1916 in Wales
Encyclopedia
This article is about the particular significance of the year 1916 to Wales
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 Wales
    Prince of Wales
    Prince 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...

     - Edward, Prince of Wales
    Edward VIII of the United Kingdom
    Edward VIII was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth, and Emperor of India, from 20 January to 11 December 1936.Before his accession to the throne, Edward was Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall and Rothesay...

    , son of King George V of the United Kingdom
    George V of the United Kingdom
    George 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....

  • Princess of Wales
    Princess of Wales
    Princess 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...

     - vacant
  • Archdruid
    Archdruid
    The 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 Wales
    National Eisteddfod of Wales
    The National Eisteddfod of Wales is the most important of several eisteddfodau that are held annually, mostly in Wales.- Organisation :...

     - Dyfed
    Evan 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

  • 1 January - The Port Eynon
    Port Eynon
    Port Eynon is a village and community in the city and county of Swansea, Wales. The community has its own elected community council...

     lifeboat capsizes and three crew members die.
  • 31 May - 1 June - Hugh Evan-Thomas
    Hugh Evan-Thomas
    Vice Admiral Sir Hugh Evan-Thomas GCB, KCMG, MVO was a British Royal Navy officer.During World War I he commanded the 5th Battle Squadron of the Grand Fleet, flying his flag in HMS Barham, and fought at the Battle of Jutland on 31 May – 1 June 1916.-Background:Evan-Thomas' family came from...

     distinguishes himself in the Battle of Jutland
    Battle of Jutland
    The Battle of Jutland was a naval battle between the British Royal Navy's Grand Fleet and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet during the First World War. The battle was fought on 31 May and 1 June 1916 in the North Sea near Jutland, Denmark. It was the largest naval battle and the only...

    ; he is later knighted.
  • 4 July - Royal Welch Fusiliers
    Royal Welch Fusiliers
    The Royal Welch Fusiliers was an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Prince of Wales' Division. It was founded in 1689 to oppose James II and the imminent war with France...

     Lieutenant Siegfried Sassoon
    Siegfried Sassoon
    Siegfried Loraine Sassoon CBE MC was an English poet, author and soldier. Decorated for bravery on the Western Front, he became one of the leading poets of the First World War. His poetry both described the horrors of the trenches, and satirised the patriotic pretensions of those who, in Sassoon's...

     attacks a German trench single-handed, and records the outcome in his memoirs.
  • 7-12 July - The 38th (Welsh) Division loses so many men in the Mametz Wood action during the Battle of the Somme that it is unable to re-group for a year.
  • 12 July - Railway worker James Dally is awarded the Edward Medal
    Edward Medal
    The Edward Medal is a British civilian decoration which was instituted by Royal Warrant on 13 July 1907 to recognise acts of bravery of miners and quarrymen in endangering their lives to rescue their fellow workers...

     by King George V
    George V of the United Kingdom
    George 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....

    , for his actions in saving a colleague from falling from the Crumlin Viaduct.
  • September - Charles Evans Hughes
    Charles Evans Hughes
    Charles Evans Hughes, Sr. was an American statesman, lawyer and Republican politician from New York. He served as the 36th Governor of New York , Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States , United States Secretary of State , a judge on the Court of International Justice , and...

     loses narrowly to Woodrow Wilson
    Woodrow Wilson
    Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...

     in the United States presidential election, 1916
    United States presidential election, 1916
    The United States presidential election of 1916 took place while Europe was embroiled in World War I. Public sentiment in the still neutral United States leaned towards the British and French forces, due to the harsh treatment of civilians by the German Army, which had invaded and occupied large...

    .
  • October - T. E. Lawrence
    T. E. Lawrence
    Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence, CB, DSO , known professionally as T. E. Lawrence, was a British Army officer renowned especially for his liaison role during the Arab Revolt against Ottoman Turkish rule of 1916–18...

     is sent into the desert to report on the Arab nationalist movements.
  • November - Christopher Williams
    Christopher Williams (Welsh artist)
    Christopher David Williams was a Welsh artist.He was born in Maesteg, Wales. His father Evan Williams intended him to be a doctor, but he disliked the idea. A visit to the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, in 1892, where he spent some hours in front of Frederick Leighton's "Perseus and Andromeda,"...

     visits the scene of the Welsh losses at Mametz Wood
    Mametz wood
    Mametz Wood was the objective of the 38th Division during the First Battle of the Somme. The attack occurred in a Northerly direction over a ridge, focussed on the German positions in the wood between 7 July and 12 July 1916. The attack of the 7 July failed to reach the wood before the men were...

     and later paints his famous The Welsh at Mametz Wood at the request of David Lloyd George
    David Lloyd George
    David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM, PC was a British Liberal politician and statesman...

