1897 in Wales explained

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1897 to Wales and its people.

Incumbents

• Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales – Hwfa Môn^[1]
  • Lord Lieutenant of Anglesey – Sir Richard Henry Williams-Bulkeley, 12th Baronet Lord Lieutenant of Brecknockshire – Joseph Bailey, 1st Baron Glanusk^[2]
• Lord Lieutenant of Caernarvonshire – John Ernest Greaves^[3]
• Lord Lieutenant of Cardiganshire – Herbert Davies-Evans^[4]
• Lord Lieutenant of Carmarthenshire – John Campbell, 2nd Earl Cawdor^[5]
• Lord Lieutenant of Denbighshire – William Cornwallis-West^[6]
• Lord Lieutenant of Flintshire – Hugh Robert Hughes^[7]
• Lord Lieutenant of Glamorgan – Robert Windsor-Clive, 1st Earl of Plymouth
• Lord Lieutenant of Merionethshire – W. R. M. Wynne^[8]
• Lord Lieutenant of Monmouthshire – Henry Somerset, 8th Duke of Beaufort^[9]
  • • Lord Lieutenant of Montgomeryshire – Sir Herbert Williams-Wynn, 7th Baronet Lord Lieutenant of Pembrokeshire – Frederick Campbell, 3rd Earl Cawdor Lord Lieutenant of Radnorshire – Powlett Milbank^[10]
• Bishop of Bangor – Daniel Lewis Lloyd^[11]
• Bishop of Llandaff – Richard Lewis^[12]
• Bishop of St Asaph – A. G. Edwards (later Archbishop of Wales)^[13]
• Bishop of St Davids – Basil Jones (until 14 January);^[14] John Owen (from 1 May)^[15]

Events

• January – Sir Owen Morgan Edwards founds the periodical Heddyw, published in Wrexham.^[16]
• 9 April – The Snowdon Mountain Railway resumes operation, a year after a fatal accident on its maiden run.^[17]
• c. May – The Plynlimon and Hafan Tramway opens.
• 13 May – Guglielmo Marconi sends the first ever wireless communication over water, from Lavernock Point to Flat Holm.
• 2 June – The first Jubilee Bridge (Queensferry) across the River Dee is opened by William Gladstone.^[18]
• 20 June – Celebration of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee is muted in Nonconformist parts of Wales, as the date falls on a Sunday.
• July – The Grand Theatre, Swansea, is opened by Adelina Patti.^[19]
• 30 September – Inauguration of Beacons Reservoir water supply to Cardiff.
• 9 October – Opening of the Tal-y-cafn Bridge across the River Conwy.^[20]
• November – Four Customs officers are rescued from the River Usk, near Newport's Alexandra Dock pier-head after their boat capsizes.
• 12 November – Llanfyllin County School is opened by Mrs. John Marshall Dugdale and becomes the sixth Intermediate School in Montgomeryshire. Politician Clement Davies is one of the first pupils.^[21]
• unknown dates
  • A roller coaster erected on Barry Island, origin of Barry Island Pleasure Park.
  • Construction work is completed on the Pierhead Building as offices for Cardiff Docks.^[22]
  • Weaver's Mill, Swansea, a flour mill and corn storage depot, becomes the first building in the UK to be constructed from reinforced concrete, by L. G. Mouchel of Briton Ferry.^[23]
  • Merthyr Tydfil is refused a town charter; it is eventually granted one in 1905.
  • Opening of the Canterbury Building at St David's College, Lampeter (demolished in 1971).
  • Edgeworth David leads the Royal Society's expedition to the coral atoll of Funafuti.

Arts and literature

Awards

National Eisteddfod of Wales – held at Newport

• Chair – John Thomas Job, "Brawdgarwch"^[24]
• Crown – Thomas Mafonwy Davies, "Arthur y Ford Gron"^[25]

New books

English language

• Owen Rhoscomyl – The White Rose of Arno^[26]
• John William Willis-Bund – The Celtic Church of Wales
• Alfred Neobard Palmer – Owen Tanat

Welsh language

• Caniadau Cymru (anthology)
• John Cadvan Davies – Caneuon Cadvan^[27]
• Ellis Pierce – Teulu'r Gilfach^[28]

Music

• Walford Davies – Overture in D minor
• Llyfr Hymnau a Thonau y Methodistiaid Calfinaidd (collection of hymns)^[29]

Film

• Arthur Cheetham begins making films in Wales.

Sport

• Rugby Union – Due to an argument with the International Football Rugby Board the Welsh Rugby Union withdraws from the organisation and Wales do not play international rugby for 12 months.
• Swimming – The Welsh Amateur Swimming Association is founded. The first Welsh championships take place, with events for men only.

