1954 in Wales explained

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1954 to Wales and its people.

Incumbents

• Archbishop of Wales – John Morgan, Bishop of Llandaff
• Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales – Dyfnallt

Events

• 1 April – Civilian flights from the old Cardiff Municipal Airport at Pengam Moors are transferred to the new Cardiff Airport near Rhoose.
• 29 May – Gwyneth Phillips marries John Dunwoody, continuing a dynasty of Labour politicians.^[1]
• 19 June – The Welsh Chess Union is founded.^[2]
• October – Launch of the Empire News, the first Sunday newspaper to be printed and published in Wales.^[3]
• 19 October – Gwilym Lloyd George becomes Home Secretary^[4] and Minister for Welsh Affairs – the first Welshman to hold the position.
• 9 December – Flag of the Church in Wales officially inaugurated.^[5]

Arts and literature

Awards

• National Eisteddfod of Wales (held in Ystradgynlais)
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Chair – John Evans, "Yr Argae"^[6]
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Crown – E. Llwyd Williams, "Y Bannau"^[7]
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Prose Medal – Owen Elias Roberts, Y Gor o Ystradgynlais^[8]

New books

• Dannie Abse – Ash on a Young Man's Sleeve^[9]
• Kingsley Amis – Lucky Jim
• Glyn Daniel – Welcome Death
• Margiad Evans – The Nightingale Silenced (unpublished)^[10]
• Ronald Fenton – The Story of Sker House^[11]
• Eiluned Lewis – Honey Pots and Brandy Bottles
• V. E. Nash-Williams – The Roman Frontier in Wales
• Bertrand Russell – Nightmares of Eminent Persons and Other Stories
• Dylan Thomas – Quite Early One Morning

Music

• Geraint Evans stars in William Walton's new opera, Troilus and Cressida.
• Alun Hoddinott – Clarinet Concerto (performed at the Cheltenham Festival by Gervase de Peyer with the Hallé Orchestra under Sir John Barbirolli).
• Arwel Hughes – Menna (opera)
• Daniel Jones – Symphony no 4

Film

• Donald Houston co-stars in Doctor in the House.
• Ray Milland stars in Dial M for Murder.
• The Black Knight, starring Alan Ladd, is partly filmed at Castell Coch.^[12]

Broadcasting

• 25 January – Under Milk Wood is performed for the first time on BBC radio with an all-Welsh cast led by Richard Burton and including Hugh Griffith, Rachel Thomas and Philip Burton.^[13]

Sport

• Football – John Charles finishes the 1953–54 season having scored 42 goals for Leeds United.
• Rugby union – Wales win the Five Nations Championship, but a loss against England prevents Wales lifting the Triple Crown.
• BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year – Ken Jones^[14]

Births

• 5 January – Elgan Rees, Wales international rugby player^[15]
• 6 January – John Sparkes, comedian
• 21 January – Tony Ridler, darts player
• 12 March – Chris Needs, broadcaster
• 13 March – Francis Ormsby-Gore, 6th Baron Harlech
• 17 March – Trish Law, born Patricia Bolter, AM, politician
• 6 April – Alan Curtis, footballer
• 19 April – Jon Owen Jones, politician
• 23 May – David Richards, Wales international rugby player
• 28 May – Gwyn Morgan, writer
  • • 9 June Paul Chapman, rock guitarist
  • Rhys Morgan, Wales international rugby player
• 7 July – Mickey Thomas, Welsh international footballer^[16]
• August – Ceri Sherlock, filmmaker and theatre director^[17]
• 27 August – Bryn Fôn, singer and actor
• 12 September – Sir Michael Moritz, businessman and philanthropist
• 19 September – Mark Drakeford, politician^[18]
• 24 September – Helen Lederer, comedian and actress
• 25 September – Gareth Thomas, politician^[19]
• 12 October – Keith Griffiths, architect
• 13 October – Kim Davies, cricketer
• 14 October – Lowri Gwilym, television and radio producer
• 13 November – Les Keen, Wales international rugby player

