1950 in Wales

Centuries:
Decades:
See also:	List of years in Wales; 1950 in The United Kingdom Ireland Scotland

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1950 to Wales and its people.

Incumbents

Prince of Wales – vacant
Princess of Wales – vacant
Archbishop of Wales – John Morgan, Bishop of Llandaff
Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales
- Wil Ifan (outgoing)
- Cynan (incoming)

Events

23 February – 1950 United Kingdom general election: For the first time ever, the Labour Party contests all Parliamentary seats in Wales. Following the election, Wales has 27 Labour MPs, 4 Liberals, 3 Conservatives and one National Liberal/Conservative.
- The University of Wales seat is abolished at the dissolution, W. J. Gruffydd having been the last holder.
- Roderic Bowen is re-elected for Cardiganshire, with the largest Liberal majority in the country.
- David Ormsby-Gore, the future Lord Harlech, becomes MP for Oswestry.
- Lynn Ungoed-Thomas, following the abolition of his Llandaff and Barry constituency, is elected MP for Leicester North East.
- Roy Jenkins, whose Southwark seat has been abolished, is elected for Birmingham Stechford.
- Elwyn Jones becomes MP for West Ham South.
- Following the election, Ness Edwards becomes Postmaster-General. During his time in the office, he introduces the greetings telegram.
- Abertillery's Labour MP, George Daggar, dies on 14 October, to be replaced by Llywelyn Williams.
12 March – Llandow air disaster: 80 of the 83 people on board an Avro Tudor V aircraft are killed when it crashes on approach to Llandow in Glamorgan, making it the world's worst air disaster at this time.^[1]
30 March – William Havard is elected Bishop of St David's.^[2]
27 August – Six people are killed in a rail collision at Penmaenmawr railway station.^[3]
9 September – In Swansea, following heavy rain, three houses collapse, killing seven people.^[4]
2 October – The Welsh Air Service, the world's first scheduled helicopter service, begins operating between Cardiff, Wrexham and Liverpool.
Ysgol Syr Thomas Jones opens in Amlwch on Anglesey as Britain's first purpose-built comprehensive school.
Maes Hyfryd and Bryn Teg housing estates at Beaumaris, designed by Colwyn Foulkes, are built.^[5]
Glanllyn is acquired as a permanent site for meetings of Urdd Gobaith Cymru.
In the Honours lists
- Physicist Ezer Griffiths is awarded the O.B.E.
- Agriculturist Thomas James Jenkin is awarded the C.B.E.
- Industrialist Herbert Henry Merrett is knighted.
Margaret Haig Thomas, Viscountess Rhondda, becomes President of University College, Cardiff.

Arts and literature

21 February – Dylan Thomas arrives in the United States, his first visit to America.^[6]
The first Welsh Drama Festival is held.
American photojournalist W. Eugene Smith visits the UK to take photographs of working-class life; three of those published are of the South Wales valleys.^[7]

Awards

National Eisteddfod of Wales (held in Caerphilly) (first "all-Welsh" Eisteddfod)
National Eisteddfod of Wales: Chair – Gwilym Tilsley
National Eisteddfod of Wales: Crown – Euros Bowen
National Eisteddfod of Wales: Prose Medal – withheld

New books

English language

Sir Leonard Twiston Davies – Welsh furniture: an introduction
Kathleen Freeman – Greek City States
Llywelyn Wyn Griffith – The Welsh
Elisabeth Inglis-Jones – Peacocks in Paradise^[8]
Thomas Jones (T. J.) – Welsh Broth
Richard Llewellyn – A Few Flowers for Shiner^[9]
V. E. Nash-Williams – The Early Christian Monuments of Wales^[10]
Harold Henry Rowley – The Growth of the Old Testament
Bertrand Russell – Unpopular Essays
Raymond Williams – Reading and Criticism

