1957 in Wales
Encyclopedia
This article is about the particular significance of the year 1957 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...
– vacant - 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...
- vacant - Archbishop of WalesArchbishop of WalesThe post of Archbishop of Wales was created in 1920 when the Church in Wales was separated from the Church of England , and disestablished...
- John MorganJohn Morgan (bishop)John Morgan served as Bishop of Swansea and Brecon and subsequently as Bishop of Llandaff , in which post he was also enthroned on 21 September 1949 as Archbishop of Wales .... - 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 :...
- William Morris
Events
- 18 January - Nigel BirchNigel 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...
is appointed Economic Secretary to the Treasury. - 25 February - Goronwy ReesGoronwy ReesGoronwy Rees was a Welsh journalist, academic and writer. He was educated at the University of Oxford.He was during the 1930s a Marxist intellectual, and in contact with the Cambridge Five spy ring through Guy Burgess. Right at the end of his life he admitted spying for the USSR for a short time,...
, Principal of the University of Wales College Aberystwyth, resigns following allegations that he has spied for the Soviet UnionSoviet UnionThe Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. - 1 July - Royal physician Horace Evans is created Baron Evans of Merthyr Tydfil.
- 6 July - The Royal Welsh ShowRoyal Welsh ShowThe Royal Welsh Show is the biggest agricultural show in Europe. It is organised by the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society, which was formed in 1904, and takes place in July of each year, at Llanelwedd, near Builth Wells, in Powys, Mid Wales....
is held at Blaendolau; the showground is flooded to a depth of 1 metre. - 16 July - Five people drown in a boating accident at BarmouthBarmouthBarmouth ; Y Bermo ) is a town in the county of Gwynedd, north-western Wales, lying on the estuary of the River Mawddach and Cardigan Bay.The town is served by Barmouth railway station.- History :...
. - 31 July - The Tryweryn Bill, permitting Liverpool City CouncilLiverpool City CouncilLiverpool City Council is the governing body for the city of Liverpool in Merseyside, England. It consists of 90 councillors, three for each of the city's 30 wards. The council is currently controlled by the Labour Party and is led by Joe Anderson.-Domain:...
to build a reservoir which will drown the village of Capel CelynCapel CelynCapel Celyn was a rural community to the north west of Bala in Gwynedd, north Wales, in the Afon Tryweryn valley. The village and other parts of the valley were flooded to create a reservoir, Llyn Celyn, in order to supply Liverpool and The Wirral with water for industry...
, becomes law. - 8 September - The town hall at AberystwythAberystwythAberystwyth 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....
is seriously damaged by fire. - 12 December - Wales gets its own minister of state in the Westminster government for the first time.
- Morgan PhillipsMorgan PhillipsMorgan Walter Phillips was a colliery worker and trade union activist who became the General Secretary of the British Labour Party, involved in two of the party's election victories....
and Aneurin BevanAneurin BevanAneurin "Nye" Bevan was a British Labour Party politician who was the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 1959 until his death in 1960. The son of a coal miner, Bevan was a lifelong champion of social justice and the rights of working people...
, along with Richard CrossmanRichard CrossmanRichard Howard Stafford Crossman OBE was a British author and Labour Party politician who was a Cabinet Minister under Harold Wilson, and was the editor of the New Statesman. A prominent socialist intellectual, he became one of the Labour Party's leading Zionists and anti-communists...
, successfully sue The SpectatorThe SpectatorThe Spectator is a weekly British magazine first published on 6 July 1828. It is currently owned by David and Frederick Barclay, who also owns The Daily Telegraph. Its principal subject areas are politics and culture...
for libel. - Brecon BeaconsBrecon BeaconsThe Brecon Beacons is a mountain range in South Wales. In a narrow sense, the name refers to the range of popular peaks south of Brecon, including South Wales' highest mountain, Pen y Fan, and which together form the central section of the Brecon Beacons National Park...
becomes a national park.
