1878 in Wales
Encyclopedia
This article is about the particular significance of the year 1878 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...
— The Prince Albert EdwardEdward 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...
, son of Queen Victoria - 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...
— Alexandra of DenmarkAlexandra of DenmarkAlexandra of Denmark was the wife of Edward VII of the United Kingdom...
Events
- 11 September — In a mining accident at the Prince of Wales Colliery, AbercarnAbercarnAbercarn is a small town community in Caerphilly county borough, Wales, 10 miles north-west of Newport on the A467 between Cwmcarn and Newbridge, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire.-History:...
, 268 men are killed. - The open-hearth method of making steelSteelSteel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
is developed at BlaenavonBlaenavonBlaenavon is a town and World Heritage Site in south eastern Wales, lying at the source of the Afon Lwyd north of Pontypool, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire. The town lies high on a hillside and has a population of 6,349 people...
by Percy GilchristPercy GilchristPercy Carlyle Gilchrist FRS was a British chemist and metallurgist born in Lyme Regis, Dorset, and who studied at Felsted and the Royal School of Mines...
and Sidney Gilchrist ThomasSidney Gilchrist ThomasSidney Gilchrist Thomas was an English inventor.-Life:Thomas was born at Canonbury, London and was educated at Dulwich College....
. - Founding of Dr Williams' School for Girls at DolgellauDolgellauDolgellau is a market town in Gwynedd, north-west Wales, lying on the River Wnion, a tributary of the River Mawddach. It was the county town of the former county of Merionethshire .-History and economy:...
. - Opening of Marine Drive around the Great OrmeGreat OrmeThe Great Orme is a prominent limestone headland on the north coast of Wales situated in Llandudno. It is referred to as Cyngreawdr Fynydd in a poem by the 12th century poet Gwalchmai ap Meilyr...
at Llandudno. - A passenger ferry service is established between Bangor and Porthaethwy on the Menai StraitMenai StraitThe Menai Strait is a narrow stretch of shallow tidal water about long, which separates the island of Anglesey from the mainland of Wales.The strait is bridged in two places - the main A5 road is carried over the strait by Thomas Telford's elegant iron suspension bridge, the first of its kind,...
. - Industrialist John CorbettJohn Corbett (industrialist)John Corbett was an English industrialist, philanthropist and Liberal Party politician of the Victorian era. He is particularly associated with salt mining in Droitwich Spa, Worcestershire.- Family background :...
buys YnysymaengwynYnysymaengwynYnysymaengwyn was formerly a gentry house near Tywyn, Merioneth, North Wales, situated near the south bank of the River Dysynni.- Early history :...
. - The prison system in Wales is nationalised and brought under centralised government control.
New books
- Daniel Silvan EvansDaniel Silvan EvansDaniel Silvan Evans was a Welsh scholar and lexicographer.He was born at Fron Wilym Uchaf, Llanarth, Ceredigion. Having started to preach to the Independent congregation of which he was a member, Evans decided at a relatively young age, to train for the ministry...
— Celtic Remains - William Rees (Gwilym Hiraethog)William Rees (Gwilym Hiraethog)The Rev. William Rees , usually known in Wales by his bardic name of Gwilym Hiraethog, was a Welsh poet and author, one of the major figures of Welsh literature during the 19th century....
— Llythyrau 'Rhen Ffarmwr
Sport
- FootballFootball (soccer)Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
— The Welsh CupWelsh CupThe Welsh Cup is a knock-out football competition contested annually by teams from Wales.The Football Association of Wales is the organising body of this competition, which has been run every year since its inception in 1877-78...
competition takes place for the first time, and is won by WrexhamWrexhamWrexham is a town in Wales. It is the administrative centre of the wider Wrexham County Borough, and the largest town in North Wales, located in the east of the region. It is situated between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley close to the border with Cheshire, England...
.
Births
- 4 January — Augustus JohnAugustus JohnAugustus Edwin John OM, RA, was a Welsh painter, draughtsman, and etcher. For a short time around 1910, he was an important exponent of Post-Impressionism in the United Kingdom....
, painter (died 1961) - 30 January — Reg SkrimshireReg SkrimshireReginald "Reg" Truscott Skrimshire was a Welsh international rugby union forward who played club rugby for Newport and county rugby for Kent. He won three caps for Wales and was the only Welsh representative on the 1903 British Isles tour.- Rugby career :Skrimshire was born in Crickhowell in 1878,...
, Wales and British Lions rugby union player (died 1963) - 24 February — Lou PhillipsLou PhillipsLouis 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 (died 1916) - 3 March — 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...
, poet (died 1917) - 12 March — Mary Sophia AllenMary Sophia AllenMary Sophia Allen was a Welsh-born British woman who worked for women's rights. She is chiefly noted as one of the founders of the Women's Police Volunteers as well as for her involvement in far right political activity....
, women's rights activits (died 1964) - 21 March — Edwin Thomas MaynardEdwin Thomas MaynardEdwin Thomas Maynard known as Edwin Thomas or "Beddoe" Thomas was a Welsh international rugby union prop who played club rugby for Newport RFC...
