1918 in Wales
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the particular significance of the year 1918 to Wales and its people.
Incumbents
- Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales â Dyfed[1]
- Lord Lieutenant of Anglesey â Sir Richard Henry Williams-Bulkeley, 12th Baronet
- Lord Lieutenant of Brecknockshire â Joseph Bailey, 2nd Baron Glanusk[2]
- Lord Lieutenant of Caernarvonshire â John Ernest Greaves[3]
- Lord Lieutenant of Cardiganshire â Herbert Davies-Evans[4]
- Lord Lieutenant of Carmarthenshire â John Hinds
- Lord Lieutenant of Denbighshire â Lloyd Tyrell-Kenyon, 4th Baron Kenyon (from 24 January)
- Lord Lieutenant of Flintshire â Henry Gladstone, later Baron Gladstone[5]
- Lord Lieutenant of Glamorgan â Robert Windsor-Clive, 1st Earl of Plymouth
- Lord Lieutenant of Merionethshire â Sir Osmond Williams, 1st Baronet[6]
- Lord Lieutenant of Monmouthshire â Ivor Herbert, 1st Baron Treowen
- Lord Lieutenant of Montgomeryshire â Sir Herbert Williams-Wynn, 7th Baronet
- Lord Lieutenant of Pembrokeshire â John Philipps, 1st Viscount St Davids
- Lord Lieutenant of Radnorshire â Powlett Milbank[7] (until 30 January); Arthur Walsh, 3rd Baron Ormathwaite (from 5 April)[8]
- Bishop of Bangor â Watkin Williams[9]
- Bishop of Llandaff â Joshua Pritchard Hughes[10]
- Bishop of St Asaph â A. G. Edwards (later Archbishop of Wales)[11]
- Bishop of St Davids â John Owen[12]
Events
- January â Coalowner, Liberal politician and Minister of Food Control David Alfred Thomas is created Viscount Rhondda; following his death on 3 July the title passes by special remainder to his daughter, the suffragette Margaret Mackworth.
- 26 January â An Irish steamship, the Cork, is torpedoed by a U-boat off Point Lynas in Anglesey. Twelve crew are killed.[13][14]
- 29 January â The steamship Ethelinda is torpedoed by a U-boat off the Skerries. Twenty-six crew are killed.[15]
- 4 February â The steamship Treveal is torpedoed by a U-boat off the Skerries. Thirty-three people are killed.[16]
- 5 February â The steamship Mexico City is torpedoed by a U-boat off South Stack, Holyhead. Twenty-nine crew are killed.[17]
- March
- Miners' leader A. J. Cook is imprisoned for sedition under the Defence of the Realm Act 1914 for his public opposition to the war.[18]
- Submarines HMS R5 and HMS R6 are laid down at HM Dockyard Pembroke Dock; as with HMS L34 and L35 ordered later in the year, they will be cancelled in 1919 before completion.
- 2 March â The British submarine HMS H5 is rammed and sunk, having been mistaken for a U-boat, off Porthdinllaen. All twenty-six crew are killed.[19]
- 7 March â The steamship Kenmare is torpedoed by a U-boat off the Skerries. Twenty-six crew are killed.[20]
- 7 April â The steamship Boscastle is torpedoed by a U-boat off Strumble Head. Eighteen crew are killed.[21]
- 21 April â The steamship Landonia is torpedoed by a U-boat off Strumble Head. Twenty-one crew are killed.[22]
- 9 May â The steamships Baron Ailsa and Wileysike are torpedoed by a U-boat off Pembrokeshire. Fourteen crew are killed.[23][24]
- 19 May â The German U-boat SM UB-119 is sunk, perhaps off Bardsey Island.[25]
- 15 June â The steamship Strathnairn is torpedoed by a U-boat off Bishops and Clerks, Pembrokeshire. Twenty-one crew are killed.
- 22 August â The steamship Palmella is torpedoed by a U-boat off South Stack, Holyhead. Twenty-eight people are killed.[26]
- 16 September â The steamship Serula is torpedoed by a U-boat off Strumble Head. Seventeen crew are killed.[27]
- 18 September â The 38th (Welsh) Division is involved in the Battle of Ãpehy.
- Autumn â Edward Thomas John (Liberal MP for East Denbighshire) defects to the Labour Party.
- 10 October â Three seamen are killed while returning to their ship by boat at Milford Haven.
- 14 October â The steamship Dundalk is torpedoed by a U-boat off the Skerries. Twenty-one crew are killed.[28]
- 11 November â Armistice Day. Able Seaman Richard Morgan, serving aboard HMS Garland, is the last Welshman â and perhaps the last Briton â to be killed on active service in the First World War, in the course of which over 40,000 Welsh people have lost their lives.