Births

• 3 April – Frank Evans, dual-code international rugby player (died 1972)
• 5 April – Ness Edwards, politician (died 1968)^[30]
• 21 April – Albert Stock, Wales international rugby player (died 1969)
• 22 June – Kathleen Freeman, classical scholar (died 1959)^[31]
• 21 August – Victor Nash-Williams, archaeologist (died 1955)^[32]
• 28 September – Harry Beadles, Wales international footballer (died 1958)
• 15 November – Aneurin Bevan, politician (died 1960)^[33]
• 31 December – Rhys Williams, politician (died 1969)

Deaths

• 14 January – William Basil Jones, Bishop of St David's, 75^[34]
• 30 January – Sarah Thomas, centenarian, 109^[35]
• 3 February – David Pugh Evans, songwriter, 31
• 2 March – Evan Owen Phillips, Dean of St David's, 70^{[36] [37]}
• 1 April – William Gwynn, Rugby union international
• 16 April – Thomas Lewis, Welsh-born Australian politician, 75^[38]
• 10 May – Walter Evans, footballer, about 30^[39]
• 12 May – Thomas Llewellyn Thomas, linguist, 56^[40]
• June – Hugh Jones, Archdeacon of St Asaph, 81^[41]
• 1 September – John Griffiths, Archdeacon of Llandaff, 77^[42]
• 6 September – Thomas Rees Morgan, engineer, 63
• 8 September – James Milo Griffith, sculptor, 54^[43]
• 16 September – Edward Edwards (Pencerdd Ceredigion), musician, 83^[44]
• 20 September – Hugh Morris, footballer, 25 (tuberculosis)^[45]
• 15 October – Charles John Vaughan, former Dean of Llandaff, 81
• 12 November – Isaac Evans, trade union leader and politician, 49 (post-operative complications)^[46]
• 24 November – Arthur James Herbert, Quartermaster-General, 77^[47]
• 2 December – Thomas Lewis, politician, 76^[48]
• 4 December – Griffith Rhys Jones ("Caradog"), choral conductor, 62^[49]

