2003 in Wales
Encyclopedia
This article is about the particular significance of the year 2003 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...

     – The Prince Charles
    Charles, Prince of Wales
    Prince Charles, Prince of Wales is the heir apparent and eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Since 1958 his major title has been His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. In Scotland he is additionally known as The Duke of Rothesay...

  • 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
  • First Minister - Rhodri Morgan
    Rhodri Morgan
    Hywel Rhodri Morgan is a Welsh Labour politician who, as First Secretary for Wales, and subsequently First Minister, was leader of the Welsh Assembly Government from 2000 to 2009. A former leader of Welsh Labour, he was the Assembly Member for Cardiff West from 1999 to 2011...

  • Presiding Officer of the National Assembly for Wales
    Presiding Officer of the National Assembly for Wales
    The Presiding Officer of the National Assembly for Wales is the Speaker of the National Assembly for Wales, elected by the Members of the National Assembly for Wales to chair their meetings ; to maintain order; and to protect the rights of Members.He or she also heads the Corporate Body of the...

     - Dafydd Elis-Thomas
    Dafydd Elis-Thomas
    Dafydd Elis Elis-Thomas, Baron Elis-Thomas, PC, AM, is a Welsh politician and was the Presiding Officer of the National Assembly for Wales until 2011...

  • Secretary of State for Wales
    Secretary of State for Wales
    The Secretary of State for Wales is the head of the Wales Office within the British cabinet. He or she is responsible for ensuring Welsh interests are taken into account by the government, representing the government within Wales and overseeing the passing of legislation which is only for Wales...

     - Peter Hain
    Peter Hain
    Peter Gerald Hain is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for the Welsh constituency of Neath since 1991, and has served in the Cabinets of both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, firstly as Leader of the House of Commons under Blair and both Secretary of State for...

  • Archbishop of Wales
    Archbishop of Wales
    The post of Archbishop of Wales was created in 1920 when the Church in Wales was separated from the Church of England , and disestablished...

     - Barry Morgan
    Barry Morgan
    Barry Cennydd Morgan has been the Archbishop of the Church in Wales since 2003.-Early life:Morgan was born in Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen, Neath Port Talbot and studied history at University College, London and theology at Selwyn College, Cambridge...

     (Bishop of Llandaff
    Bishop of Llandaff
    The Bishop of Llandaff is the Ordinary of the Church in Wales Diocese of Llandaff.-Area of authority:The diocese covers most of the County of Glamorgan. The Bishop's seat is located in the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul , in the village of Llandaff, just north-west of the City of...

    )

Events

  • February - Former Conservative Assembly leader Rod Richards
    Rod Richards
    Roderick Richards was the Conservative Member of Parliament for Clwyd North West, in Wales, from 1992 to 1997, when he lost his seat in the Labour Party landslide...

     is declared bankrupt with debts estimated at over £300,000.
  • 27 February - Rowan Williams
    Rowan Williams
    Rowan Douglas Williams FRSL, FBA, FLSW is an Anglican bishop, poet and theologian. He is the 104th and current Archbishop of Canterbury, Metropolitan of the Province of Canterbury and Primate of All England, offices he has held since early 2003.Williams was previously Bishop of Monmouth and...

     is enthroned as Archbishop of Canterbury
    Archbishop of Canterbury
    The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...

    . Dominic Walker
    Dominic Walker (bishop)
    Dominic Edward William Murray Walker OGS is an Anglican bishop. He was born on 28 June 1948 and educated at Plymouth College King's College London and Heythrop College, London....

     is installed as his replacement as Bishop of Monmouth
    Bishop of Monmouth
    The Bishop of Monmouth is the diocesan bishop of the Church in Wales Diocese of Monmouth.The see covers the historic county of Monmouthshire with the bishop's seat located at the Cathedral Church of Saint Woolos in Newport, which had been elevated to that status in 1921.The Bishop's residence is...

