1947 in Wales explained

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1947 to Wales and its people.

Incumbents

• Archbishop of Wales – David Prosser, Bishop of St David's^[1]
• Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales
  • Crwys (outgoing)^[2]
  • Wil Ifan (incoming)^[3]

Events

• 1 January - Nationalisation of the coal mining industry under the new National Coal Board.^[4]
• 1 March - Opening of Ysgol Gymraeg Dewi Sant, Llanelli, the first Welsh-medium school.
• 15 March - Cambrian Slate Quarry at Glyn Ceiriog formally notifies closure.^[5]
• 2-3 April - A British ship, the 1,580 ton Stancliffe, runs aground off Sharpness loaded with 3,000 tons of timber. Local shipyard engineer, Ivor Langford, manages to cut the vessel in two and sail both parts down to Cardiff Docks. There the two halves are joined together and the ship sails again under the new name of .^[6]
• 23 April - Wreck of the Samtampa on Sker rocks and loss of the Mumbles life-boat, Edward, Prince of Wales.
• 11 July - Ifan ab Owen Edwards is knighted.^[7]
• September - Cardiff Castle is donated by the Marquess of Bute to the city of Cardiff.
• 12 November - Chancellor of the Exchequer Hugh Dalton inadvertently reveals some of the contents of his Budget while on his way to the House of Commons to deliver his speech, effectively finishing his political career.^[8]
• 13 December - Royal Naval Air Station Dale, Pembrokeshire, closes.^[9]
• Founded in this year are:
  • Age Concern Cymru.
  • BBC Welsh Chorus.^[10]
  • Steel Company of Wales.
  • Wales Gas Board.
• Sir Frederick John Alban becomes President of the Society of Incorporated Accountants and Chairman of the Welsh Hospitals Board.
• David Brynmor Anthony is awarded the Médaille de Vermeil de la Reconnaissance Française by the government of France.

Arts and literature

• June 11 - 15 - First Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod is held.^[11]
• First Cerdd Dant festival is held.
• Caradog Prichard begins writing for The Daily Telegraph.

Awards

• National Eisteddfod of Wales (held in Colwyn Bay)
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Chair - John Tudor Jones (John Eilian), "Maelgwn Gwynedd"^[12]
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Crown - Griffith John Roberts, "Glyn y Groes"^[13]
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Prose Medal - withheld^[14]

New books

English language

• William Ewart Berry - British Newspapers and their Controllers
• Jack Jones - Off to Philadelphia in the Morning^[15]
• Michael Gareth Llewelyn - White Wheat
• John Cowper Powys – Obstinate Cymric^[16]
• Sir James Frederick Rees - Studies in Welsh history^[17]

Welsh language

• J. Eirian Davies - Awen y Wawr^[18]
• William Jones - Adar Rhiannon a Cherddi Eraill^[19]
• Elizabeth Watkin-Jones - Y Cwlwm Cêl and Y Dryslwyn

Music

• David Wynne - Sonata No. 1 for keyboard

Film

• Cymru a Chynilo, A 7-minute public information about Post Office Savings is made in English and Welsh, narrated by Hugh Griffith.^[20]

Broadcasting

• Dylan Thomas - The Return Journey^[21]

Sport

• Cricket - Wilf Wooller is appointed Captain-Secretary of Glamorgan CCC.
• Rugby Union
  • 20 December - Wales beat Australia 6 - 0 at the National Stadium, Cardiff.

Births

• 2 February - Frank Hennessy, folk singer and radio presenter
• 5 February - Paul James Wheeler, rugby player
• 11 February - Douglas Davies, theologian
• 22 February - Bleddyn Williams, rugby player (died 2009)^[22]
• 12 March - Rod Richards, politician
• 18 March - Roger Kenneth Evans, politician
• 27 March - Craig Defoy, golfer
• 27 April - Pete Ham, musician (died 1975)^[23]
• 16 May - Owen Money, born Lynn Mittell, entertainer
• 1 June - Jonathan Pryce, born John Price, actor^[24]
• 4 June - Mickey Evans footballer
• 12 July - Gareth Edwards, rugby player^[25]
• 17 July(in England) - Queen Camilla (Princess of Wales, 2005–2022)^[26]
• 2 August - Iolo Ceredig Jones, chess player
• 30 August - Alwyn Jones, biophysicist
• 9 September - Clive Shell, rugby player (died 2012)^[27]
• 24 September(in Loughborough) - Mick Bates AM, politician
• 5 October
  • Dennis Avoth, heavyweight boxer (born in Egypt; died 2023)
  • Phil Carradice, writer and broadcaster
    • 16 October Steve Derrett, footballer
  • Terry Griffiths, snooker player^[28]
• 29 October - Val Feld, politician (died 2001)^[29]
• November - Beverley Humphreys, singer and broadcaster^[30]
• 24 November - Paul Griffiths, music critic, fiction writer and librettist^[31]
• 5 December - Don Touhig, politician
• unknown date - Sheila Morrow, president of Great Britain Hockey^[32]

