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On 22nd October 1942 the Welsh Courts Act 1942 was enacted.

Since the Acts of Union in 1536, only English had been used in the law courts, ignoring the fact that most people in Wales only spoke Welsh.  The 1942 act gave Welsh people the right to use Welsh in courts providing that the Welsh speaker was under a disadvantage in having to speak English.

This was by no means an ideal situation, as such a disadvantage had to be proved and there was a problem in finding a judge or magistrate who understood the Welsh language.  However, it can be seen as a slackening of legislation which ultimately led to the Welsh Language Act 1967, which  gave rise to the concept of 'equal validity' between the Welsh and English languages and was a much more robust and useful piece of legislation.

Today is the feast day of Saint Mellon

Saint Mellon (Mellionius) was born c.229 in Cardiola (Cardiff), the son of local Welsh nobility.

Whilst in Rome accompanying taxes due from the province, he heard Pope Stephen I preaching and was converted to Christianity, being baptized by Stephen shortly afterwards.

He sold his property and gave the profits to the poor, studied Christianity and was ordained.  He then received a vision of an angel telling him to evangelize the area of Rouen in modern France, where he became its first bishop and performed many miracles including an exorcism where he cast out devils from monkeys.  He died in 311 and is buried in St Gervais Church, Rouen.

On 22nd - 23rd October 1916,  at Macukovo (now called Evzonoi) in Greece, during the First World War, Hubert William Lewis, from Milford Haven, a private in the 11th Battalion, the Welch Regiment, single-handedly attacked and captured three enemy soldiers and despite being wounded himself, went under heavy shell and rifle fire, to bring a wounded colleague back to safety. 

For this action, he was awarded the Victoria Cross and later the Medaille Militaire by France.  

On 22nd October 1644 Powis Castle near Welshpool was captured by Parliamentary troops during The English Civil War.

A timeline of the history of Powis Castle;

Powis Castle (Castell Powis) near "Pool' (Welshpool) was the stronghold of the ancient kingdom of  Powys,  whose rivalry with Gwynedd combined with their proximity to England, resulted in their leaders switching allegiance when necessary to ensure survival 

1196  Gwenwynwyn ap Owain Cyfeilog Prince of Powys was driven out of his castle by a combined force of English and Welsh but recovered it during the following year.

1218  Llywelyn ap Iorwerth (Llywelyn the Great) of Gwynedd conquered Powys, forcing Gwenwynwyn into English exile, where he died.

1240  Gwenwynwyn's son Gruffydd returned on Llywelyn's death to retake Powys.

1257  Gruffydd was forced to flee when Llywelyn ap Gruffydd retook the area for Gwynedd.

1264  Gruffydd gave his allegiance back to Llywelyn after the success of Llywelyn and Simon de Montfort against Henry III.

1274  Gruffydd was discovered plotting against Llywelyn and Powis Castle was reportedly razed to the ground, forcing Gruffydd to flee once more.

1277  Gruffydd returned with Edward I's victorious English army in the first Welsh campaign and subsequently regained his lands from the English crown.

1286  Gruffyd's son Owain ap Gruffydd ap Gwenwywyn renounced his title as Prince of Powys and was granted the title of Baron de la Pole.

1579  Sir Edward Herbert bought the lordship and castle from Owain's descendants.  Sir Edward’s wife was a Roman Catholic and held allegiance to the Stuart kings of England.  Powis castle, therefore, became a Royalist stronghold, during the English Civil War. 

1644 ( 22nd October)  Powis Castle was captured by Parliamentary troops, during the English Civil War.

1660  The castle was returned to the Herbert family on the restoration of Charles II and many improvements were made, including, the extraordinary terraced gardens, the grand staircase and the state ballroom.

1784  Edward Clive, the eldest son of Clive of India, married into the Herbert family and the Clive fortune paid for many repairs and improvements,  A collection of Clive mementoes from Indua is on display in the old ballroom.

1952  Powis Castle was bequeathed to the National Trust and is renowned for it's grand terraced gardens and lavish Elizabethan-furnished rooms   

On 22nd October 2009, the second phase of "The St David's Centre" in Cardiff opened, putting Cardiff within the top five shopping destinations in the United Kingdom.

The second phase consists of 3 main buildings in total; the Central Library building, the John Lewis department store, and the main shopping area, which is built on the form Oxford Arcade. It has added an extra 967,500 sq ft of retail space, 3,000 car parking spaces and 4,500 permanent jobs to the city centre at a total cost of £675m.

In 2008-9, the centre attracted 27 million people, making it one of the busiest shopping centres in the European Union, exceeding Birmingham's Bull Ring.

