1906 in Wales
Encyclopedia
This article is about the particular significance of the year 1906 to Wales
and its people
.
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
and its people
Welsh people
The Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...
.
Incumbents
- Prince of WalesPrince of WalesPrince of Wales is a title traditionally granted to the heir apparent to the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the 15 other independent Commonwealth realms...
- George, Prince of WalesGeorge V of the United KingdomGeorge V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
, son of King Edward VII of the United KingdomEdward VII of the United KingdomEdward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910... - Princess of WalesPrincess of WalesPrincess of Wales is a British courtesy title held by the wife of The Prince of Wales since the first "English" Prince of Wales in 1283.Although there have been considerably more than ten male heirs to the throne, there have been only ten Princesses of Wales. The majority of Princes of Wales...
- Mary of TeckMary of TeckMary of Teck was the queen consort of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, as the wife of King-Emperor George V.... - ArchdruidArchdruidThe Archdruid is the title used by the presiding official of the Gorsedd.The Archdruid presides over the most important ceremonies at the National Eisteddfod of Wales including the Crowning of the Bard, The Award of the Prose Medal and Chairing of the Bard. From 1932 only former winners of the...
of the National Eisteddfod of WalesNational Eisteddfod of WalesThe National Eisteddfod of Wales is the most important of several eisteddfodau that are held annually, mostly in Wales.- Organisation :...
- DyfedEvan Rees (Dyfed)Evan Rees , known by the bardic name Dyfed, was a Calvinistic Methodist minister, poet, and Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales.-Early life:...
Events
- 13 February - In the United Kingdom general electionUnited Kingdom general election, 1906-Seats summary:-See also:*MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1906*The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918-External links:***-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987**...
:- For the first time ever, no ConservativeConservative Party (UK)The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
MP was elected in Wales. - William BraceWilliam BraceWilliam Brace was a Welsh trade unionist and Labour politician. Born in Risca, in the coal-mining district of Monmouthshire, he was one of six children of Thomas and Anne Brace. Brace briefly attended school before starting work at the local colliery, aged 12...
becomes Labour MP for South GlamorganshireSouth Glamorganshire (UK Parliament constituency)South Glamorganshire was a parliamentary constituency in Glamorganshire, Wales. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system.-History:...
. - David DaviesDavid Davies, 1st Baron DaviesDavid Davies, 1st Baron Davies , was a politician and public benefactor, the grandson of the famous industrialist, David Davies "Llandinam"....
becomes Liberal MP for MontgomeryshireMontgomeryshire (UK Parliament constituency)Montgomeryshire is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Created in 1542, it elects one Member of Parliament , traditionally known as the knight of the shire, by the first-past-the-post system of election.The Montgomeryshire Welsh Assembly...
. - Ivor Guest becomes Liberal MP for Cardiff District.
- Alfred MondAlfred Mond, 1st Baron MelchettAlfred Moritz Mond, 1st Baron Melchett PC, FRS , known as Sir Alfred Mond, Bt, between 1910 and 1928, was a British industrialist, financier and politician...
becomes Liberal MP for Chester. - John David ReesJohn David ReesSir John David Rees, 1st Baronet, KCIE, CVO, MP was a colonial administrator in British India and subsequently a Member of Parliament at Westminster.-Biography:...
becomes Liberal MP for Montgomery District. - Ivor Treowen becomes MP for South MonmouthshireSouth Monmouthshire (UK Parliament constituency)Southern Monmouthshire was a parliamentary constituency in Monmouthshire. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.-History:...
. - John WilliamsJohn Williams (Welsh politician)John Williams was a Welsh Labour Party politician.Williams was a Miners Agent, a close associate of William Abraham and a prominent Liberal-Labour politician....
becomes MP for Gower District.
- For the first time ever, no Conservative
- 27 June - One of the strongest earthquakeEarthquakeAn earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...
s recorded in the UK strikes SwanseaSwanseaSwansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands...
with a strength of 5.2 on the Richter Scale, damaging several buildings. - 30 August - Official opening of Fishguard Harbour.
- 12 September - Opening of Newport Transporter BridgeNewport Transporter BridgeThe Newport Transporter Bridge is a transporter bridge that crosses the River Usk in Newport, South Wales. It is a Grade I listed structure. Designed by French engineer Ferdinand Arnodin, it was built in 1906 and opened by Godfrey Charles Morgan, 1st Viscount Tredegar on 12 September 1906...