  • 9 March - Ron Davies announces that he is leaving politics after being asked to stand down by his local party following further revelations by the press about his private life.
  • 29 March - Porthmadog
    Porthmadog
    Porthmadog , known locally as "Port", and historically rendered into English as Portmadoc, is a small coastal town and community in the Eifionydd area of Gwynedd, in Wales. Prior to the Local Government Act 1972 it was in the administrative county of Caernarfonshire. The town lies east of...

     Cob is bought by the Welsh Assembly Government
    Welsh Assembly Government
    The Welsh Government is the devolved government of Wales. It is accountable to the National Assembly for Wales, the legislature which represents the interests of the people of Wales and makes laws for Wales...

     and the road toll is discontinued after 192 years http://new.wales.gov.uk/news/archivepress/environmentpress/enviropress2003/713902/?lang=en.
  • 1 May - In the National Assembly for Wales election, Labour win 30 seats, enabling them to form a government. Following disappointing results for Plaid Cymru
    Plaid Cymru
    ' is a political party in Wales. It advocates the establishment of an independent Welsh state within the European Union. was formed in 1925 and won its first seat in 1966...

    , Ieuan Wyn Jones
    Ieuan Wyn Jones
    Ieuan Wyn Jones, AM is a Welsh politician, who was the Deputy First Minister in the Welsh Assembly Government from 2007 until 2011. Jones is the current leader of Plaid Cymru and Member of the National Assembly for Wales for the Ynys Môn constituency...

     stands down as party president and leader of the assembly group.
  • 19 June - Prince William of Wales visits Bangor and Anglesey
    Anglesey
    Anglesey , also known by its Welsh name Ynys Môn , is an island and, as Isle of Anglesey, a county off the north west coast of Wales...

    , to mark his 21st birthday (on June 21).
  • August
    • 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 at Meifod
      Meifod
      Meifod is a small village 7 miles north-west of Welshpool in Powys, mid Wales, on the A495 road and located in the valley of the River Vyrnwy. The River Banwy has a confluence with the Vyrnwy approximately two miles to the west of the village....

      .
    • A memorial to Owain Lawgoch
      Owain Lawgoch
      Owain Lawgoch, , full name Owain ap Thomas ap Rhodri , was a Welsh soldier who served in Spain, France, Alsace and Switzerland. He led a Free Company fighting for the French against the English in the Hundred Years' War...

       is unveiled at Montague-sur-Gironde, France
      France
      The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

      .
  • October - Dafydd Iwan
    Dafydd Iwan
    Dafydd Iwan , is a Welsh folk singer and politician. He was the president of Plaid Cymru .Dafydd Iwan Jones was born in Brynaman in Carmarthenshire, Wales, and is the elder brother of politician Alun Ffred Jones. He spent most of his youth in Bala in Gwynedd before attending the University of...

    , newly-elected President of Plaid Cymru, escapes a driving ban for speeding offences on the grounds that he needs to drive to fulfil his musical and political engagements.
  • 12 October - The Friends of the Leinster hold a service at Holyhead
    Holyhead
    Holyhead 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....

     to commemorate the 85th anniversary of the sinking of by a German U-boat.
  • November - Michael Howard
    Michael Howard
    Michael Howard, Baron Howard of Lympne, CH, QC, PC is a British politician, who served as the Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from November 2003 to December 2005...

     becomes leader of the Conservative Party.
  • December - Dafydd Wigley
    Dafydd Wigley
    Dafydd Wigley, Baron Wigley is a Welsh politician. He served as Plaid Cymru Member of Parliament for Caernarfon from 1974 until 2001 and as an Assembly Member for Caernarfon from 1999 until 2003. He was leader of the Plaid Cymru party from 1991 to 2000...

     is appointed Pro-Chancellor of the University of Wales
    University of Wales
    The University of Wales was a confederal university founded in 1893. It had accredited institutions throughout Wales, and formerly accredited courses in Britain and abroad, with over 100,000 students, but in October 2011, after a number of scandals, it withdrew all accreditation, and it was...

    .
  • 7 December - The Wales and Borders
    Wales and Borders
    Wales and Borders is the name of a franchise of train services covering Wales, the Welsh Marches and bordering counties of England.-History:The franchise was initially formed from part of the former Wales and West franchise and the Cardiff Railway Company , together with the lines from Shrewsbury...

     train operating franchise is awarded for a 15-year period to Arriva Trains Wales
    Arriva Trains Wales
    Arriva Trains Wales is a train operating company, owned by Arriva, that operates urban and inter urban passenger services in Wales and the Welsh Marches...

