1926 in Wales

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1926 to Wales and its people.

← 1925 1924 1923 1922 1921 1926 in Wales → 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931
Centuries:	18th 19th 20th 21st
Decades:	1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s
See also:	List of years in Wales 1926 in The United Kingdom Ireland Scotland

Incumbents

• Prince of Wales - Edward
• Princess of Wales – vacant
• Archbishop of Wales – Alfred George Edwards, Bishop of St Asaph
• Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales – Elfed

Events

• 2 February - Spelling of the town of Carnarvon changed to Caernarvon (modern-day Caernarfon); the county makes the same change on 1 July.
• 28 April - J. G. Parry-Thomas breaks the world land speed record on Pendine Sands, in his new car, "Babs".
• 1 May - A lockout of coal miners leads to the declaration of the 1926 United Kingdom general strike. Police and miners clash eighteen times in the course of industrial disputes in the South Wales coalfield.[1]
• June - England footballer Dixie Dean fractures his skull in a motorcycle accident near Holywell but goes on to make a full recovery.
• 23 June - Llwyn-on Reservoir inaugurated for water supply to Cardiff.
• 6 August - Edward, Prince of Wales visits Llandrindod Wells for a scout jamboree.
• October - Miners begin to return to work in large numbers.
• 14 October - David Lloyd George becomes the first Welshman to lead the Liberal Party.[2]
• 29 November - New Jubilee Bridge (Queensferry) across the River Dee is opened.
• The first parachute jump from an RAF plane is made at RAF Sealand in Flintshire.
• Orthopaedic surgeon Robert Jones is created a baronet (Jones of Rhyl).
• Sir William Henry Hoare Vincent represents India at the League of Nations.
• The Roman amphitheatre at Isca Augusta near Caerleon is excavated by Victor Erle Nash-Williams.

Arts and literature

Awards

• National Eisteddfod of Wales (held in Swansea)
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Chair - D. Gwenallt Jones, "Y Mynach"[3]
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Crown - David Emrys Jones

New books

• Joseph Alfred Bradney - Memorandum, being an attempt to give a chronology of the decay of the Welsh language in the eastern part of the County of Monmouth[4]
• David Davies - The Influence of the French Revolution on Welsh Life and Literature[5]
• Thomas Mardy Rees - Seth Joshua and Frank Joshua
• Bertrand Russell - On Education, Especially in Early Childhood
• Hilda Vaughan - Here are Lovers[6]

Music

• David John de Lloyd succeeds Walford Davies as Professor of Music at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth.
• Peter Warlock - Capriol Suite

Film

• Ivor Novello stars in The Triumph of the Rat.[7]

Broadcasting

• The organisers of the National Eisteddfod refuse to allow proceedings to be broadcast on radio.[8]

Sport

• Boxing
  • 5 April - Dick Power beats Tom Norris at Taff Vale Park in Pontypridd to become the new Welsh heavyweight champion.
• Cricket - The South Wales and Monmouthshire Cricket Association is founded.[9]
• Rugby league - Wales defeat New Zealand 34-8.

Births

• 12 January – T. Glynne Davies, poet, novelist and broadcaster (d. 1988)[10]
• 15 January – Malcolm Davies, rugby player (d. 2011)[11]
• 25 January – Richard Davies, actor (d. 2015)[12]
• 3 February – John Davies, cricketer (d. 2005)
• 21 February – Danny Canning, footballer (d. 2014)
• 2 May – Clive Jenkins, trade union leader (d. 1999)[13]
• 8 May – Sir Ronald Waterhouse QC (d. 2011)
• 17 May – Tenniel Evans, actor (d. 2009)[14]
• 27 July – Eddie Thomas, boxing champion and manager (d. 1997)[15]
• 30 July – Gareth Alban Davies, poet and Hispanist (d. 2009)[16]
• 1 August – Robert Thomas, sculptor (d. 1999)
• 23 September – Courtney Meredith, Wales and British Lions rugby player
• 26 September – Catherine Glyn Davies, historian and translator[17] (d. 2007)
• 2 October (at Clevedon, Somerset) – Jan Morris (as James Morris), author (d. 2020)
• 9 October – Ruth Ellis, murderer (executed 1955)[18]
• 14 December – Margaret John, actress (d. 2011)[19]
• 20 December – Geoffrey Howe, politician (d. 2015)[20]
• 30 December – Clifford Williams, actor and director (d. 2005)
• date unknown – Alwyn Davies, chemist

