1931 in Wales

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1931 to Wales and its people.

← 1930 1929 1928 1927 1926 1931 in Wales → 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936
Centuries:	18th 19th 20th 21st
Decades:	1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s
See also:	List of years in Wales 1931 in The United Kingdom Ireland Scotland

Incumbents

• Prince of Wales - Edward
• Princess of Wales – vacant
• Archbishop of Wales – Alfred George Edwards, Bishop of St Asaph
• Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales – Pedrog

Events

• 3 March - Bertrand Russell succeeds to his brother's earldom.[1]
• 14 April - A meteorite falls to earth on farmland in Pontllynfi, near Caernarfon.[2]
• June - Border Breweries (Wrexham) is formed by a merger.[3]
• date unknown
  • The Welsh School of Medicine is founded at Cardiff, later becoming the University of Wales College of Medicine.[4]
  • Nancy Astor addresses a meeting in Cardiff on the subject of recruiting women into the police.

Arts and literature

• Edward Tegla Davies becomes editor of Yr Efrydydd.[5]

Awards

• National Eisteddfod of Wales (held in Bangor)
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Chair - David James Jones[6]
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Crown - Albert Evans Jones

English language

• Eliot Crawshay-Williams - Night in the Hotel[7]
• John Morris-Jones - Welsh Syntax: An Unfinished Draft[8]
• Bertrand Russell - The Scientific Outlook[9]
• Lily Tobias – My Mother's House[10]

Welsh language

• John Jenkins (Gwili) - Hanfod Duw a Pherson Crist[11]
• Moelona - Beryl[12]
• Jennie Thomas – Llyfr Mawr y Plant (first appearance of Wil Cwac Cwac)[13]

Music

• Grace Williams – Sextet for oboe, trumpet, violin, viola, cello and piano

Film

• Ray Milland appears in The Bachelor Father, Strangers May Kiss, Just a Gigolo, Son of India, Bought, Ambassador Bill, and Blonde Crazy.
• Mary Glynne appears in Inquest[14]

Broadcasting

• The BBC's Daventry radio transmitter increases its Welsh language output from a monthly to a fortnightly "Welsh interest" programme and includes a regular religious service broadcast entirely in Welsh.

Sport

• Rugby union
• Wales, under the captaincy of Jack Bassett, win the Five Nations Championship.
  • 7 February Wales beat Scotland 13–8 at the Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff.

Births

• 4 January - Harry Griffiths, footballer (died 1978)
• 10 January - Rosalind Howells, Baroness Howells of St Davids, politician[15]
• 2 February - Glynn Edwards, actor
• 4 March - Gwilym Prichard, landscape painter (d. 2015)[16]
• 13 March – Ted Grace, Swansea-born politician in Australia (died 2020)to 1984.[17]
• 20 March - Orig Williams, wrestler and TV presenter
• 22 March - Leslie Thomas, novelist (died 2014)[18]
• 7 April - Eifion Evans, church historian (died 2017)[19]
• 11 April - Lewis Jones, rugby player
• 30 April - Merfyn Jones, footballer (died 2016)
• 11 May - Gerry Humphreys, sound engineer (died 2006)
• 29 May – Christopher Evans, computer scientist (died 1979)[20]
• 23 June - Brian Sparks, Wales international rugby union player
• 29 June - Howard Morgan, cricketer
• 2 July - Frank Williams, actor
• 13 July - Philip Jones, businessman and civil servant (died 2000)
• 13 August
  • Roy Evans, trade union leader (died 2015)[21]
  • Gareth Lewis, canon of Newport (died 1997)[22]
• 15 August - Gwyn Evans, bowls player
• 1 September - Mair Wynn Hughes, children's author
• 18 September - Roger Howells, footballer (died 1975)
• 25 September - Dafydd Rowlands, Eisteddfod-winning author (died 2001)
• 5 November - John Morris, Baron Morris of Aberavon, politician[23]
• 17 November - Dudley Price, footballer
• 27 November - Gareth Griffiths, Wales and British Lions rugby union player
• 29 November - Glyn Hughes, footballer (died 1995)
• 27 December - John Charles, footballer (died 2004)[24]
• 30 December - John T. Houghton, climate scientist (died 2020)
• date unknown - Brynley F. Roberts, scholar, librarian, National Library of Wales