Deaths

• 10 January - Lillie Goodisson, nurse, late 80s^[33]
• 26 February - Percy Phillips OBE, Wales international rugby player and civil servant
• 16 March - Jack Powell, footballer, 86
• 24 March - John Henry Evans, Mormon teacher and writer, 74^[34]
• 26 March - Charles Alexander Harris, governor of Newfoundland, 91^[35]
• 31 March - John Phillips, Dean of Monmouth, 67^[36] and ordained in 1909.^[37]
• 15 May - Arthur Harding, Wales international rugby union captain, 68
• 23 May - Richard Griffith (Carneddog), poet and journalist, 85^[38]
• 25 May - Samuel Clark, rugby official and international rugby player
• 20 June - Sir John Edward Lloyd, historian, 86^[39]
• 30 June - Jerry Shea, Welsh rugby union and rugby league player, 54
• 5 July - Jack Evans, Wales international rugby player, 72
• 7 July
  • James Henry Howard, minister and writer, 70
  • Johnny Basham, boxer, 56
• 23 July - David James Jones, philosopher, 60^[40]
• 10 August - David Evan Jones, missionary, 77
• 12 October - William Brace, politician, 82^[41]
• 18 October - Alexander Bland, Wales international rugby player, 80
• 16 November - Thomas Griffiths, Australian Army general, 82
• 22 November - James J. Davis, United States politician, 74^[42]
  • • 23 November Sir George Lockwood Morris, industrialist and Welsh international rugby player, 88
  • Matthew W. Davies, musician, 65^[43]
• 12 December - William John Evans, musician and composer, 81^[44]
• 15 December - Arthur Machen, writer, 74^[45]
• 23 December - John Samuel, Wales international rugby player

