1866 in Wales explained

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1866 to Wales and its people.

Incumbents

• Lord Lieutenant of Anglesey – Henry Paget, 2nd Marquess of Anglesey^{[1] [2] [3] [4]}
• Lord Lieutenant of Brecknockshire – George Pratt, 2nd Marquess Camden (until 8 August) Charles Morgan, 1st Baron Tredegar (from 27 September)^{[5] [6]}
• Lord Lieutenant of Caernarvonshire – Sir Richard Williams-Bulkeley, 10th Baronet (until 14 September); Edward Douglas-Pennant, 1st Baron Penrhyn (from 14 September)^[7]
• Lord Lieutenant of Cardiganshire – Edward Pryse^{[8] [2]}
  • Lord Lieutenant of Carmarthenshire – John Campbell, 2nd Earl Cawdor Lord Lieutenant of Denbighshire – Robert Myddelton Biddulph^[9]
• Lord Lieutenant of Flintshire – Sir Stephen Glynne, 9th Baronet^[10]
• Lord Lieutenant of Glamorgan – Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot^[11]
• Lord Lieutenant of Merionethshire – Edward Lloyd-Mostyn, 2nd Baron Mostyn^[12]
• Lord Lieutenant of Monmouthshire – Benjamin Hall, 1st Baron Llanover^[13]
• Lord Lieutenant of Montgomeryshire – Sudeley Hanbury-Tracy, 3rd Baron Sudeley^[14]
• Lord Lieutenant of Pembrokeshire – William Edwardes, 3rd Baron Kensington^[15]
• Lord Lieutenant of Radnorshire – John Walsh, 1st Baron Ormathwaite^{[16] [2]}
• Bishop of Bangor – James Colquhoun Campbell^{[17] [18]}
  • Bishop of Llandaff – Alfred Ollivant Bishop of St Asaph – Thomas Vowler Short^{[19] [20]}
• Bishop of St Davids – Connop Thirlwall^{[21] [22]}

Events

• 5 February — Railway contractor Thomas Savin goes bankrupt, resulting in a temporary halt in the construction of the Aberystwith and Welsh Coast Railway.^[23]
• 31 March — The last public execution in Wales takes place as Robert Coe is hanged in Swansea.^[24]
• 1 May — Wrexham, Mold and Connah's Quay Railway opens to passengers.
• July — Launch of Yr Australydd, a Welsh language Calvinistic Methodist newspaper, in Victoria (Australia), edited by William Meirion Evans and Theophilus Williams.
• 5 September — The Pembroke and Tenby Railway is extended for passengers to Whitland.^[25]
• 6 September — Six people are killed in a railway derailment near Criccieth.
• September — The song Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau — later to become the official national anthem of Wales — is sung for the first time at the National Eisteddfod held at Chester.
• 17 October — First confirmed death from a cholera epidemic in Carnarvon.^[26]
• December — The Talyllyn Railway officially opens.^[27]
• Sir George Gilbert Scott begins work on the renovation of Bangor Cathedral.
• The Baptist Union of Wales is established.
• Whiteford Lighthouse on Gower, the only remaining large wave-swept cast-iron lighthouse built in the UK, is first lit.
• Edward Gordon Douglas is created Baron Penrhyn.
• Morris Brothers department store established at Tenby; it will still be trading 150 years later.^[28]

Arts and literature

Awards

• The National Eisteddfod of Wales is held at Chester in England.
  • The harpist William Frost is awarded a pedal harp by Pencerdd Gwalia

New books

English language

• Rees Howell Gronow — Last Recollections

Welsh language

• Richard Davies (Mynyddog) — Caneuon Mynyddog^[29]
• Roger Edwards — Y Tri Brawd
• William Rees (Gwilym Hiraethog) — Nodiadau ar yr Epistol at yr Hebreaid^[30]

Music

• John Owen (Owain Alaw) — Gŵyl Gwalia
• John Thomas (Pencerdd Gwalia) — The Bride of Neath Valley (cantata)^[31]
• The Eryri music festival (Gwyl Gerddorol Eryri) is founded.

Sport

• Cricket — Hawarden Park Cricket Club is founded, reputedly by William Ewart Gladstone.
• Rugby football — First competitive game played in Wales, between college teams at Lampeter.

