1859 in Wales

Centuries:	17th; 18th; 19th; 20th; 21st;
Decades:	1830s; 1840s; 1850s; 1860s; 1870s;
See also:	List of years in Wales; 1859 in The United Kingdom Ireland Scotland

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

Incumbent[]

Monarch - Victoria

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.^[1]
- 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.^[2]
Merger of Yr Amserau and Baner Cymru.
Religious revival led by Humphrey Jones.
The Cymanfa Ganu movement is launched in Aberdare.^[3]
Sir Charles Morgan, 3rd Baronet, is created Baron Tredegar.^[4]

Arts and literature[]

Awards[]

(Llew Llwyfo) wins the chair at the Merthyr Tydfil eisteddfod.

New books[]

Hugh Hughes (Tegai) - Y Drydedd Oruchwyliaeth^[5]
Nathaniel Jones - Fy Awenydd
- Adgofion am John Elias^[6]
Thomas Stephens & - Orgraff yr Iaith Gymraeg
William Thomas (Gwilym Marles) - Prydyddiaeth

Music[]

John Roberts (Ieuan Gwyllt) - Llyfr Tonau Cynulleidfaol^[7]

Births[]

11 January - Sir Joseph Alfred Bradney, historian (died 1933)^[8]
29 January - Sir George Lockwood Morris, industrialist and Welsh international rugby player (died 1947)^[9]
7 February - Frank Hancock, Wales international rugby union international (died 1943)
16 February - T. E. Ellis, politician (died 1899)^[10]
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)
– 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^[11]
19 April - Christopher Bethell, Bishop of Bangor, 85?^[12]
20 May - Thomas Penson the younger, county surveyor of Denbighshire, 69^[13]
21 June - John Bowen, Bishop of Sierra Leone, 43 (yellow fever)^[14]
8 July - , poet, 78
10 September - Sir John Hay Williams, landowner, 65^[15]
24 September – Joseph Murray Ince, painter, 53
October - , harpist

References[]

^ Carradice, Phil. "The great storm of 1859". BBC Wales. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
^ "Bute East Dock, Cardiff". Coflein. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
^ 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.
^ 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.
^ Lee, Sidney, ed. (1891). "Hughes, Hugh (1805-1864)" . Dictionary of National Biography. 28. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
^ 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.
^ Geraint H. Jenkins (2007). A Concise History of Wales. Cambridge University Press. p. 209. ISBN 978-0-521-82367-8.
^ Arthur Charles Fox-Davies (1910). Armorial Families: A Directory of Gentlemen of Coat-armour. T.C. & E.C. Jack. p. 178.
^ 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.
^ 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.
^ "Births, Marriages, and Deaths". The Cardiff and Merthyr Guardian. (Glamorgan, Monmouthshire and Breconshire). 22 January 1859. p. 5 – via Welsh Newspapers Online.
^ Joseph Haydn (1866). Haydn's Dictionary of Dates Relating to All Ages and Nations: For Universal Reference. E. Moxon and Company. pp. 76.
^ Colvin H. A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600–1840. Yale University Press 3rd ed 1995, pages 748-49
^ Bowen, John (1862). Memorials of John Bowen, late Bishop of Sierra Leone;. London: James Nisbet. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
^ Joseph Jackson Howard; Frederick Arthur Crisp (1905). Visitation of England and Wales. Privately printed. p. 12.

[1] Carradice, Phil. "The great storm of 1859". BBC Wales. Retrieved 10 April 2019.

[2] "Bute East Dock, Cardiff". Coflein. Retrieved 10 April 2019.

[3] 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.

[4] 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.

[5] Lee, Sidney, ed. (1891). "Hughes, Hugh (1805-1864)" . Dictionary of National Biography. 28. London: Smith, Elder & Co.

[6] 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.

[7] Geraint H. Jenkins (2007). A Concise History of Wales. Cambridge University Press. p. 209. ISBN 978-0-521-82367-8.

[8] Arthur Charles Fox-Davies (1910). Armorial Families: A Directory of Gentlemen of Coat-armour. T.C. & E.C. Jack. p. 178.

[9] 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.

[10] 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.

[11] "Births, Marriages, and Deaths". The Cardiff and Merthyr Guardian. (Glamorgan, Monmouthshire and Breconshire). 22 January 1859. p. 5 – via Welsh Newspapers Online.

[12] Joseph Haydn (1866). Haydn's Dictionary of Dates Relating to All Ages and Nations: For Universal Reference. E. Moxon and Company. pp. 76.

[13] Colvin H. A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600–1840. Yale University Press 3rd ed 1995, pages 748-49

[14] Bowen, John (1862). Memorials of John Bowen, late Bishop of Sierra Leone;. London: James Nisbet. Retrieved 1 April 2017.

[15] Joseph Jackson Howard; Frederick Arthur Crisp (1905). Visitation of England and Wales. Privately printed. p. 12.

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