Deaths

• 12 January – Thomas Brinsmead Williams, cricketer, 69
• 6 March – William Davies Thomas, academic, 74
• 25 March – William Jackson, footballer, 78
• 10 April – Harry Hiams, rugby union international, 67
• 6 May – J. J. Williams, poet and archdruid, 84^[20]
• 15 June
  • William Ewart Berry, 1st Viscount Camrose, 74^[21]
  • Charles Edwards, politician, 87
• 10 July – Jack Anthony, jockey, 64^[22]
• 10 August – Ernest Morgan, architect and painter, 72/73^[23]
• 29 September – William John Gruffydd, author and politician, 73^[24]
• 31 October – Rhys Davies, trade unionist and politician, 77^[25]
• 8 November – Sir Geoffrey Crawshay, soldier and social benefactor, 62^[26]
• 3 December – Sir Joseph Davies, statistician and Liberal politician, 87
• 14 December – Cliff Pritchard, Welsh international rugby player, 73
• 20 December – Frank Connah, hockey player, 70
• 22 December – Robert Richards, Welsh politician, 70^[27]

See also

• 1954 in Northern Ireland

Notes and References

1. Book: Lawrence Goldman. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography 2005-2008. 7 March 2013. OUP Oxford. 978-0-19-967154-0. 337.
2. Book: The British Chess Magazine. 1954. Trubner & Company.
3. Book: Fleet Street Annual. 1954.
4. Book: Richard Lamb. The failure of the Eden Government. 1987. Sidgwick & Jackson.
5. Book: E. M. C. Barraclough. William G. Crampton. Frederick Edward Hulme. Flags of the world. 1978. F. Warne. 30.
6. Web site: Winners of the Chair. National Eisteddfod of Wales. 7 November 2019.
7. Web site: Winners of the Crown. National Eisteddfod of Wales. 7 November 2019.
8. Web site: Winners of the Prose Medal. National Eisteddfod of Wales. 7 November 2019.
9. Web site: Dannie Abse - obituary. 28 September 2014. The Telegraph. 31 August 2018.
10. Book: Barbara Prys-Williams. Twentieth-century Autobiography. 2004. University of Wales Press. 978-0-7083-1891-1.
11. Book: Meic Stephens. The Oxford companion to the literature of Wales. registration. April 1986. Oxford University Press. 197.
12. Cadwm Heritage in Wales, no 32, p7
13. [Richard Hughes (British writer)|Richard Hughes]
14. Web site: BBC Wales Sport Personality winners . BBC Sport . 29 July 2021.
15. Book: Peter Jackson. Lions of Wales: A Celebration of Welsh Rugby Legends. 1998. Mainstream. 978-1-84018-026-8. 214.
16. Book: Stoke City 101 Golden Greats. 2002. Desert Islands Books. 1-874287554.
17. Web site: Ceri Sherlock - Cardiff - Training. CheckCompany. 3 October 2018.
18. Web site: Drakeford, Mark . . Oxford University Press . 6 December 2018 . 1 December 2018.
19. Web site: Gareth Thomas. 17 October 2002. BBC News. 1 July 2022.
20. Jones. Evan David. E. D. Jones. John James Williams. s2-WILL-JAM-1869. 22 May 2015.
21. G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910-1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume XIII, page 294.
22. Web site: Welsh steeplechase jockeys – Jack Anthony.... 31 August 2015. Cowbridge Gem. 17 March 2019.
23. Web site: London Gazette, no 40269. The Gazette. 18 March 2019.
24. s2-GRUF-JOH-1881. Gruffydd, William John (1881-1954), scholar, poet, critic and editor. Thomas Parry. National Library of Wales. 17 March 2019.
25. s2-DAVI-JOH-1877. Davies, Rhys John (1877-1954), politician and trade union official. Walter Thomas Morgan. National Library of Wales. 17 March 2019.
26. Web site: Crawshay, Sir Geoffrey Cartland Hugh (1892-1954), soldier and social benefactor. L. N. Hopper. Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. 17 March 2019.
27. s2-RICH-ROB-1884. Richards, Robert (1884-1954), historian and politician. Evan David Jones. 2001. 1 July 2022.