1949 in Wales explained

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1949 to Wales and its people.

Incumbents

• Archbishop of Wales
  • David Prosser, Bishop of St David's (retired)
  • John Morgan, Bishop of Llandaff (elected)^[1]
• Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales – Wil Ifan

Events

• Easter - Urdd Gobaith Cymru holds its first "Celtic camp".^[2]
• April - The government decides to establish an Advisory Council for Wales.^[3]
• 20 May - Council for Wales and Monmouthshire first meets, with Huw T. Edwards as its first chairman.^[4]
• 12 June - Britain’s first all-world Muslim conference is held in Cardiff.
• 21 September
  • The first comprehensive school in Wales is opened in Holyhead, Anglesey.^[5]
  • A meteorite falls through the roof of the Prince Llewelyn Hotel, Beddgelert.^[6]
  • John Morgan is enthroned as Archbishop of Wales.^[1]
• 4 November - Cwmbran is designated as the first New Town in Wales under powers of the New Towns Act 1946.^[7]
• 26 December - The Gwyn Nicholls memorial gates at Cardiff Arms Park are officially opened.^[8]
• date unknown
  • Closure of the granite quarry at Llanbedrog, the last in the town.
  • Sale of Bron-y-garth, Porthmadog, ancestral home of Sir Lewis Casson.
  • Bodnant Garden is donated to the National Trust.^[9]
  • Meteorologist David Brunt is knighted.
  • Gwynfor Evans is elected to Merionethshire County Council.^[10]
  • Jack Jones spends three months in the USA promoting the Moral Re-Armament Movement.

Arts and literature

• May - Dylan and Caitlin Thomas settle at the Boat House, Laugharne.
• Geraint Evans stars in The Marriage of Figaro at Covent Garden.
• Huw Menai is granted a civil list pension.

Awards

• National Eisteddfod of Wales (held in Dolgellau)
  • National Eisteddfod of Wales: Chair - Roland Jones, "Y Graig"^[11]
  • National Eisteddfod of Wales: Crown - John Tudor James, "Meirionnydd"^[12]
  • National Eisteddfod of Wales: Prose Medal - withheld^[13]

New books

English language

• Dannie Abse - After Every Green Thing^[14]
• Stan Awbery - Labour's Early Struggles in Swansea
• David James Davies - Towards an Economic Democracy
• Cledwyn Hughes - A Wanderer in North Wales
• Arthur Leach - Charles Norris of Tenby and Waterwynch
• Gordon Macdonald, 1st Baron Macdonald of Gwaenysgor - Newfoundland at the Cross Roads
• Thomas Mardy-Jones - Character, Coal and Corn – the Roots of British Power^[15]
• Bertrand Russell - Authority and the Individual^[16]
• Gwyn Thomas - All Things Betray Thee^[17]

Welsh language

• Aneirin Talfan Davies - Gwyr Llen
• Richard Davies (Isgarn) - Caniadau Isgarn (posthumously published)^[18]
• John Daniel Vernon Lewis - Bydd melys fy myfyrdod: detholiad o lyfr y Salmau^[19]
• Kate Roberts - Stryd y Glep^[20]
• Louie Myfanwy Thomas
  • as Jane Ann Jones - Y bryniau pell^[21]
  • as Ffanni Llwyd - Diwrnod yw ein bywyd (submitted to National Eisteddfod; published 1954)
• William Nantlais Williams - Emynau'r daith

Music

• Ivor Novello - King's Rhapsody^[22]
• Grace Williams - Fantasia on Welsh Nursery Tunes - first recording, made by London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mansel Thomas (first recording of any work by a female Welsh composer)

Film

• Blue Scar, starring Kenneth Griffith and Rachel Thomas^[23]
• The Last Days of Dolwyn, starring Emlyn Williams, Richard Burton and Hugh Griffith
• Yr Etifeddiaeth (The Heritage), documentary by Geoff Charles and John Roberts Williams, depicting traditional ways of life in rural North Wales, with narration by Cynan; the first film to be made in the Welsh language
• The Fruitful Year, a promotional film about Wales, commissioned by the Post Office National Savings
• The Road to Yesterday, travelogue made for troops serving abroad

Broadcasting

• January - Glyn Griffiths writes: "It would be advisable now for Wales to weigh in with its campaign of aggravation and persuasion to get a Welsh Radio Corporation."^[24]

Sport

• Football - John Charles joins Leeds United
• Netball - The Welsh team plays its first international matches, against Scotland and England
• Rugby Union
  • 26 March - France beats Wales 5–3 at the Stade Colombes in Paris
  • 26 December - Rhys Gabe officially opens the Gwyn Nicholls Memorial Gates at Cardiff Arms Park.^[25]
• Steeplechasing - The first Welsh Grand National to be run at Chepstow Racecourse is won by Dick Francis riding Fighting Line.

