William Morgan (1545 – 10 September 1604) was Bishop of Llandaff and of St Asaph and the translator of the first version of the whole Bible into Welsh from Greek and Hebrew.  This  is now looked on as a major monument in the history of the Welsh language, as it meant that the Welsh people could read the Bible in their own language.

Morgan was born  at Ty Mawr Wybrnant, in the parish of Penmachno, near Betws y Coed and it is thought that he was initially educated at Gwydir Castle, near Llanrwst, along with the children of the Wynn family, before going to St John's College, Cambridge, where he studied Greek, mathematics, philosophy and Biblical studies, including a study of the Bible in Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic.  In 1572, he became clergyman of the parish of Llanbadarn Fawr, followed by appointments to Welshpool in  1575 and Llanrhaedr ym Mochnant in 1578.

Morgan was a firm believer in the importance of having the Bible translated into Welsh and in 1588, published his own translation of the Old Testament, together with a revision of Salesbury's New Testament.  A revised version of this Bible, published in 1620 and known as William Morgan's translation, became the standard Welsh Bible until the 20th century.

Morgan was appointed to the bishoprics of Llandaff in 1595 and St Asaph in 1601. He died on 10 September 1604.  

First complete Bible in Welsh

Bible translations into Welsh had existed since at least the 15th century, but the first complete and most widely used translation for several centuries was the 1588 translation by William Morgan.

In 1549, Edward VI passed the Act of Uniformity, which  required all acts of public worship to be conducted in English instead of Latin.  The intention behind the act was to root the Protestant Reformation introduced by Henry VIII among the mass of the population and it seemed to signal the end for the Welsh language.  However, in 1563 Elizabeth I introduced legislation which appeared to contradict the 1549 act, in that it required all churches in Wales by 1567 to have Welsh translations of the Book of Common Prayer and the Bible alongside the English versions.  The idea possibly being that the Welsh would compare the two and maybe thereby learn English.  However, its contribution to the survival of the Welsh language was immense.

Key dates; 

1549 - The Book of Common Prayer was published in English

1551 - The Denbighshire scholar William Salesbury published a Welsh translation of The Book of Common Prayer's main texts.

1567 - Salesbury translated the New Testament into Welsh.

1588 - Bishop William Morgan translated the whole bible into Welsh.  

Born on this day 1937 in Blackwood.

Alun Pask - former Wales rugby captain and Lions international, who played club rugby for Abertillery.

Alun Pask was an exceptionally gifted a player, who at 6ft 3in and 15st, was one of the great forwards of the Sixties.  He possessed an athleticism and ball-handling skill quite out of keeping with the norm during the era.  His versatility was such that he could catch and kick as well as any back and he is remembered for one event in particular, when in 1962 in the game against France in Cardiff, he chased at caught, one of the fastest men in rugby, the French wing Henri Rancoule, thereby saving the game for Wales (who won 3-0).  

      

On 10th September 2001, former Pontypridd College business studies lecturer Tecwen Whittock shot to notoriety after he used a series of coded coughs to help Major Charles Ingram cheat his way to the £1,000,000 top prize on the quiz show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?.

On nearly every question that night, Ingram would try to say all four choices by giving a humourous comment on each of them. Then Tecwen, would cough immediately after Ingram said the correct answer.  The shows production team were suspicious during the show, but were certain something was up when the Ingrams returned to their dressing room and instead of celebrating, they had a huge quarrel, apparently, Diana (Ingram's wife) who organized the scam only wanted to make it to 64,000 pounds and leave so they would have less of a chance of getting caught. 

During the ensuing trial, Whittock claimed to have suffered from a persistent cough for his entire life caused by a combination of hay fever and a dust allergy and that it was only coincidence that his throat problem coincided with the right answer, he also  portrayed himself as a "serial quiz show loser" because he had been eliminated in round one of 15 to 1 and had only won an atlas on his appearance on Sale of the Century. However, Whittock had twice won the Wales heat of Brain of Britain(on BBC Radio 4). They were found guilty, with the Ingrams both given an 18 months suspended jail sentence, with court fees of £115,000 and Whittock given a 12 month suspended sentence, with a fine of £10,000 and £7,500 costs.

After the scandal, Whittock had to patent his own name after discovering that a pharmaceutical company planned to launch a cough mixture called Tecwen Relief ".  He is currently writing a book about his experiences and  is trying to make a living out of after-dinner speaking about his Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? experiences, in which he promises "very interesting and humorous anecdotes" from his part in the Millionaire scandal.  