    .
  • The former Brain's Old Brewery site in 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 redeveloped into the 85000 sq ft (7,896.8 m²) "Old Brewery Quarter".
  • Veteran Cardiff politician Stefan Terlezki
    Stefan Terlezki
    Stefan Terlezki, CBE, was a British Conservative politician who served as Member of Parliament for Cardiff West from 1983 to 1987. Terlezki was born in Oleshiv, a village near the town of Tlumach in what is now western Ukraine but was then part of Poland...

     goes to the European Parliament to press the case for eventual Ukrainian membership of the European Union.
  • In Channel 4
    Channel 4
    Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...

    's 100 Worst Britons poll (which included only living people), the following entries had Welsh connections:
    • H from Steps - 8
    • Charlotte Church
      Charlotte Church
      Charlotte Maria Church is a Welsh singer-songwriter, actress and television presenter. She rose to fame in childhood as a classical singer before branching into pop music in 2005. By 2007, she had sold more than 10 million records worldwide including over 5 million in the United States...

       - 21
    • The Prince of Wales
      Charles, Prince of Wales
      Prince Charles, Prince of Wales is the heir apparent and eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Since 1958 his major title has been His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. In Scotland he is additionally known as The Duke of Rothesay...

       - 24
    • Catherine Zeta-Jones
      Catherine Zeta-Jones
      Catherine Zeta-Jones, CBE, is a British actress. She began her career on stage at an early age. After starring in a number of United Kingdom and United States television films and small roles in films, she came to prominence with roles in Hollywood movies such as the 1998 action film The Mask of...

       - 39
    • Lawrence Llewelyn-Bowen - 42
    • Vinnie Jones
      Vinnie Jones
      Vincent Peter "Vinnie" Jones is an English film actor and retired Welsh footballer.Born in Hertfordshire, England, Jones represented and captained the Welsh national football team, having qualified via a Welsh grandparent. He also previously played for Chelsea and Leeds United. As a member of the...

       - 61
    • Tom Jones
      Tom Jones (singer)
      Sir Thomas John Woodward, OBE , known by his stage name Tom Jones, is a Welsh singer.Since the mid 1960s, Jones has sung many styles of popular music – pop, rock, R&B, show tunes, country, dance, techno, soul and gospel – and sold over 100 million records...

       - 72

Awards

  • Glyndŵr Award
    Glyndwr Award
    The Glyndŵr Award is made for an Outstanding Contribution to the Arts in Wales. It is given by the Machynlleth Tabernacle Trust to pre-eminent figures in music, art and literature in rotation...

     - Elinor Bennett
    Elinor Bennett
    Elinor Bennett is a Welsh harpist.Bennett was born in Llanidloes, Wales. As a harpist, she is one of the foremost performers in the world. She has recorded twelve solo albums, and is one of the organisers of the Wales International Harp Festival. She also runs an annual 'Harp College'...

  • National Eisteddfod of Wales: Chair - Twm Morys
    Twm Morys
    -Biography:Morys was born in 1961 in Oxford, a son to the author Jan Morris. He was brought up in Llanystumdwy and attended Ysgol y Llan, before attending boarding school in Shrewsbury at the age of seven...

  • National Eisteddfod of Wales: Crown - Mererid Hopwood
    Mererid Hopwood
    Mererid Hopwood is a Welsh poet who made history in 2001 by becoming the first woman ever to win the bardic Chair at the National Eisteddfod of Wales....

  • National Eisteddfod of Wales: Prose Medal - Cefin Roberts
  • National Eisteddfod of Wales: Music Medal - Owain Llwyd
  • Wales Book of the Year
    Wales Book of the Year
    The Wales Book of the Year is a Welsh literary award given annually to the best Welsh and English language works in the fields of fiction and literary criticism by Welsh or Welsh interest authors...

