1934 in Wales explained

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1934 to Wales and its people.

Incumbents

• Archbishop of Wales
  • Alfred George Edwards, Bishop of St Asaph (retired)^[1]
  • Charles Green, Bishop of Bangor (elected)^[2]
• Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales – Gwili^[3]

Events

• 22 September - At Gresford Colliery in Wrexham, 265 miners are killed in a mining accident.^[4] Later in the year, Paul Robeson performs in Caernarfon in a benefit concert for victims of the accident.
• 23 October - Opening of the Guildhall, Swansea, designed by Percy Thomas.^[5]
• 24 October - Aneurin Bevan marries fellow MP Jennie Lee.^[6]
• date unknown
  • Anthracite production in Wales reaches its peak.
  • The Special Areas Act is passed to help areas such as the South Wales Valleys that have been particularly affected by the Great Depression in the United Kingdom.^[7]
  • Courtaulds establishes a new rayon factory at Greenfield.^[8]
  • Tudor Thomas's work on corneal grafting restores the sight of a man who had been nearly blind for 27 years.

Arts and literature

• Sir Henry Walford Davies is appointed Master of the King's Musick.^[9]
• The Welsh Folk Dance Society is founded at Bala.
• Caradog Prichard becomes sub-editor of the News Chronicle.
• Richard Hughes and his wife move into Laugharne Castle.

Awards

• National Eisteddfod of Wales (held in Neath)
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Chair - William Morris, "Ogof Arthur"^[10]
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Crown - Eirug Davies, "Y Gorwel"^[11]

New books

• Edward Tegla Davies - Y Llwybr Arian
• Margiad Evans - Turf or Stone
• D. Gwenallt Jones - Plasau'r Brenin
• Jack Jones - Rhondda Roundabout
• Eiluned Lewis - Dew on the Grass
• Howard Spring - Shabby Tiger
• Dylan Thomas - 18 Poems (his first collection, including "The Force that Through the Green Fuse Drives the Flower")

Drama

• James Kitchener Davies - Cwm Glo

Music

• Harry Parr Davies becomes accompanist to Gracie Fields.

Film

• Ray Milland appears in We're Not Dressing.
• Gareth Hughes appears in Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch.
• Yr Ail Fordaith Gymraeg (Second Welsh Cruise), a silent film made by Ifan ab Owen Edwards focusing on the activities of Urdd Gobaith Cymru (with Welsh-language titles)

Broadcasting

• A new radio station is established at Bangor.^[12]

Sport

• Badminton - Wales is a founder member of the Badminton World Federation.
• Cricket - Cyril Walters becomes the first Welshman to captain an England Test team
• Rugby Union
  • 10 March - Wales defeat Ireland 13 - 0 in a game held at St Helen's, Swansea

Births

• 11 February – Mary Quant, fashion designer^[13]
• 25 February (in London) – Nicholas Edwards, Baron Crickhowell, politician (died 2018)^[14]
• 28 March – Graham Vearncombe, footballer (died 1993)
• 30 March – Dic Jones, bard and archdruid (died 2009)^[15]
• 18 April – Brynmor John, politician (died 1988)^[16]
• 16 May – Kenneth O. Morgan, historian and academic^[17]
• 10 May – Cliff Wilson, snooker player (died 1994)^[18]
• 13 June – Gren (Grenfell Jones), cartoonist (died 2007)^[19]
• 5 July – Philip Madoc, actor (died 2012)^[20]
• 13 July – Dai Ward, footballer (died 1996)
• 6 August – Billy Boston, rugby league footballer
• 16 August – Dave Thomas, golfer and architect (died 2013)^[21]
• 4 September – Clive Granger, econometrician (died 2009)^[22]
• 19 August – Ron Jones, athlete (died 2021)
• 20 September – David Marquand, academic and MP^[23]
• 1 November – William Mathias, composer (died 1992)^[24]
• 6 November – Betty Campbell, née Johnson, Wales's first black head teacher (died 2017)^[25]
• 24 November – Dewi Zephaniah Phillips, philosopher (died 2006)^[26]
• date unknown – Mary Lloyd Jones, painter and printmaker^[27]

Deaths

• 6 January – Dorothy Edwards, novelist, 30 (suicide)^[28]
• 8 January – Ivor Bowen, judge, 71^[29]
• 23 January – Charles McLaren, 1st Baron Aberconway, owner of Bodnant, 83^[30]
• 2 February – Edward Bevan, Bishop of Swansea and Brecon, 72^[31]
• 4 February – Harry Wetter, Welsh international rugby union player, 52
• 25 February – Daniel Protheroe, composer and conductor, 67^[32]
• 28 February – David Davies, textile merchant, 81^[33]
• 3 May – Courtenay Morgan, 1st Viscount Tredegar, 68^[34]
• 24 May – William Nathaniel Jones, politician, 76
• 14 June – George Thomas, Wales international rugby union player, 76/77
• 30 June – Hugh Evans, author and publisher, 79^[35]
• 19 July – Christopher Williams, painter, 61
• 28 August – Edgeworth David, geologist and explorer, 76^[36]
• 11 October – John Kelt Edwards, cartoonist, 59^[37]
• 13 November – Sir Evan Vincent Evans, journalist, 81^[38]
• 4 December – Henry Davies, cricketer, 69