Welsh language

Ambrose Bebb – Machlud yr Oesoedd Canol^[11]
Aneirin Talfan Davies – Blodeugerdd o englynion
Edward Morgan Humphreys – Gwŷr enwog gynt^[12]
Edgar Phillips – Caniadau Trefîn^[13]
Arthur Wade-Evans – Coll Prydain
David Pryse Williams – Canmlwyddiant Libanus ... braslun o'r hanes^[14]
William Crwys Williams – Pedair Pennod^[15]

Music

Harry Parr Davies – Dear Miss Phoebe (musical)^[16]
Arwel Hughes – Dewi Sant (Saint David) (oratorio)
Grace Williams – Three Traditional Ballads^[17]
W. S. Gwynn Williams – Breuddwyd Glyndwr

Film

Glyn Houston makes his film debut in The Blue Lamp, which also stars Meredith Edwards and guest stars Tessie O'Shea.
Ray Milland stars in Copper Canyon and A Woman of Distinction.

Sports

Boxing
- 13 September – Eddie Thomas beats Cliff Curvis at St Helens to become British welterweight champion.
Football
- 16 October – Wales international Trevor Ford becomes the most expensive footballer in British history after joining Sunderland for £30,000
Rugby union – Wales win their fourth Grand Slam.
Bowls – The Welsh Ladies Indoor Bowling Association is founded.^[18]

Births

23 January – John Greaves, Welsh bass player and songwriter
7 February – Dai Havard MP, politician
16 February (in Nairobi) – Peter Hain MP, politician
11 March – Terry Cooper, footballer
18 March – Lorraine Barrett AM, politician
27 March – Terry Yorath, footballer and football manager
3 May – Mary Hopkin, singer^[19]
5 May (in Saint Kitts) – Pat Thomas, boxer
24 May – Geoff Ellis, cricketer
26 May – Myron Wyn Evans, chemist (died 2019)^[20]
2 June – Jonathan Evans MEP, politician
14 June – Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury
25 August (in Dublin) – Brian Gibbons AM, politician
8 September – Martyn Woodroffe, swimmer
10 September – Tich Gwilym, guitarist (d. 2005)
11 October – Robert Pugh, actor
16 November – Chris O'Brien, rugby league player
28 November – Meic Povey, screenwriter, playwright and actor (d. 2017) ^[21]
8 December – Stephen Richards, judge
10 December – John Parsons, footballer
20 December (in Birmingham) – Sheenagh Pugh, poet and novelist
date unknown – Meg Elis, politician

Deaths

23 January – Jack Rhapps, dual-code international rugby player, 73
13 February – Rees Howells, missionary and founder of the Bible College at Swansea, 70
28 February – David Lewis Prosser, Archbishop of Wales, 81^[22]
9 March – Timothy Evans, wrongly executed for murder, 35
15 March – Sir Wilfrid Lewis, judge^[23]
12 April – Joe Rees, rugby union player, 56
29 April – Wallace Watts, Wales international rugby union player, 80
23 June – Joseph Harry, minister and poet
2 July – Henry Haydn Jones MP, politician, 86^[24]
30 August – Ralph Hancock, landscape gardener, 57
14 October – George Daggar MP, politician, 71^[25]
28 October – Alis Mallt Williams, novelist, 83^[26]
21 November – Hugh Emyr Davies, poet, 72

