1957 in Wales

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1957 to Wales and its people.

Incumbents

• Minister of Welsh Affairs – Henry Brooke
• Archbishop of Wales
• John Morgan, Bishop of Llandaff (died 26 June)
• Edwin Morris, Bishop of Monmouth (elected)
• Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales
• Dyfnallt (outgoing)
• William Morris (incoming)

Events

• 18 January – Nigel Birch is appointed Economic Secretary to the Treasury.
• 25 February – Goronwy Rees, Principal of the University of Wales College Aberystwyth, resigns following allegations that he has spied for the Soviet Union.
• 28 February – Carmarthen by-election is held following the death of Sir Rhys Hopkin Morris the previous year. The Liberal Party lose the seat to Labour's Lady Megan Lloyd George, herself a former Liberal MP.
• 1 July – Royal physician Horace Evans is created 1st Baron Evans of Merthyr Tydfil.
• 6 July – The Royal Welsh Show is held at Blaendolau; the showground is flooded to a depth of 1 metre.
• 16 July – Five people drown in a boating accident at Barmouth.
• 31 July – The Tryweryn Bill, permitting Liverpool City Council to build a reservoir which will drown the village of Capel Celyn, becomes law.
• 8 September – The town hall at Aberystwyth is seriously damaged by fire.
• 21 November – Morgan Phillips and Aneurin Bevan, along with Richard Crossman, successfully sue The Spectator for libel.
• 12 December – Wales gets its own minister of state in the Westminster government for the first time. Prime Minister Harold Macmillan rejects requests for a Secretary of State.
• date unknown – Brecon Beacons becomes the third of Wales's national parks.

Arts and literature

• 5 October – Paul Robeson (blacklisted at this time from travelling outside the United States) addresses the Miners' Eisteddfod at the Grand Pavilion, Porthcawl via a transatlantic telephone link to the miners' leader Will Paynter.

Awards

• National Eisteddfod of Wales (held in Llangefni)
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Chair – Gwilym Tilsley, "Cwm Carnedd"
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Crown – Dyfnallt Morgan, "Drama Fydryddol Rhwng Dau"
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Prose Medal – Tom Parri Jones, Teisennau Berffro

New books

Welsh language

• Käte Bosse-Griffiths – Mae'r Galon wrth y Llyw
• Islwyn Ffowc Elis – Wythnos Yng Nghymru Fydd
• Bobi Jones – Y Gân Gyntaf
• W. Leslie Richards – Telyn Teilo
• Gwilym Tilsley – Y glöwr a cherddi eraill

English language

• John Charles – King of Soccer
• Rhys Davies – The Perishable Quality
• Trevor Ford – I Lead the Attack
• Dick Francis – The Sport of Queens
• T. Harri Jones – The Enemy in the Heart

New drama

• Albert Evans-Jones – Absalom Fy Mab

Music

• Shirley Bassey – Banana Boat Song (her first chart single)
• Alun Hoddinott – Harp Concerto (written for Osian Ellis)
• Daniel Jones – String Quartet 1957

Film

• Donald Houston stars in The Girl in the Picture.

Broadcasting

• Alun Oldfield-Davies becomes senior regional BBC controller, after several years of successful campaigning for Welsh-language television.

Welsh-language television

• February – Cefndir (first regular Welsh-language programme)
• September – Dewch i Mewn (magazine programme)

English-language television

• Adaptation of Dylan Thomas's Under Milk Wood, starring Donald Houston and William Squire.

Sport

• Football
• Swansea-born John Charles transfers from Leeds United to Juventus of Turin for a transfer fee of £65,000 (almost double the previous British record)
• Pelé scores a hattrick against Wales
• BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year – Dai Rees
• Inaugural Glamorgan County Silver Ball Trophy competition held; Taibach RFC are champions.

Births

• 10 March – Terry Holmes, rugby player
• 19 March (in Birmingham) – Jane Davidson AM, politician
• 20 April – Geraint Wyn Davies, actor
• 26 April – Edwina Hart AM, politician
• 8 May – Eddie Butler, rugby union player and commentator (died 2022)
• 17 May – Anne Main, educator and politician
• 12 June – Javed Miandad, Glamorgan cricketer
• 1 July – Wayne David MP, politician
• 20 July – Chris Bromham, stuntman
• 11 August – Leighton Andrews AM, politician
• 11 September – Julie Williams, neuropsychological geneticist and Chief Scientific Adviser for Wales
• 11 October
• (in Holyhead) Dawn French, actress and comedian
• Jon Langford, musician
• 19 October – Karl Wallinger, folk rock songwriter and multi-instrumentalist (died 2024)
• 10 November – Nigel Evans MP, politician
• 21 December – Roger Blake, actor
• Charlotte Voake, children's illustrator

Deaths

• 6 March – Gwladys Evan Morris, actress and writer, 77
• 21 March – Russell Thomas, doctor, lawyer and politician, 60
• 30 July – William Richard Arnold, rugby player, 76
• 26 June – John Morgan, Archbishop of Wales and Bishop of Llandaff, 71
• 1 August – Llewellyn Lloyd, Wales international rugby union player, 80
• 15 August – Alice Williams, writer, painter and voluntary worker, 94
• 20 August – Edward Evans, 1st Baron Mountevans, explorer and admiral, 75
• 12 September – Tom Pearson, Wales national rugby player, 85
• 26 September – Arthur Powell Davies, Unitarian minister and writer, 55
• 10 October – Lloyd Davies, footballer, 80
• 12 November – Wilfred Hodder, Wales international rugby player, 61
• 7 December
• Maurice Jones, priest and academic, 94
• Alfred Ernest Watkins, footballer, 79
• 9 December – Llewellyn Gwynne, first bishop of Egypt and Sudan, 94

See also

• 1957 in Northern Ireland

References