1898 in Wales explained

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1898 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 (until 29 March);^[5] Sir James Williams-Drummond, 4th Baronet (from 12 July)^[6]
• Lord Lieutenant of Denbighshire – William Cornwallis-West^[7]
• Lord Lieutenant of Flintshire – Hugh Robert Hughes^[8]
• Lord Lieutenant of Glamorgan – Robert Windsor-Clive, 1st Earl of Plymouth
• Lord Lieutenant of Merionethshire – W. R. M. Wynne^[9]
• Lord Lieutenant of Monmouthshire – Henry Somerset, 8th Duke of Beaufort^[10]
  • Lord Lieutenant of Montgomeryshire – Sir Herbert Williams-Wynn, 7th Baronet Lord Lieutenant of Pembrokeshire – Frederick Campbell, 3rd Earl Cawdor^[11]
• Lord Lieutenant of Radnorshire – Powlett Milbank^[12]
• Bishop of Bangor – Daniel Lewis Lloyd^[13]
• Bishop of Llandaff – Richard Lewis^[14]
• Bishop of St Asaph – A. G. Edwards (later Archbishop of Wales)^[15]
• Bishop of St Davids – John Owen^[16]

Events

• 22 January — Newspaper Llais Llafur ("Labour Voice") is launched in Ystalyfera,^[17] and will continue to be published (under various titles) until 1971.
• 1 April - 1 September — Welsh coal strike fails to remove the sliding scale, linking wages to the price of coal.^[18]
• 28 March - 15 August — Plynlimon and Hafan Tramway runs regular market day passenger services.^[19]
• 10 May — Mumbles Pier is opened and the Swansea and Mumbles Railway is extended to it.^[20]
• 2 August — The Llandudno Motor Touring Co begins running excursions with the first motor buses in Wales at Llandudno.^[21]
• 24 October — The South Wales Miners' Federation is founded.
• 6 December — The Abercynon to Merthyr Tydfil stretch of the Glamorganshire Canal is closed because of subsidence.^[22]
• date unknown
  • Peak year of slate production in Wales.
  • Opening of new docks at Barry and Port Talbot.^[23]
  • Opening of Lluest-wen Reservoir.
  • The last stained glass window to be designed by Edward Burne-Jones is installed at St Deiniol's Church, Hawarden, by Morris & Co.^{[24] [25]}

Arts and literature

Awards

National Eisteddfod of Wales — held at Blaenau Ffestiniog

• Chair — Robert Owen Hughes, "Awen"^[26]
• Crown — Richard Roberts, "Charles o'r Bala"^[27]

New books

Welsh language

• Beriah Gwynfe Evans — Dafydd Dafis^[28]
• Daniel James (Gwyrosydd) — Aeron Awen Gwyrosydd^[29]
• John Owen Jones (Ap Ffarmwr) — Cofiant Gladstone^[30]
• T. Gwynn Jones — Gwedi Brad a Gofid^[31]

Music

• none known

Sport

• Football — The Welsh Cup is won by the "Druids" for the sixth time in its 20-year history
• Rugby union
  • Senghenydd RFC and Ynysybwl RFC are founded.
  • February — The Welsh Rugby Union is readmitted into the International Football Rugby Board after the events of The Gould Affair and Wales can again play international rugby.
  • 19 March — Wales defeat Ireland 11–3 in a game played at Thomond Park, Limerick

Births

• 20 January – Tudor Owen, actor (died 1979)
• 10 February – Thomas Jones, Baron Maelor, politician (died 1984)^[32]
• 20 April – Cliff Williams, Wales international rugby union player (died 1930)
• 29 July – Dorothy Rees, politician (died 1987)^[33]
• 29 August – Sydney Hinam, Wales international rugby union player (died 1982)^[34]
• 24 September – Henry Arthur Evans, politician (died 1958)
• 6 October – William John Edwards, Cerdd Dant singer (died 1978)
• 25 December – Islwyn Evans, Wales international rugby player (died 1974)

Deaths

• 29 March – John Campbell, 2nd Earl Cawdor, politician, 80^[35]
• 25 May – Theophilus Harris Davies, sugar magnate, 64^[36]
• 17 June – Sir Edward Burne-Jones, artist, 64
• 17 July – Arthur Guest, politician, 56^[37]
• 11 August – Owen Humphrey Davies (Eos Llechid), composer, 59^[38]
• 6 September – Robert Jones, VC recipient, 41 (suicide)
• 26 September – Joseph Jenkins, farmer and diarist ("The Welsh Swagman"), 80^[39]
• 28 September – Thomas Gee, publisher, 83^[40]
• 29 October – David Stephen Davies, preacher and colonial leader^[41]
• 31 October – William Gilbert Rees, surveyor and explorer, New Zealand settler, 71^[42]
• 2 December – Michael D. Jones, Tad y Wladfa, founder of the Welsh settlement in Patagonia, 76^[43]
• 17 December – William Norton, Wales international rugby player, 36
• date unknown – John Jones, astronomer, about 80

