1866 in Wales
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the particular significance of the year 1866 to Wales and its people.
Incumbents
- Lord Lieutenant of Anglesey â Henry Paget, 2nd Marquess of Anglesey[1][2][3][4]
- Lord Lieutenant of Brecknockshire â George Pratt, 2nd Marquess Camden (until 8 August) Charles Morgan, 1st Baron Tredegar (from 27 September)[5][6]
- Lord Lieutenant of Caernarvonshire â Sir Richard Williams-Bulkeley, 10th Baronet (until 14 September); Edward Douglas-Pennant, 1st Baron Penrhyn (from 14 September)[7]
- Lord Lieutenant of Cardiganshire â Edward Pryse[8][2]
- Lord Lieutenant of Carmarthenshire â John Campbell, 2nd Earl Cawdor
- Lord Lieutenant of Denbighshire â Robert Myddelton Biddulph[9]
- Lord Lieutenant of Flintshire â Sir Stephen Glynne, 9th Baronet[10]
- Lord Lieutenant of Glamorgan â Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot[11]
- Lord Lieutenant of Merionethshire â Edward Lloyd-Mostyn, 2nd Baron Mostyn[12]
- Lord Lieutenant of Monmouthshire â Benjamin Hall, 1st Baron Llanover[13]
- Lord Lieutenant of Montgomeryshire â Sudeley Hanbury-Tracy, 3rd Baron Sudeley[14]
- Lord Lieutenant of Pembrokeshire â William Edwardes, 3rd Baron Kensington[15]
- Lord Lieutenant of Radnorshire â John Walsh, 1st Baron Ormathwaite[16][2]
Events
- 5 February â Railway contractor Thomas Savin goes bankrupt, resulting in a temporary halt in the construction of the Aberystwith and Welsh Coast Railway.[23]
- 31 March â The last public execution in Wales takes place as Robert Coe is hanged in Swansea.[24]
- 1 May â Wrexham, Mold and Connah's Quay Railway opens to passengers.
- July â Launch of Yr Australydd, a Welsh language Calvinistic Methodist newspaper, in Victoria (Australia), edited by William Meirion Evans and Theophilus Williams.[citation needed]
- 5 September â The Pembroke and Tenby Railway is extended for passengers to Whitland.[25]
- 6 September â Six people are killed in a railway derailment near Criccieth.
- September â The song Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau â later to become the official national anthem of Wales â is sung for the first time at the National Eisteddfod held at Chester.
- 17 October â First confirmed death from a cholera epidemic in Carnarvon.[26]
- December â The Talyllyn Railway officially opens.[27]
- Sir George Gilbert Scott begins work on the renovation of Bangor Cathedral.
- The Baptist Union of Wales is established.
- Whiteford Lighthouse on Gower, the only remaining large wave-swept cast-iron lighthouse built in the UK, is first lit.[28]
- Edward Gordon Douglas is created Baron Penrhyn.
- Morris Brothers department store established at Tenby; it will still be trading 150 years later.[29]
Arts and literature
Awards
- The National Eisteddfod of Wales is held at Chester in England.
- The harpist William Frost is awarded a pedal harp by Pencerdd Gwalia
New books
English language
- Rees Howell Gronow â Last Recollections
Welsh language
- Richard Davies (Mynyddog) â Caneuon Mynyddog[30]
- Roger Edwards â Y Tri Brawd
- William Rees (Gwilym Hiraethog) â Nodiadau ar yr Epistol at yr Hebreaid[31]
Music
- John Owen (Owain Alaw) â Gŵyl Gwalia
- John Thomas (Pencerdd Gwalia) â The Bride of Neath Valley (cantata)[32]
- The Eryri Music Festival (Gwyl Gerddorol Eryri) is founded.
Sport
- Cricket â Hawarden Park Cricket Club is founded, reputedly by William Ewart Gladstone.[33]
- Rugby football â First competitive game played in Wales, between college teams at Lampeter.
Births
- 13 January â Frank Hill, Wales international rugby captain (died 1927)[34]
- 21 January â Sir Owen Cox, politician and businessman in Australia (died 1932)[35]
- 22 March â Willie Thomas, Wales international rugby captain (died 1921)
- 1 April â Sir William Henry Hoare Vincent, diplomat (died 1941)[36]
- 18 April â Frederick Llewellyn-Jones, lawyer and politician (died 1941)[37]
- 20 April â Sir John Milsom Rees, laryngologist (died 1952)[38]
- 30 May â John Gruffydd Moelwyn Hughes, minister and poet (died 1944)[39]
- 5 August â Sir Edward Anwyl, Celtic scholar (died 1914)[40]
- 7 August â Charles Granville Bruce, mountaineer (died 1939)[41]
- 13 August - William Finney, cricketer (died 1927)
- 24 August â Caesar Jenkyns, footballer (died 1941)
- 4 October â Robert Jones (Trebor Aled), poet (died 1917)[42]
- 12 October â James Ramsay MacDonald, politician (died 1937)[43]
- 4 November â Sir David William Evans, lawyer, public servant and Wales international rugby player, (died 1926)
- 5 November â Daniel Protheroe, conductor and choirmaster (died 1934)[44]
- 14 November â Tom Morgan Wales international rugby player (died 1899)
- 24 November â Alexander Bland, Wales international rugby player (died 1947)
- 4 December â Dai Lewis (died 1943), rugby union forward who played international rugby for Wales
- 10 December â Stanley L. Wood, illustrator (died 1928[45]
- 15 December â William Williams, Wales national rugby union player (died 1945)
- date unknown â David Delta Evans (Dewi Hiraddug), journalist, author, and Unitarian minister (died 1948)[46]
Deaths
- 16 January â David Owen (Brutus), literary editor, 70[47]
- 27 January â John Gibson, sculptor, 75[48]
- 31 January â Owen Owen Roberts, physician, 73[49]
- 29 March - Thomas Jones (Glan Alun), poet, 55
- 19 May â David Davis, Blaengwawr, industrialist, 69[50]
- 31 August (approx) â Robert Jermain Thomas, missionary (murdered in Korea), 26
- October â Evan Bevan, humorous writer, 42/43[51]
- 16 October â Angharad Llwyd, antiquary, 86[52]
- 27 October â William Rowlands, minister and author active in the USA[53]
- 30 October â George Lort Phillips, MP for Pembrokeshire, 55 (injuries from a fall)[54]
- 1 December (in London) â George Everest, surveyor and geographer, 76[55]