1965 in Wales explained

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1965 to Wales and its people.

Incumbents

• Secretary of State for Wales – Jim Griffiths
• Archbishop of Wales – Edwin Morris, Bishop of Monmouth
• Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales – Cynan

Events

• May – Opening of Llandegfedd Reservoir by Newport Corporation.^[1]
• 17 May – Thirty-one miners are killed in a mining accident at the Cambrian Colliery, Clydach Vale, Rhondda.
• 24 May – The first drive-on car ferry service between Fishguard and Rosslare Harbour (Ireland) officially opens.
• 15 June – The Hughes-Parry Committee submits its report on the legal status of the Welsh language.^[2]
• 21 October – Official opening of Llyn Celyn reservoir.
• 17 December – A landslide on the main railway line at Bridgend kills a train driver and co-driver.
• Foundation of Undeb y Cymraeg Byw ("Union of Living Welsh").

Arts and literature

Awards

• National Eisteddfod of Wales (held in Newtown, Montgomeryshire)
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Chair – William David Williams
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Crown – Tom Parri Jones
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Prose Medal – Eigra Lewis Roberts

New books

English language

• Peter Bryan George – Commander-1
• Julian Mitchell – The White Father

Welsh language

• Bedwyr Lewis Jones (ed.) – Blodeugerdd o'r Bedwaredd Ganrif ar Bymtheg
• Gwilym Meredydd Jones – Dawns yr Ysgubau

Music

• 12 December – The Beatles' last live U.K. tour concludes with two performances at the Capitol, Cardiff.^[3]
• Tom Jones releases the film theme, "What's New Pussycat?" as a single.
• Rockfield Studios (near Rockfield, Monmouthshire) becomes the world's first residential recording studio.

Film

• Richard Burton stars in The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, for which he would be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor.^[4]
• Glynis Johns stars in Mary Poppins.
• Tryweryn, the Story of a Valley (film made by Friars School, Bangor).^[5]

Theatre

• 26 March – Harold Pinter's play The Homecoming has its world première at the New Theatre, Cardiff.^[6]

Broadcasting

• February - BBC2 is received in South Wales for the first time, as a result of a new transmitter.^[7]
• date unknown - Arwel Hughes becomes Head of Music at BBC Wales.^[8]

Welsh-language television

• Dafydd Iwan begins appearing regularly on TWW's Y Dydd.^[9]

English-language television

• As I See It, presented by Gwyn Thomas

Sport

• Rugby union – Wales win the Triple Crown for the first time in 13 years.
• BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year – Clive Rowlands^[10]

Births

• 5 January – Vinnie Jones, footballer (in Watford, England)^[11]
• 22 February – Steve Speirs, born Steven Roberts, actor
• 2 March (in Bangor, County Down) – Lembit Öpik, politician
• 6 March – Allan Bateman, rugby player
• 1 April – Alexandra Shân "Tiggy" Legge-Bourke, royal nanny^[12]
• 9 April – Colin Pascoe, footballer
• April – Manon Antoniazzi, née Jenkins, Chief Executive and Clerk of the Senedd
• 3 May – Rob Brydon, comedian and actor^[13]
• 8 May – Andy Dibble, footballer
• 11 May – Jeremy Goss, footballer
• 16 May – Vincent Regan, actor
• 25 August – David Taylor, soccer player and manager
• 13 September – Andrew Williams, cricketer
• 16 October – Floyd Havard, British super-featherweight boxing champion
• 30 October – Michael Tremellen, cricketer
• 9 November – Bryn Terfel, bass-baritone singer
• date unknown – Patrick Jones, poet and author

Deaths

• 7 January – Sarah Edwards, actress, 83^[14]
• 18 January – Ernest Evans, politician, 79^[15]
• 29 January – T. Harri Jones, poet and academic, 43 (suicide)^[16]
• 4 February
  • Hugh Morriston Davies, thoracic surgeon, 85^[17]
  • Llywelyn Williams, politician, 53^[18]
• 5 February – Sir David Brunt, meteorologist, 78^[19]
• 1 April – Sir John William Bowen, trade unionist and politician, 88^[20]
• 22 April – Glyn Stephens, Wales international rugby union captain, 73
• 3 May – Howard Spring, novelist, 76^[21]
• 29 May – Steve Morris, Wales international rugby player, 68
• 16 June – Dai Parker, Wales and British Lion rugby player, 60
• 17 July (in Scarborough) – Dan Lewis, footballer
• 18 August – Christmas Price Williams, politician, 83^[22]
• 24 August – Elvyn Bowen, cricketer, 58
• 30 August – Llew Edwards, boxer, 72
• 11 September – Trevor Preece, cricketer, 82
• 1 October – Gareth Hughes, actor, 71^[23]
• 9 October – Russell Taylor, Wales international rugby player, 50
• 16 October – Hywel Davies, radio broadcaster, television interviewer and writer, 46^[24]
• 22 October – William Williams, Victoria Cross recipient, 75^[25]
• 31 October – John Roberts, Wales international rugby player, 59
• 4 November – Ifor Williams, academic, 84^[26]
• 8 November – George Hall, politician, 83^[27]
• 23 November – Murray Humphreys, Chicago mobster of Welsh descent, 66^[28]
• 26 December – Llewelyn Alberic Emilius Price-Davies, Victoria Cross recipient, 87^[29]
• 29 December – Claude Warner, cricketer, 83