    .
  • 7 December - David Lloyd George
    David Lloyd George
    David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM, PC was a British Liberal politician and statesman...

     is the first (and, to date, the only) Welshman to become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
    Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
    The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...

    .
  • December
    • David Alfred Thomas
      David Alfred Thomas
      David Alfred Thomas, 1st Viscount Rhondda PC , sometimes known as D. A. Thomas, was a Welsh industrialist and Liberal politician...

       leaves Parliament and is created Baron Rhondda. He is appointed Chairman of the Local Government Board.
    • Herbert Lewis
      Herbert Lewis
      Sir John Herbert Lewis GBE, PC was a British Liberal politician.-Background and education:Born at Mostyn Quay, Flintshire, Lewis was one of five sons of Enoch Lewis and Elizabeth Roberts. He was educated at McGill University and Exeter College, Oxford.-Political career:Lewis was the first Chairman...

       becomes Minister of Education.
  • The Roman Catholic archdiocese of Cardiff
    Cardiff
    Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...

     is established.
  • The Royal Laryngologist John Milsom Rees
    John Milsom Rees
    Sir John Milsom Rees, KCVO , was a Welsh surgeon and a specialist in laryngology.He was born at Neath, and studied medicine at St Bartholomew's Hospital in London. After qualifying as an F.R.C.S. at Edinburgh, he obtained a post as surgeon to the Ear, Nose and Throat Department at the Prince of...

     is knighted.

Awards

  • National Eisteddfod of Wales
    National Eisteddfod of Wales
    The National Eisteddfod of Wales is the most important of several eisteddfodau that are held annually, mostly in Wales.- Organisation :...

     (held in Aberystwyth
    Aberystwyth
    Aberystwyth is a historic market town, administrative centre and holiday resort within Ceredigion, Wales. Often colloquially known as Aber, it is located at the confluence of the rivers Ystwyth and Rheidol....

    )
    • Chair - J. Ellis Williams
    • Crown - withheld

New books

  • Llewelyn Powys
    Llewelyn Powys
    Llewelyn Powys was a British writer and younger brother of John Cowper Powys and T. F. Powys.-Life:Powys was born in Dorchester, the son of a clergyman, and was educated at Sherborne School and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. While lecturing in the United States he contracted tuberculosis...

     and John Cowper Powys
    John Cowper Powys
    -Biography:Powys was born in Shirley, Derbyshire, in 1872, the son of the Reverend Charles Francis Powys , who was vicar of Montacute, Somerset for thirty-two years, and Mary Cowper Johnson, a descendent of the poet William Cowper. He came from a family of eleven children, many of whom were also...

     - Confessions of Two Brothers
  • Richard Hughes Williams (Dic Tryfan)
    Richard Hughes Williams (Dic Tryfan)
    Richard Hughes Williams , or Dic Tryfan, was a Welsh language writer of short stories, born in Rhosgadfan in the old county of Caernarfonshire , north Wales. Most of his stories are set in the slate-quarrying communities of his native Caernarfonshire...

     - Tair Stori Fer

Sport

  • Boxing
    Boxing
    Boxing, 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...

    : on 14 February Jimmy Wilde
    Jimmy Wilde
    Jimmy Wilde , was a Welsh world boxing champion. He was the first official world flyweight champion and was rated by American boxing writer Nat Fleischer, as well as many other professionals and fans including former boxer, trainer, manager and promoter, Charley 'Broadway' Rose, as "the greatest...

     wins the British flyweight title at Liverpool.

Births

  • 1 May - Glenn Ford
    Glenn Ford
    Glenn Ford was a Canadian-born American actor from Hollywood's Golden Era with a career that spanned seven decades...

    , Welsh-Canadian actor (died 2006)
  • 7 May - Huw Wheldon
    Huw Wheldon
    Sir Huw Pyrs Wheldon OBE MC was a BBC broadcaster and executive.Wheldon was born in Prestatyn, Wales and educated at Friars School, Bangor. His father, Sir Wynn Wheldon, was a prominent educationalist, who had been awarded the DSO for gallantry in the First World War...

    , broadcaster (died 1986)
  • 22 May - Rupert Davies
    Rupert Davies
    Rupert Davies was a British actor. He remains best known for playing the title role in the BBC's 1960s television adaptation of Maigret, based on the Maigret novels written by Georges Simenon....