See also

• 1897 in Ireland

Notes and References

1. Book: Hywel Teifi Edwards. The Eisteddfod. 20 July 2016. University of Wales Press. 978-1-78316-914-6. 39.
2. Book: Dod's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage of Great Britain and Ireland, Including All the Titled Classes. Dod. 1921. 356.
3. Book: National Museum of Wales. Adroddiad Blynyddol. The Museum. 1935. 3.
4. Book: The county families of the United Kingdom; or, Royal manual of the titled and untitled aristocracy of England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. Dalcassian Publishing Company. 1860. 443.
5. Book: Edward Arthur Copleston. Where's where? Pt. 1. A concise gazetteer of Somerset. Pt. 2. Statistical, educational, parliamentary and practical information. 1878. 80.
6. Book: Potter, Matthew . The concept of the 'master' in art education in Britain and Ireland, 1770 to the present . Routledge . Abingdon, Oxon . 2016 . 9781351545471 . 149.
7. Journal of the Architectural, Archaeological, and Historic Society for the County and the City of Chester and North Wales. Popish recusants in Flintshire in 1625. Henry Taylor. Architectural, Archaeological, and Historic Society for the County and the City of Chester and North Wales. 1895. 304.
8. Web site: Transactions of the Liverpool Welsh National Society 1891-92. National Library of Wales. 15 March 2022.
9. Book: Reese, M. M. . The royal office of Master of the Horse . Threshold Books Ltd . London . 1976 . 9780901366900 . 348.
10. Book: Whitaker's Almanack. Joseph Whitaker. Whitaker's Almanack. 1913. 847.
11. s-LLOY-LEW-1843. Thomas Iorwerth Ellis. Lloyd, Daniel Lewis (1843-1899), schoolmaster and bishop. National Library of Wales. 1959. 5 November 2021.
12. Book: David Henry Williams. Catalogue of Seals in the National Museum of Wales: Seal dies, Welsh seals, papal bullae. National Museum of Wales. 1993. 75.
13. [Who's Who (UK)#Who Was Who|''Who was Who 1897–2007'']
14. Web site: William Basil Jones, Bishop of St Davids . Dictionary of National Biography . 21 April 2011.
15. s-OWEN-JOH-1854. Owen, John (1854-1926), bishop. Thomas Iorwerth Ellis. 1959. 19 March 2022.
16. Book: Stephens, Meic . The new companion to the literature of Wales . University of Wales Press . Cardiff . 1998 . 9780708313831 . 206.
17. Book: Marshall, John . The Guinness book of rail facts and feats . Guinness Superlatives . Enfield England . 1979 . 9780900424564 . 42.
18. Book: Eija Suomela-Salmi. Fred Dervin. Cross-linguistic and Cross-cultural Perspectives on Academic Discourse. 2009. John Benjamins Publishing. 978-90-272-5437-5. 101.
19. Book: Price, Cecil . The professional theatre in Wales . University College of Swansea . Swansea . 1984 . 9780860760542 . 34.
20. Book: Walter Bezant Lowe. The Heart of Northern Wales: As it was and as it Is, Being an Account of the Pre-historical and Historical Remains of Aberconway and the Neighbourhood. 1912. W.B. Lowe. 247–8.
21. Education in Montgomeryshire. The Montgomeryshire Collections. 62-63. Clifton Press. 1972. 147.
22. Book: John B. Hilling. The Architecture of Wales: From the First to the Twenty-First Century. 15 August 2018. University of Wales Press. 978-1-78683-285-6. 169.
23. Book: Gani, M. S. J. . Cement and concrete . Chapman & Hall . London New York . 1997 . 9780412790508 . 8.
24. Web site: Winners of the Chair. National Eisteddfod of Wales. 11 December 2019.
25. Web site: Winners of the Crown. National Eisteddfod of Wales. 17 November 2019.
26. Book: John S. Ellis. Owen Rhoscomyl. 15 November 2016. University of Wales Press. 978-1-78316-950-4. 38.
27. Book: Y Bywgraffiadur Cymreig hyd 1940. Paratowyd dan nawdd Anrhydeddus Gymdeithas y Cymmrodorion. 1953. Anrhydeddus Gymdeithas y Cymmrodorioa. 127. cy.
28. Book: Meic Stephens. Cydymaith i lenyddiaeth Cymru. 1986. Gwasg Prifysgol Cymru. 978-0-7083-0915-5. 471. cy.
29. Book: Journal of the Folk-Song Society. 1910. The Society. 299.
30. Web site: EDWARDS, NESS (1897–1968), trade unionist and Member of Parliament. John Davies. Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. 3 March 2019.
31. Book: NA NA. Twentieth Century Crime & Mystery Writers. 25 December 2015. Springer. 978-1-349-81366-7. 566.
32. Book: William John Townsend Collins. Monmouthshire Writers: A Literary History and Anthology. 1948. R.H. Johns. 157.
33. Web site: Bevan, Aneurin (1897–1960), politician and one of the founders of the Welfare State. John Graham Jones. Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. 30 June 2019.
34. Web site: William Basil Jones, Bishop of St Davids . Dictionary of National Biography . 21 April 2011.
35. News: Mrs. Sarah Thomas. 30 January 1897. The Llanelly Mercury and South Wales Advertiser. 1 January 2020.
36. Web site: Phillips, Evan Owen (1826–1897), dean of S. Davids. Welsh Biography Online . National Library of Wales. Robert Thomas Jenkins. 11 February 2020.
37. [The Times]
38. 506 . Mr Thomas Lewis (1821-1897) . Yes . 1 July 2020.
39. Book: Who's Who of Welsh International Soccer Players . Davies . Gareth. Garland . Ian. 1991 . Bridge Books. 1-872424-11-2. 61.
40. Web site: Thomas, Thomas Llewelyn (1840–1897), scholar, teacher and linguist . Welsh Biography Online . National Library of Wales. Jones . Gwilym Arthur . Ellis, Thomas Iorwerth . Thomas Iorwerth Ellis . 11 December 2019.
41. News: Obituary. 19 June 1897. The Times. 11.
42. 'GRIFFITHS, Ven. John', Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2007; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007 accessed 14 Feb 2014
43. Book: The Cambrian. 1898. T.J. Griffiths. 185.
44. s-EDWA-EDW-1816. Edwards, Edward (1816–1897), musician. 1959. National Library of Wales. Robert David Griffith. 11 February 2020.
45. Book: Who's Who of Welsh International Soccer Players. Davies. Gareth. Garland. Ian. 1991. Bridge Books. 1-872424-11-2. 146.
46. Joyce Bellamy and John Saville, "Evans, Isaac", Dictionary of Labour Biography, vol.I, pp.113–114
47. News: Obituary: General Sir Arthur James Herbert, K.C.B. . The Times. 25 November 1897 . 6 .
48. Book: Frederic Boase. Modern English Biography: Containing Many Thousand Concise Memoirs of Persons who Have Died Between the Years 1851–1900, with an Index of the Most Interesting Matter. registration. 1965. Frank Cass. 49-50.
49. s-JONE-RHY-1834. Jones, Griffith Rhys (1834–1897), conductor of a once well-known South Wales choir, 'Côr Caradog' . 1959 . National Library of Wales. Robert David Griffith. 11 December 2019.