1979 in Wales

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1979 to Wales and its people.

← 1978 1977 1976 1975 1974 1979 in Wales → 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984
Centuries:	18th 19th 20th 21st
Decades:	1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s
See also:	List of years in Wales 1979 in The United Kingdom Ireland Scotland

Incumbents

• Prince of Wales – Charles
• Princess of Wales – vacant
• Secretary of State for Wales – John Morris (until 5 May); Nicholas Edwards
• Archbishop of Wales – Gwilym Williams, Bishop of Bangor
• Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales – Geraint

Events

• 1 March - The devolution referendum rejects the Wales Act 1978 (which would have established a Welsh Assembly) by four to one. The Parliamentary Select Committee on Welsh Affairs is subsequently established.[1]
• 18 May - Annie Powell of Rhondda becomes Britain's first Communist mayor.[2]
• 7 June - In the elections for the European Parliament, Ann Clwyd and Win Griffiths are among the newly elected MEPs. Plaid Cymru win no seats.
• 8 June - A Cessna aircraft crashes into a mountain in Snowdonia, killing all six occupants.
• 12 December - Four holiday homes in rural Wales are the target of arson attacks by Welsh Nationalist political activists.

Arts and literature

Awards

• Michael Bogdanov is named "Director of the Year" for the Royal Shakespeare Company production of The Taming of the Shrew.
• National Eisteddfod of Wales (held in Caernarfon)
  • National Eisteddfod of Wales: Chair - withheld
  • National Eisteddfod of Wales: Crown - Meirion Evans
  • National Eisteddfod of Wales: Prose Medal - Robyn Lewis

English language

• Gillian Clarke - The Sundial
• Wendy Davies - The Llandaff Charters
• Christopher Evans - The Mighty Micro
• Emyr Humphreys - The Best of Friends
• Sian James - A Small Country
• Tristan Jones - The Incredible Voyage
• Anna Kashfi - Brando for Breakfast
• Leslie Norris - Sliding
• Gwyn Alf Williams - The Merthyr Rising
• Raymond Williams - The Fight for Manod

Welsh language

• Pennar Davies - Mabinogi Mwys[3]
• Marion Eames - I Hela Cnau
• Dic Jones - Storom Awst
• John Rowlands - Tician, Tician

Music

• Dave Edmunds - Repeat When Necessary (album)
• Bonnie Tyler - Diamond Cut (album)

Film

• Rachel Roberts wins the BAFTA award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Yanks.
• Emlyn Williams' play, The Corn is Green, is filmed for the second time, starring Katharine Hepburn.

Broadcasting

• BBC Radio Cymru is launched.
• New Home Secretary William Whitelaw rejects the idea of a Welsh fourth channel on behalf of the Conservative government.

English-language television

• Colin Jeavons stars in Dennis Potter's classic play, Blue Remembered Hills.[4]

Sport

• Boxing - Pat Thomas wins the British Light-middleweight title
• Rugby union - Wales win the Five Nations Championship and take the Triple Crown.
• Snooker - Terry Griffiths wins the World Championship in his first year as a professional.[5]

Births

• 21 February – Laura Anne Jones AM, politician
• 26 February – Steve Evans, footballer
• 15 April - Luke Evans, actor
• 17 May – Michaela Breeze, weightlifting champion[6]
• 3 June – Christian Malcolm, athlete[7]
• 4 June – Celyn Jones, actor
• 13 July – Craig Bellamy, footballer
• 1 August- Honeysuckle Weeks, actress
• 8 August – Danny Gabbidon, footballer
• Jonathan Edwards, poet

Deaths

• January – Dilys Cadwaladr, poet, 76
• 7 February – Charles Tunnicliffe, painter on Anglesey, 77[8]
• 13 February – Eric Newton Griffith-Jones, Welsh-descended lawyer, 65[9]
• 13 March – Tudor Owen, actor, 81[10]
• 15 April (in Surrey) – Eiluned Lewis, novelist, 78[11]
• 14 May – Jean Rhys, novelist, 88
• 9 June – John Morris, Baron Morris of Borth-y-Gest, judge, 82
• 16 July – Harold Finch, politician, 81[12]
• 30 August – C. E. Wynn-Williams, physicist, 76
• 2 September – Ewan Davies, rugby player, 92[13]
• 10 October (in Teddington) – Christopher Evans, computer scientist, 48[14]
• 12 October – Jackie Williams, footballer, 76
• November – Ursula Williams, politician, 83[15]
• 12 December – Goronwy Rees, writer, 70?[16]
• 20 December - Leslie Gilbert Illingworth, political cartoonist, 77
• 21 December – Nansi Richards, harpist, 91[17]
• 29 December – Richard Tecwyn Williams, biochemist, 70[18]
• date unknown
  • Hugh Bevan, academic
  • Dilys Davies, actress
  • Trebor Lloyd Evans, writer[19]
  • Jennie Thomas, children's author
• probable – William Evans, rugby player, about 88

See also

• 1979 in Northern Ireland

References

1. Governing the UK in the 1990s. Macmillan International Higher Education. 20 March 1995. pp. 214. ISBN 978-1-349-23899-6.
2. Milorad M. Drachkovitch; Lewis H. Gann (1980). Yearbook on International Communist Affairs. Hoover Institution Press. p. 160.
3. Studia Celtica. University of Wales Press. 1983.
4. W. Stephen Gilbert (1 January 2002). The Life and Work of Dennis Potter. The Overlook Press. p. 321. ISBN 978-1-4683-0561-6.
5. "Profile: Terry Griffiths". Eurosport. 3 February 2010. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
6. "Michaela Breeze". Beijing 2008 results. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
7. "Christian Malcolm". World Athletics. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
8. Birds. Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. 1980.
9. Graya: A Magazine for Members of Gray's Inn, Issue 73, Gray's Inn, 1979
10. Scott Wilson (17 August 2016). Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed. McFarland. p. 569. ISBN 978-0-7864-7992-4.
11. Who was who. A. & C. Black. 1971. p. 467.
12. John Graham Jones. "Finch, Harold Josiah (1898-1979),Labour politician". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
13. scrum.com profile
14. The Skeptical Inquirer. Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal. 1979. p. 11.
15. "Deaths." Times [London, England] 5 Dec. 1979: 28. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 14 Feb. 2014.
16. "Goronwy Rees (1909-1979)". From Warfare to Welfare. Archived from the original on 21 February 2015. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
17. Evans, Nia Gwyn (2016). "Jones, Nansi Richards ('Telynores Maldwyn ') (1888-1979), harpist". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
18. "Williams, (Richard) Tecwyn". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/31837. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
19. Robert Tudur Jones (2004). Congregationalism in Wales. University of Wales Press. ISBN 978-0-7083-1887-4.