majority in the country.
  • David Ormsby-Gore, the future Lord Harlech, becomes MP for Oswestry.
  • Lynn Ungoed-Thomas, following the abolition of his Llandaff and Barry constituency, is elected MP for Leicester North East.
  • Roy Jenkins, whose Southwark seat has been abolished, is elected for Birmingham Stechford.
  • Elwyn Jones becomes MP for West Ham South.
  • Following the election, Ness Edwards becomes Postmaster-General. During his time in the office, he introduces the greetings telegram.
  • Abertillery's Labour MP, George Daggar, dies on 14 October, to be replaced by Llywelyn Williams.
• 12 March – Llandow air disaster: 80 of the 83 people on board an Avro Tudor V aircraft are killed when it crashes on approach to Llandow in Glamorgan, making it the world's worst air disaster at this time.[1]
• 30 March – William Havard is elected Bishop of St David's.[2]
• 27 August – Six people are killed in a rail collision at Penmaenmawr railway station.[3]
• 9 September – In Swansea, following heavy rain, three houses collapse, killing seven people.[4]
• 2 October – The Welsh Air Service, the world's first scheduled helicopter service, begins operating between Cardiff, Wrexham and Liverpool.
• Ysgol Syr Thomas Jones opens in Amlwch on Anglesey as Britain's first purpose-built comprehensive school.
• Maes Hyfryd and Bryn Teg housing estates at Beaumaris, designed by Colwyn Foulkes, are built.[5]
• Glanllyn is acquired as a permanent site for meetings of Urdd Gobaith Cymru.
• In the Honours lists
  • Physicist Ezer Griffiths is awarded the O.B.E.
  • Agriculturist Thomas James Jenkin is awarded the C.B.E.
  • Industrialist Herbert Henry Merrett is knighted.
• Margaret Haig Thomas, Viscountess Rhondda, becomes President of University College, Cardiff.

Arts and literature

• 21 February – Dylan Thomas arrives in the United States, his first visit to America.[6]
• The first Welsh Drama Festival is held.
• American photojournalist W. Eugene Smith visits the UK to take photographs of working-class life; three of those published are of the South Wales valleys.[7]

Awards

• National Eisteddfod of Wales (held in Caerphilly) (first "all-Welsh" Eisteddfod)
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Chair – Gwilym Tilsley
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Crown – Euros Bowen
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Prose Medal – withheld

New books

English language

• Sir Leonard Twiston Davies – Welsh furniture: an introduction
• Kathleen Freeman – Greek City States
• Llywelyn Wyn Griffith – The Welsh
• Elisabeth Inglis-Jones – Peacocks in Paradise[8]
• Thomas Jones (T. J.) – Welsh Broth
• Richard Llewellyn – A Few Flowers for Shiner[9]
• V. E. Nash-Williams – The Early Christian Monuments of Wales[10]
• Harold Henry Rowley – The Growth of the Old Testament
• Bertrand Russell – Unpopular Essays
• Raymond Williams – Reading and Criticism

Welsh language

• Ambrose Bebb – Machlud yr Oesoedd Canol[11]
• Aneirin Talfan Davies – Blodeugerdd o englynion
• Edward Morgan Humphreys – Gwŷr enwog gynt[12]
• Edgar Phillips – Caniadau Trefîn[13]
• Arthur Wade-Evans – Coll Prydain
• David Pryse Williams – Canmlwyddiant Libanus ... braslun o'r hanes[14]
• William Crwys Williams – Pedair Pennod[15]

Music

• Harry Parr Davies – Dear Miss Phoebe (musical)[16]
• Arwel Hughes – Dewi Sant (Saint David) (oratorio)
• Grace Williams – Three Traditional Ballads[17]
• W. S. Gwynn Williams – Breuddwyd Glyndwr

Film

• Glyn Houston makes his film debut in The Blue Lamp, which also stars Meredith Edwards and guest stars Tessie O'Shea.
• Ray Milland stars in Copper Canyon and A Woman of Distinction.

Sports

• Boxing
  • 13 September – Eddie Thomas beats Cliff Curvis at St Helens to become British welterweight champion.
• Football
  • 16 October – Wales international Trevor Ford becomes the most expensive footballer in British history after joining Sunderland for £30,000
• Rugby union – Wales win their fourth Grand Slam.
• Bowls – The Welsh Ladies Indoor Bowling Association is founded.[18]

Births

• 23 January – John Greaves, Welsh bass player and songwriter
• 7 February – Dai Havard MP, politician
• 16 February (in Nairobi) – Peter Hain MP, politician
• 11 March – Terry Cooper, footballer
• 18 March – Lorraine Barrett AM, politician
• 27 March – Terry Yorath, footballer and football manager
• 3 May – Mary Hopkin, singer[19]
• 5 May (in Saint Kitts) – Pat Thomas, boxer
• 24 May – Geoff Ellis, cricketer
• 26 May – Myron Wyn Evans, chemist (died 2019)[20]
• 2 June – Jonathan Evans MEP, politician
• 14 June – Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury
• 25 August (in Dublin) – Brian Gibbons AM, politician
• 8 September – Martyn Woodroffe, swimmer
• 10 September – Tich Gwilym, guitarist (d. 2005)
• 11 October – Robert Pugh, actor
• 16 November – Chris O'Brien, rugby league player
• 28 November – Meic Povey, screenwriter, playwright and actor (d. 2017) [21]
• 8 December – Stephen Richards, judge
• 10 December – John Parsons, footballer
• 20 December (in Birmingham) – Sheenagh Pugh, poet and novelist
• date unknown – Meg Elis, politician