St David's was crowned the international shopping centre of the year in 2010 by Global Retail Leisure International.  

From 22nd - 31st October 1998, a series of storms hit Wales bringing substantial rainfall to all parts with the highest daily rainfall recorded at Treherbert, with 92.2 mm.  Elsewhere, rivers overtopped their banks, inundating their flood plains and causing extensive flooding in many Welsh towns

Since then many flood defence schemes have been undertaken,  however, the Environment Agency has warned that due to changing weather patterns, flooding will remain a real threat and is likely to increase. 

Book of the Day 10/21/13 The Welsh Language: A Pocket Guide (University of Wales - Pocket Guide) The Welsh Language Act 1993 is 21 today!! This book offers a brief history of the Welsh language from the earliest times to the present.

http://welsh-american-bookstore.com/index.php/BookLibrary/Welsh-Welsh-American-History/Welsh-History/The-Welsh-Language-A-Pocket-Guide-University-of-Wales-Pocket-Guide.html

At 9.15 am on Friday, October 21, 1966, a waste tip above the mining village of Aberfan began to slide down the mountainside, firstly destroying a farm cottage and killing all its occupants. It then approached Pantglas Junior School, where the children had only just returned to their classes after singing All Things Bright and Beautiful at their morning assembly. The slide then engulfed the school and about 20 houses in the village, killing 144 people, including 116 school children

Workers up in the mountain had seen the slide start, but could not raise the alarm because their telephone cable had been stolen and down in the village, everybody heard the noise, but could see nothing, because of thick fog.

News of the tragedy travelled fast and hundreds of people stopped what they were doing and headed to Aberfan to try and help with the rescue. It was futile, as nobody was rescued alive after 11am and it was nearly a week before all the bodies were recovered.

On Mynydd Merthyr, directly above Aberfan. several tips containing millions of cubic metres of mining debris from the Merthyr Vale Colliery had been deposited over the years, onto highly porous sandstone that contained numerous underground springs. The NCB's area management had been made aware of the concerns regarding the tipping of spoil above the primary school, but these were largely ignored. In the days leading up to the disaster, there had been substantial bursts of heavy rain, which had caused 3–6 metres of subsidence on one of the tips. This then led to more than 150,000 cubic metres of debris breaking away and flowing downhill at high speed.

On 26th October 1966, a tribunal was appointed to inquire into the causes of and circumstances relating to the Aberfan disaster, which was chaired by Welsh barrister and Privy Councillor Lord Justice Edmund Davies.

The Tribunal's report found that

* The blame for the disaster rested entirely with the National Coal Board, and their "total absence of a tipping policy"

* Repeated warnings about the dangerous condition of the tip had been ignored.

* The tips had never been surveyed and were continuously being added to in a chaotic and unplanned manner. The disregard for the unstable geological conditions and the NCB's failure to act after previous smaller slides were found to have been major factors that contributed to the catastrophe.

On 21st October 1993 the Welsh Language Act 1993 was enacted.  It put Welsh and English on an equal basis, when providing services to the public in Wales and represents a milestone in the modern history of the language.

The Laws in Wales Acts 1535 - 1542 had made English the only language of the law courts and other aspects of public administration in Wales. The Welsh Courts Act 1942 had given the right to use Welsh in courts providing that the Welsh speaker was under a disadvantage in having to speak English and The Welsh Language Act 1967 gave rise to the concept of 'equal validity' between the Welsh and English languages, which resulted in Governmental Departments issuing documents in Welsh.  Then following a campaign of vandalising unilingual English road signs by members of Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg, local councils were allowed to provide many bilingual signs.  However it was the Welsh Language Act 1993 which established that 'in the course of public business and the administration of justice that both languages are to be treated on the basis of equality.'

The Act achieved three things:

* Setting up the Welsh Language Board, with the duty of promoting the use of Welsh and ensuring compliance with the other provisions.

* Giving people the right to use Welsh in court proceedings.

* All organisations in the public sector in Wales, being obliged to treat Welsh and English on an equal basis.  

Born on this day 1930 in Abersychan

Bryn Meredith - former Wales and Lions rugby international. Meredith was a mobile hooker, who played club rugby for Newport and London Welsh and is generally considered to be one of the finest forwards of all time.  

Born on this day 1944 in Pontyates

Mandy Rice-Davies - best known for her association with Christine Keeler and her role in the Profumo affair.