Births

• 1 January - Sue Jones-Davies, actress, singer and local politician
• 7 February - Martin Daunton, historian and academic
• 2 March - J. P. R. Williams, rugby player^[26] (died 2024)
• 5 March - Mike Gwilym, actor
• 9 March - Neil Hamilton, politician
• 22 March - John Toshack, footballer and football manager^[27]
• 14 April - Dennis Bryon, rock drummer
  • • 22 May Ieuan Wyn Jones AM, politician^[28]
  • Derek Quinnell, rugby player^[29]
• 5 June - Ken Follett, novelist^[30]
• 11 June - Tom Pryce, racing driver (killed in racing accident 1977)^[31]
• 14 June - Alan Evans, darts player (died 1999)
• 23 June - Hilary Boyd, novelist
• 16 July - Angharad Rees, actress (died 2012)^[32]
• 15 August - Richard Deacon, sculptor and academic
• 25 August (in Oxford) - Martin Amis, novelist^[33]
• 24 October - Nick Ainger, politician
• 29 October - Alun Ffred Jones AM, politician
• 18 November - William Graham AM, politician
• 15 December (in Epsom) - Jane Hutt AM, politician^[34]
• date unknown
  • Anthony O'Donnell, actor
  • M. J. Trow, writer

Deaths

• 20 January - Artie Moore, wireless operator (born 1887)^[35]
• 21 January
  • J. H. Thomas, politician, 72^[36]
  • Rowley Thomas, Wales international rugby player, 85
• 7 March - T. Gwynn Jones ("Tir-na-Nog"), poet and journalist, 77
• 20 April - Sir Evan Davies Jones, 1st Baronet, civil engineer and politician, 90^[37]
• 21 April - Sir Alfred Thomas Davies, civil servant, 88
• 27 April - Evan Morgan, 2nd Viscount Tredegar, poet and occulist, 55
• 1 May - Horace Lyne, Wales international rugby player and WRU president, 88^[38]
• 3 May - David John Tawe Jones, composer, 64
• 8 May - Abel J. Jones, teacher, writer and public servant
• 6 June - Walter E. Rees, Secretary of the Welsh Rugby Union, 86
• 3 July - William McCutcheon, Wales international rugby player, 78/79^[39]
• 23 July - John Bodvan Anwyl (Bodfan), lexicographer, 74^[40]
• 10 August - William Jones Williams, public servant, 86
• 26 August - Edgar Chappell, sociologist, 70^[41]
• 1 September - Dr Teddy Morgan, Welsh international rugby player, 69
• 24 October - T. Rowland Hughes, author, 46
• 9 November - William Dowell, Wales dual code rugby international, 64
• 16 December - George Maitland Lloyd Davies, pacifist politician, 59^[42]