Deaths

• February – Thereza Dillwyn Llewelyn, astronomer and photographer, 91/92[21]
• 7 February – William Evans Hoyle, director of the National Museum of Wales, 71[22]
• 17 March – Sir David William Evans, lawyer, public servant, and Wales international rugby player, 59[23]
• 16 April – William Lewis, mineralogist, 79
• 20 May (in London) – Thomas Rees, academic, 56
• 24 May – John Williams, royal physician, 85
• 14 June – Rees Thomas, rugby player, 43/44
• 3 August – Ernest Willows, aviation pioneer, 40 (killed in a balloon accident)[24]
• 10 August – John Humphreys Davies, academic, 55[25]
• 20 August – Billy Trew, Wales rugby union captain
• 5 October – Dorothy Tennant (Lady Stanley), artist, 71[26]
• 13 October – Eliseus Williams (Eifion Wyn), poet, 59[27]
• 4 November – John Owen, Bishop of St David's, 72[28]
• 30 November – Ellis Ellis-Griffith, politician, 66

See also

• 1926 in Northern Ireland

References

1. The Labour Year Book. Co-operative Printing Society Limited. 1927. pp. 271–2.
2. Timothy Venning (25 July 2005). Compendium of British Office Holders. Palgrave Macmillan UK. p. 503. ISBN 978-0-230-50587-2.
3. "Winners of the Chair". National Eisteddfod of Wales. 3 October 2019.
4. Nikolas Coupland; Alan Richard Thomas (1990). English in Wales: Diversity, Conflict, and Change. Multilingual Matters. p. 81. ISBN 978-1-85359-031-3.
5. Marion Löffler (15 October 2014). Political Pamphlets and Sermons from Wales 1790-1806. University of Wales Press. p. 296. ISBN 978-1-78316-101-0.
6. Wisconsin Library Bulletin. Division of Library Services, Department of Public Instruction. 1927. p. 111.
7. Alan Burton; Steve Chibnall (11 July 2013). Historical Dictionary of British Cinema. Scarecrow Press. p. 316. ISBN 978-0-8108-8026-9.
8. John Davies (1994). Broadcasting and the BBC in Wales. University of Wales Press. ISBN 978-0-7083-1273-5.
9. John Davies; Nigel Jenkins; Menna Baines (2008). The Welsh Academy encyclopaedia of Wales. University of Wales Press. ISBN 978-0-7083-1953-6.
10. Who was who. St. Martin's Press. 1996. p. 145. ISBN 978-0-312-29366-6.
11. "Birth details at freebmd.org.uk". freebmd.org.uk. 31 December 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
12. "Richard Davies, actor - obituary". The Telegraph. 15 October 2015. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
13. Historical Studies in Industrial Relations. Keele University Centre for Industrial Relations. 2006.
14. Purser, Philip (12 June 2009). "Tenniel Evans". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 27 March 2010.
15. Nat Fleischer. Nat Fleischer's All-time Ring Record Book ... O'Brien Suburban Press. p. 767.
16. Meic Stephens (12 March 2009). "Gareth Alban Davies: Poet who combined Welsh and Hispanic interests in his work". The Independent. Retrieved 18 December 2009.
17. Mary Burdett Jones. "Davies, Catherine Glyn ('Caryl') (1926-2007), historian of philosophy and linguistics, and translator". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
18. David K. Frasier (1996). Murder Cases of the Twentieth Century: Biographies and Bibliographies of 280 Convicted Or Accused Killers. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-0184-0.
19. "Gavin & Stacey star Margaret John dies". Guardian. 2 February 2011. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
20. Barnes, John (11 October 2015). "Geoffrey Howe: One of the architects of the Thatcher revolution who became one of the primary factors in her downfall". The Independent. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
21. The Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine. Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society. 1925. p. 354.
22. "Obituary: Dr. W. E. Evans". Nature. 64 (117): 277. 20 Feb 1926. doi:10.1038/117277a0.
23. "Sir David Evans". The Times. 18 March 1926. p. 21.
24. Aeronautics. 1960.
25. Ellis, Thomas Iorwerth. "Davies, John Humphreys". Welsh Biography Online. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 18 January 2010.
26. The Spectator. F.C. Westley. July 1929.
27. T. H. Parry-Williams. "Williams, Eliseus (Eifion Wyn; 1867-1926), poet". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
28. Thomas Iorwerth Ellis. "Owen, John (1854-1926), bishop". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 25 May 2019.