    :
    • English language: Sugar and Slate - Charlotte Williams
    • Welsh language: O! Tyn y Gorchudd - Hunangofiant Rebecca Jones - Angharad Price
      Angharad Price
      Angharad Price is a Welsh academic and novelist.Price was born in Bethel, Gwynedd, Wales, the daughter of the Welsh historian Emyr Price. She graduated with a BA and DPhil in Modern Languages from Jesus College, Oxford. She teaches at Bangor University and works on Welsh prose of the modern era...

  • Gwobr Goffa Daniel Owen
    Daniel Owen
    Daniel Owen was a Welsh novelist, generally regarded as the foremost Welsh-language novelist of the 19th century.-Early life:...

      - Elfyn Pritchard, Pan ddaw'r dydd
  • John Tripp
    John Tripp (poet)
    John Tripp was an Anglo-Welsh poet and short-story writer.Born in Bargoed, Wales, he worked for the BBC as a journalist with the BBC, and later became a civil servant. He edited the literary magazine, Planet, and was a popular performance poet...

     Award for Spoken Poetry: Emily Hinshelwood

New books

  • Damian Walford Davies - Echoes to the Amen: Essays after R.S. Thomas
  • Rhys Hughes
    Rhys Hughes
    Rhys Henry Hughes , is a Welsh writer and essayist.Born in Cardiff, Hughes is a prolific short story writer with an eclectic mix of influences, which include Italo Calvino, Milorad Pavić, Jorge Luis Borges, Stanisław Lem, Flann O'Brien, Felipe Alfau, Donald Barthelme and Jack Vance...

     - The Percolated Stars
  • Bernice Rubens
    Bernice Rubens
    Bernice Rubens was a Booker Prize-winning Welsh novelist.-Background:She was of Russian Jewish descent and born in Cardiff, Wales where she attended Cardiff High School. She came from a very musical family, both her brothers becoming well-known classical musicians. She was married to Rudi...

     - The Sergeants' Tale

Albums

  • Huw Chiswell - Dere Nawr
  • Elin Fflur
    Elin Fflur
    Elin Fflur Jones is a Welsh singer and songwriter from Wales. Elin is well known in Welsh language media especially after she won the Cân i Gymru contest in 2002. Elin also had successes in the bands Carlotta and Y Moniars...

     - Dim Gair (No Words)
  • Catrin Finch
    Catrin Finch
    Catrin Anna Finch is a Welsh harpist born in Llanon, Ceredigion, Wales. She was the Official Harpist to the Prince of Wales from 2000 to 2004 and is Visiting Professor at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama and the Royal Academy of Music...

     - Crossing the Stone
  • Funeral for a Friend
    Funeral for a Friend
    Funeral for a Friend are a Welsh post-hardcore band, from Bridgend. Formed 2001, they have released five studio albums, seven EPs, sixteen singles, one DVD, and one compilation album.-Formation and Early Years:...

     - Casually Dressed & Deep in Conversation
    Casually Dressed & Deep in Conversation
    -Reception:The album received very positive reviews from the British music press with NME and Drowned in Sound giving it 8/10 and 9/10 respectively. It was also #17 in NME albums of the year.- In pop culture :...

  • Jakokoyak
    Jakokoyak
    Jakokoyak is a Welsh musician who produces lo-fi experimental electronic music, with leanings towards psychedelic folk, sometimes classified as folktronica....

     - Am Cyfan Dy Pethau Prydferth
  • Karl Jenkins
    Karl Jenkins
    -Other works:*Adiemus: Live — live versions of Adiemus music*Palladio *Eloise *Imagined Oceans *The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace...

     - Adiemus V: Vocalise
    Adiemus V: Vocalise
    Released in 2003, Adiemus V: Vocalise is the last album by Welsh composer Karl Jenkins as part of the five-album Adiemus project. In contrast to Jenkins's past Adiemus compositions, several of the tracks in this album are arrangements or variations on existing classical works...

  • Stereophonics
    Stereophonics
    The Stereophonics are a Welsh rock band now living in turners x that formed in 1992 in the village of Cwmaman in Cynon Valley, Wales. The band currently comprises lead vocalist and guitarist Kelly Jones, bassist and backing vocalist Richard Jones, drummer Javier Weyler, guitarist and backing...