. - October - New City Hall, CardiffCity Hall, CardiffCity Hall is a civic building in Cathays Park, Cardiff, Wales. Built of Portland stone, it became the fifth building to serve as Cardiff's centre of local government when it opened in October 1906. The competition to design a town hall and adjacent law courts for Cardiff was won in 1897 by the firm...
, opens in Cathays ParkCathays ParkIn addition to the large lawn in front of the City Hall, Cathays Park includes three formal gardens. All of the spaces are within conservation areas and many of the surrounding buildings are listed. The open spaces are very important to the image of the city. Several important buildings overlook...
. - Evan RobertsEvan Roberts (minister)Evan John Roberts , was a leading figure of the 1904-1905 Welsh Revival who suffered many setbacks in his later life.His obituary in The Western Mail summed up his career thus:- Early life :...
suffers a breakdown, signalling the end of the 1904-1905 Welsh Revival1904-1905 Welsh RevivalThe Welsh Revival was the largest Christian revival in Wales during the 20th century. While by no means the best known of revivals, it was one of the most dramatic in terms of its effect on the population, and it had repercussions that reached far beyond the Welsh border, triggering a series of...
. - David Brynmor JonesDavid Brynmor JonesSir David Brynmor Jones was a British barrister, historian and Liberal Member of Parliament.David Brynmor Jones was born in 1851 in Swansea, the first of the six children of Revd. Thomas Jones, a Congregationalist minister, and Jane Jones. His younger siblings were Annie, John Viriamu Jones Sir...
is knighted. - Opening of the first purpose-built sanatoriumSanatoriumA sanatorium is a medical facility for long-term illness, most typically associated with treatment of tuberculosis before antibiotics...
in Wales, at Allt-yr-yn, NewportNewportNewport is a city and unitary authority area in Wales. Standing on the banks of the River Usk, it is located about east of Cardiff and is the largest urban area within the historic county boundaries of Monmouthshire and the preserved county of Gwent...
. - Hydro-electricity is generated for the first time in Wales, at Cwm DyliCwm DyliCwm Dyli is the location of a hydro-electric power station on the southern flank of the Snowdon range in North Wales. The station was built in 1905 by the Porthmadog, Beddgelert and South Snowdon Railway company, backed by North Wales Power and Traction Co Ltd to supply electricity to its own...
in Gwynedd. - Anglican Benedictine monks arrive at Caldey IslandCaldey IslandCaldey Island lies south of Tenby in Pembrokeshire, Wales.The island is home to a small village, but is best known for its monastery. Caldey Island is separated from the mainland by the Caldey Sound which is 1 km to 2 km wide between Caldey Island and the coast of Pembrokeshire...
to found a community. - The South Wales Miners' FederationSouth Wales Miners' FederationThe South Wales Miners' Federation , nicknamed "The Fed", was a trade union for miners in South Wales.The union was founded on 24 October 1898, following the defeat of the South Wales miners' strike of 1898...
affiliates to the Labour PartyLabour Party (UK)The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
.
Awards
- National Eisteddfod of WalesNational Eisteddfod of WalesThe National Eisteddfod of Wales is the most important of several eisteddfodau that are held annually, mostly in Wales.- Organisation :...
- held in CaernarfonCaernarfonCaernarfon is a Royal town, community and port in Gwynedd, Wales, with a population of 9,611. It lies along the A487 road, on the east banks of the Menai Straits, opposite the Isle of Anglesey. The city of Bangor is to the northeast, while Snowdonia fringes Caernarfon to the east and southeast...
- Chair - John James Williams (J. J.)John James Williams (J. J.)John James Williams , commonly known by his bardic name of "J.J.", was a Welsh poet and served as Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales from 1936 to 1939.-References:...
- Crown - Hugh Emyr Davies
- Chair - John James Williams (J. J.)
New books
- Owen Morgan EdwardsOwen Morgan EdwardsOwen Morgan Edwards was a Welsh historian, educationalist and writer. He is often known as O. M. Edwards....