Arts and literature
- Paul RobesonPaul RobesonPaul Leroy Robeson was an American concert singer , recording artist, actor, athlete, scholar who was an advocate for the Civil Rights Movement in the first half of the twentieth century...
addresses the Miners' Eisteddfod at PorthcawlPorthcawlPorthcawl is a town on the south coast of Wales in the county borough of Bridgend, 25 miles west of the capital city, Cardiff and 19 miles southeast of Swansea...
via a transatlantic link to the miners' leader Will PaynterWill PaynterWilliam Thomas Paynter was a Welsh miners' leader involved in the hunger marches of the 1930s.Paynter was born in Cardiff, where he had a basic education before going to work at a colliery at the age of fourteen. By the age of eighteen, he was working on the coal-face, and soon joined the...
. - Elizabeth Rees-WilliamsElizabeth Rees-WilliamsJoan Elizabeth Rees-Williams, The Hon. Mrs. Aitken , is a Welsh socialite. She had two film roles around her early 40s.She was born in Cardiff, daughter of the politician David Rees-Williams, 1st Baron Ogmore....
marries Richard HarrisRichard HarrisRichard St John Harris was an Irish actor, singer-songwriter, theatrical producer, film director and writer....
.
Awards
- National Eisteddfod of Wales (held in LlangefniLlangefniLlangefni is the county town of Anglesey in Wales and contains the principal offices of the Isle of Anglesey County Council. According to the United Kingdom Census 2001, the population of Llangefni was 4,662 people and it is the second largest settlement on the island...
) - National Eisteddfod of Wales: Chair - Gwilym TilsleyGwilym TilsleyRev. Gwilym Richard Tilsley , commonly known by his bardic name of "Tilsli", was a Welsh poet who served as Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales between 1969 and 1972....
- National Eisteddfod of Wales: Crown - Dyfnallt Morgan
- National Eisteddfod of Wales: Prose Medal - Tom Parri Jones
New books
- John CharlesJohn CharlesWilliam John Charles, CBE , commonly known as John Charles, was a Welsh international footballer best remembered for spells with Leeds United and Juventus. Rated by many as the greatest all-round footballer ever to come from Wales, he was equally adept at centre-forward or centre-back...
- King of Soccer - Rhys DaviesRhys DaviesRhys Davies was a Welsh novelist and short story writer, who wrote in the English language....
- The Perishable Quality - Islwyn Ffowc ElisIslwyn Ffowc ElisIslwyn Ffowc Elis was one of Wales's most popular Welsh-language writers.Born Islwyn Ffoulkes Ellis in Wrexham, Elis was educated at the University of Wales colleges of Bangor and Aberystwyth. During World War II he was a conscientious objector and he began writing poetry and prose, winning the...
- Wythnos Yng Nghymru Fydd - Trevor FordTrevor FordTrevor Ford was a Welsh international centre forward footballer who played for Aston Villa, Cardiff City, Sunderland and Swansea Town. He was born and died in Swansea.-Football career:...
- I Lead the Attack - Dick FrancisDick FrancisRichard Stanley "Dick" Francis CBE was an English jockey and crime writer, many of whose novels centre around horse racing.- Personal life :...
- The Sport of Queens - Bobi JonesBobi JonesEmeritus Professor Robert Maynard Jones , generally known as Bobi Jones, is a Welsh Christian academic, one of the most prolific writers in the history of the Welsh language. A versatile master of poetry, fictional prose and criticism, he is now in his seventies and still producing work of a high...
- Y Gân Gyntaf - T. Harri JonesT. Harri JonesThomas Henry "Harri" Jones was a Welsh poet and university lecturer.Jones was born in Llanafan-Fawr, Brecknockshire . He served in the Royal Navy from 1941–1946 during World War II. He attended University of Wales, Aberystwyth, graduating in English in 1947 and gaining a Master of Arts in 1949...
- The Enemy in the Heart - W. Leslie Richards - Telyn Teilo
Music
- Shirley BasseyShirley BasseyDame Shirley Bassey, DBE , is a Welsh singer. She found fame in the late 1950s and was "one of the most popular female vocalists in Britain during the last half of the 20th century"...
- Banana Boat Song (her first chart single) - Alun HoddinottAlun HoddinottAlun Hoddinott CBE , was a Welsh composer of classical music, one of the first to receive international recognition.-Life and works:...
- Harp Concerto (written for Osian EllisOsian EllisOsian Gwynn Ellis CBE is a Welsh harpist and composer.-Career:Osian Ellis was born in Ffynnongroyw, Flintshire in 1928. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music with Gwendolen Mason, whom he later succeeded as Professor of Harp from 1959 to 1989. He joined the London Symphony Orchestra in 1961...