As a child, Rice-Davies moved to Solihull with her family and at 16 she went to London, where she appeared as 'Miss Austin' at the Earls Court Motor Show. She then got a job as a showgirl where she met Christine Keelor who introduced her to the well-connected osteopath Stephen Ward. Then in December 1962, while Keeler was visiting Rice-Davies, one of Keeler's former boyfriends, John Edgecombe, attempted to enter and fired several times at the door with a gun. His subsequent trial brought attention to the girls' involvement with many influential people, including the then Viscount Astor and the War Minister John Profumo. It was Profumo's relationship with Keeler that discredited the Conservative government of Harold Mcmillan and caused Profumo to resign.

Later Ward was brought to trial, charged with living off the immoral earnings of Keeler and Rice-Davies and it was whilst giving her evidence that Rice-Davies made her now famous riposte, when the prosecuting counsel pointed out that Viscount Astor denied an affair or having even met her, she replied, "He would, wouldn't he?" and by 1979, this phrase had entered the third edition of the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations.

Later in life, Mandy Rice-Davies traded on the notoriety the trial brought her, she converted to Judaism and married the Israeli businessman, Rafi Shauli. The pair opened nightclubs and restaurants in Tel Aviv, called Mandy's Candies, Mandy's Singing Bamboo and Mandy's. Rice-Davies also made a series of unsuccessful pop singles in the mid-1960s.

On October 20th 1886, the city of Trelew in the province of Chubut, Patagonia in Argentina was founded by Lewis Jones. It is the largest and most populous city in the lower valley of the Chubut River, with an estimated population of 100,000 people. Trelew's foundation is linked with "Y Wladfa" (Welsh settlement in Argentina), one of the leaders of which was Lewis (Luis) Jones, who acted as a spokesman to deal with the Argentine government in the beginning of the 1860s and town was named in his honour. Trelew was the starting point for the Central Chubut Railway line that would link the lower Chubut River Valley toPuerto Madryn.  

Born on this day 1961 in St Asaph

Ian Rush - former Wales soccer international, who scored 28 goals in 73 appearances.

Rush played club football for Liverpool F.C in two spells, from 1980-1987 and 1988-1996, with whom he won  5 English Football League, First Division titles, the FA Cup 3 times and the European Cup twice.  With his 346 goals, he is the club's leading goalscorer of all time.

Born on this day 1836 in Mold, Flintshire. 

Daniel Owen - generally regarded as the foremost Welsh-language novelist of the 19th century.

When Owen was only a baby, his father and two brothers, were killed in a mining accident at the Argoed mine.  This had a catastrophic effect on his family and plunged them into poverty.  As a result, Owen received no formal education.

When he was 12, Owen became an apprentice tailor to, Angel Jones, who was also an elder with the Calvinistic Methodists and this is when he began to write poetry.

Owen then began to enter his poetry into local eisteddfodau, under the    name o f  Glaslwyn and also started to publish his work.  He wanted to become a Methodist preacher, but did not complete the course, so instead in 1867, he became a tailor in Mold and preached on Sundays.  

Born on this day 1971 in Melbourne, Australia (Her mother, Carol Jones, was a dancer from Maesteg)

Dannii Minogue - singer - songwriter, talent show judge and actress, 

Danielle Jane Minogue is the youngest sister of Kylie Minogue and after success in Australia, most notably in the role of Emma Jackson in the popular soap opera "Home and Away" Dannii relocated to London in the early 1990s and is now best known for her regular appearances as a judge on the TV talent show "The X Factor"  

In October 1927, a storm severely damaged the track of the Pwllheli and Llanbedrog Tramway.  It subsequently, never reopened and was the last horse-drawn tram service in Britain.

The tramway was originally built in 1894 for the purposes of carrying stone from the Carreg-y-defaid quarry for the construction of the new holiday resort at Pwllheli.  Soon after, the tramway started to carry passengers and was reported as being packed to capacity during the National Eisteddfod at Pwllheli in 1925. the tramway was reported to be packed to capacity.

At precisely 10.30pm, Fanny Smith and Alice Stammers locked the front door of the fruit shop at number Three, Commerce Place, and pulled down the shutters.

With business over for the day the two women went upstairs to their living quarters as they did each night and settled down to their supper they would come back down later to clear up.

Like so many of the residents of Garnant, neither Fanny nor Alice were natives.

Fanny Mansfield had been born in Bath in 1869 and at the age of 25 was whisked of her feet by a smooth-talking travelling fruit salesman from Wolverhampton by the name of William Henry Smith.

They married in the summer of 1894 and in little over a year, a son Raymond - was born.

All was not well with their new-born however and Raymond was classed as paralysed at birth quite possibly a Victorian diagnosis for cerebral palsy.

For a time at least and quite possibly because of Raymonds condition - the Smith family settled in Bristol. William continued his life as a commercial travelling salesman while Fanny remained at home with Raymond and Phillip, the familys latest addition, who arrived in the early months of 1901.