See also

• 1949 in Northern Ireland

Notes and References

1. Web site: Morgan, John (1886-1957), Archbishop of Wales. Mary Gwendoline Ellis. Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. 29 March 2020.
2. Book: National Library of Wales. Annual Report - National Library of Wales. 1947. 16.
3. Book: Corfe, Robert . Land of the Olympians: papers from the enlightened far north . Arena . Bury St. Edmunds . 2009 . 9781906791179 . 95.
4. Book: Great Britain. Council for Wales and Monmouthshire. A Memorandum by the Council on Its Activities. 1950. H.M. Stationery Office.
5. Book: Jonny Muir. The UK's County Tops: Reaching the top of 91 historic counties. 15 January 2014. Cicerone Press. 978-1-84965-963-5. 99.
6. Book: Grady, Monica M. Catalogue of Meteorites Reference Book with CD-ROM. Cambridge University Press. 2000. 9780521663038. 95.
7. Web site: Cwmbran Regeneration . Torfaen County Borough Council . 24 March 2019.
8. Web site: Key - Gwyn Nicholls Memorial Gates 1949. Cardiff Rugby Museum. 27 May 2019.
9. Book: Tony Russell. The Finest Gardens in Wales. 15 March 2015. Amberley Publishing Limited. 978-1-4456-4137-9. 27.
10. Book: Lawrence Goldman. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography 2005-2008. 7 March 2013. OUP Oxford. 978-0-19-967154-0. 355.
11. Web site: Winners of the Chair. National Eisteddfod of Wales. 17 November 2019.
12. Web site: Winners of the Crown. National Eisteddfod of Wales. 17 November 2019.
13. Web site: Winners of the Prose Medal. National Eisteddfod of Wales. 7 November 2019.
14. Book: Dannie Abse. After Every Green Thing. 1949. Hutchinson.
15. Web site: Mardy-Jones, Thomas Isaac (1879-1970), economist and politician. John Graham Jones. Welsh Biography Online. National Library of Wales. 19 October 2019.
16. Book: Kenneth Blackwell. Harry Ruja. Sheila Turcon. A Bibliography of Bertrand Russell: I. Separate Publications II. Serial Publications III. Indexes. 2 September 2003. Routledge. 978-1-134-81890-7. 188.
17. Book: David James. The Cambridge Companion to British Fiction, 1945-2010. 6 October 2015. Cambridge University Press. 978-1-107-04023-6. 31.
18. Web site: DAVIES, RICHARD ('Isgarn'; 1887-1947), farmer-shepherd and poet. William Llewelyn Davies. William Llewelyn Davies. Welsh Biography Online. National Library of Wales. 5 September 2018.
19. Book: Llyfr y Salmau: Cyfieithiad Cymraeg o'r Llyfr Cyntaf, sef Salmau I-XLI, gyda nodiadau ar y testun Hebraeg. 1967. Gwasg John Penry. 117.
20. Book: Kate Roberts. Stryd y glep: Stori hir fer ar ffurf dyddiadur. Digwydd stori yn un o'r blynyddoedd yn union o flaen rhyfel 1939-45. 1949. Gwasg Gee.
21. Book: Meic Stephens. The new companion to the literature of Wales. 23 September 1998. University of Wales Press. 978-0-7083-1383-1. 719.
22. News: Ivor Novello, master of the musical. 4 August 2012. The Guardian. 3 August 2012. Simon Callow. Simon Callow.
23. Web site: Blue Scar (1949). Screenonline. British Film Institute. 5 September 2018.
24. 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–.
25. Book: Dai Smith. Gareth Williams. Fields of Praise: The Official History of the Welsh Rugby Union, 1881-1981. 1 January 1980. University of Wales Press. 978-0-7083-0766-3. 129.
26. Book: G. L. Hough. Chambers dates. 1 January 1989. Chambers. 978-0-550-11831-8. 57.
27. Book: John Toshack. Toshack's Way: My Journey Through Football. 12 November 2018. deCoubertin Books. 978-1-909245-71-6. 23.
28. Book: Who's Who in European Politics. December 1990. Bowker-Saur. 978-0-86291-911-5. 323.
29. Book: Peter Jackson. Lions of Wales: A Celebration of Welsh Rugby Legends. 1998. Mainstream. 978-1-84018-026-8. 214.
30. Book: Carlos Ramet. Ken Follett: The Transformation of a Writer. 1999. Popular Press. 978-0-87972-798-7. 9.
31. Book: Peter Jackson. Triumph and Tragedy: Welsh Sporting Legends. 6 October 2011. Mainstream Publishing. 978-1-78057-174-4. 61.
32. Web site: Poldark actress Angharad Rees dies from cancer . 22 July 2012. 21 July 2012. BBC News.
33. Book: David Scott Kastan. The Oxford Encyclopedia of British Literature. 2006. Oxford University Press. 978-0-19-516921-8. 34.
34. Web site: UK: Wales: AMs. BBC News. 15 October 2019.
35. Web site: Welcome. Artie Moore Amateur Radio Society. 22 September 2019.
36. Book: Williamson, Philip. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. 54. 2004. Oxford University Press. 342–3. 0-19-861404-7. Thomas, James Henry. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
37. Web site: Jones, Sir Evan Davies (1859-1949), 1st baronet, of Pentower, Fishguard, civil engineer, Lord Lieutenant of Pembrokeshire. William Llewelyn Davies. Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. 22 September 2019.
38. Book: Dai Smith. Gareth Williams. Fields of Praise: The Official History of the Welsh Rugby Union, 1881-1981. 1 January 1980. University of Wales Press. 978-0-7083-0766-3. 310.
39. Web site: Death details at freebmd.org.uk. freebmd.org.uk. 31 December 2011. 1 January 2012.
40. Web site: Anwyl, John Bodvan ('Bodfan'; 1875-1949), minister (Congl.), lexicographer, and author. Thomas Herbert Parry-Williams. Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. 22 September 2019.
41. Web site: Chappell, Edgar Leyshon (1879-1949), sociologist, a pioneer of town and village redevelopment, and writer. William Llewelyn Davies. Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. 22 September 2019.
42. Web site: Davies, George Maitland Lloyd (1880-1949), Calvinistic Methodist minister and apostle of peace. John Ellis Meredith. Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. 22 September 2019.