On 10th September 1814 the last recorded pistol duel in Wales took place, near Newcastle Emlyn, in which Thomas Heslop was killed by solicitor John Beynon following a drink-fuelled quarrel over the affections of a barmaid.

The story goes that Heslop, a mysterious man of West Indian origin and a recent arrival to Wales, who lived in Carmarthen, had been invited to a partridge shoot by Beynon. At the end of the day, the shooting party retired to the Old Salutation Inn at Adpar, for an evening of drinking and it was here that the two men fell, reulting in Beynon being challenged to a duel by Heslop.

They stood with their backs towards each other on either side of a stream, armed with flintlock pistols and were supposed to walk 10 paces before turning and firing. However it is said that Beynon only walked five paces before turning and shooting Heslop in the back. Heslop died instantly and was buried at nearby Llandyfyriog Church, with the inscription "Alas Poor Heslop" being engraved on his grave stone.

Beynon was initially convicted of manslaughter, but a number of powerful and well-known county figures spoke up on his behalf and he escaped with a fine.

On 9th September 1953, Welsh poet and playwright Dylan Thomas handed the barely completed script for the play for voices Under Milk Wood to the BBC before embarking on a reading tour of the United States.  His intention was to revise the script before its first broadcast. However, Dylan died during the American tour and was never able to edit the play.  

An omniscient narrator invites the audience to listen to the dreams and innermost thoughts of the inhabitants of a fictional small Welsh fishing village Llareggub ("bugger all" backwards). These include the nagging Mrs Ogmore-Pritchard; Captain Cat, remembering his life at sea; Organ Morgan ; the two Mrs Dai Breads  and Polly Garter.  When the town awakes, we see them go about their business and how their hidden emotions affect their daily lives.

There is no doubt that Dylan based many of these characters on the inhabitants of Laugharne, a small seaside town in Carmarthenshire where Dylan had lived for several years. It is the author of this post's small claim to fame that the character of Captain Cat was based on Great Uncle Johnny, a retired sea Captain who was almost blind, and who spent many hours conversing with Dylan Thomas in Laugharne.

On September 9th 2009, Carnedd Uchaf, a peak in the Ogwen valley in Snowdonia, was renamed Carnedd  Gwenllian in honour of Princess Gwenllian, the daughter of Llywelyn, the last native Prince of Wales.  The peak has been renamed following a campaign by the Gwenllian Society. Other summits in the Carneddau range have also been named  as Carnedd Llywelyn and Yr Elen after Gwenllian's parents Llywelyn and Eleanor. The new name will also be used in the latest editions of Ordnance Survey maps for the area.

John Penry (9th September 1559 – 29 May 1593) is Wales's most famous Protestant martyr.  He was born at a farm near Llangammarch, Powys and is known studied at Peterhouse, Cambridge in 1580.

Originally a Catholic, Penry soon became a Protestant, with strong Puritan views.  Following an act of parliament in 1562, which had laid the groundwork for translating the Bible into Welsh and the issuing of the translation of the New Testament in 1567, Penry was critical of the failure of  there being enough copies for each parish church in Wales.

In 1590, Archbishop Whitgift, angry at the criticism, had Penry's house at Northampton searched and imprisoned him for a month, but Penry managed to escape to Scotland, where he continued to publish his works. Penry returned to England in  1592, becoming a regular preacher for separatist congregation in London (a group who had lost hope in reforming the church from within) and was arrested and imprisoned once more in 1593 on a charge of sedition, based on the  draft of a petition to Queen Elizabeth I that contained harsh and offensive language.

He was hanged on 29 May 1593 without being allowed to see his wife, Eleanor, or his daughters, Comfort, Deliverance, Sure-Hope and Safety. 

Born on 9th September 1914, Alexander Cordell was the pen name of George Alexander Graber, an adoptive Welshman who was one of Wales' most prolific writers.

Cordell was born in Columbo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in September 1914.  As his father had done so before him, Cordell entered the army and served with the Royal Engineers during World War Two. It was while convalescing from a wartime injury that he was sent to north Wales and it was from here that his love for Wales grew.  A Thought of Honour, published in 1954 was his first novel, followed by perhaps his most famous work, Rape of the Fair Country (1959), set in Blaenafon.  The second novel in what was to be a trilogy, Hosts of Rebecca, followed a year later. Cordell produced the third novel of the trilogy, Song of the Earth, in 1969.  After his death in 1997, Torfaen  Council bought his desk and typewriter and put them on display in the Blaenafon Community Heritage & Cordell Museum. 