The Smith family had also gained another albeit unofficial - member by the time Phillip had been born. The couple had taken on a general maid to help relieve the pressure on Fanny while William was on the road.

Alice Stammers was Londoner, born in 1888, and by 1901 was already becoming a fixture in the Smith household. She would remain at Fannys side until the death of her employer in 1950.

By 1911, William too had tired of the life of a travelling salesman and, with Fanny, Phillip and Alice, had set up in business running a fruit shop in Sale, Cheshire. Raymond meanwhile had made a patient at a residential school for epileptic children close by at Nether Alderley, Cheshire.

Life in the north of England did not go especially well for the Smiths however and by the middle of the decade they had returned to Bristol. Raymond died in the city aged 23 in 1918.

Soon after the death of their eldest son, the Smith moved on once more, taking up the tenancy of a vacant shop in the village of Garnant, Carmarthenshire. Alice would help out in the shop as well as with the domestic chores of the household.

Once the two women had lock up the shop and gone upstairs, they settled down to eat in a room at the rear of the first floor of Number Four, Commerce Place.

The room overlooked the rear of the row and beyond towards Arcade Terrace and further still to the Amman Tin Works.

As they sat and ate their meal they heard not a sound nor saw any movement at the rear of Commerce Place.

They heard no barking dogs, no shouts, no awful screams, nor did they see a soul escaping from the rear of Star Stores next door.

To find out more about the unsolved murder of Thomas Thomas in Garnant, Carmarthenshire, visit: murderatthestar.wordpress.com

A little after 10pm, but certainly before 10.30pm, Anne Jeffreys opened the back door of Commerce House and let out Spot the family dog.

The rear of Commerce Place was quiet and Mrs Jeffreys noted nothing untoward before returning indoors while Spot went about his business.

Within minutes however, the peace was shattered.

Spot barked furiously, Mrs Jeffreys said in her statement.

As everything was so quiet outside I shouted to the dog: Whats the matter boy?

The 61-year-old was alone in the house, but was not one to be shaken easily.

It was Anne who, on July 13, 1895, had reached agreement with land-owner Lord Dynevor and finally signed the lease for the vacant plot that would one day house the shops of Commerce Place.

The lease remained in Annes name until she signed it over to her husband Morgan on August 29, 1903, and it was Anne who would remain the named defendant in the 20-year-old legal dispute with the Dynevor Estate which saw the Jeffreys family refuse to pay a penny in a rent until ordered to do so after a bitter High Court battle with Walter FitzUryan Rice, the seventh Baron Dynevor, in July 1915.

She went to the door to see what had so riled the dog, but could see nothing out of the ordinary in the darkness.

I could see nothing so I called the dog to come in, she said.

Spot then came in, so I forgot everything about it.

To find out more about the unsolved murder of Thomas Thomas in Garnant, Carmarthenshire, visit: murderatthestar.wordpress.com

I first became interested in the murder of Thomas Thomas at the Garnant branch of Star Stores after reading the excellent A Long Time Between Murders by Owen Harries in American Scholar magazine.

As a freelance journalist based in south Wales with an unhealthy interest in historic crime, the brutal killing of the timid half-deaf shopkeeper instantly caught my attention - not least because my discovery of the article occurred less than a month before the 93^rdanniversary of the incident and the village of Garnant lies within the area covered by the South Wales Guardian, a weekly newspaper for which I regularly work.

A retelling of the murder to coincide with the anniversary seemed a straightforward and obvious feature idea, so I put together a piece of 600 or 700 words on the crime; the only still-unsolved murder to have taken place within the Amman Valley.

Often in such cases, that would have been enough. However, the case of Thomas Thomas intrigued me. The more I looked, the more the murder hooked me.

The story of the murder at the Star had previously appeared in a number of places not least Dave Michaels excellent Cwmamman History website. However, its various incarnations including my original - are all based on the same two reports from the Amman Valley Chronicle the local newspaper of the time. Everything currently accepted regarding the killing comes from the Chronicles contemporary report and the coverage of the inquest into Thomas Thomas death a few weeks later.

While it is true that both editions of the Chronicle dedicated an unprecedented amount of news space to the reports of each, neither could offer a complete insight into what had taken place and the subsequent investigation.

What struck me most about these reports was the number of clear contradictions they contained particularly between comments made by individuals to the newspaper in the days immediately after the event and the testimony offered by those same people at the court hearing.

Therefore, I kept digging. Soon after publication of the original article I came to realise that the story I had written for the local weekly, while covering all the key elements of the crime and adhering to the accepted version of events, omitted as much as it included.

As my collected files began to mount I decided that the murder of Thomas Thomas deserved far more than just a single-page feature some 93 years after his death.

