1924 in Wales
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Other events of 1924 |
This article is about the particular significance of the year 1924 to Wales and its people.
Incumbents
- Prince of Wales - The Prince Edward
- Princess of Wales – vacant
- Archbishop of Wales – Alfred Edwards, Bishop of St Asaph
- Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales – Elfed
Events
- January - Ramsay MacDonald, MP for Aberavon, becomes the first Labour Prime Minister of the UK.
- 26 April - Harry Grindell Matthews fails to convince the War Office of the efficacy of his new invention, the "death ray".
- 23 October - Formal opening of new Guildhall, Swansea, designed by Percy Thomas in stripped classical style and incorporating the Brangwyn Hall.
- 29 October - In the United Kingdom general election, 1924:
- The Welsh electorate is 1,289,924
- Of 36 Welsh MPs, eight are elected unopposed.
- MacDonald loses his position as Prime Minister
- Only one female candidate stands for election in Wales.
- Newly elected MPs include Walter D'Arcy Hall (Brecon and Radnor), Henry Arthur Evans (Cardiff South), Alfred Mond (Carmarthen) and Walter Runciman (Swansea West).
- Ernest Evans defeats George Maitland Lloyd Davies to win the University of Wales seat for the Liberals.
- Vernon Hartshorn becomes Postmaster-General.
- Jimmy Thomas becomes Colonial Secretary.
- David Ifon Jones becomes the only Welshman ever to be given a state funeral in the Soviet Union.
- Ronald Lockley estimates that there are 25 to 30 pairs of "Welsh parrots" (puffins) on Cardigan Island.
- Freddie Welsh meets and spars with F. Scott Fitzgerald; the encounter would eventually give rise to a theory that Fitzgerald used Welsh as a model for The Great Gatsby.[1]
Arts and literature
- August - Artist and designer Eric Gill moves with some of his artistic community from Ditchling in England to the disused Llanthony Abbey at Capel-y-ffin.
- 4 September - Goscombe John's Carmarthen County War Memorial is unveiled in Carmarthen.
- Cinematographer Claude Friese-Greene visits Cardiff, Chepstow and Raglan in the course of his drive from John O'Groats to Land's End.
- A rare handled beaker is found during archaeological excavations at a Bronze Age burial cairn in the Black Mountains.
Awards
- National Eisteddfod of Wales (held in Pontypool)
- National Eisteddfod of Wales: Chair - Albert Evans Jones
- National Eisteddfod of Wales: Crown - Edward Prosser Rhys
New books
- Edward Morgan Humphreys - Yr Etifedd Coll
- Saunders Lewis - A School of Welsh Augustans
- Arthur Machen - The London Adventure
- R. Williams Parry - Yr Haf a cherddi eraill
- Silyn Roberts - Gwyntoedd Croesion
Music
Film
Broadcasting
- May - The BBC broadcasts the first in a series of 18 Welsh-language lessons.
- 31 July - Broadcast of extracts from Y Pwyllgor, a play by D. T. Davies.
- 12 December - The first transmission is made from the 5SX radio relay station in Swansea. The studio is opened by the Mayor of Swansea.
Sport
- Boxing - Johnny Jones wins the Welsh flyweight boxing championship by beating Gus Legge in Treorchy.
- Football - 49-year-old Billy Meredith becomes the oldest man ever to play in an FA Cup semi-final.
Births
- 11 January - Jack Parry, footballer (d. 2010)[2]
- 5 February - Leo Callaghan, soccer referee (d. 1987)
- 9 February – George Guest, organist and choirmaster of St John's College, Cambridge (d. 2002)
- 29 February – Frank Vining, potter (d. 1989)
- 4 March - David Oswald Thomas, philosopher (d. 2005)
- 15 March – Tom Ellis, politician (d. 2010)
- 4 April – Emrys Evans, banker (d. 2004)
- 26 May - John Stone, actor (d. 2007)
- 2 June – Peter Halliday, actor (d. 2012)
- 7 June – Donald Watts Davies, computer scientist (d. 2000)
- 7 July – Albert Stitfall, footballer (d. 1998)
- 17 September – Islwyn Ffowc Elis, author (d. 2004)
- 25 October – Rex Willis, Wales rugby union international and British Lion (d. 2000)
- 22 November - Donald Gullick, rugby player (d. 2000)
- 24 November - Derek Williams, rugby player
- 4 December - Shirley Paget, Marchioness of Anglesey, writer
- 12 December - Dennis Powell, boxer (d. 1993)
- 14 December – Margaret John, actress (d. 2011)
Deaths
- 6 January - Henry Hill, cricketer, 78
- 19 January - Edwin Cross, footballer, 75
- 20 January (in Hindhead) – Aneurin Williams, politician, 64
- 19 March – John Richard Williams (J. R. Tryfanwy), poet, 56
- 2 June – (in Philadelphia) William Henry Griffith Thomas, influential clergyman, 63
- 14 June – George Frederick Harris, portrait and landscape painter, 67
- 19 July – Jack Evans, Wales national rugby player, 53
- 6 August – John Roberts (Pencerdd Gwynedd), organist and composer
- 20 September – Caradoc Rees, politician, ?66
- 12 December – Charlie Arthur, Wales international rugby player