Selected bibliography:

Rape of the Fair Country (1959)

Hosts of Rebecca (1960)

Song of the Earth (1969)

This Sweet & Bitter Earth (1977)

Land of My Fathers (1983)  

Born on this day 1932 in Liverpool

Alice Thomas Ellis  - critically acclaimed novelist and columnist of the popular Home Life series in the Spectator

Born in Liverpool as Anna Lindholm, she moved in Penmaenmawr to her mother's family during the second world war and her childhood in northwest Wales was to have a big impression on her throughout her life, with several of her novels having a Welsh background.  She was educated at Bangor Grammar School and Liverpool School of Art and at 19 she converted to Catholicism, becoming a prospective nun, before embarking on a bohemian lifestyle in 1950s. 

Much of Thomas Ellis's life was absorbed by motherhood. She had seven children, her second son Joshua died at the age of 19 after he fell off a roof at Euston station while trainspotting.   It was his death that made her go on writing, comparing the pain of his death to a form of amputation.

Her complex personality was demonstrated by the diversity of the subjects about which she wrote.  For example, she was stongly anti-feminist but wrote about independent, strong women, she was averse to housework, but was an accomplished cook and she took a relaxed view of her friends' tangled love lives, yet she was fiercely opposed to the liberal movement of the Catholic church and the idea of women priests.  After the death of her husband she moved to an isolated farmhouse in Powys, to concentrate on her writing.  She was elected in 1999 a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. 

On 9th September 1680, Henry Marten (regicide of King Charles I of England) died a prisoner in Chepstow Castle. choking whilst eating his supper. 

Tân yn Llŷn (Fire in Llŷn) - 8th September 1936.  

When the government decided to on establish an RAF bombing school at the historic and cultural site of Penyberth on the Llŷn peninsula, despite approximately half a million protests, there was intense anger throughout all of Wales. 

Three Plaid Cymru members, Saunders Lewis, Lewis Valentine and DJ Williams, decided that the only course of action remaining was to set fire to the bombing school.  this they duly did on 8th September 1936, giving themselves up immediately at Pwllheli police station,

At the trial at the Old Bailey in London, the three men  were sentenced to nine months imprisonment in Wormwood Scrubs, but on their release they were treated to a heroes welcome at a pavilion in Caernarfon, by 15,000 people and the incident has attained iconic status among Welsh nationalists.  

Born on this day 1922 in Swansea.

Harry Secombe , one of Britain's best-loved comic entertainers. Remembered for his high-pitched laugh and blowing raspberries, Harry also possessed a wonderful tenor singing voice.

Secombe began singing as a child in local church choirs, later performing in troop concerts, whilst serving in the army in North Africa and Italy during World War Two. He also met Spike Milligan during his army service, with the two teaming up after the war with Peter Sellers and Michael Bentine in the highly successful radio programme "The Goon Show", which helped launch their respective careers.

Secombe went on to have his own popular TV shows and to appear in many films, such as Oliver, The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins and Starstruck. He was Knighted in 1981 and in 1983 became the host of the TV religious programme, Highway, which ran for nearly ten years.

In his final years, Harry battled with cancer and a severe stroke. He died on 11th April 2001.

Born on this day 1969 in Mancot, near Chester. 

Gary Speed, MBE  - former Welsh soccer captain and manager. 

In his playing career, Speed played for Leeds United, with whom he won the English Football League First Division Championship in 1992, Newcastle United, Bolton Wanderers and Sheffield United, making in total  840 domestic appearances. He appeared for Wales 85 times and was captain on 44 occasions. Speed was appointed the manager of Sheffield United in 2010 but left the club after a few months to manage the Wales national team. 

Speed was a versatile player but played mainly as a left-side attacking midfielder. He was captain of most the sides for which he played, described by team mates as an 'inspirational figure' who led by example and demanded the best from those around him.  He was well known as a 'consummate professional' both on and off the field, hardworking, honest and self-critical.  He had a reputation as an extremely fit footballer which allowed him to avoid injury and to continue playing until the age of 39.  

Outside of football, he also had a reputation as a friendly and supportive person, who cared for and took an interest in the lives of the people around him, which made him a popular and well-respected figure. Speed committed suicide on 27 November 2011, aged 42.

For volunteering to go to the battle front, to rescue a wounded officer at Sebastopol on 9th September 1855 during The Crimean War, Cardiff born corporal Robert Shields of the 23rd Regiment of Foot (later the Royal Welch Fusiliers) was awarded the Victoria Cross.