     - You Gotta Go There to Come Back
    You Gotta Go There to Come Back
    You Gotta Go There to Come Back is Stereophonics' fourth album, released on V2 in 2003. It became their third consecutive album to top the UK chart selling 101,946 copies in its first week. It was the final Stereophonics album with long-time original drummer Stuart Cable.The album shows a newly...

  • Thighpaulsandra
    Thighpaulsandra
    Thighpaulsandra is a Welsh experimental musician and multi-instrumentalist known mostly for performing on synthesizers and keyboards. As Tim Lewis, he began his career working with Julian Cope. A collaboration with Cope in 1993 followed, as the experimental duo Queen Elizabeth...

     - Double Vulgar

Welsh-language television

  • Wawffactor
    Wawffactor
    Wawffactor was a Welsh television music talent show contested by aspiring pop singers drawn from public auditions...

    is S4C
    S4C
    S4C , currently branded as S4/C, is a Welsh television channel broadcast from the capital, Cardiff. The first television channel to be aimed specifically at a Welsh-speaking audience, it is the fifth oldest British television channel .The channel - initially broadcast on...

    's answer to Pop Idol
    Pop Idol
    Pop Idol is a British television series which debuted on ITV on 6 October 2001. The show was a talent contest to decide the best new young pop singer in the United Kingdom, based on viewer voting and participation. Two series were broadcast - one in 2001-02 and a second in 2003...

    .
  • Cor Cymru
    Côr Cymru
    Côr Cymru is a Welsh TV Competition searching for the best choir in Wales, and airing every 2 years on S4C.The first series was presented by Aled Jones and Heledd Cynwal, but all subsequent series have been fronted by Nia Roberts and Gareth Owen. The show sees choirs competing against each other...

    – S4C's search for the best choir in Wales – is broadcast for the first time.

English-language television

  • Michael Sheen and Paul Rhys
    Paul Rhys
    Paul Rhys is a British television, film and theatre actor.Rhys was born in Wales and studied at RADA, leaving with the Bancroft Gold Medal in 1987. While there, he obtained his first major screen role, in Absolute Beginners . Since then he has seldom been off the stage and screen...

     star in the award-winning TV drama, The Deal
  • The Story of Welsh presented by Huw Edwards
    Huw Edwards (journalist)
    Huw Edwards is a BAFTA award-winning Welsh journalist, presenter and newsreader.He is a news presenter for BBC News in the United Kingdom. Edwards presents Britain's most watched news programme, BBC News at Ten, which is also the corporation's flagship news broadcast...

  • Quest For Perfection, written and presented by Russell Davies
    Russell Davies
    Robert Russell Davies , known as Russell Davies, is a British journalist and broadcaster. He presents a Sunday radio programme on BBC Radio 2 which spotlights popular song, as well as Brain of Britain on Radio 4.-Background:...

     on BBC Four
    BBC Four
    BBC Four is a British television network operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers on Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable....


Sport

  • Cricket
    Cricket
    Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

    • 31 December - Tony Lewis
      Tony Lewis
      Anthony Robert Lewis CBE is a former Welsh cricketer, who went on to become the face of BBC Television cricket coverage in the 1990s, and become president of the MCC. Lewis attended Christ's College, Cambridge and played for Cambridge University. He also played county cricket for Glamorgan, and...

       is awarded the CBE in the New Year Honours List.
  • Cycling
    Cycling
    Cycling, also called bicycling or biking, is the use of bicycles for transport, recreation, or for sport. Persons engaged in cycling are cyclists or bicyclists...