Births

• 13 January — Frank Hill, Wales international rugby captain (died 1927)^[32]
• 21 January — Sir Owen Cox, politician and businessman in Australia (died 1932)^[33]
• 22 March — Willie Thomas, Wales international rugby captain (died 1921)
• 1 April — Sir William Henry Hoare Vincent, diplomat (died 1941)^[34]
• 18 April — Frederick Llewellyn-Jones, lawyer and politician (died 1941)^[35]
• 20 April — Sir John Milsom Rees, laryngologist (died 1952)^[36]
• 30 May — John Gruffydd Moelwyn Hughes, poet and hymn-writer (died 1944)
• 5 August — Sir Edward Anwyl, Celtic scholar (died 1914)^[37]
• 7 August — Charles Granville Bruce, mountaineer (died 1939)^[38]
• 13 August - William Finney, cricketer (died 1927)
• 24 August — Caesar Jenkyns, footballer (died 1941)
• 4 October — Robert Jones (Trebor Aled), poet (died 1917)^[39]
• 12 October — James Ramsay MacDonald, politician (died 1937)^[40]
• 4 November — Sir David William Evans, lawyer, public servant and Wales international rugby player, (died 1926)
• 5 November — Daniel Protheroe, conductor and choirmaster (died 1934)^[41]
• 14 November — Tom Morgan Wales international rugby player (died 1899)
• 24 November — Alexander Bland, Wales international rugby player (died 1947)
• 4 December — Dai Lewis (died 1943), rugby union forward who played international rugby for Wales
• 10 December — Stanley L. Wood, illustrator (died 1928^[42]
• 15 December — William Williams, Wales national rugby union player (died 1945)
• date unknown — David Delta Evans (Dewi Hiraddug), journalist, author, and Unitarian minister (died 1948)^[43]

Deaths

• 16 January — David Owen (Brutus), literary editor, 70^[44]
• 27 January — John Gibson, sculptor, 75^[45]
• 31 January — Owen Owen Roberts, physician, 73^[46]
• 29 March -, poet, 55
• 19 May — David Davis, Blaengwawr, industrialist, 69^[47]
• 31 August (approx) — Robert Jermain Thomas, missionary (murdered in Korea), 26
• October — Evan Bevan, humorous writer, 42/43^[48]
• 16 October — Angharad Llwyd, antiquary, 86^[49]
• 27 October — William Rowlands, minister and author active in the USA
• 30 October — George Lort Phillips, MP for Pembrokeshire, 55 (injuries from a fall)^[50]
• 1 December (in London) — George Everest, surveyor and geographer, 76^[51]

