1990 in Wales

← 1989 1988 1987 1986 1985 1990 in Wales → 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995
Centuries:	18th 19th 20th 21st
Decades:	1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s
See also:	List of years in Wales Timeline of Welsh history 1990 in The United Kingdom England Scotland Elsewhere

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1990 to Wales and its people.

Incumbents

For United Kingdom incumbents, see 1990 in the United Kingdom § Incumbents.

• Secretary of State for Wales – Peter Walker (until 4 May);[1] David Hunt[2]
• Archbishop of Wales – George Noakes, Bishop of St David's[3]
• Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales
  • Deudraeth (outgoing)[4]
  • Ap Llysor (incoming)[5]

Events

• 26 February - The sea wall at Towyn is breached, resulting in flood damage to 2,800 homes, and the evacuation of a further 2,000.[6]
• 10 June - Death of John Evans, Britain's oldest man whose age (112 years and 295 days) could be authenticated.[7]
• 2 August - Highest ever temperature recorded in Wales until 2022, 35.2 °C (95.4 °F) at Hawarden.[8]
• 27 September - Brymbo Steelworks last tapped.[9]
• 1 November - Veteran Conservative politician Sir Geoffrey Howe resigns from the government.
• December - Privatisation of the former South Wales Electricity Board (SWEB) and Merseyside and North Wales Electricity Board (MANWEB).
• 21 December - Last underground shift worked at Mardy Colliery.[10]
• date unknown - Following a referendum, the Vaynor Community Council in Merthyr Tydfil is abolished, the first time such an action has taken place.

Arts and literature

• Commercial sponsorship of the National Eisteddfod of Wales exceeds £1 million for the first time ever.
• Griffith R. Williams of Llithfaen, Gwynedd, publishes his autobiography, Cofio canrif, making him the world's oldest author at 102.
• Geraint Talfan Davies becomes Controller of BBC Wales.[11]

Awards

• National Eisteddfod of Wales (held in Rhymney Valley)[12]
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Chair - Myrddin ap Dafydd, "Gwythiennau"[13]
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Crown - Iwan Llwyd, "Gwreichion"[14]
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Prose Medal - withheld[15]
• Gwobr Goffa Daniel Owen - Geraint V. Jones, Yn y Gwaed[16]

New books

• John Barnie - The King of Ashes
• Carol-Ann Courtney - Morphine and Dolly Mixtures[17]
• Rees Davies - Conquest and Domination[18]
• Christine Evans - Cometary Phases
• David Jones - Rebecca's Children
• David H. Williams (Welsh Historian) - Atlas of Cistercian Lands in Wales
• Raymond Williams - People of the Black Mountains, vol. 2: The Eggs of the Eagle

Welsh language

• Sioned Davies - Pedair Keinc y Mabinogi
• Hywel Teifi Edwards - Codi'r Hen Wlad yn ei Hôl[19]
• Alun Jones - Plentyn y Bwtias[20]
• Dic Jones - Os Hoffech Wybod
• R. Gerallt Jones - Cerddi 1955-1989
• Gwyneth Lewis - Sonedau Redsa A Cherddi Eraill
• Selyf Roberts - Gorwel Agos

Music

• Bob Delyn a'r Ebillion - Sgwarnogod Bach Bob
• Datblygu - Pyst
• Dave Edmunds - Closer to the Flame
• Hanner Pei - Locsyn
• Siân James - Cysgodion Karma
• Jeffrey Lewis - Westminster Mass
• Manic Street Preachers - "New Art Riot"
• World Party - Goodbye Jumbo

Film

• Catherine Zeta-Jones plays her first major film role in 1001 Nights[21]

Welsh-language films

• Chwedl Nadolig
• Nel
• O.M.

Broadcasting

Welsh-language television

• The Broadcasting Act 1990 redefines the responsibilities of S4C.
• Programmes:
  • Tydi Bywyd yn Boen

English-language television

• Hughezovka (documentary about John Hughes, founder of Donetsk)

Sport

• BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year – Ian Woosnam[22]
• Football – Hereford United win the Welsh Cup, but Wrexham, as the top Welsh club, take their place in European competition.
• Horse racing – Norton's Coin, trained by Sirrel Griffiths at Nantgaredig, wins the Cheltenham Gold Cup at record odds of 100-1.

Births

• 10 March - Luke Rowe, cyclist[23]
• 14 March – Joe Allen, footballer
• 1 April – Joe Partington, footballer
• 17 April – Jonathan Brown, footballer
• 19 August – Laura Deas, skeleton racer[24]
• 17 September – Jazmin Carlin, swimmer[25]
• 16 October - Natalie Powell, judoka[26]
• 23 October - Sian Williams, rugby player
• 14 November – Casey Thomas, footballer
• 22 November - Steffan Jones, rugby player
• 26 December – Aaron Ramsey, footballer[27]