It also became clear that the events of that fateful night in February 1921 were not merely the story of one doomed individual, but the story of a village, a community and perhaps even the story of Wales during a period which shaped and defined the nation for generations to come.

No one ever stood trial for the murder of Thomas Thomas, but the whisperers and gossip-mongers of the village settled as they always must on a culprit. With the passing of the years the guilt of that one man has entered into valley folklore as all but fact.

My research, while still far from complete, has led me to one undeniable truth: the rumour mill was almost certainly wrong.

To find out more, visit my blog; murderatthestar.wordpress.com

The rule of Henry III (1216 - 1272) and its impact on Wales. 

On 19th October 1216 on the death of King John of England, his son Henry III acceded to the throne. As he was only nine years old, he was placed under the guardianship of William Marshal, who also served as regent of the kingdom until the end of Henry's minority in 1226. The politics of Wales at this time had been influenced by Henry's relations with Llywelyn Fawr. 

Initially, after Llywelyn had taken control of Gwynedd in 1194, his relations with John were cordial and in 1201, Llywelyn signed the first agreement to be signed by both a Welsh leader and an English king. Llywelyn strengthened his position when he married John's daughter Joan. 

However in 1210, when Llywelyn attacked lands belonging to the powerful Earl of Chester an ally of King John. John marched into the heart of Gwynedd and conflict was only avoided when Joan interceded with her father. But when King John faced a revolt by his Barons in 1214, Llywelyn allied with them and in 1215 conquered the castles of Carmarthen and Cardigan and marched an army over the border to capture the English stronghold at Shrewsbury. John and the rebel barons negotiated a potential peace treaty, the Magna Carta, but in practice, neither side complied with its conditions and the war soon settled into a stalemate. The King became ill and died on the night of 18 October, leaving the nine-year-old Henry III as his heir. 

1216 - Llywelyn allied himself with the powerful Marcher Baron Reginald de Breos, and his power extended now into south and central Wales. At a meeting at Aberdovey, he created a system of government which ended the warring among the Welsh Princes and they recognised him as their overlord. This was a very considerable achievement and offered the prospect of unity and peace for the Welsh under their own ruler. 

1218 - The revolt of the barons in England, had come to an end and Llywelyn paid homage to the English king on behalf of the other Welsh leaders. 

1228 - Llywelyn Fawr captured the Marcher Lord Will de Braose, and subsequently aquired lands in Brecknock, Radnor, Abergavenny and Buellt. 

1240 - Llywelyn Fawr died and his son Dafydd became Prince Of Gwynedd, but the political scene was changing, Llywelyn Fawr had always accepted oaths of homage from the other Welsh princes, however, King Henry III of England would only allow them to swear the lesser oath of fealty to Dafydd. Dafydd also imprisoned his brother Gruffydd who he regarded as a threat. 

1241 - King Henry III, with the support of Gruffydd's wife, Senena invaded Gwynedd. forcing Dafydd to submit and sign the terms of surrender of the "Treaty of Gwerneigron", which icluded the handing over of Mold Castle, Lower Powys, Meirionydd, Buellt Castle & Ellesmere. He also had to release Gruffydd into Henry's custody, who imprisioned him in The Tower Of London, using the threat of his release as a means of forcing Dafydd to keep the terms of the treaty. 

1244 - Gruffydd died from a fall while trying to escape from the Tower of London. This freed Dafydd's hands, and he entered into an alliance with other Welsh princes including Gruffydd's son Llywelyn, to attack English possessions in Wales and regain lost lands. Dafydd also began diplomacy with Pope Innocent IV, the result of which was a recognition by the Vatican of his right to rule over North Wales and he was for a time recognised as Prince of Wales. 

1245 - The Pope however soon needed England's support in his dispute with the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick, and withdrew his protection from Wales. Henry reacted by sending an army to invade Gwynedd, but he couldn't cross the river Conwy and in October, with their supply lines being ambushed by the Welsh, the English withdrew. 

1246 - Dafydd died suddenly in the royal home at Abergwyngregyn, he was succeeded by his nephew, Llywelyn ap Gruffydd. 

1247 - TREATY OF WOODSTOCK -  Llywelyn and his brother Owain came to terms with King Henry. Gwynedd was divided with Llywelyn and Owain gaining control of Gwynedd Uwch Conwy, the part of Gwynedd west of the River Conwy and Henry himself taking control of Gwynedd Is Conwy, east of the river. 

1255 - BATTLE OF BRYN DERWIN - Llywelyn's brothers, Owain and Dafydd formed an alliance against him, but Llywelyn defeated and captured both of them, thereby becoming sole ruler of Gwynedd Uwch Conwy. 