See also

• 1934 in Northern Ireland

Notes and References

1. Book: Encyclopaedia Britannica, inc. The New Encyclopaedia Britannica. 2003. Encyclopaedia Britannica. 978-0-85229-961-6. 380.
2. Book: C. J. Litzenberger. Eileen Groth Lyon. The Human Tradition in Modern Britain. 2006. Rowman & Littlefield. 978-0-7425-3735-4. 92.
3. s-JENK-GWI-1872 . Jenkins, John (Gwili) (1872-1936), poet, theologian, and man of letters . Robert Thomas Jenkins . 1959 . 2 November 2021.
4. News: Gresford Colliery Explosion. The Colliery Guardian. 16 November 1934. 915, col. 1. 3 October 2018. Durham Mining Museum.
5. Web site: Swansea New Guildhall. British Listed Buildings. 29 August 2019.
6. Book: Anne Commire. Deborah Klezmer. Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia. registration. 1999. Yorkin Publications. 978-0-7876-4068-2. 291.
7. Book: Thomas, Jo. Wars and Welfare: Britain in Transition 1906-1957. Willis. Michael. Oxford University Press. 2016. 978-0-19-835459-8. Oxford. 121.
8. Book: C. H. Ward-Jackson. A History of Courtaulds: An Account of the Origin and Rise of the Industrial Enterprise of Courtaulds Limited and of Its Associate The American Viscose Corporation. 1941. Curwen Press (private circulation). 151.
9. Book: White, Eirene . The ladies of Gregynog . The University of Wales Press . Cardiff, Wales . 2011 . 9780708324066 . 11.
10. Web site: Winners of the Chair. National Eisteddfod of Wales. 7 November 2019.
11. Web site: Winners of the Crown. National Eisteddfod of Wales. 7 November 2019.
12. Book: Kenneth O. Morgan. Rebirth of a Nation: Wales, 1880-1980. 1981. Oxford University Press. 978-0-19-821736-7. 251.
13. Web site: Entry Information: Births Mar 1930 Quant Barbara M. General Register Office. 20 February 2020. FreeBMD. ONS.
14. Web site: Lord Crickhowell obituary. 19 March 2018. Stephen Bates. The Guardian. 30 January 2019.
15. News: Dic Jones: Archdruid of Wales and master poet in the strict metres of. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220501/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/dic-jones-archdruid-of-wales-and-master-poet-in-the-strict-metres-of-welsh-prosody-1775102.html . 2022-05-01 . subscription . live. 2009-08-21. The Independent. 17 September 2019.
16. s6-JOHN-THO-1934. John, Brynmor Thomas (1934-1988), Labour politician. John Graham Jones. 26 May 2019.
17. Book: Kenneth. O. Morgan. Kenneth O. Morgan: My Histories. 11 August 2015. University of Wales Press. 978-1-78316-324-3. 1.
18. Web site: Cliff Wilson. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220501/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-cliff-wilson-1438835.html . 2022-05-01 . subscription . live. 27 May 1994. Guy Hodgson. The Independent. 31 January 2019.
19. Web site: Gren Jones. British Cartoon Archive. University of Kent. 31 January 2019.
20. Web site: Philip Madoc obituary. 5 March 2012. Michael Coveney. The Guardian. 31 January 2019.
21. Web site: Ryder Cup hero and greens guru Dave Thomas dies at 79. The Telegraph. 28 August 2013. Oliver Brown. 22 September 2020.
22. Web site: Sir Clive Granger. 1 June 2009. Alan Duncan and Robert Taylor. The Guardian. 15 August 2019.
23. Web site: Mr David Marquand. Hansard. 26 May 2019.
24. Web site: Obituary: Professor William Mathias. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220501/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-professor-william-mathias-1536526.html . 2022-05-01 . subscription . live. 31 July 1992. Geraint Lewis. The Independent. 30 January 2019.
25. Web site: Betty Campbell: Wales’s first black headteacher took civil rights history into classrooms. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220501/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/betty-rachel-elizabeth-campbell-wales-black-head-teacher-headmistress-mount-stuart-civil-rights-race-a8008541.html . 2022-05-01 . subscription . live. 25 October 2017. Harriet Marsden. The Independent. 30 January 2019.
26. Web site: Professor Dewi Phillips. 21 August 2006. Raimond Gaita. The Guardian. 26 May 2019.
27. Book: Mary Lloyd Jones. The Colour of Saying: The Work of Mary Lloyd Jones. 2001. Gomer Press with Aberystwyth Arts Centre. 978-1-85902-869-8. 14.
28. s-EDWA-DOR-1903. EDWARDS, DOROTHY (1903-1934), novelist. Harold Mostyn Watkins. yes. 18 October 2018.
29. s-BOWE-IVO-1862. Bowen, Ivor (1862-1934), K.C., county court judge. John Lias Cecil Cecil-Williams. yes. 15 August 2019.
30. Book: University of Edinburgh Journal. 1934. University of Edinburgh, Graduates' Association. 303.
31. [The Times]
32. s-PROT-DAN-1866. PROTHEROE, DANIEL (1866-1934), musician. Robert David Griffith. yes. 18 October 2018.
33. Book: Who was who. 1920. A. & C. Black. 335.
34. Book: Percival, Tony. Shropshire Cricketers 1844-1998. 1999. Association of Cricket Statisticians & Historians. Nottingham. 21. 1-902171-17-9.
35. s-EVAN-HUG-1854. Evans, Hugh (1854-1934), author and publisher. William Williams. yes. 15 August 2019.
36. Book: Geological Society of America. Proceedings. 1943. Geological Society of America. 136.
37. s-EDWA-KEL-1875. Edwards, John Kelt (1875-1934), artist. John William Jones. yes. 15 February 2020.
38. s-EVAN-VIN-1851. Evans, Evan Vincent (1851-1934), eisteddfodwr, and secretary of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion. Thomas Jones. yes. 15 August 2019.