See also

• 1965 in Northern Ireland

Notes and References

1. Web site: Chronology of the Twentieth Century. Newport Past. Haydn. Davis. 2015-03-08.
2. https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1965/jun/24/hughes-parry-committee-report Hansard 1965.
3. Web site: Live: Capitol Cinema, Cardiff. The Beatles Bible. 1965-12-12. 2014-02-19.
4. Web site: The 38th Academy Awards 1966. Oscars. 29 December 2018.
5. Web site: Tryweryn, the Story of a Valley. BFI Online. 29 December 2018.
6. News: Benedict Nightingale. review: The Homecoming at Cardiff. Nightingale. Benedict. The Guardian. 1965-03-27. 6.
7. Book: David Maxwell Barlow. Tom O'Malley. Philip Mitchell. The media in Wales: voices of a small nation. 2005. University of Wales Press. 978-0-7083-1840-9. 131.
8. Book: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Parliamentary Papers, House of Commons and Command. 1965. H.M. Stationery Office.
9. Book: Jamie Medhurst. A History of Independent Television in Wales. 1 June 2010. University of Wales Press. 978-0-7083-2308-3. 140.
10. Web site: BBC Wales Sport Personality winners . BBC Sport . 29 July 2021.
11. Book: Vinnie Jones. It's Been Emotional. 17 July 2014. Simon and Schuster. 978-1-4711-2759-5. 9–.
12. Book: Francis Wheen. Hoo-hahs and Passing Frenzies: Collected Journalism, 1991-2001. registration. 2002. Atlantic. 978-1-903809-42-6.
13. Book: Rob Brydon. Small Man in a Book. 2012. Penguin Books, Limited. 978-0-241-95482-9. 8.
14. Book: Evelyn Mack Truitt. Who was who on screen. 1 July 1977. Bowker. 978-0-8352-0914-4. 139.
15. Web site: Evans, Ernest (1885-1965), county court judge, M.P.. Evan David Jones. Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. 19 March 2020.
16. Book: Belinda Humfrey. 'Fire green as grass': studies of the creative impulse in Anglo-Welsh poetry and short stories of the twentieth century. March 1995. Gomer. 978-1-85902-168-2. 112.
17. Web site: Davies, Hugh Morriston (1879-1965), probably the most outstanding pioneer of thoracic surgery in Britain. Emyr Wyn Jones. Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. 19 March 2020.
18. Book: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Journals of the House of Commons. 1964. order of the House of Commons. 124.
19. Book: Indian Journal of Meteorology & Geophysics. 1965. India Meteorological Department. 527.
20. "Obituary: Sir William Bowen", The Times, 2 April 1965
21. Book: Marion Ursula Howard Spring. Howard. 1967. Collins. 13.
22. Web site: Williams, Christmas Price (1881-1965), politician and engineer. John Graham Jones. Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. 19 March 2020.
23. Book: John A. Willis. Screen World. 1983. Crown Publishers. 237.
24. Web site: Hywel Davies. Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Williams. Griffith John. 23 May 2017.
25. Book: Max Arthur. Symbol of Courage: The Men Behind the Medal. 2005. Pan Macmillan. 978-0-330-49133-4. 684.
26. Book: British Academy. Interpreters of Early Medieval Britain. 2002. British Academy. 978-0-19-726277-1. 304.
27. Book: Frank C. Roberts. Obituaries from the Times. 1961. Newspaper Archive Developments Limited. 335.
28. Book: Virgil W. Peterson. The Mob: 200 Years of Organized Crime in New York. registration. 1983. Green Hill Publishers. 978-0-89803-123-2. 416.
29. Book: Max Arthur. Symbol of Courage: The Men Behind the Medal. 2005. Pan Macmillan. 978-0-330-49133-4. 671.