1859 in Wales

← 1858 1857 1856 1855 1854 1859 in Wales → 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864
Centuries:	17th 18th 19th 20th 21st
Decades:	1830s 1840s 1850s 1860s 1870s
See also:	List of years in Wales Timeline of Welsh history 1859 in The United Kingdom Scotland Elsewhere

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1859 to Wales and its people.

Incumbents

For United Kingdom incumbents, see 1859 in the United Kingdom § Incumbents.

• Lord Lieutenant of Anglesey – Henry Paget, 2nd Marquess of Anglesey[1][2][3][4]
• Lord Lieutenant of Brecknockshire – John Lloyd Vaughan Watkins[5][6]
• Lord Lieutenant of Caernarvonshire – Sir Richard Williams-Bulkeley, 10th Baronet[7]
• Lord Lieutenant of Cardiganshire – Edward Pryse[8]
• Lord Lieutenant of Carmarthenshire – John Campbell, 1st Earl Cawdor
• Lord Lieutenant of Denbighshire – Robert Myddelton Biddulph[9]
• Lord Lieutenant of Flintshire – Sir Stephen Glynne, 9th Baronet[10]
• Lord Lieutenant of Glamorgan – Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot[11]
• Lord Lieutenant of Merionethshire – Robert Davies Pryce[12]
• Lord Lieutenant of Monmouthshire – Capel Hanbury Leigh[13]
• Lord Lieutenant of Montgomeryshire – Thomas Hanbury-Tracy, 2nd Baron Sudeley
• Lord Lieutenant of Pembrokeshire – Sir John Owen, 1st Baronet[14]
• Lord Lieutenant of Radnorshire – John Walsh, 1st Baron Ormathwaite[15][2]

• Bishop of Bangor – Christopher Bethell (until 9 April);[16] James Colquhoun Campbell (from 14 June)[17][18]
• Bishop of Llandaff – Alfred Ollivant[19][20]
• Bishop of St Asaph – Thomas Vowler Short[21][22][20]
• Bishop of St Davids – Connop Thirlwall[23][20][24]

Events

The clipper Royal Charter, wrecked off Anglesey on 26 October

• January - Y Brython changes from weekly to monthly publication.
• February - First race at Bangor-on-Dee racecourse.
• 1 April - Opening of the Corris Railway.
• 5 April - 27 men are killed by flooding at Neath Chain Colliery.
• 31 May - U.K. general election. This is the last general election in which the Conservative Party's vote share in Wales exceeds that in England.
• 29 June - Benjamin Hall is raised to the peerage as 1st Baron Llanover.
• 15 October–17 October - Queen Victoria stays at Penrhyn Castle.
• 25 October–26 October - 'Royal Charter Storm':
  • Steam clipper Royal Charter is wrecked off the north-east Anglesey coast, with the estimated loss of around 459 lives, the greatest loss of life in any maritime accident in Welsh waters.[25]
  • St Brynach's Church, Cwm-yr-Eglwys, is destroyed.
• Peak year for copper production in Wales.
• The final stage of the East Bute Dock, Cardiff, is completed and opened.[26]
• Merger of Yr Amserau and Baner Cymru.
• Religious revival led by Humphrey Jones.
• The Cymanfa Ganu movement is launched in Aberdare.[27]
• Sir Charles Morgan, 3rd Baronet, is created Baron Tredegar.[28]

Arts and literature

Awards

• Lewis William Lewis (Llew Llwyfo) wins the chair at the Merthyr Tydfil eisteddfod.[29]

New books

• Hugh Hughes (Tegai) - Y Drydedd Oruchwyliaeth[30]
• Nathaniel Jones - Fy Awenydd
• Richard Parry (Gwalchmai) - Adgofion am John Elias[31]
• Thomas Stephens & Gweirydd ap Rhys - Orgraff yr Iaith Gymraeg[32]
• William Thomas (Gwilym Marles) - Prydyddiaeth

Music

• John Roberts (Ieuan Gwyllt) - Llyfr Tonau Cynulleidfaol[33]

Births

• 11 January - Sir Joseph Alfred Bradney, historian (died 1933)[34]
• 29 January - Sir George Lockwood Morris, industrialist and Welsh international rugby player (died 1947)[35]
• 7 February - Frank Hancock, Wales international rugby union international (died 1943)
• 16 February - T. E. Ellis, politician (died 1899)[36]
• 18 April - Sir Evan Davies Jones, 1st Baronet, civil engineer (died 1949)
• 4 May - Sir Samuel Thomas Evans, politician and judge (died 1918)
• 22 May - Jonathan Ceredig Davies, travel writer (died 1932)
• 17 July - Ernest Rhys, writer (died 1946)[37]
• 11 Oct – Aneurin Williams, politician (died 1924)
• 5 December - Edward John Lewis, Wales international rugby union player (died 1925)
• 7 December - Leonard Watkins, Wales international rugby union player (died 1901)
• 25 December - John Goulstone Lewis Wales international rugby union player (died 1935)
• November - Richard Bell, politician (died 1930)

Deaths

• 19 January - Charles Vachell, alderman and former mayor of Cardiff, 75[38]
• 19 April – Christopher Bethell, Bishop of Bangor, 85[16]
• 20 May - Thomas Penson the younger, county surveyor of Denbighshire, 69[39]
• 21 June - John Bowen, Bishop of Sierra Leone, 43 (yellow fever)[40]
• 8 July - John Thomas (Siôn Wyn o Eifion), poet, 78
• 10 September - Sir John Hay Williams, landowner, 65[41]
• 24 September – Joseph Murray Ince, painter, 53
• October - Evan Jones (Ifan y Gorlan), harpist