- 15 November â The British submarine HMS H51 is launched at Pembroke Dock.
- 14 December â United Kingdom general election:
- For the first time, a woman stands as a parliamentary candidate in Wales: Millicent Mackenzie[29] stands unsuccessfully for the University of Wales, itself a new parliamentary seat (which is won by Herbert Lewis).
- Home Rule for Wales is included as a policy in the manifesto of the Labour Party.
- William Brace becomes Labour MP for Abertillery.
- Alfred Onions becomes Labour MP for Caerphilly.
- John Hugh Edwards becomes Liberal MP for Neath, his previous constituency of Mid Glamorganshire having been abolished.
- Sir Robert Thomas, 1st Baronet, becomes Liberal MP for Wrexham.
- David Sanders Davies becomes Liberal MP for Denbigh, standing against Edward Thomas John.
- December â The beginning of the 1918 flu pandemic which lasts into the following year and kills about 10,000 people in Wales.
Arts and literature
- John Morris-Jones is knighted for his services to literature.[30]
- August is fixed as the annual month of the National Eisteddfod of Wales.
Awards
- National Eisteddfod of Wales (held in Neath)
- National Eisteddfod of Wales: Chair â John Thomas Job[31]
- National Eisteddfod of Wales: Crown â D. Emrys Lewis
New books
- W. H. Davies â A Poet's Pilgrimage[32]
- David Delta Evans â The Rosicrucian
- Moelona â Rhamant y Rhos
Music
- Walford Davies is appointed director of music to the Royal Air Force.
Film
- The Life Story of David Lloyd George (drama, not shown publicly until 1996)
Sport
Births
- 15 January â Billy Lucas, international footballer (died 1998)
- 6 March â Billy Hughes, footballer (died 1981)[33]
- 7 May â Robert Davies, politician (died 1967)
- 9 May â Sir Kyffin Williams, artist (died 2006)[34]
- 20 May â David Ormsby-Gore, 5th Baron Harlech (died 1985)[35]
- 24 May â Jack Edwards, soldier and activist (died 2006)[36]
- 28 May
- James Eirian Davies, Methodist minister and poet (died 1998)[37]
- Mary Vaughan Jones, children's author (died 1983)[38]
- 6 June â Susan Williams-Ellis, founder of Portmeirion Pottery (died 2007)[39]
- 19 June â Ivor Griffiths, footballer (died 1993)
- 4 July â Tony Garrett, chairman of Imperial Tobacco (died 2017)
- 25 July â Dennis David, RAF ace (died 2000)[40]
- 19 August â Dilys Elwyn Edwards, composer (died 2012)[41]
- 19 September â Penelope Mortimer, writer (died 1999)[42]
- 26 September â John Rankine, author (died 2013)
- 14 October â J. A. G. Griffith, lawyer and academic (died 2010)[43]
- 19 October â Charles Evans, doctor and mountaineer (died 1995)[44]
- 3 November â Glyn Williams, international footballer (died 2011)
Deaths
- 2 January â Rupert Morris, clergyman and teacher, 74[45]
- 30 January â Powlett Milbank, Lord Lieutenant of Radnorshire, 65[46]
- 15 February â William Evans, judge, c.71
- 13 April
- David Ffrangcon Davies, baritone, 62[47]
- Thomas Tannatt Pryce, VC recipient, 32 (killed in action)[48]
- 24 May â Evan Williams, US-born tenor of Welsh parentage, 50 (blood poisoning)[49]
- 3 July â David Alfred Thomas, 1st Viscount Rhondda, industrialist and politician, 62[50]
- 13 September â Samuel Thomas Evans, MP, 59[51]
- 21 September â Emily Charlotte Talbot, heiress, 78[52]
- 27 September â Morfydd Llwyn Owen, composer, pianist and mezzo-soprano, 26 (medical complications)[53]
- 15 October â William David Phillips, Wales international rugby player, 63
- 16 October â Robert Williams, architect and social campaigner, 70[54]
- 4 November â Wilfred Owen, poet from the Welsh borders, 25 (killed in action)[55]
- 25 November â William Griffith, mining engineer who worked with Cecil Rhodes, 65[56]
- 30 November â Lewis Richards, footballer and barrister, 57[57]
- 1 December
- John Griffiths, artist, 81[58]
- Fred Perrett, Wales international rugby union player, 27 (died of wounds received in action)[59]