) - Daniel JonesDaniel Jones (composer)Daniel Jenkyn Jones OBE was a composer of classical music, who worked in Britain. He used both serial and tonal techniques...
- String Quartet 1957
Broadcasting
- Alun Oldfield-Davies becomes senior regional BBC controller, after several years of successful campaigning for Welsh-language television.
Welsh-language television
- February - Cefndir (first regular Welsh-language programme)
- September - Dewch i Mewn (magazine programme)
English-language television
- Adaptation of Dylan ThomasDylan ThomasDylan Marlais Thomas was a Welsh poet and writer, Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 11 January 2008. who wrote exclusively in English. In addition to poetry, he wrote short stories and scripts for film and radio, which he often performed himself...
's Under Milk WoodUnder Milk WoodUnder Milk Wood is a 1954 radio drama by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, adapted later as a stage play. A movie version, Under Milk Wood directed by Andrew Sinclair, was released during 1972....
, starring Donald HoustonDonald HoustonDonald Daniel Houston was a Welsh actor whose first two films – The Blue Lagoon with Jean Simmons, and A Run for Your Money with Sir Alec Guinness – were highly successful...
and William SquireWilliam SquireWilliam Squire was a Welsh actor of stage, film and television, born in Neath, South Wales.As a stage actor, Squire performed at Stratford-upon-Avon and at the Old Vic, and notably replaced his fellow-countryman Richard Burton as King Arthur in Camelot at the Majestic Theatre on Broadway.His...
.
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...
- John CharlesJohn CharlesWilliam John Charles, CBE , commonly known as John Charles, was a Welsh international footballer best remembered for spells with Leeds United and Juventus. Rated by many as the greatest all-round footballer ever to come from Wales, he was equally adept at centre-forward or centre-back...
transfers from Leeds United to Juventus. - PeléPeléHowever, Pelé has always maintained that those are mistakes, that he was actually named Edson and that he was born on 23 October 1940.), best known by his nickname Pelé , is a retired Brazilian footballer. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time...
scores a hattrick against Wales
- John Charles
- BBC Wales Sports Personality of the YearBBC Wales Sports Personality of the YearThe BBC Cymru Wales Sports Personality of the Year is a televised sporting competition, broadcast on BBC Two every year; and the most prestigious annual sport award in Wales. It was first awarded in 1954, and is currently organised by BBC Cymru Wales...
- Dai ReesDai ReesDavid James Rees, CBE was one of the Britain's leading golfers either side of World War II.The winner of many prestigious tournaments in Britain, Europe and farther afield, Rees is best remembered as the captain of the Great Britain Ryder Cup team which defeated the United States at Lindrick Golf... - Inaugural Glamorgan County Silver Ball TrophyGlamorgan County Silver Ball TrophyThe Glamorgan County Silver Ball Trophy , is a Welsh rugby union competition open to all non-premier Welsh Rugby Union clubs playing in the Glamorganshire area....
competition held, Taibach RFCTaibach RFCTaibach Rugby Football Club are a Welsh rugby union club based in Taibach near Port Talbot in Wales, UK. The club is a member of the Welsh Rugby Union and is also a feeder club for the Ospreys....
are champions.
Births
- 10 March - Terry HolmesTerry HolmesTerence David Holmes is a Welsh former dual-code international rugby union and professional rugby league footballer who won 25 caps for as a scrum-half and later played rugby league for Bradford Northern....
, rugby player - 19 March (in BirminghamBirminghamBirmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
) - Jane DavidsonJane DavidsonJane Davidson, AM was the Labour Assembly Member for Pontypridd and the Minister for Environment, Sustainability and Housing in the Welsh Assembly Government. She lives in Gwaelod-y-Garth with her husband and three children...
, AM, politician - 20 April - Geraint Wyn DaviesGeraint Wyn DaviesGeraint Wyn Davies is a British-Canadian-American actor.He was born on 20 April 1957 in Britain, at Swansea. He was the son of a Congregationalist preacher...
, actor - 26 April - Edwina HartEdwina HartEdwina Hart, MBE, AM is a Welsh Labour politician who has represented the constituency of Gower since the National Assembly for Wales was established in 1999. Hart was appointed Minister for Health and Social Services in the Welsh Government in May 2007.-Background:Hart was born and raised in...