See also

• 1947 in Northern Ireland

Notes and References

1. s2-PROS-LEW-1868. Prosser, David Lewis (1868-1950), archbishop. Thomas Iorwerth Ellis. 2001. 4 June 2022.
2. s2-WILL-WIL-1875. Williams, William ('Crwys'; 1875-1968), poet, preacher, archdruid. William Rhys Nicholas. 2001. 4 June 2022.
3. s2-EVAN-WIL-1883. Evans, William ('Wil Ifan'; 1883-1968), minister (Congl.), poet and writer in Welsh and English. Gerallt Jones. 2001. 4 June 2022.
4. Book: A.R. Griffin. Mining in the East Midlands 1550-1947. 8 August 2005. Routledge. 978-1-135-78178-1. 358.
5. Book: Milner, John. Slates from Glyn Ceiriog. Ceiriog Press. 2008. 978-1-900622-11-0. 151.
6. Book: Hugh Conway-Jones. The Gloucester and Sharpness Canal. 15 October 2009. Amberley Publishing Limited. 978-1-4456-2580-5. 206.
7. Book: The London Gazette. 1947. H.M. Stationery Office. 3206.
8. Web site: Ben Pimlott. Ben. Pimlott. Dalton, (Edward) Hugh Neale, Baron Dalton (1887–1962). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. 2004. Online. 2015-01-28. 10.1093/ref:odnb/32697.
9. Book: Paul Beaver. Encyclopaedia of the Fleet Air Arm Since 1945. 1987. Stephens. 978-0-85059-760-8. 51.
10. Book: John Davies. Broadcasting and the BBC in Wales. 1994. University of Wales Press. 978-0-7083-1273-5. 153.
11. Web site: Llangollen International Eisteddfod - How it Started. Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod. 2012-05-08. https://web.archive.org/web/20170824054357/http://www.llangollen.com/eist3.html. 2017-08-24. dead.
12. Web site: Winners of the Chair. National Eisteddfod of Wales. 17 November 2019.
13. Web site: Winners of the Crown. National Eisteddfod of Wales. 17 November 2019.
14. Web site: Winners of the Prose Medal. National Eisteddfod of Wales. 7 November 2019.
15. Book: Keri Edwards. Welsh Arts Council. Jack Jones. 1974. University of Wales Press [for] the Welsh Arts Council. 25.
16. Book: The Reader's Index and Guide. 1946.
17. Book: H. P. R. Finberg. Joan Thirsk. The Agrarian History of England and Wales. 1967. Cambridge University Press. 978-0-521-06617-4. 141.
18. Book: National Library of Wales. Bibliotheca celtica. 1944. The Library. 210.
19. Book: Ceri Davies. Welsh Literature and the Classical Tradition. 1995. University of Wales Press. 978-0-7083-1321-3. 178.
20. Web site: Cymru a Chynilo. BFI. 29 May 2024.
21. Book: Asa Briggs. The History of Broadcasting in the United Kingdom: Volume IV: Sound and Vision. 1995. OUP Oxford. 978-0-19-212967-3. 106.
22. Web site: Bleddyn Williams. The Telegraph. 8 July 2009. 7 January 2019.
23. Book: Dan Matovina. Without You: The Tragic Story of Badfinger. 2000. Frances Glover Books. 978-0-9657122-2-4. 1.
24. Book: Film Review. 2001. Orpheus Pub. 90.
25. Book: Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Encyclopaedia Britannica. 2006. 9781593394929. 599.
26. Book: Barbara Cartland. Diana: A Commemorative Biography, 1961-1997. 1997. Commonwealth Publications, Incorporated. 978-1-55197-846-8. 255.
27. Web site: Obituary - Clive Shell. Graeme Gillespie. 6 January 2012. Welsh Rugby Union. 7 January 2019.
28. Book: Morrison, Ian . 1988 . Hamlyn Who's Who in Snooker . London . Hamlyn . 978-0-600-55713-5 . 37.
29. News: Paul Williams. Val Feld . The Guardian . 2017-11-12 . 10 August 2001.
30. Web site: Beverley Anne Humphreys. Companies House. 3 June 2022. 3 June 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220603215152/https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/officers/Rq06nvRbvykP2alfqMWV-PPYVUw/appointments. live.
31. Book: Cummings, Paul. International Who's Who in Classical Music. Europa Publications. 2003. 299.
32. Web site: Sheila Morrow . Welsh Sports Hall Of Fame . 27 May 2020.
33. Meredith Foley, Goodisson, Lillie Elizabeth (1860?-1947), Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 9, Melbourne University Press, 1983, pp 47-48.
34. Web site: State of Utah Certificate of Death . March 27, 1947 . United States Public Health Service . 2009-09-10.
35. Book: Sir William Young Darling. A Book of Days: A Dictionary of Dates, a Chronology of Circumstance, the Face of Time. 1951. Richards Press. 89.
36. PHILLIPS, Very Rev. John Leoline', Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2015; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014 ; online edn, April 2014 accessed 23 March 2015
37. "Crockford's Clerical Directory, 1929 p1017 London, OUP, 1929
38. s2-GRIF-RIC-1861. Griffith, Richard ('Carneddog'; 1861-1947), poet, writer, and journalist. Robert (Bob) Owen. National Library of Wales. 3 April 2021.
39. Web site: Lloyd, Sir John Edward (1861-1947), historian, and first editor of Y Bywgraffiadur Cymreig. Robert Thomas Jenkins. Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. 29 December 2019.
40. Web site: Jones, David James (1886-1947), Professor of Philosophy. Richard Ithamar Aaron. Richard Ithamar Aaron. Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. 2 April 2020.
41. Web site: Brace, William (1865-1947), miners' leader and M.P.. Griffith Milwyn Griffiths. Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. 29 December 2019.
42. Book: Elliott Robert Barkan. Making it in America: A Sourcebook on Eminent Ethnic Americans. 2001. ABC-CLIO. 978-1-57607-098-7. 87.
43. Web site: Matthew William Davies. Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Williams. Griffith John. 25 July 2017.
44. Web site: EVANS, WILLIAM JOHN. Robert David Griffith. Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. 3 May 2017.
45. Web site: Machen, Arthur (1863-1947), formerly JONES, ARTHUR LLEWELLIN, writer. Cecil John Layton Price. Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. 29 December 2019.