     - Nicole Cooke
    Nicole Cooke
    Nicole Denise Cooke, MBE is a Welsh professional road bicycle racer for the Mario Cipollini - Giordana Team team, and is the current Olympic road race champion.-Early life:...

     wins La Flèche Wallonne Féminine
    La Flèche Wallonne Féminine
    La Flèche Wallonne Féminine began in 1998 as a women's road race was held in conjunction with the men's race. From the following year onwards, the women's La Flèche Wallonne was a UCI Women's Road Cycling World Cup event. The women raced the same course, but did one less circuit.-Past...

     for the first time.
  • Football - Cardiff City F.C.
    Cardiff City F.C.
    Cardiff City Football Club are a Welsh professional football club based in Cardiff, Wales. The club competes in the English football pyramid and is currently playing in the Football League Championship. Cardiff City is the best supported football club in Wales, averaging approximately 22,500 for...

     win promotion to the Football League Championship
    Football League Championship
    The Football League Championship is the highest division of The Football League and second-highest division overall in the English football league system after the Premier League...

  • Rugby union
    Rugby union
    Rugby 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...

    • October - The Welsh team participate in the Rugby World Cup
      Rugby World Cup
      The Rugby World Cup is an international rugby union competition organised by the International Rugby Board and held every four years since 1987....

       in Australia
      Australia
      Australia , 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...

      . Having defeated Canada
      Canada
      Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

       41-10, Tonga
      Tonga
      Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga , is a state and an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprising 176 islands scattered over of ocean in the South Pacific...

       27-20, and Italy
      Italy
      Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

       41-10, they lose to New Zealand
      New Zealand
      New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

       37-53 and to England 17-28 to go out of the competition.
  • Jamie Baulch
    Jamie Baulch
    James Steven Baulch , but raised by foster parents in Risca, near Newport, is a British sprint athlete and television presenter. He won the 400 metres gold medal at the 1999 World Indoor Championships. As a member of British 4 x 400 metres relay teams, he won a gold medal at the 1997 World...

     finishes third in the BBC
    BBC
    The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

    's Superstars
    Superstars
    Superstars is an all-around sports competition that pits elite athletes from different sports against one another in a series of athletic events resembling a decathlon....

    event.

Deaths

  • 5 January – Roy Jenkins
    Roy Jenkins
    Roy Harris Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead OM, PC was a British politician.The son of a Welsh coal miner who later became a union official and Labour MP, Roy Jenkins served with distinction in World War II. Elected to Parliament as a Labour member in 1948, he served in several major posts in...

    , politician and Chancellor of Oxford University, 82
  • 6 January – Glyn Davies
    Glyn Davies (economist)
    ----Glyn Davies , was a Welsh economist, best known for his 1994 book, A History Of Money From Ancient Times To The Present Day.-Education and career:...

    , economist, 83
  • 17 January – Goronwy Daniel
    Goronwy Daniel
    Sir Goronwy Hopkin Daniel KCVO was a Welsh academic and civil servant.Born at Ystradgynlais, Powys, Wales, Daniel was educated at University of Wales, Aberystwyth, where he gained a first-class degree, and obtained a D.Phil. from Jesus College, Oxford...

    , academic and civil servant, 88
  • 26 January - Kingsley Jones, rugby union prop, 67
  • 3 February – Trevor Morris, football player and manager, 82
  • 26 February – Brian Evans
    Brian Evans (footballer)
    Brian Clifford Evans was a Welsh footballer who played as a winger in the Football League for Swansea City and Hereford United...

    , footballer, 60
  • 14 April - Bob Evans
    Bob Evans (rugby player)
    Bob Evans was a Welsh rugby union flanker who played club rugby for Newport and county rugby for Monmouthshire...

    , rugby player, 82
  • 13 May – John Savage
    John Savage (politician)
    John Patrick Savage, OC, ONS was the 23rd Premier of Nova Scotia, Canada between 1993 and 1997.- Welsh birth :Born in Newport, Monmouthshire, Wales, and keeping his Welsh accent to the end, Savage graduated from Queen's University of Belfast and practiced as a Medical doctor in Newport until he...

    , prime minister of Nova Scotia 1993-97, 70
  • 29 May – Trevor Ford
    Trevor Ford
    Trevor 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:...

    , footballer, 79
  • 8 June – Leighton Rees
    Leighton Rees
    Leighton Thomas Rees was the first ever World Professional Darts Champion.-Early life:Rees was born in the village of Ynysybwl, where he was to spend most of his life...