Deaths

• 4 January – Alwyn Sheppard Fidler, architect, 80[28]
• 20 January – Trevor Every, cricketer, 80
• 2 February – Joe Erskine, boxer, 56
• 12 March – Alf Sherwood, footballer, 66
• 13 March – Llewellyn Heycock, Baron Heycock, politician, 84[29]
• 25 March – David Evans, cricketer and umpire, 56[30]
• 2 April – Peter Jones, radio commentator, 60
• 4 May – John Ormond, poet and film-maker, 67[31]
• 9 June – Angus McBean, photographer, 86
• 10 June – John Evans, world's oldest man at the time, 112[32]
• 17 June – Menna Gallie, writer[33]
• 24 June – Sean Hughes, politician of Welsh parentage, 44 (cancer)[34]
• 7 July – Idwal Davies, rugby player, 74
• 6 September – Jack Howells, film-maker, 77[35]
• 29 October – Emrys Roberts, politician, 80[36]
• 1 November – Jack Petersen, former British heavyweight boxing champion, 79[37]
• 8 November – Ned Jenkins, Wales international rugby player, 86
• 13 November – Richard Lewis, operatic tenor, 76[38]
• 23 November – Roald Dahl, Cardiff-born children's writer, 74[39]
• 27 November – Cliff Jones, Wales international rugby captain, 76[40]
• 5 December – Eric Whitman, cricketer, 81
• 23 December – Gwilym Williams, former Archbishop of Wales, 77[41]
• 24 December
  • Don Dearson, footballer, 76
  • David Gwyn Williams, poet, novelist, translator and academic, 86[42]
• date unknown – Cliff Birch, footballer

See also

• 1990 in Northern Ireland

References

1. "Lord Walker: Durable left-of-centre Conservative politician who served in government under Heath and Thatcher". The Independent. 23 June 2010. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
2. "Lord Hunt of Wirral". UK Parliament. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
3. "The Right Rev George Noakes: Archbishop of Wales, 1987-1991". Times, The (London). 22 July 2008. Archived from the original on May 23, 2010. Retrieved 27 July 2008.
4. "Former Archdruid of Wales Emrys Roberts dies at 82". BBC News. 30 March 2012. Retrieved 1 April 2012.
5. Meic Stephens (2008). Necrologies: A Book of Welsh Obituaries. Seren. p. 221. ISBN 978-1-85411-476-1.
6. Nicola Arber (2001). Geography Matters. Heinemann. p. 30. ISBN 978-0-435-35517-3.
7. Donald McFarlan (1991). The Guinness Book of Records 1992. Guinness World Records Limited. p. 67. ISBN 978-0-85112-378-3.
8. Simons, Paul (2008). Since Records Began. London: Collins. p. 245. ISBN 978-0-00-728463-4.
9. "The Last Tap". Wrexham County Borough Council. Retrieved 2018-05-02.
10. David Gould (November 1991). Chronicle of the Year 1990. J Bradbury & Associates. p. 104. ISBN 978-1-872031-10-1.
11. Controller of BBC Wales to retire, September 1999
12. Fodor's (25 November 1989). Great Britain, 1990. Fodor's Travel Publications. p. 357. ISBN 978-0-679-01770-7.
13. "Winners of the Chair". National Eisteddfod of Wales. 17 November 2019.
14. "Winners of the Crown". National Eisteddfod of Wales. 17 November 2019.
15. "Winners of the Prose Medal". National Eisteddfod of Wales. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
16. "Geraint V. Jones". Gomer. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
17. Meic Stephens (1998). Cydymaith i lenyddiaeth Cymru (in Welsh). University of Wales Press. p. 322. ISBN 978-0-7083-1383-1.
18. University Lecturer in History David Abulafia (1995). The New Cambridge Medieval History: Volume 5, C.1198-c.1300. Cambridge University Press. p. 979. ISBN 978-0-521-36289-4.
19. Daniel G. Williams (15 April 2015). Wales Unchained: Literature, Politics and Identity in the American Century. University of Wales Press. p. 293. ISBN 978-1-78316-214-7.
20. Alfred Owen Hughes Jarman; Gwilym Rees Hughes; Dafydd Johnston (1998). A Guide to Welsh Literature: c. 1900-1996. University of Wales Press. p. 194. ISBN 978-0-7083-1424-1.
21. Collar, Camilla. "Catherine Zeta-Jones". Allmovie. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved April 25, 2013.
22. "BBC Wales Sport Personality winners". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
23. "Luke Rowe". Pro Cycling Stats. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
24. "Laura Deas won Winter Olympic Bronze in PyeongChang in February 2018". BBSA. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
25. "Jazz Carlin". IOC. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
26. "Natalie Powell". Glasgow 2014access-date=21 December 2019.
27. "Aaron Ramsey". IOC. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
28. Journal. RIBA Magazines. 1990. p. 91.
29. D. Ben Rees (2010). "Heycock, Llewellyn (1905-1990), prominent leader in local government in Glamorganshire". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
30. "Obituaries". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (1991 ed.). Wisden. p. 1260.
31. M. Wynn Thomas (1997). John Ormond. University of Wales Press. p. 62. ISBN 978-0-7083-1406-7.
32. "John Evans, 112; Guinness Book Listed Him as World's Oldest Man". Los Angeles Times. June 11, 1990. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
33. John P. Jenkins. "Gallie, Menna Patricia (1919-1990), writer". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
34. Sean Hughes obituary, The Times, 26 June 1990.
35. "Jack Howells". BFI. Archived from the original on February 10, 2019. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
36. John Graham Jones (2008). "Roberts, Emrys Owen (1910-1990), Liberal politician and public servant". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
37. Mel Williams. "Peterson, John Charles (Jack Petersen) (1911-1990), boxer". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
38. "Richard Lewis". Bach Cantatas. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
39. Colin Matthew; Henry Colin Gray Matthew (1999). Brief Lives: Twentieth-century Pen Portraits from the Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. p. 171. ISBN 978-0-19-280089-3.
40. "Cliff Jones". Welsh Sports Hall of Fame. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
41. NA NA (25 December 2015). The Macmillan Guide to the United Kingdom 1978-79. Springer. p. 875. ISBN 978-1-349-81511-1.
42. Meic Stephens (2007). Poetry 1900-2000. Parthian. p. 41. ISBN 978-1-902638-88-1.