- Clych Adgof - Arthur MachenArthur MachenArthur Machen was a Welsh author and mystic of the 1890s and early 20th century. He is best known for his influential supernatural, fantasy, and horror fiction. His novella The Great God Pan has garnered a reputation as a classic of horror...
– The House of Souls - W. J. Parry – The Cry of the People
- Edward ThomasEdward Thomas (poet)Philip Edward Thomas was an Anglo-Welsh writer of prose and poetry. He is commonly considered a war poet, although few of his poems deal directly with his war experiences. Already an accomplished writer, Thomas turned to poetry only in 1914...
- The Heart of England - Eifion Wyn - Telynogion Maes a Mor
Music
- The Welsh Folk Song Society is co-founded by soprano Mary DaviesMary DaviesMary Davies was a Welsh mezzo-soprano and the co-founder and first President of the Welsh Folk Song Society. The wife of journalist William Cadwaladr Davies, she was principal vocalist at the London Ballad Concerts, and at the National Eisteddfod of 1906.Born in africa was the daughter of egyptian...
. - David Vaughan Thomas - The Knight's Burial
Sport
- BoxingBoxingBoxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
- 23 May - Tom ThomasThomas Thomas (boxer)Thomas Thomas , was a Welsh boxer, the first British middleweight boxing champion.-Early years:He was born at Glynarthen, Cardiganshire but moved to Carncelyn Farm, Penygraig, in the Rhondda Valley of South Wales at an early age.-Learning the noble art:He began boxing in a sideshow, touring with...
wins the British middleweightMiddleweightMiddleweight is a division, or weight class, in boxing. Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have begun in the 1840s. In the bare-knuckle era, the first middleweight championship fight was between Tom Chandler and Dooney Harris in 1897...
title.
- 23 May - Tom Thomas
- Rugby unionRugby unionRugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
- WalesWales national rugby union teamThe Wales national rugby union team represent Wales in international rugby union tournaments. They compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland, Italy and Scotland. Wales have won the Six Nations and its predecessors 24 times outright, second only to England with...
finish second in the 1906 Home Nations Championship1906 Home Nations ChampionshipThe 1906 Home Nations Championship was the twenty-fourth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 13 January and 17 March...
, beating England and Scotland, but losing to Ireland. - 1 December - WalesWales national rugby union teamThe Wales national rugby union team represent Wales in international rugby union tournaments. They compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland, Italy and Scotland. Wales have won the Six Nations and its predecessors 24 times outright, second only to England with...
lose 11-0 to South AfricaSouth Africa national rugby union teamThe South African national rugby union team are 2009 British and Irish Lions Series winners. They are currently ranked as the fourth best team in the IRB World Rankings and were named 2008 World Team of the Year at the prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards.Although South Africa was instrumental...
in the first encounter between the two countries.
- Wales
- TennisTennisTennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
- For the first and only time, a Davis CupDavis CupThe Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation and is contested between teams of players from competing countries in a knock-out format. The competition began in 1900 as a challenge between Britain and the United States. By...
final is played in Wales. The USA defeat AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
at NewportNewportNewport is a city and unitary authority area in Wales. Standing on the banks of the River Usk, it is located about east of Cardiff and is the largest urban area within the historic county boundaries of Monmouthshire and the preserved county of Gwent...
.
Births
- 10 January - Tom ArthurTom ArthurTom Arthur was a Welsh international rugby union lock who played club rugby for Neath and was capped 18 times for Wales. A tough second row forward with a strong physique, Arthur was often criticised for being over-vigorous...
, Wales international rugby player - 16 January - Watcyn ThomasWatcyn ThomasWatcyn Thomas was a Welsh rugby union player who captained Wales in the early 1930s.Thomas was born in Llanelli and educated at Llanelli County School and at University College, Swansea. While still at school he was the first captain of the newly formed Welsh Secondary Schools XV in 1924. He then...
, rugby player (died 1977) - 19 February - Grace WilliamsGrace Williams-Biography:Williams was born in Barry, near Cardiff, Wales.She was educated at Barry County School, and won a scholarship to Cardiff University . She then went to the Royal College of Music, London, where she was taught by Ralph Vaughan Williams...
, composer (died 1977) - 4 March - Tommy Jones-DaviesTommy Jones-DaviesThomas 'Tommy' Ellis Jones-Davies was a Welsh physician and international rugby union centre.He played club rugby for Llanelli and London Welsh...