, AM, politician - 12 June - Javed MiandadJaved MiandadMohammad Javed Miandad Khan , popularly known as Javed Miandad , is a former Pakistani cricketer who played between 1975 and 1996. He is Pakistan's leading run scorer in Test cricket. He has served as a captain of the Pakistan national cricket team...
, former Glamorgan cricketer - 1 July - Wayne DavidWayne DavidWayne David is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Caerphilly since 2001. He was Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Wales Office from 2008 to 2010...
MPMember of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
, politician - 20 July - Chris BromhamChris BromhamChris Bromham , is a retired Welsh stunt man. Bromham is the current World Record holder of the motorbike jump obstacle record, having jumped over 18 double decker buses on 29 August 1983.-Biography:...
, stuntman - 11 August - Leighton AndrewsLeighton AndrewsLeighton Andrews is a Welsh Labour politician, currently the National Assembly for Wales member for Rhondda since 2003...
AM, politician - 11 October (in HolyheadHolyheadHolyhead is the largest town in the county of Anglesey in the North Wales. It is also a major port adjacent to the Irish Sea serving Ireland....
) - Dawn French, actress and comedienne - 10 November - Nigel EvansNigel EvansNigel Martin Evans is a British politician. Since 1992 he has been Conservative Party Member of Parliament for the Ribble Valley constituency. Since 2010 he has been First Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means, a deputy speaker.-Career:...
, MPMember of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
, politician
Deaths
- 30 July - William Richard Arnold, rugby player, 76
- June - John MorganJohn Morgan (bishop)John Morgan served as Bishop of Swansea and Brecon and subsequently as Bishop of Llandaff , in which post he was also enthroned on 21 September 1949 as Archbishop of Wales ....
, Archbishop of Wales, 71 - 1 August - Llewellyn LloydLlewellyn LloydGeorge Llewellyn Lloyd was a Welsh international half-back who played club rugby for Newport and county rugby with Kent. He won 12 caps for Wales and captained the team on one occasion against Scotland....
, Wales international rugby union player, 80 - 20 August - Edward Evans, 1st Baron MountevansEdward Evans, 1st Baron MountevansAdmiral Edward Ratcliffe Garth Russell Evans, 1st Baron Mountevans, KCB, DSO , known as "Teddy" Evans, was a British naval officer and Antarctic explorer...
, explorer and admiral, 75 - 12 September - Tom PearsonTom Pearson (rugby player)Thomas William Rory Pearson was a Welsh international wing who played club rugby for Cardiff and Newport and county rugby with Middlesex. He won 13 caps for Wales and captained the team on one occasion, against England. Pearson was an all-round sportsman, representing Wales not only in rugby, but...
, Wales national rugby player, 85 - 26 September - Arthur Powell DaviesArthur Powell DaviesA. Powell Davies was the minister of All Souls Church, Unitarian in Washington, D.C. from 1943 to his death in 1957. A prolific author of theological books and sermon collections, he came to national prominence in the U.S...
, Unitarian minister and writer, 55 - 12 November - Wilfred HodderWilfred HodderWilfred "Wilf" Hodder was a Welsh miner, hotelier, served in the Royal Field Artillery in World War I, a member of the Board of directors at Wigan RLFC, and was a dual-code international rugby union and professional rugby league footballer of the 1910s and '20s who at representative level played...
, Wales international rugby player, 61 - 7 December - Maurice JonesMaurice JonesMaurice Jones was a priest and university educator.Born on 21 June 1863 at Trawsfynydd, Meirionnydd, he was educated at local school then, with scholarships, proceeded to Friars School, Bangor and Christ College, Brecon, and then Jesus College, Oxford, where he gained a first class degree in...
, priest and academic, 94 - 9 December - Llewellyn Henry GwynneLlewellyn Henry GwynneLlewellyn Henry Gwynne CMG CBE was the first Anglican Bishop of Egypt and Sudan.- Early life :Gwynne was born in Swansea, Wales, in 1863. While at the Swansea Grammar School, the headmaster encouraged him to follow the example of his beloved brother Charlie by working hard and pursuing his...
, first bishop of Egypt and Sudan, 94