    , darts player, 63
  • 10 June – Phil Williams, politician, 64
  • 16 June - Ivor Bennett
    Ivor Bennett
    Ivor Bennett was a Welsh rugby union and professional rugby league footballer of the 1930s.Bennett was born in Aberkenfig. At representative level he played rugby union for Wales, and at club level for Aberavon RFC, playing at Prop, i.e. number 1 or 3, and at club level played rugby league for...

    , rugby player, 90
  • 17 July – Dr David Kelly, government scientist, 59
  • 21 July – John Davies
    John Davies (athlete)
    John Llewellyn Davies was a New Zealand Olympic bronze medalist and president of the New Zealand Olympic Committee ....

    , Olympic athlete of Welsh descent, 65
  • 5 August – Benjamin Noel Young Vaughan
    Benjamin Noel Young Vaughan
    The Right Rev Benjamin Noel Young Vaughan was Bishop of Swansea and Brecon in the Church in Wales between 1976 and 1987....

    , Bishop of Swansea and Brecon, 85
  • 20 September – Gareth Williams, Baron Williams of Mostyn
    Gareth Williams, Baron Williams of Mostyn
    Gareth Wyn Williams, Baron Williams of Mostyn, PC, QC, was a Welsh barrister and Labour politician who was Leader of the House of Lords, Lord President of the Council and a member of the Cabinet at the time of his sudden death in 2003.Williams was born near Prestatyn, in North Wales, a son of...

    , politician, 62
  • 25 September
    • David Williams
      David Williams (crime writer)
      David Williams was an advertising executive who became a crime writer after suffering a stroke.Williams was born in Bridgend in Wales and studied at the Hereford Cathedral School and St John's College, Oxford, where he read modern history...

      , crime novelist, 77
    • Dai Davies
      Dai Davies (rugby player born 1925)
      David "Dai" Maldwyn Davies was a and British Lions international rugby union player.Davies made his debut for Wales on 21 January 1950 versus England and was selected for the 1950 British Lions tour to New Zealand and Australia. He played club rugby for Somerset Police.- References :...

      , Wales and British Lions international rugby union player, 78
  • 29 September – Billy Cleaver
    Billy Cleaver
    William 'Billy' Cleaver was a Welsh international fly-half who played club rugby for Cardiff. He won 14 caps for Wales and was selected to play in the British Lions on the 1950 tour of Australia and New Zealand...

    , Wales international rugby union player, 82
  • 7 October – Henry Herbert, 17th Earl of Pembroke
    Henry Herbert, 17th Earl of Pembroke
    Henry George Charles Alexander Herbert, 17th Earl of Pembroke, 14th Earl of Montgomery , styled Lord Herbert between 1960 and 1969 and often known simply as Henry Herbert, was a British aristocrat, film director and producer.-Background and education:Herbert was the eldest son of the 16th Earl of...

    , 64
  • 23 November – Paul Grant
    Paul Grant
    Paul Grant was a British bodybuilder. He was born as a twin in Wales in 1943. He left school at 16 and began working with his own bread delivery business whilst training with weights to increase his muscle mass....

    , bodybuilding champion, 60
  • 27 November – Dai Francis
    Dai Francis (singer)
    Dai Francis , was a Welsh singer, best known for his performances with the Black and White Minstrels.Francis was born in Swansea, the son of a music hall entertainer. Dai himself began performing at the age of ten, "blacking up" to sing Dixieland-style numbers...

    , singer, 73
  • 1 December – Hugh Rees
    Hugh Rees
    Hugh Rees, FRICS was a British chartered auctioneer and surveyor, and politician. After a single term as a Conservative Party Member of Parliament, he went on to have several notable public appointments....

    , politician, 75
  • 19 December – Roy Hughes, Baron Islwyn, politician, 78
  • 20 December – Robin Williams, broadcaster and essayist, 80
  • date unknownBrian Morgan Edwards
    Brian Morgan Edwards
    Brian Morgan Edwards was an expert computer salesman, a prominent supporter of Plaid Cymru and a Welsh businessman who sponsored the first Welsh-language recording studio for popular music....

    , businessman
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