, Wales international rugby player (died 1961) - 16 April — Owen Thomas JonesOwen Thomas JonesOwen Thomas Jones, FRS FGS was a Welsh geologist.He was born in Beulah, near Newcastle Emlyn, Cardiganshire, the only son of David Jones and Margaret Thomas. He attended the local village school in Trewen before going to Pencader Grammar School in 1893. In 1896 he went up to University College,...
, geologist (died 1967) - 26 May — Abel J. JonesAbel J. Jones-Early years:Jones was born in Rhymney, Bedwellty, Monmouthshire. His parents, David Rees Jones and Hannah Jones and his sister Annie and brothers Rees and David Rees spoke only Welsh whereas Abel spoke Welsh and English fluently....
, writer (died 1949) - 5 June — Billy O'NeillBilly O'NeillWilliam "Billy" O'Neill often recorded as Billy O'Neil or Billy Neil was a Welsh international dual-code rugby front row player who played club rugby under the union code for Cardiff and Aberavon and as a professional rugby league player he represented Warrington...
, Wales national rugby player (died 1955) - 20 June — Seymour J. FarmerSeymour J. FarmerSeymour James Farmer was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served as the 30th mayor of Winnipeg from 1923 to 1924, and was later the leader of the Manitoba Co-operative Commonwealth Federation from 1935 to 1947. In the latter capacity, he became the first socialist politician in Canada to...
, politician in Canada (died 1951) - 28 June — 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 :...
, preacher (died 1951) - 1 July — Billy TrewBilly TrewBilly Trew was a Welsh international centre, outside half and wing who played club rugby for Swansea Rugby Football Club. He won 29 caps for Wales and is seen as one of the key players of the first Golden Age of Welsh rugby union...
, rugby player and Welsh Triple Crown winning captain (died 1926) - 27 August — Edgar Rees JonesEdgar Rees JonesSir Edgar Rees Jones was a Welsh barrister and Liberal Party politician. He was the Member of Parliament for Merthyr Tydfil from 1910 to 1918, and then for Merthyr from 1918 to 1922...
, lawyer and politician (died 1962) - 8 November — Dorothea BateDorothea BateDorothea Minola Alice Bate FGS , also known as Dorothy Bate, was a British palaeontologist, a pioneer of archaeozoology...
, palaeontologist (died 1951) - 31 December — Caradoc EvansCaradoc EvansDavid Caradoc Evans , was a Welsh story writer, novelist and playwright. Caradoc met and later married the Countess Helene Marguerite Barcynska, who wrote romantic novels under the name Oliver Sandys...
, writer (died 1945) - date unknown
- Thomas RichardsThomas Richards (historian)Thomas Richards, MA, D.Litt, F.R.Hist.S was a Welsh historian, author and librarian.Richards was born at Tal-y-bont, Cardiganshire, and was nicknamed "Doctor Tom"...
, historian (died 1962) - 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...
, writer (died 1919)
- Thomas Richards
Deaths
- 3 January — Morris Williams (Nicander), clergyman and writer, 64
- 25 February — Townsend HarrisTownsend HarrisTownsend Harris was a successful New York City merchant and minor politician, and the first United States Consul General to Japan...
, Welsh-descended American diplomat, 73 - 30 March — Peter Maurice, priest and writer, 74
- 4 July — William RoosWilliam RoosWilliam Roos was a Welsh artist and engraver. Several of Roos' portraits, mainly of notable Welsh figures, are owned by the National Library of Wales.-Life history:...
, Welsh artist and engraver, 70 - 13 August — Francis Rice, 5th Baron DynevorFrancis Rice, 5th Baron DynevorFrancis William Rice, 5th Baron Dynevor was a British clergyman and peer. He was the second son of the Reverend Edward Rice, Dean of Gloucester. The Dean was the second son of the 2nd Baroness Dynevor...
, 74 - 30 September — Evan JamesEvan JamesEvan James , a weaver and poet from Pontypridd, Wales, wrote the lyrics of Hen Wlad fy Nhadau , the national anthem of Wales....
, poet, lyricist of the Welsh national anthem, 69 - 18 November — John Jones (Mathetes), clergyman and writer, 57
- 20 November — William Thomas (Islwyn)William Thomas (Islwyn)William Thomas, bardic name Islwyn , was a Welsh language poet, born near Ynysddu, then in the old county of Monmouthshire, south-east Wales.- Early life :...
, poet, 46 - 25 November — Llewelyn LewellinLlewelyn LewellinLlewelyn Lewellin was a clergyman and academic, the first principal of St David's College, Lampeter....
, clergyman and academic, 80 - 11 December — William Thomas (Gwilym Marles)William Thomas (Gwilym Marles)William Thomas , better known by his bardic name of Gwilym Marles, was a Welsh minister and poet, and the great-uncle of Dylan Thomas. Dylan was given his middle name, "Marlais", in honour of William Thomas, who is also believed to have inspired the character of Rev...
, poet, 44 - 13 December — David CharlesDavid Charles (minister)David Charles was a Welsh Calvinistic Methodist cleric and educator, who was one of the men behind the foundation of the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth.-Life:...
, secretary of the University for Wales movement, 56