    , actor (died 1976)
  • 23 August - Willie Davies
    Willie Davies
    Willie Davies was a Welsh international dual-code rugby fly half who played rugby union for Swansea and rugby league for Bradford Northern. He won six caps for the Wales rugby union team and nine caps for the Wales rugby league side...

    , Wales international rugby union and league player (died 2002)
  • 29 August - Rhydwen Williams
    Rhydwen Williams
    Robert Rhydwenfro Williams, known as Rhydwen Williams , was a Welsh poet, novelist and Baptist minister. His work is mainly written in his native Welsh language, and is noted for adapting the established style and context of Welsh poetry from a rural and bygone age to that of a modern industrial...

    , poet, novelist and minister (died 1997)
  • 13 September - Roald Dahl
    Roald Dahl
    Roald Dahl was a British novelist, short story writer, fighter pilot and screenwriter.Born in Wales to Norwegian parents, he served in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, in which he became a flying ace and intelligence agent, rising to the rank of Wing Commander...

    , novelist (died 1990)
  • 14 September - Cledwyn Hughes
    Cledwyn Hughes
    Cledwyn Hughes, Baron Cledwyn of Penrhos, CH, PC, , was a Welsh Labour politician.Born in Holyhead and educated at the Holyhead Grammar School and at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, he served in the RAFVR in the Second World War. He became a solicitor and a town clerk of Holyhead...

    , politician (died 2001)

Deaths

  • 14 March - Lou Phillips
    Lou Phillips
    Louis Augustus "Lou" Phillips was a Welsh international scrum-half who played club rugby for Newport. He won four caps for Wales and was a talented amateur golf player.-Rugby career:...

    , Wales international rugby player, 38 (killed in action)
  • 14 April - Charlie Pritchard
    Charlie Pritchard
    Captain Charlie Pritchard was a Welsh international rugby union player. He was a member of the winning Welsh team who beat the 1905 touring All Blacks. He played club rugby for Newport RFC and county rugby for Monmouthshire.-Rugby career:...

    , Wales international rugby player, 32 (killed in action)
  • 27 June - Sarah Jane Rees
    Sarah Jane Rees
    Sarah Jane Rees , also known by her bardic name of "Cranogwen", was a Welsh teacher, poet, editor and temperance campaigner....

     (Cranogwen), writer and temperance activist, 78
  • 7 July (killed in action at Mametz)
    • Dick Thomas
      Dick Thomas
      Edward John Richard 'Dick' Thomas was a Welsh international rugby union back who played club rugby for Mountain Ash.-Rugby career:...

      , Wales international rugby player, 32
    • Johnnie Williams
      Johnnie Williams
      Johnnie Williams was a Welsh international wing who played club rugby for Cardiff Rugby Club. A three times Triple Crown winner, out of seventeen appearances for Wales he was on the losing side only twice....

      , Wales international rugby player, 34
  • 14 July - David Watts
    David Watts (rugby player)
    David Watts was a Welsh international rugby union forward who played club rugby for Maesteg. He won four caps for Wales, all in 1914 and may have been awarded more, but his career was cut short by the outbreak of World War I....

     Wales international rugby player, 30 (killed in action)
  • 3 September - Horace Thomas
    Horace Thomas
    Horace Wyndham Thomas was a Welsh international rugby union fly-half who played club rugby for Swansea. He won just two caps for Wales, and was one of thirteen Welsh internationals to die in conflict during World War I....

    , Wales international rugby player, 26 (killed in action)
  • 11 September - Thomas Lemuel James
    Thomas Lemuel James
    Thomas Lemuel James was an American journalist, government official, and banker who served as the United States Postmaster General in 1881.-Early life and family:...

    , Welsh-American banker and U.S. Postmaster-General (born 1831)
  • 28 September (in Bath, Somerset) - Richard Thomas, industrialist, 78
  • 7 October - Leigh Richmond Roose
    Leigh Richmond Roose
    Leigh Richmond "Dick" Roose, MM, was a Welsh international footballer who kept goal for a number of professional clubs in the Football League between 1901 and 1912. A celebrated amateur at a time when the game was played largely by professionals, Roose was renowned as one of the best players in...

    , footballer, 38 (killed in action)
  • 31 October - John Maclean Rolls, 2nd Baron Llangattock, 46 (killed in action)
  • 14 November - William Davies
    William Davies (footballer born 1855)
    William Henry Davies was a Welsh amateur footballer who made four appearances for the Wales national football team in the 1870s and 1880s, and scored his country's first international goal.-Career outside football:...

    , footballer, 61
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