See also

• 1866 in Ireland

Notes and References

1. Book: Edward Breese. Kalendars of Gwynedd; or, Chronological lists of lords-lieutenant [&c.] ... for the counties of Anglesey, Caernarvon, and Merioneth. 1873. 24.
2. Book: J.C. Sainty . John Sainty (civil servant) . List of Lieutenants of Counties of England and Wales 1660-1974 . Swift Printers (Sales) Ltd . London . 1979.
3. Book: Nicholas, Thomas . Annals and antiquities of the counties and county families of Wales . Genealogical Pub. Co . Baltimore . 1991 . 9780806313146 . 695.
4. Book: Cylchgrawn Hanes Cymru. University of Wales Press. 1992. 169.
5. Web site: Morgan, Charles Morgan Robinson (1792–1875), of Ruperra, Glam. and Tredegar, Mon.. History of Parliament Online. 3 July 2013.
6. Book: Edwin Poole. The Illustrated History and Biography of Brecknockshire from the Earliest Times to the Present Day: Containing the General History, Antiquities, Sepulchral Monuments and Inscriptions. Edwin Poole. 1886. 378.
7. Book: Edward Breese. Kalendars of Gwynedd; or, Chronological lists of lords-lieutenant [&c.] ... for the counties of Anglesey, Caernarvon, and Merioneth. 1873. 26.
8. News: Death of Colonel Pryse. 27 February 2018. Cambrian News. 1 June 1888. 4.
9. Web site: Myddelton Biddulph, Robert (1805-1872), of Chirk Castle, Denb. and 35 Grosvenor Place, Mdx.. History of Parliament Online. 3 December 2021.
10. Web site: Glynne, Sir Stephen Richard, 9th bt. (1807-1874), of Hawarden Castle, Flint.. 3 December 2021.
11. Campbell. Thomas Methuen. C.R.M. Talbot 1803–1890. Morgannwg. 2000. 44. 66–104. 17 May 2014.
12. Book: Edward Breese. Kalendars of Gwynedd; or, Chronological lists of lords-lieutenant [&c.] ... for the counties of Anglesey, Caernarvon, and Merioneth. 1873. 29.
13. Book: James Henry Clark. History of Monmouthshire. County Observer. 1869. 375.
14. Book: Amy Audrey Locke. The Hanbury Family. Arthur L. Humphreys. 1916. 170.
15. Book: Smith, Jenny . Portraits for a King : the British military paintings of A-J Dubois Drahonet (1791-1834 . National Army Museum . London . 1990 . 9780901721211 . 15.
16. Walsh, John Benn. 59.
17. Book: Fryde, E. B. . Handbook of British chronology . New York Cambridge University Press . Cambridge England . 1996 . 9780521563505 . 292.
18. Book:  Thomas Duffus Hardy. Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae: Or A Calendar of the Principal Ecclesiastical Dignitaries in England and Wales....  University Press. 1854. 266.
19. s-SHOR-VOW-1790. Short, Thomas Vowler (1790-1872), bishop of St Asaph. William Thomas Havard. 1959. 3 December 2021.
20. Book: The Apostolical Succession in the Church of England. James Parkes and Company. 1866. 15.
21. Book:  Thomas Duffus Hardy. Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae: Or A Calendar of the Principal Ecclesiastical Dignitaries in England and Wales....  University Press. 1854. 307.
22. Book: Annual Report Presented by the Council to the Court of Governors. National Library of Wales. 1962. 59.
23. Book: Reports of County Courts Cases and Appeals: Decided by All the Superior Courts, and of Decisions in the County Courts, Together with Cases in Bankruptcy. 1874. John Crockford. 18.
24. Book: Welsh Bibliographical Society. The Journal of the Welsh Bibliographical Society. 1950. Welsh Bibliographical Society. 69.
25. Book: Quick, Michael. Railway Passenger Stations in Great Britain: a Chronology. Oxford. 4th. Railway and Canal Historical Society. 2009. 978-0-901461-57-5.
26. Web site: Keith. Morris. Cholera 1866. Carnarvon Traders. 2015-12-04.
27. Book: Boyd, James I. C. . James I. C. Boyd . The Tal-y-llyn Railway . Wild Swan Publications Ltd . 1988 . 0-906867-46-0.
28. Web site: Our Story. Morris Brothers. 2023-09-03.
29. s-DAVI-RIC-1833. Davies, Richard (Mynyddog; 1833-1877), poet, singer, and eisteddfod conductor. Thomas Hughes Jones. 29 December 2019.
30. Book: William Rees. Nodiadau eglurhaol ac ymarferol ar yr Epistol at yr Hebreaid. 1866.
31. Web site: The bride of Neath Valley. National Trust Collections. 18 December 2021.
32. Book: Jenkins, John M. . Who's Who of Welsh International Rugby Players . 1991 . Bridge Books . Wrexham . 1-872424-10-4. etal. 71.
33. Radi . Heather . Cox, Sir Edward John Owen (1866–1932). cox-sir-edward-john-owen-5798 . 6 May 2019.
34. s-VINC-ENT-1650. Vincent family. Robert Thomas Jenkins. 1959. 18 December 2021.
35. Book: Stenton, Michael . Who's who of British members of Parliament : a biographical dictionary of the House of Commons based on annual volumes of Dod's Parliamentary companion and other sources . Harvester Press Humanities Press . Hassocks, Sussex, Eng. Atlantic Highlands, N.J . 1976 . 9780855273255 . 210.
36. s2-REES-MIL-1866. Rees, Sir John Milsom (1866-1952), surgeon and laryngologist. Emyr Wyn Jones. 29 December 2019.
37. s-ANWY-EDW-1866. Anwyl, Sir Edward (1866-1914), Celtic scholar. Thomas Herbert Parry-Williams. yes. 11 June 2019.
38. s3-BRUC-GRA-1866. Bruce, Charles Granville (1866-1939), mountaineer and soldier. Ioan Bowen Rees. 2001. 15 February 2022.
39. s-JONE-ROB-1866. Jones, Robert (Trebor Aled; 1866-1917), poet and Baptist minister. Ray Looker. 1959. 17 December 2021.
40. Marquand, David: Ramsay MacDonald, London, 1977, pp. 4–5
41. s-PROT-DAN-1866. Protheroe, Daniel (1866-1934), musician. Robert David Griffith. 1959. 15 February 2022.
42. Book: Peppin, Brigid . Book illustrators of the twentieth century . Arco Pub . New York . 1984 . 9780668056700 . 330.
43. s2-EVAN-DEL-1866. Evans, David Delta ('Dewi Hiraddug '; 1866-1948), journalist, author and Unitarian minister. Aubrey John Martin. 2001. 17 December 2021.
44. s-OWEN-DAV-1795. Owen, David (Brutus; 1795-1866), editor and litterateur. Thomas Jones. 17 December 2021.
45. 10625. Gibson, John. Martin. Greenwood.
46. s-ROBE-OWE-1793. Roberts, Owen (1793-1866), physician and social reformer. Emyr Hywel Owen. 17 December 2021.
47. Davis family, of Hirwaun, Aberdare, and Ferndale, coalowners. s1-DAVI-HIR-1797. Watkin William Price. yes. 29 December 2019.
48. Evan Bevan . s-BEVA-EVA-1803 . Griffith Milwyn Griffiths. yes. 29 December 2019.
49. Llwyd, Angharad (1780-1866), antiquary. s-LLWY-ANG-1780. Evan Gilbert Wright. yes. 29 December 2019.
50. News: Funeral of the Late Mr Lort Phillips. 13 December 2013. Potter's Electric News. 7 November 1866.
51. 9003. Everest, Sir George. Baigent. Elizabeth.