Deaths

• 23 January – Jack Rhapps, dual-code international rugby player, 73
• 13 February – Rees Howells, missionary and founder of the Bible College at Swansea, 70
• 28 February – David Lewis Prosser, Archbishop of Wales, 81[22]
• 9 March – Timothy Evans, wrongly executed for murder, 35
• 15 March – Sir Wilfrid Lewis, judge[23]
• 12 April – Joe Rees, rugby union player, 56
• 29 April – Wallace Watts, Wales international rugby union player, 80
• 23 June – Joseph Harry, minister and poet
• 2 July – Henry Haydn Jones MP, politician, 86[24]
• 30 August – Ralph Hancock, landscape gardener, 57
• 14 October – George Daggar MP, politician, 71[25]
• 28 October – Alis Mallt Williams, novelist, 83[26]
• 21 November – Hugh Emyr Davies, poet, 72

See also

• 1950 in Northern Ireland

References

1. Keith Eastlake; Henry Russell; Mike Sharpe (21 August 2013). World Disasters: Tragedies in the Modern Age. Routledge. p. 129. ISBN 978-1-136-74257-6.
2. John Morgan-Guy (1 April 2016). Religion and Society in the Diocese of St Davids 1485–2011. Routledge. p. 212. ISBN 978-1-317-06784-9.
3. Michael Foley (15 January 2014). Britain's Railway Disasters: Fatal Accidents from the 1830s to the Present Day. Wharncliffe. p. 195. ISBN 978-1-4738-3328-9.
4. Geoff Brookes (15 September 2015). Swansea in the 1950s: Ten Years that Changed a City. Amberley Publishing Limited. p. 11. ISBN 978-1-4456-3958-1.
5. The Twentieth Century Society (2017). "1950". 100 Houses 100 Years. London: Batsford. ISBN 978-1-84994-437-3.
6. Constantine FitzGibbon (1965). The Life of Dylan Thomas. J. M. Dent and Sons. p. 355.
7. University of Arizona. Center for Creative Photography; Amy Rule (1983). W. Eugene Smith papers. Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona. p. 18.
8. Margaret Ross Griffel (21 December 2012). Operas in English: A Dictionary. Scarecrow Press. p. 713. ISBN 978-0-8108-8325-3.
9. NA NA (5 March 2016). Writers Directory. Springer. p. 758. ISBN 978-1-349-03650-9.
10. Mark Redknap (1991). The Christian Celts: Treasures of Late Celtic Wales. National Museum Wales. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-7200-0354-3.
11. Dai Smith (1980). A People and a proletariat: essays in the history of Wales, 1780-1980. Pluto Press in association with Llafur, the Society for the Study of Welsh Labour History. p. 139. ISBN 978-0-86104-321-7.
12. Hugh Pryce (15 May 2011). J. E. Lloyd and the Creation of Welsh History: Renewing a Nation's Past. University of Wales Press. p. 266. ISBN 978-1-78316-297-0.
13. Glyn Jones; Tony Brown (1 December 2001). The Dragon Has Two Tongues: Essays on Anglo-Welsh Writers and Writing. University of Wales Press. p. 205. ISBN 978-1-4175-0857-0.
14. Benjamin George Owens. "Williams, David Pryse ('Brythonydd'; 1878-1952), minister (B), writer, and historian". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
15. J. Gwynn Williams (1985). The University College of North Wales: Foundations, 1884-1927. University of Wales Press. p. 480. ISBN 978-0-7083-0893-6.
16. Arthur Jackson (1979). The Best Musicals: From Show Boat to A Chorus Line : Broadway, Off-Broadway, London. Crown. p. 180. ISBN 978-0-517-53881-4.
17. Benjamin Britten (7 July 2011). Letters from a Life Volume 3 (1946-1951): The Selected Letters of Benjamin Britten. Faber & Faber. p. 469. ISBN 978-0-571-27993-7.
18. "About Us". Welsh Ladies Indoor Bowling Association website. Welsh Ladies Indoor Bowling Association. 2008. Retrieved 2009-07-13.
19. Norm N. Nite (1980). Rock on: The modern years: 1964 - present. Crowell. p. 230. ISBN 978-0-690-01196-8.
20. Evans, Myron W. (Myron Wyn) 1950- in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
21. "Meic Povey, playwright and scriptwriter – obituary". The Telegraph. 28 December 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
22. Thomas Iorwerth Ellis. "Prosser, David Lewis (1868-1950), archbishop". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
23. Griffith Milwyn Griffiths. "Lewis, Wilfrid Hubert Poyer (1881-1950), judge". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
24. Michael Stenton; Stephen Lees (1979). Who's who of British Members of Parliament: A Biographical Dictionary of the House of Commons. 1919-1945. Volume III. Harvester P. p. 189. ISBN 978-0-391-00768-0.
25. John Davies. "Daggar, George (1879-1950), trade unionist and Member of Parliament". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
26. Evan David Jones. "Williams, Alice Matilda Langland (1867-1950), otherwise Alys Mallt, but more generally known as Y Fonesig Mallt Williams author and celtophile". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 26 May 2019.