References

^ Keith Eastlake; Henry Russell; Mike Sharpe (21 August 2013). World Disasters: Tragedies in the Modern Age. Routledge. p. 129. ISBN 978-1-136-74257-6.
^ John Morgan-Guy (1 April 2016). Religion and Society in the Diocese of St Davids 1485–2011. Routledge. p. 212. ISBN 978-1-317-06784-9.
^ Michael Foley (15 January 2014). Britain's Railway Disasters: Fatal Accidents from the 1830s to the Present Day. Wharncliffe. p. 195. ISBN 978-1-4738-3328-9.
^ Geoff Brookes (15 September 2015). Swansea in the 1950s: Ten Years that Changed a City. Amberley Publishing Limited. p. 11. ISBN 978-1-4456-3958-1.
^ The Twentieth Century Society (2017). "1950". 100 Houses 100 Years. London: Batsford. ISBN 978-1-84994-437-3.
^ Constantine FitzGibbon (1965). The Life of Dylan Thomas. J. M. Dent and Sons. p. 355.
^ University of Arizona. Center for Creative Photography; Amy Rule (1983). W. Eugene Smith papers. Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona. p. 18.
^ Margaret Ross Griffel (21 December 2012). Operas in English: A Dictionary. Scarecrow Press. p. 713. ISBN 978-0-8108-8325-3.
^ NA NA (5 March 2016). Writers Directory. Springer. p. 758. ISBN 978-1-349-03650-9.
^ Mark Redknap (1991). The Christian Celts: Treasures of Late Celtic Wales. National Museum Wales. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-7200-0354-3.
^ Dai Smith (1980). A People and a proletariat: essays in the history of Wales, 1780-1980. Pluto Press in association with Llafur, the Society for the Study of Welsh Labour History. p. 139. ISBN 978-0-86104-321-7.
^ Hugh Pryce (15 May 2011). J. E. Lloyd and the Creation of Welsh History: Renewing a Nation's Past. University of Wales Press. p. 266. ISBN 978-1-78316-297-0.
^ Glyn Jones; Tony Brown (1 December 2001). The Dragon Has Two Tongues: Essays on Anglo-Welsh Writers and Writing. University of Wales Press. p. 205. ISBN 978-1-4175-0857-0.
^ Benjamin George Owens. "Williams, David Pryse ('Brythonydd'; 1878-1952), minister (B), writer, and historian". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
^ J. Gwynn Williams (1985). The University College of North Wales: Foundations, 1884-1927. University of Wales Press. p. 480. ISBN 978-0-7083-0893-6.
^ Arthur Jackson (1979). The Best Musicals: From Show Boat to A Chorus Line : Broadway, Off-Broadway, London. Crown. p. 180. ISBN 978-0-517-53881-4.
^ Benjamin Britten (7 July 2011). Letters from a Life Volume 3 (1946-1951): The Selected Letters of Benjamin Britten. Faber & Faber. p. 469. ISBN 978-0-571-27993-7.
^ "About Us". Welsh Ladies Indoor Bowling Association website. Welsh Ladies Indoor Bowling Association. 2008. Retrieved 2009-07-13.
^ Norm N. Nite (1980). Rock on: The modern years: 1964 - present. Crowell. p. 230. ISBN 978-0-690-01196-8.
^ Evans, Myron W. (Myron Wyn) 1950- in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
^ "Meic Povey, playwright and scriptwriter – obituary". The Telegraph. 28 December 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
^ Thomas Iorwerth Ellis. "Prosser, David Lewis (1868-1950), archbishop". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
^ Griffith Milwyn Griffiths. "Lewis, Wilfrid Hubert Poyer (1881-1950), judge". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
^ Michael Stenton; Stephen Lees (1979). Who's who of British Members of Parliament: A Biographical Dictionary of the House of Commons. 1919-1945. Volume III. Harvester P. p. 189. ISBN 978-0-391-00768-0.
^ John Davies. "Daggar, George (1879-1950), trade unionist and Member of Parliament". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
^ Evan David Jones. "Williams, Alice Matilda Langland (1867-1950), otherwise Alys Mallt, but more generally known as Y Fonesig Mallt Williams author and celtophile". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 26 May 2019.

[1] Keith Eastlake; Henry Russell; Mike Sharpe (21 August 2013). World Disasters: Tragedies in the Modern Age. Routledge. p. 129. ISBN 978-1-136-74257-6.

[2] John Morgan-Guy (1 April 2016). Religion and Society in the Diocese of St Davids 1485–2011. Routledge. p. 212. ISBN 978-1-317-06784-9.

[3] Michael Foley (15 January 2014). Britain's Railway Disasters: Fatal Accidents from the 1830s to the Present Day. Wharncliffe. p. 195. ISBN 978-1-4738-3328-9.