, Wales international rugby player (died 1960) - 15 March - Bill EversonBill EversonWilliam Aaron "Bill" Everson was a Welsh international rugby union fullback who played club rugby for Newport and was capped for Wales in 1926...
, Wales international rugby player (died 1966) - 24 April - Leslie ThomasLeslie Thomas (politician)Sir Leslie Montagu Thomas was a British Conservative politician. He was elected Member of Parliament for Canterbury in a 1953 by-election, and served until he stood down in 1966....
, politician (died 1971) - 25 June - Roger LiveseyRoger LiveseyRoger Livesey was a British stage and film actor. He is most often remembered for the three Powell & Pressburger films in which he starred: The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, I Know Where I'm Going! and A Matter of Life and Death...
, actor (died 1976) - 27 June - Vernon WatkinsVernon WatkinsVernon Phillips Watkins , was a British poet, and a translator and painter. He was a close friend of Dylan Thomas, who described him as "the most profound and greatly accomplished Welshman writing poems in English"....
, poet (died 1967) - 12 July - Archie SkymArchie SkymArchie Skym was an international rugby union player for Wales and played club rugby for Llanelli and Cardiff. Skym played as a prop and was renowned for his strength and vigour and was nicknamed The butcher. An excellent scrummager, he was known to be able to lift opponents in the front row...
, international rugby union player - 15 July - Herbert Edmund-Davies, Baron Edmund-Davies, judge (died 1992)
- 16 October - Maudie EdwardsMaudie EdwardsMaudie Edwards was a Welsh actress and singer, now best remembered as a member of the original cast of Coronation Street....
, actress (died 1991) - 18 November - Nigel Birch, Baron RhylNigel Birch, Baron RhylEvelyn Nigel Chetwode Birch, Baron Rhyl, PC, OBE was a British Conservative politician.The son of General Sir Noel Birch and his wife Florence Chetwode, Nigel Birch was educated at Eton. He was a partner in Cohen Laming Hoare until May 1939 when he retired to study politics...
, politician (died 1981) - 8 December - Richard LlewellynRichard LlewellynRichard Dafydd Vivian Llewellyn Lloyd , better known by his pen name Richard Llewellyn, was a Welsh novelist.Llewellyn Richard Dafydd Vivian Llewellyn Lloyd (8 December 1906 – 30 November 1983), better known by his pen name Richard Llewellyn, was a Welsh novelist.Llewellyn Richard Dafydd...
, novelist (died 1983)
Deaths
- 6 January - Emrys ap IwanEmrys ap IwanEmrys Ap-Iwan , was born Robert Ambrose Jones in Abergele, Conwy . He was a literary critic and writer on politics and religion. He is often seen as one of the most important forerunners of modern Welsh nationalism.Emrys was the son of a gardener who was employed on a nearby estate...
, writer, 54 - 25 March - Gwilym Williams, judge, 66
- 24 June - Henry DennisHenry DennisHenry Dennis was a nineteenth century hymnist, who earned worldwide fame for his hymn tune, 'Euphony'.A Leicestershire farmer, Dennis composed fifty-four anthems and six hymn tunes...
, industrialist, 80 - 24 July - John Edwards (Meiriadog), poet, 93
- 4 September - William Bowen RowlandsWilliam Bowen RowlandsWilliam Bowen Rowlands , was a British politician and Member of Parliament.He was educated at Jesus College, Oxford, matriculating on 22 March 1854 at the age of 18...
, politician - 16 September - Robert Llugwy Owen, minister and writer, 69
- 21 October - Griffith Jones (Glan Menai), writer, 70
- 30 November - Sir Edward James ReedEdward James ReedSir Edward James Reed , KCB, FRS, was a British naval architect, author, politician, and railroad magnate. He was the Chief Constructor of the Royal Navy from 1863 until 1870...
, politician, 76 - 30 December - William StaddenWilliam StaddenWilliam James Wood "Buller" Stadden was a Welsh international rugby union half back who played club rugby for Cardiff and Dewsbury. Stadden won eight caps for Wales over a period of seven years and is most remembered for scoring the winning try in 1890 to give Wales their first victory over England...
, Wales international rugby player