See also

• 1898 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: The Transactions of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion. The Society. 1986. 63.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. Web site: Transactions of the Liverpool Welsh National Society 1891-92. National Library of Wales. 15 March 2022.
10. Book: Reese, M. M. . The royal office of Master of the Horse . Threshold Books Ltd . London . 1976 . 9780901366900 . 348.
11. s-CAMP-VAU-1847. Campbell, Frederick Archibald Vaughan, viscount Emlyn (1847-1898), earl Cawdor (1898-1911). Glyn Roberts. 1959. 20 March 2022.
12. Book: Whitaker's Almanack. Joseph Whitaker. Whitaker's Almanack. 1913. 847.
13. s-LLOY-LEW-1843. Thomas Iorwerth Ellis. Lloyd, Daniel Lewis (1843-1899), schoolmaster and bishop. National Library of Wales. 1959. 5 November 2021.
14. 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.
15. [Who's Who (UK)#Who Was Who|''Who was Who 1897–2007'']
16. s-OWEN-JOH-1854. Owen, John (1854-1926), bishop. Thomas Iorwerth Ellis. 1959. 19 March 2022.
17. s3-REES-EBE-1848. Rees, Ebenezer (1848-1908), printer and publisher. Huw Walters. 2001. National Library of Wales. 11 February 2020.
18. Book: Eric Wyn Evans. The Miners of South Wales. 1961. University of Wales Press. 266–267.
19. Book: Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies. 1990. Patrick Stephens Limited. 978-1-85260-049-5. 230.
20. Book: The Modern Tramway. 1954. 122.
21. Book: Patrick Robertson. The Book of Firsts. 1975. 105.
22. Book: Bradshaw's Canals and Navigable Rivers of England and Wales: a Handbook of Inland Navigation for Manufacturers, Merchants, Traders and Others. 1918. H. Blacklock & Company, Limited. 113.
23. Book: Kenneth O. Morgan. Rebirth of a Nation: Wales, 1880-1980. registration. 1981. Oxford University Press. 978-0-19-821736-7. 66.
24. Book: The Living Church. 1916. 640.
25. Huddersfield Daily Chronicle Thursday 5 May 1898, p.3. issue 9599: Memorial window at Haywarden: "the Nativity from the designs of Sir Edward Burne-Jones" soon to be finished for the Gladstone family
26. Web site: Winners of the Chair. National Eisteddfod of Wales. 11 December 2019.
27. Web site: Winners of the Crown. National Eisteddfod of Wales. 17 November 2019.
28. Book: Beriah Gwynfe Evans. Dafydd Dafis, sef hunangofiant ymgeisydd seneddol. 1898. Hugues a'i Fab.
29. Book: Aeron awen gwyrosydd, sef pigion o holl weithiau yr awdwr. 1898.
30. Web site: Jones, John Owen (1861-1899), journalist. Frank Price Jones. Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. 11 December 2019.
31. Book: Meic Stephens. The Oxford companion to the literature of Wales. registration. April 1986. Oxford University Press. 327.
32. s6-JONE-WIL-1898. Jones, Thomas William ('Tom'), Baron Maelor of Rhos (1898-1984), Labour politician. John Graham Jones. National Library of Wales. 15 February 2021.
33. s8-REES-MAR-1898. Rees, Dorothy Mary (1898-1987), Labour politician and alderman. John Graham Jones. 2011. 20 March 2022.
34. Book: They Played Rugby for Wales. Eric Lemon. 2024. 9780645362664. 358.
35. Book: Dod's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage of Great Britain and Ireland, Including All the Titled Classes. 1921. 46.
36. Book: Edward Clowes Chorley . Historical magazine of the Protestant Episcopal Church . 1950 . US Church Historical Society . 231.
37. Book: The London Gazette. 1898. Tho. Newcomb over against Baynards Castle in Thamse-street. 8372.
38. Book: Maggie Humphreys. Robert Evans. Dictionary of Composers for the Church in Great Britain and Ireland. 1 January 1997. A&C Black. 978-0-7201-2330-2. 89.
39. Web site: Biography - Joseph Jenkins. Australian Dictionary of Biography. 11 May 2020.
40. Book: Bye-gones, Relating to Wales and the Border Counties. 1899. 243.
41. Web site: Davies, David Stephen (1841-1898), preacher, temperance reformer, man of letters, and colonist. Richard Bryn Williams. Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. 19 March 2019.
42. News: Obituary . 1 November 1898 . The Press . 1 March 2015 . 6.
43. Web site: Jones, Michael Daniel (1822-1898), Independent minister and principal of the Independent College at Bala. Richard Griffith Owen. Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. 19 March 2019.