1950 in Wales explained

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1950 to Wales and its people.

Incumbents

• Archbishop of Wales – John Morgan, Bishop of Llandaff
• Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales
  • Wil Ifan (outgoing)
  • Cynan (incoming)

Events

• 23 February – 1950 United Kingdom general election: For the first time ever, the Labour Party contests all Parliamentary seats in Wales. Following the election, Wales has 27 Labour MPs, 4 Liberals, 3 Conservatives and one National Liberal/Conservative.
  • The University of Wales seat is abolished at the dissolution, W. J. Gruffydd having been the last holder.
  • Roderic Bowen is re-elected for Cardiganshire, with the largest Liberal majority in the country.
  • David Ormsby-Gore, the future Lord Harlech, becomes MP for Oswestry.
  • Lynn Ungoed-Thomas, following the abolition of his Llandaff and Barry constituency, is elected MP for Leicester North East.
  • Roy Jenkins, whose Southwark seat has been abolished, is elected for Birmingham Stechford.
  • Elwyn Jones becomes MP for West Ham South.
  • Following the election, Ness Edwards becomes Postmaster-General. During his time in the office, he introduces the greetings telegram.
  • Abertillery's Labour MP, George Daggar, dies on 14 October, to be replaced by Llywelyn Williams.
• 12 March – Llandow air disaster: 80 of the 83 people on board an Avro Tudor V aircraft are killed when it crashes on approach to Llandow in Glamorgan, making it the world's worst air disaster at this time.^[1]
• 30 March – William Havard is elected Bishop of St David's.^[2]
• 1 June – The Welsh Air Service, the world's first scheduled helicopter service, begins operating between Cardiff, Wrexham and Liverpool.^[3]
• 27 August – Six people are killed in a rail collision at Penmaenmawr railway station.^[4]
• 9 September – In Swansea, following heavy rain, three houses collapse, killing seven people.^[5]
• Ysgol Syr Thomas Jones opens in Amlwch on Anglesey as Britain's first purpose-built comprehensive school.
• Maes Hyfryd and Bryn Teg housing estates at Beaumaris, designed by Colwyn Foulkes, are built.^[6]
• Glanllyn is acquired as a permanent site for meetings of Urdd Gobaith Cymru.
• In the Honours lists
  • Physicist Ezer Griffiths is awarded the O.B.E.
  • Agriculturist Thomas James Jenkin is awarded the C.B.E.
  • Industrialist Herbert Henry Merrett is knighted.
• Margaret Haig Thomas, Viscountess Rhondda, becomes President of University College, Cardiff.

Arts and literature

• 21 February – Dylan Thomas arrives in the United States, his first visit to America.^[7]
• The first Welsh Drama Festival is held.
• American photojournalist W. Eugene Smith visits the UK to take photographs of working-class life; three of those published are of the South Wales valleys.^[8]

Awards

• National Eisteddfod of Wales (held in Caerphilly) (first "all-Welsh" Eisteddfod)
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Chair – Gwilym Tilsley
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Crown – Euros Bowen
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Prose Medal – withheld

New books

English language

• Sir Leonard Twiston Davies – Welsh furniture: an introduction
• Kathleen Freeman – Greek City States
• Llywelyn Wyn Griffith – The Welsh
• Elisabeth Inglis-Jones – Peacocks in Paradise^[9]
• Thomas Jones (T. J.) – Welsh Broth
• Richard Llewellyn – A Few Flowers for Shiner^[10]
• V. E. Nash-Williams – The Early Christian Monuments of Wales^[11]
• Harold Henry Rowley – The Growth of the Old Testament
• Bertrand Russell – Unpopular Essays
• Raymond Williams – Reading and Criticism

Welsh language

• Ambrose Bebb – Machlud yr Oesoedd Canol^[12]
• Aneirin Talfan Davies – Blodeugerdd o englynion
• Edward Morgan Humphreys – Gwŷr enwog gynt^[13]
• Edgar Phillips – Caniadau Trefîn^[14]
• Arthur Wade-Evans – Coll Prydain
• David Pryse Williams – Canmlwyddiant Libanus ... braslun o'r hanes^[15]
• William Crwys Williams – Pedair Pennod^[16]

Music

• Harry Parr Davies – Dear Miss Phoebe (musical)^[17]
• Arwel Hughes – Dewi Sant (Saint David) (oratorio)
• Grace Williams – Three Traditional Ballads^[18]
• W. S. Gwynn Williams – Breuddwyd Glyndwr

Film

• Glyn Houston makes his film debut in The Blue Lamp, which also stars Meredith Edwards and guest stars Tessie O'Shea.
• Ray Milland stars in Copper Canyon and A Woman of Distinction.