1256 - Llywelyn crossed the River Conwy, accompanied by his brother, Dafydd and took control of most of Gwynedd. 

1258 - The barons of England rebelled against Henry III and Llywelyn maintained close relations with their leader, Simon de Montfort. He began using the title Prince of Wales, which the English Crown refused to recognise. 

1263 - Dafydd switched his allegiance to King Henry. 

1264 - Simon de Montfort became the "uncrowned King of England" after defeating King Henry and his son Edward (the future Edward I) at the Battle of Lewes. 

1265 - TREATY OF PIPTON - established an alliance between Llywelyn and de Montfort in which, in exchange for 30,000 marks, there would be a permanent peace and Llywelyn's right to rule Wales would be acknowledged. However, de Montfort although boosted by Welsh infantry was defeated and killed at the Battle of Evesham and power restored to King Henry. Llywelyn responded by capturing Hawarden Castle and routing Roger Mortimer's army in Brycheiniog in order to gain a bargaining position with King Henry. 

1267 - TREATY OF MONTGOMERY - marked an important milestone in the history of medieval Wales, as it was the first time that a King of England(Henry III) had recognised a Welsh ruler (Llywelyn ap Gruffydd) as Prince of Wales, with the right to receive homage from the other Welsh princes and lords. 

1272 - Henry III died and Edward I becomes King of England. Relations between England and Wales were to deteriorate, culminating in the death of Llywelyn in 1282 and the annexation of Wales by Edward I.  

The reign of Henry VIII began this day 1509, on the death of his father Henry VII.

Henry VII, was born at Pembroke Castle and as a young boy he stayed in protective custody at Raglan Castle during the War of the Roses. Henry VII was fully aware of his Welsh heritage as he displayed the red dragon of Cadwaladr King of Gwynedd (655–682) on his Standard as he marched through Wales enlisting the support of Welsh soldiers for the Battle of Bosworth, where he overthrew Richard III to become King of England. After he became king, Henry rewarded many Welsh men with lands and government posts, but as became apparent, he did not pass along the same love of Wales to his son Henry VIII.

Henry was born in 1491, the second son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, his older brother Arthur died in 1502, making Henry heir to the throne and in 1503 Henry was made Prince of Wales. On 19th October 1509, Henry VII died and Henry succeeded his father to the throne as Henry VIII.

At this time, Wales was divided into;

* The Principality - The territory of the native Welsh rulers, which was broken up into the counties of Anglesey, Caernarfon, Cardigan, Carmarthen, Merioneth and Flint, these counties were subject to English criminal law, but in civil cases Welsh law continued to be applied.

* The Marcher Lordships - The Marches were a frontier society, a buffer zone between Wales and England, where land and Lordships were awarded by the crown, in an attempt to control the area. These Marcher lordships were distinct from the usual English lordships, as they had special privileges and Royal writ did not apply.

* The Royal Lordships of Glamorgan and Pembroke, which had their own courts, laws and customs.

By far the biggest impact that Henry VIII's rule had on Wales were The Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542, which were parliamentary measures drawn up by Henry VIII's secretary, Thomas Cromwell, by which Wales was annexed to England to create a single state and a single legal jurisdiction. The act divided Wales into 13 counties, which were the existing counties of the principality and included Marcher Lordships being converted into the new counties of Denbighshire, Brecknockshire, Monmouthshire, Montgomeryshire and Radnorshire. The lordships of, Caus, Clun, Ludlow, part of Montgomery and most of Ewyas were incorporated into Wigmore, Shropshire, Huntington, Clifford and Herefordshire. The act created many anomalies, including Ewias Lacy, that remained a Welsh speaking region for another 300 years, although it was now officially in England.

The consequences of the act were;

* All administration in Wales was to be carried on in the English language and that no one using the Welsh language 'shall have or enjoy any manner of office,'

* The modern borders of Wales were established.

* Wales elected members to the parliament in England, the first taking their seats in the Tudor Parliament of 1542.

* The Court of Great Sessions were established, a system peculiar to Wales. They met twice a year in each county, administering English law in the English language. However, there were only 30 Welsh judges out of 217 judges, in its 288 years of existence.

* A Sheriff and 9 offices of Justice of the Peace were appointed in every county.

* The Welsh law of cyfran, by which all sons inherited equally was abolished and the English law of primogeniture, introduced i.e inheritance by the eldest son.

It has been argued that the act's main intention was to gain control over the Marches and not political union and indeed they were popular with the Welsh gentry in particular, who recognised that they would give them equality with English citizens. However, their cultural impact on Wales was seismic and remain to this day.