See also

• 1859 in Ireland

References

1. Edward Breese (1873). Kalendars of Gwynedd; or, Chronological lists of lords-lieutenant [&c.] ... for the counties of Anglesey, Caernarvon, and Merioneth. p. 24.
2. J.C. Sainty (1979). List of Lieutenants of Counties of England and Wales 1660-1974. London: Swift Printers (Sales) Ltd.
3. Nicholas, Thomas (1991). Annals and antiquities of the counties and county families of Wales. Baltimore: Genealogical Pub. Co. p. 695. ISBN 9780806313146.
4. Cylchgrawn Hanes Cymru. University of Wales Press. 1992. p. 169.
5. "Editorial". Welshman. 6 October 1865. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
6. Edwin Poole (1886). The Illustrated History and Biography of Brecknockshire from the Earliest Times to the Present Day: Containing the General History, Antiquities, Sepulchral Monuments and Inscriptions. Edwin Poole. p. 378.
7. Edward Breese (1873). Kalendars of Gwynedd; or, Chronological lists of lords-lieutenant [&c.] ... for the counties of Anglesey, Caernarvon, and Merioneth. p. 26.
8. Thomas John Hughes (1887). The Welsh magistracy, by Adfyfr. South Wales and Monmouthshire Liberal Federation Offices. p. 5.
9. "Myddelton Biddulph, Robert (1805-1872), of Chirk Castle, Denb. and 35 Grosvenor Place, Mdx". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
10. "Glynne, Sir Stephen Richard, 9th bt. (1807-1874), of Hawarden Castle, Flint". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
11. "TALBOT, Christopher Rice Mansel (1803-1890), of Penrice Castle and Margam Park, Glam". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
12. Edward Breese (1873). Kalendars of Gwynedd; or, Chronological lists of lords-lieutenant [&c.] ... for the counties of Anglesey, Caernarvon, and Merioneth. p. 29.
13. Amy Audrey Locke (1916). The Hanbury Family. Arthur L. Humphreys. p. 147.
14. Thorne, R.G. "John Owen (1776-1861) of Orielton, Pembrokeshire". History of Parliament. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
15. Jonathan Williams (1859). The History of Radnorshire. R. Mason. p. 115.
16. Joseph Haydn (1866). Haydn's Dictionary of Dates Relating to All Ages and Nations: For Universal Reference. E. Moxon and Company. pp. 76.
17. Fryde, E. B. (1996). Handbook of British chronology. Cambridge England: New York Cambridge University Press. p. 292. ISBN 9780521563505.
18. Thomas Duffus Hardy (1854). Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae: Or A Calendar of the Principal Ecclesiastical Dignitaries in England and Wales... University Press. p. 305.
19. Frederick Arthur Crisp; Joseph Jackson Howard (1898). Visitation of England and Wales. p. 15.
20. Thomas Duffus Hardy (1854). Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae: Or A Calendar of the Principal Ecclesiastical Dignitaries in England and Wales... University Press. p. 307.
21. Nicholas Harris Nicolas (1857). The historic peerage of England: Revised, corrected, and continued ... by William Courthope. John Murray. p. 533.
22. The Apostolical Succession in the Church of England. James Parkes and Company. 1866. p. 15.
23. Old Yorkshire, volume 3. 1882. p. 90.
24. The Monthly Review Or Literary Journal Enlarged. Porter. 1780. p. 95.
25. Carradice, Phil. "The great storm of 1859". BBC Wales. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
26. "Bute East Dock, Cardiff (34242)". Coflein. RCAHMW. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
27. Gareth Williams (1998). Valleys of Song: Music and Society in Wales 1840-1914. University of Wales Press. pp. 38–39. ISBN 978-0-7083-1480-7.
28. Thomas Nicholas (1872). Annals and Antiquities of the Counties and County Families of Wales: Containing a Record of All Ranks of the Gentry ... with Many Ancient Pedigrees and Memorials of Old and Extinct Families. Longmans, Green, Reader. p. 785.
29. David Gwenallt Jones (1959). "Lewis, Lewis William (Llew Llwyfo; 1831-1901), poet, novelist, and journalist". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
30. Lee, Sidney, ed. (1891). "Hughes, Hugh (1805-1864)" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 28. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
31. Harvard University Library (1970). Celtic literatures: classification schedule, classified listing by call number, chronological listing, author and title listing. Distributed by the Harvard University Press. p. 78.
32. David Jacob Davies (1959). "Stephens, Thomas (1821-1875), antiquary and literary critic". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
33. Geraint H. Jenkins (2007). A Concise History of Wales. Cambridge University Press. p. 209. ISBN 978-0-521-82367-8.
34. Arthur Charles Fox-Davies (1910). Armorial Families: A Directory of Gentlemen of Coat-armour. T.C. & E.C. Jack. p. 178.
35. Who was who: a companion to Who's who : containing the biographies of those who died during the period. A. & C. Black. 1967. p. 816.
36. Thomas Iorwerth Ellis. "Ellis, Thomas Edward (1859-1899), M.P. for Merioneth (1886-99) and chief Liberal whip (1894-5)". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
37. William Llewelyn Davies. "Rhys, Ernest (Percival) (1859-1946), poet, author, and editor". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
38. "Births, Marriages, and Deaths". The Cardiff and Merthyr Guardian. (Glamorgan, Monmouthshire and Breconshire). 22 January 1859. p. 5 – via Welsh Newspapers Online.
39. Colvin H. A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600–1840. Yale University Press 3rd ed 1995, pages 748-49
40. Bowen, John (1862). Memorials of John Bowen, late Bishop of Sierra Leone;. London: James Nisbet. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
41. Joseph Jackson Howard; Frederick Arthur Crisp (1905). Visitation of England and Wales. Privately printed. p. 12.