Sports

• Boxing
  • 13 September – Eddie Thomas beats Cliff Curvis at St Helens to become British welterweight champion.^[19]
• Football
  • 27 October – Wales international Trevor Ford becomes the most expensive footballer in British history after joining Sunderland for £30,000.^[20]
• Rugby union – Wales win their fourth Grand Slam.
• Bowls – The Welsh Ladies Indoor Bowling Association is founded.^[21]

Births

• 23 January – John Greaves, Welsh bass player and songwriter
• 7 February – Dai Havard MP, politician
• 16 February (in Nairobi) – Peter Hain MP, politician
• 11 March – Terry Cooper, footballer
• 18 March – Lorraine Barrett AM, politician
• 27 March – Terry Yorath, footballer and football manager
• 3 May – Mary Hopkin, singer^[22]
• 5 May (in Saint Kitts) – Pat Thomas, boxer
• 24 May – Geoff Ellis, cricketer
• 26 May – Myron Wyn Evans, chemist (died 2019)
• 2 June – Jonathan Evans MEP, businessman and politician^[23]
• 14 June – Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury^[24]
• 25 August (in Dublin) – Brian Gibbons AM, politician
• 8 September – Martyn Woodroffe, swimmer^[25]
• 10 September – Tich Gwilym, guitarist (d. 2005)
• 11 October – Robert Pugh, actor
• 16 November – Chris O'Brien, rugby league player
• 28 November – Meic Povey, screenwriter, playwright and actor (d. 2017) ^[26]
• 8 December – Stephen Richards, judge
• 10 December – John Parsons, footballer

Deaths

• 23 January – Jack Rhapps, dual-code international rugby player, 73
• 13 February – Rees Howells, missionary and founder of the Bible College at Swansea, 70^[27]
• 28 February – David Lewis Prosser, Archbishop of Wales, 81^[28]
• 9 March – Timothy Evans, wrongly executed for murder, 35^[29]
• 15 March – Sir Wilfrid Lewis, judge^[30]
• 12 April – Joe Rees, rugby union player, 56
• 29 April – Wallace Watts, Wales international rugby union player, 80
• 15 May – David Edwardes Davies, Bishop of Bangor, 70^[31]
• 21 June – General Sir Henry ap Rhys Pryce, officer in the Indian Army, 75^[32]
• 23 June – Joseph Harry, minister and poet, 86^[33]
• 29 June – H. A. Gwynne, author and newspaper editor, 84^[34]
• 2 July – Henry Haydn Jones MP, politician, 86^[35]
• 5 July – John Hughes, footballer, 73
• 30 August – Morgan Morgan-Owen, footballer, 73^[36]
• 30 August – Ralph Hancock, landscape gardener, 57
• 19 September – David Jones, archdeacon of Carmarthen, 75^[37]
• 14 October – George Daggar MP, politician, 71^[38]
• 28 October – Alis Mallt Williams, novelist, 83^[39]
• 21 November – Hugh Emyr Davies, poet, 72^[40]