Hugh Williams (1796 - 19th October 1874)  was born at Gelligoch, Machynlleth. He married and moved to St Clears and became a solicitor at Carmarthen.  He was thought by many to be the instigator and undiscovered leader of the Rebecca Riots in South-West Wales.   He also gratuitously acted as a solicitor in defence of the Llanidloes, Pontardulais and Talog rioters. 

The Rebecca Riots, which took place between 1839 and 1843 in Mid and South  Wales, were a series of protests by local farmers and agricultural workers to what they saw as unfair taxation. The rioters, mostly men, dressed as women and took direct actions against toll-gates, as they were tangible symbols of high taxes and tolls.

Hugh Williams was also active in the Chartism movement, he addressed several mass meetings and drafted their petitions to the queen.  He was also friendly with Henry Hetherington and James Watson, two of the twelve authors of the People's Charter.

Chartism was a working-class movement for political reform in Britain between 1838 and 1848 which took its name from the People's Charter of 1838.   The six main aims of the Peoples Charter were;

1.  A vote for every man twenty-one years of age, of sound mind, and not undergoing punishment for crime.

2.  The secret ballot - To protect the elector in the exercise of his vote.

3.  No property qualification for members of Parliament - thus enabling the constituencies to return the man of their choice, regardless of his personal wealth.

4.  Payment of Members of Parliament

5.  Equal Constituencies, preventing smaller constituencies swamping the votes of larger ones.

6.  Annual parliaments, to act as a check against bribery and intimidation.  

On 19th October 1987, heavy flooding affecteds many parts of Wales. Four people were killed when the Glanrhyd Bridge near Llandeilo was washed away by the swollen River Tywi and a passenger train from Swansea to Shrewsbury, fell into the river.  

Born on this day 1963 in Seven Sisters

Phil Davies - former Wales rugby international and captain, who earned 46 caps between 1985 and 1995.  This was a lean period of little success for the Welsh team, but Davies was notable as one of the few class forwards of the time.  After retiring from playing, Davies became director of rugby at Leeds Tykes from 1996 to 2006, overseeing the clubs' rise from National League Three to Heineken Cup rugby and winning the Powergen Cup.  He then became Director of Rugby for the Llanelli Scarlets (2006 – 2008) before a spells as Wales Under-20 coach and as Director of Rugby for the Cardiff Blues (2012 - 2014)

On 18th October 1884, Bangor University was founded as the "University College of North Wales”

At the time, there was a strong desire for a better standard of higher education in Wales and there was rivalry for the siting of the new college between the towns of North Wales.  One of the reasons that Bangor was chosen was due to the financial support its campaign received from the quarrymen from  Penrhyn Quarry and other nearby  quarries

The university received its Royal charter in 1885, but its degrees were issued by the University of London until 1893 when it became a founding Member of the University of Wales.

During the Second World War, the university was used to protect paintings from national art galleries from enemy bombing and also as a safer environment for students from University College, London.  

Born this day 1946 in Carmarthen

Dafydd Elis-Thomas - former Plaid Cymru MP and leader, who was the Presiding Officer of the National Assembly for Wales from its inception in 1999 to 2011. He is a member of the House of Lords and a privy counsellor.  

Born on this day 1968 in Carmarthen

Rhod Gilbert - Perrier Award nominated comedian, who appears regularly on television and radio shows and hosts a weekly show on BBC Radio Wales. In 2009, Gilbert became the official Voice Of Wales for the tourist board's Visit Wales advertising campaign.  

Born on this day 1974 in Wrexham

Robbie Savage - former Wales soccer international, whose all-action and energetic style of play, resulted in him being awarded 89 yellow cards, which was a Premiership record at the time.

After his retirement from playing, Savage has worked as a TV pundit and radio presenter.  In 2011 he competed in Strictly Come Dancing, unfortunately breaking his nose whilst performing a knee-slide. 

On October 17th 1660, Colonel John Jones (often referred to as Jones Maesygarnedd ) was executed for killing the king.

A staunch parliamentarian at a time when most of Wales was Royalist, during and after the English Civil War (1642–1651), Jones,  a brother-in-law of Oliver Cromwell, was one of the fifty-nine signatories to King Charles I’s death warrant (a group referred to as the regicides).  He was therefore in grave danger when Charles II was restored to the throne in 1660 and was described as “‘the most hated man in North Wales”.

Jones had been a captain in the parliamentarian army and was involved in the storming of Laugharne castle, the siege of Chester and the surrender of Anglesey.  After the war, he served in Cromwell's paliament as MP for Merioneth,  an alderman of Denbigh,  commissioner for North Wales and one of three commissioners to Ireland.  