[4] Geoff Brookes (15 September 2015). Swansea in the 1950s: Ten Years that Changed a City. Amberley Publishing Limited. p. 11. ISBN 978-1-4456-3958-1.

[5] The Twentieth Century Society (2017). "1950". 100 Houses 100 Years. London: Batsford. ISBN 978-1-84994-437-3.

[6] Constantine FitzGibbon (1965). The Life of Dylan Thomas. J. M. Dent and Sons. p. 355.

[7] University of Arizona. Center for Creative Photography; Amy Rule (1983). W. Eugene Smith papers. Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona. p. 18.

[8] Margaret Ross Griffel (21 December 2012). Operas in English: A Dictionary. Scarecrow Press. p. 713. ISBN 978-0-8108-8325-3.

[9] NA NA (5 March 2016). Writers Directory. Springer. p. 758. ISBN 978-1-349-03650-9.

[10] Mark Redknap (1991). The Christian Celts: Treasures of Late Celtic Wales. National Museum Wales. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-7200-0354-3.

[11] Dai Smith (1980). A People and a proletariat: essays in the history of Wales, 1780-1980. Pluto Press in association with Llafur, the Society for the Study of Welsh Labour History. p. 139. ISBN 978-0-86104-321-7.

[12] Hugh Pryce (15 May 2011). J. E. Lloyd and the Creation of Welsh History: Renewing a Nation's Past. University of Wales Press. p. 266. ISBN 978-1-78316-297-0.

[13] Glyn Jones; Tony Brown (1 December 2001). The Dragon Has Two Tongues: Essays on Anglo-Welsh Writers and Writing. University of Wales Press. p. 205. ISBN 978-1-4175-0857-0.

[14] Benjamin George Owens. "Williams, David Pryse ('Brythonydd'; 1878-1952), minister (B), writer, and historian". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. Retrieved 27 May 2019.

[15] J. Gwynn Williams (1985). The University College of North Wales: Foundations, 1884-1927. University of Wales Press. p. 480. ISBN 978-0-7083-0893-6.

[16] Arthur Jackson (1979). The Best Musicals: From Show Boat to A Chorus Line : Broadway, Off-Broadway, London. Crown. p. 180. ISBN 978-0-517-53881-4.

[17] Benjamin Britten (7 July 2011). Letters from a Life Volume 3 (1946-1951): The Selected Letters of Benjamin Britten. Faber & Faber. p. 469. ISBN 978-0-571-27993-7.

[18] "About Us". Welsh Ladies Indoor Bowling Association website. Welsh Ladies Indoor Bowling Association. 2008. Retrieved 2009-07-13.

[19] Norm N. Nite (1980). Rock on: The modern years: 1964 - present. Crowell. p. 230. ISBN 978-0-690-01196-8.

[20] Evans, Myron W. (Myron Wyn) 1950- in libraries (WorldCat catalog)

[21] "Meic Povey, playwright and scriptwriter – obituary". The Telegraph. 28 December 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2019.

[22] Thomas Iorwerth Ellis. "Prosser, David Lewis (1868-1950), archbishop". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 26 May 2019.

[23] Griffith Milwyn Griffiths. "Lewis, Wilfrid Hubert Poyer (1881-1950), judge". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 26 May 2019.

[24] Michael Stenton; Stephen Lees (1979). Who's who of British Members of Parliament: A Biographical Dictionary of the House of Commons. 1919-1945. Volume III. Harvester P. p. 189. ISBN 978-0-391-00768-0.

[25] John Davies. "Daggar, George (1879-1950), trade unionist and Member of Parliament". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 26 May 2019.

[26] Evan David Jones. "Williams, Alice Matilda Langland (1867-1950), otherwise Alys Mallt, but more generally known as Y Fonesig Mallt Williams author and celtophile". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 26 May 2019.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

[19]

[20]

[21]

[22]

[23]

[24]

[25]

[26]

1950 in Wales

Incumbents

Events

Arts and literature

Awards

New books

English language

Welsh language

Music

Film

Sports

Births

Deaths

See also

References