Deaths

• 24 January - George Hay Morgan, politician, 64
• 28 January - Robert Henderson, cricketer, 65
• 30 January - Sir Garrod Thomas, physician and politician, 77[25]
• 4 February - David Thomas Jones, administrator, 64
• 22 February - Sir Hugh Vincent, solicitor and Wales international rugby player, 68[26]
• 3 March - Frank Russell, 2nd Earl Russell, 65
• 13 March
  • Vernon Hartshorn MP, miners' leader and politician[27]
  • Edward Thomas John, politician
• 14 April - John Bryn Roberts, lawyer and politician, 88
• 19 April - Evan Richards, Wales international rugby player, 69
• 12 May - Beddoe Rees, industrialist and politician[28]
• 22 June - Sir Henry Reichel, academic, 74[25]
• 28 July - John Neale Dalton, chaplain and tutor to the British royal family, settled in South Wales, 91[29]
• 7 October - William John Griffith, author
• 26 October - Edward Perkins Alexander, Wales rugby international, 68
• 29 October - Edward Maes Llaned Owen, engineer, surveyor and merchant, a pioneer of Welsh colonisation in Patagonia, 85
• 2 November - Arthur Cook, miners' leader, 47
• 24 November - Jack Jones, footballer, 62[30]
• 27 December - Alfred Perceval Graves, Irish author settled in Wales, 85[31]

See also

• 1931 in Northern Ireland

References

1. Ray Monk (2001). Bertrand Russell: The Ghost of Madness, 1921-1970. Free Press. ISBN 978-0-7432-1215-1.
2. British Astronomical Association (1931). Journal.
3. Lesley Richmond; Alison Turton (1990). The Brewing Industry: A Guide to Historical Records. Manchester University Press. p. 77. ISBN 978-0-7190-3032-1.
4. Alun Roberts (2008). The Welsh National School of Medicine, 1893-1931: The Cardiff Years. University of Wales Press. ISBN 978-0-7083-2174-4.
5. Pennar Davies (1983). E. Tegla Davies. University of Wales Press. ISBN 978-0-7083-0842-4.
6. Jonathan Coe (7 March 2013). Like a Fiery Elephant: The Story of B. S. Johnson. Pan Macmillan. pp. 321–. ISBN 978-1-4472-4377-9.
7. Catalog of Copyright Entries. New Series: 1931. Copyright Office, Library of Congress. 1932. p. 932.
8. Parry, Sir Thomas (1959). "MORRIS-JONES (formerly JONES), Sir JOHN (MORRIS) (1864-1929), scholar, poet, and critic". Dictionary of Welsh Biography.
9. Kenneth Blackwell; Harry Ruja; Sheila Turcon (2 September 2003). A Bibliography of Bertrand Russell: I. Separate Publications II. Serial Publications III. Indexes. Routledge. p. 141. ISBN 978-1-134-81890-7.
10. Lily Tobias (2004). Eunice Fleet. Honno. p. xxi. ISBN 978-1-870206-65-5.
11. M Wynn Thomas (1 November 2010). In The Shadow of the Pulpit: Literature and Nonconformist Wales. University of Wales Press. p. 352. ISBN 978-0-7083-2342-7.
12. Bibliotheca Celtica. The Library. 1939. p. 274.
13. Meic Stephens (1998). Cydymaith i lenyddiaeth Cymru. University of Wales Press. p. 717. ISBN 978-0-7083-1383-1.
14. "Inquest (1931)". British Film Institute. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
15. Charles Roger Dod; Robert Phipps Dod (2002). Dod's Parliamentary Companion. Dod's Parliamentary Companion, Limited. p. 584.
16. Harry Heuser (12 June 2015). "Gwilym Prichard obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
17. "Biography for GRACE, Edward Laurence". Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
18. Dennis Barker (7 May 2014). "Leslie Thomas obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
19. Philip Swann. "Rev. Dr Eifion Evans (1931-2017)". Evangelical Times. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
20. Parapsychology Review. Parapsychology Foundation. 1980. p. 16.
21. Ian Evans, "Roy Evans obituary", The Guardian, 16 December 2015
22. "The Very Rev. Gareth Lewis", The Times 19 June 1997.
23. Charles Roger Dod; Robert Phipps Dod (2001). Dod's Parliamentary Companion. Dod's Parliamentary Companion, Limited. p. 663.
24. Brian Glanville (23 February 2004). "John Charles". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
25. National Library of Wales (1929). Annual Report. p. 13.
26. Justice of the Peace and Local Government Review. Justice of the Peace, Ltd. 1931. p. 141.
27. National Library of Wales (1929). Annual Report - National Library of Wales. p. 13.
28. Who was who. A. & C. Black. 1920. p. 1130.
29. The Antiquaries Journal. H. Milford, Oxford University Press. 1932. p. 350.
30. Clarebrough, Denis; Kirkham, Andrew (2008). Sheffield United Who's Who. Hallamshire Press. p. 219. ISBN 978-1-874718-69-7.
31. The New International Year Book. Dodd, Mead. 1932. p. 366.