Born on this day 1864 in Llandrygarn, Anglesey

Sir John Morris-Jones -  a poet and Professor of Welsh at Bangor University, who is credited, as helping maintain the classical standards of Welsh literature, by his insistence—through his teaching, writings and his adjudication at national eisteddfodau, that grammatical correctness and sincerity were essential components of all literary works.     

Born on this day 1905 in Panteg, Monmouthshire 

Edwin Stevens  - inventor of the world's first wearable electronic hearing aid, as used by Winston Churchill.  It was while working as a salesman for a manufacturer of electrical hearing aids, that he considered that the products he was selling were inadequate, so he set up his company (Amplivox) and designed the world's first wearable electronic hearing aid.  The microphone was worn on the lapel, with the amplifier going into the wearer's jacket pocket and the earphone was small enough not to need a headband.  As technology improved, Stevens created a smaller hearing aid that could fit into the outer ear.

Stevens was also a philanthropist, becoming a major benefactor of the University at which he had studied, Jesus College, Oxford and also of the Royal Society of Medicine.  

On Oct 17th 1982, "Sulyn" the first Welsh-language Sunday newspaper was launched.     

On 17th October 2005, the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea officially opened.

The museums' aim is to cover every of Wales' industrial and social history, using real-life artefacts, archive footage and photographs, 2-D graphic panels, video diaries and interactive computer displays.

The exhibits are fully bilingual and signed for those with hearing difficulties and include.

* "Copperopolis", the history of the copper industry of Swansea.

* Wales' maritime heritage - including a detailed scale model of the 1865 steam ship Zeta which gave Swansea-born Hollywood actress Catherine Zeta Jones her middle name.

* Animation and the companies behind such children's favourites as Super Ted.

* The interactive hall of fame, which includes, Aneurin Bevan, David Lloyd George, Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson and Gareth Edwards, with new additions being added by votes from visitors.

* A working replica of the first steam locomotive in Wales.  

Born on this day 1966 in Wigan

Adopted Welshman, Shaun Edwards - defence coach of the Wales rugby team, who has so far helped Wales to two Grand Slams.  Prior to his involvement in rugby union, Edwards was a legendary player and captain of the Wigan Rugby League team and remains the game's most decorated player, winning eight championships and nine Challenge Cups.

As well as being an immensely talented player, Edwards was also tough and uncompromising and was voted "Man of Steel" in 1990.  His attitude typified by playing one Challenge Cup final with a broken cheekbone and eye socket. 

Off the pitch, Edwards is a devout Roman Catholic and his strong  political views meant that on one Great Britain Lions tour, he taped over the British Coal sponsorship logo on his shirt in support of the miners strike.  

17th October 1948 saw the opening of the Hoover washing machine factory at Pentrebach, Merthyr Tydfil. 

By 1973, the factory was employing more than 5,000 workers.  However, the factory then started to go into a gradual decline, finally closing in 2009.   

Goronwy ab Ednyfed (c. 1205 - 17 October 1268) was seneschal to Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, between 1246 and 1256. As seneschal, he was in charge of domestic arrangements and the administration of servants and held his lands in Wales free from all dues and services other than military service in time of war.

Goronwy's father was Ednyfed Fychan, seneschal to Llywelyn the Great and later his son Dafydd ap Llywelyn and his mother, Gwenllian, was the daughter of Rhys ap Gruffydd (Lord Rhys). Goronwy's brother Tudur, a leading adviser of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, succeeded him as seneschal to Llywelyn until his death in 1278. He was a direct ancestor of Henry Tudor (King Henry VII of England) and his great grandson also Goronwy was an uncle by marriage of Owain Glyndwr.

17th October 1879 saw the official opening of the Severn Railway Bridge (destroyed in 1960).

The Severn Railway Bridge crossed the River Severn betweenSharpness and Lydney and was built by the Severn Bridge Railway company to transport coal from the Forest of Dean on the Severn and Wye Railway.

The bridge predated the construction of the Severn Tunnel, which is situated around 12 miles downstream, by seven years, after which it was used as a diversionary route when the tunnel was closed for engineering work and became known by locals as 'The White Elephant'

On 25 October 1960, there was thick fog and a strong tide; two barges carrying fuel oil and petroleum overshot Sharpness Dock and were carried upstream by hazardous tidal currents. They collided with one of the columns of the bridge, causing two spans of the 22-span steel and cast iron bridge to collapse. Part of the structure hit the barges, setting fire to them. Five people died in the incident.

The Western Region of British Railways planned to reconstruct the bridge, but after further damage to the bridge in 1961, it considered the bridge to be damaged beyond economic repair and demolition was completed in 1970.