See also

• 1950 in Northern Ireland

Notes and References

1. Book: Keith Eastlake. Henry Russell. Mike Sharpe. World Disasters: Tragedies in the Modern Age. 21 August 2013. Routledge. 978-1-136-74257-6. 129.
2. Book: John Morgan-Guy. Religion and Society in the Diocese of St Davids 1485–2011. 1 April 2016. Routledge. 978-1-317-06784-9. 212.
3. Book: Woodley, Charles . The history of British European Airways . Pen & Sword Aviation . Barnsley . 2006 . 9781844151868 . 109.
4. Book: Michael Foley. Britain's Railway Disasters: Fatal Accidents from the 1830s to the Present Day. 15 January 2014. Wharncliffe. 978-1-4738-3328-9. 195.
5. Book: Geoff Brookes. Swansea in the 1950s: Ten Years that Changed a City. 15 September 2015. Amberley Publishing Limited. 978-1-4456-3958-1. 11.
6. Book: The Twentieth Century Society. The Twentieth Century Society. 100 Houses 100 Years. London. Batsford. 2017. 978-1-84994-437-3. 1950.
7. Book: Constantine FitzGibbon. The Life of Dylan Thomas. registration. 1965. J. M. Dent and Sons. 355.
8. Book: University of Arizona. Center for Creative Photography. Amy Rule. W. Eugene Smith papers. 1983. Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona. 18.
9. Book: Margaret Ross Griffel. Operas in English: A Dictionary. 21 December 2012. Scarecrow Press. 978-0-8108-8325-3. 713.
10. Book: NA NA. Writers Directory. 5 March 2016. Springer. 978-1-349-03650-9. 758.
11. Book: Mark Redknap. The Christian Celts: Treasures of Late Celtic Wales. 1991. National Museum Wales. 978-0-7200-0354-3. 7.
12. Book: Dai Smith. A People and a proletariat: essays in the history of Wales, 1780-1980. 1980. Pluto Press in association with Llafur, the Society for the Study of Welsh Labour History. 978-0-86104-321-7. 139.
13. Book: Hugh Pryce. J. E. Lloyd and the Creation of Welsh History: Renewing a Nation's Past. 15 May 2011. University of Wales Press. 978-1-78316-297-0. 266.
14. Book: Glyn Jones. Tony Brown. The Dragon Has Two Tongues: Essays on Anglo-Welsh Writers and Writing. 1 December 2001. University of Wales Press. 978-1-4175-0857-0. 205.
15. Web site: Williams, David Pryse (‘Brythonydd’; 1878-1952), minister (B), writer, and historian. Benjamin George Owens. Dictionary of Welsh Biography. 27 May 2019.
16. Book: J. Gwynn Williams. The University College of North Wales: Foundations, 1884-1927. 1985. University of Wales Press. 978-0-7083-0893-6. 480.
17. Book: Arthur Jackson. The Best Musicals: From Show Boat to A Chorus Line : Broadway, Off-Broadway, London. 1979. Crown. 978-0-517-53881-4. 180.
18. Book: Benjamin Britten. Letters from a Life Volume 3 (1946-1951): The Selected Letters of Benjamin Britten. 7 July 2011. Faber & Faber. 978-0-571-27993-7. 469.
19. News: Obituary: Eddie Thomas . https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220501/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-eddie-thomas-1254082.html . 2022-05-01 . subscription . live . The Independent . Mullan . Harry . 4 June 1997 . 22 March 2020.
20. Book: Palmer, Neil . Trevor Ford : the authorised biography . Amberley . Stroud . 2016 . 9781445640891 .
21. Web site: About Us. Welsh Ladies Indoor Bowling Association. 2008. 2009-07-13. Welsh Ladies Indoor Bowling Association website.
22. Book: Norm N. Nite. Rock on: The modern years: 1964 - present. registration. 1980. Crowell. 978-0-690-01196-8. 230.
23. Book: Dod's Parliamentary Companion. Dod's Parliamentary Companion, Limited. 1997. 521.
24. Web site: About Rowan Williams. Archbishop of Canterbury. 28 December 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20120106114936/http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/pages/about-rowan-williams.html. 6 January 2012. dead. dmy-all.
25. Web site: Martyn Woodroffe. Welsh Sports Hall of Fame. 6 November 2021.
26. Web site: Meic Povey, playwright and scriptwriter – obituary. 28 December 2017. The Telegraph. 26 May 2019.
27. s2-HOWE-REE-1879. Howells, Rees (1879-1950), missionary and founder of the Bible College, Swansea. Huw Walters. 2001. 13 February 2022.
28. s2-PROS-LEW-1868. Prosser, David Lewis (1868-1950), archbishop. Thomas Iorwerth Ellis. National Library of Wales. 26 May 2019.
29. Book: Gudjonsson, Gisli . The psychology of interrogations and confessions : a handbook . Wiley . Chichester, West Sussex, England Hoboken, N.J . 2003 . 9780470857946 . 168.
30. s2-LEWI-POY-1881. Lewis, Wilfrid Hubert Poyer (1881-1950), judge. Griffith Milwyn Griffiths. National Library of Wales. 26 May 2019.
31. Book: Frank Moore Colby. The New International Year Book. Dodd, Mead and Company. 1950. 389.
32. News: Obituary: Gen. Sir H. Ap Rhys Pryce . . 27 June 1950 . 8 .
33. s2-HARR-JOS-1863. Harry, Joseph (1863-1950), schoolmaster and Independent minister. Evan David Jones. 2001. 6 November 2021.
34. s2-GWYN-CIL-1822. Gwynne (family), of Kilvey, Swansea. 2001. 13 February 2022.
35. Book: Michael Stenton. Stephen Lees. Who's who of British Members of Parliament: A Biographical Dictionary of the House of Commons. 1919-1945. Volume III. 1979. Harvester P.. 978-0-391-00768-0. 189.
36. Web site: Timothy Morgan Owen (1843–1924) 28 . 12 December 2018.
37. News in Brief The Times (London, England), Wednesday, Sep 20, 1950; pg. 3; Issue 51801
38. s3-DAGG-GEO-1879. Daggar, George (1879-1950), trade unionist and Member of Parliament. John Davies. National Library of Wales. 26 May 2019.
39. s2-WILL-LAN-1867. Williams, Alice Matilda Langland (1867-1950), otherwise Alys Mallt, but more generally known as Y Fonesig Mallt Williams author and celtophile. Evan David Jones. National Library of Wales. 26 May 2019.
40. Davies, Hugh Emyr (1878-1950), minister (Presb.) and poet. s2-DAVI-EMY-1878. 28 December 2021.