The Crimean War (October 1853 – February 1856) was a conflict over the territories of the declining Ottoman Empire, between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French, British and Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Sardinia.  The conflict mainly took place on the Crimean peninsula of Ukraine located on the northern coast of the Black Sea. 

The Crimean War is known for logistical and tactical errors, the lessons learned from which changed the future course of warfare.  It is also famous for the pioneering work of nurses, Betsi Cadwaladr and Florence Nightingale. 

The Crimean War was one of the first wars to be documented extensively in written reports and photographs.  News from war correspondents kept the public  better informed of the day-to-day events of the war than had been the case in any other war to that date, as with the advent of  the telegraph it meant that by the end of the war, news from the war zone  reached London in only a few hours.  Consequently, public opinion played a larger role in this war than in any other war in history. 

The outcome of the Crimean War marked the ascendancy of France to the position of pre-eminent power on the Continent and the beginning of a decline for Tsarist Russia.

The Severn Bridge spanning the River Severn and River Wye, between Chepstow and Aust, was opened on 8th September 1966. 

1824   Thomas Telford, who had been asked to advise on how to improve mail coach services between London and Wales. proposed a bridge across the Severn, approximately in the same location as the one eventually constructed. 

1879   As the railways became the dominant mode of long-distance travel, the Severn Railway Bridge at Sharpness was opened, followed by the main line Severn Tunnel in 1886. 

1926   The growth of road traffic on the A48 passing through Chester  led to a ferry carrying cars and passengers being set up. 

1935   Monmouthshire and Gloucestershire County Councils jointly promoted a Parliamentary Bill to build a bridge over the estuary.  However, the Bill was rejected by Parliament after opposition from the Great Western Railway Company. 

After World War II, plans began to be made for a nationally funded network of trunk roads, including a Severn Bridge,  However Government funding was prioritised for the Forth Road Bridge. 

1961   Construction of the Severn Bridge commenced.  

1966   The Severn Bridge was completed.

Born on this day 1920 in Swansea

Harri Webb - Poet, Welsh nationalist, journalist and librarian.

Few poets in recent times have achieved the popularity of Harri Webb. Shortly after the opening of the Severn Bridge in 1966, Webb's "ode" to the new edifice was to be heard quoted widely throughout South Wales: Two lands at last connected Across the waters wide, And all the tolls collected On the English side.

Born into a working-class family, Webb was educated at Magdalen College, Oxford, studying medieval and modern languages.  He joined the Navy in 1941, where he served as an interpreter for the Free French in the Mediterranean.  After the war, he became politically active and was a vivid platform speaker, he joined The Republicans, a small group who enlivened the Welsh political scene of the 1950s by the burning of Union Flags in the towns of South Wales.  He later joined the Labour Party, but became disillusioned with its attitude towards self-government for Wales and joined Plaid Cymru, becoming editor of the party’s newspaper.  Webb's poetry came to prominence during the 1960s, with the theme of the social condition of the industrial valleys of South Wales.   

     


Laura Mountney Ashley (7 September 1925 – 17 September 1985) was a Welsh fashion designer and businesswoman. She started making furnishing materials in the 1950s and expanded into the manufacture and design of clothing in the 1960s. 

Monument to Blanche Parry, kneeling alongside Elizbabeth I (born on 7th September 1533), in St. Faith's, Bacton, Hereford.

Blanche was lady in waiting and confidante to Queen Elizabeth 1st for most of her life.  A theory suggests that Blanche, who was Welsh and Welsh speaking taught Queen Elizabeth I to speak Welsh.  Blanche died in 1590.

Some other of Elizabeth I's connections with Wales;  

*  Her chief adviser Cecil Lord Burghley was descended from the Welsh Cecils or Sitsyllts ( the Welsh spelling of the anglicised Cecil) of Monmouthshire, twice being Secretary of State as well as Lord Treasurer and founder of a dynasty which produced many politicians including two Prime Ministers.

The Battle of Crug Mawr, near Cardigan in Dyfed, took place in September or October 1136.  It was a significant setback to Norman expansion in Wales and was part of the Welsh revolt against Norman rule, which had begun on 1 January 1136 with a Welsh victory at the Battle of Llwchwr near Swansea.

In April of that year, Richard Fitz Gilbert de Clare, the Norman lord of Ceredigion, was killed by the men of Gwent, which encouraged the forces of Gwynedd and Deheubarth to ally and invade Ceredigion.  After some fierce fighting, the Norman army was forced to retreat, with the bridge across the River Teifi giving way under the sheer weight of numbers. Hundreds drowned and the river clogged with the bodies of men and horses.   Those who survived fled to Cardigan, but the town was taken and burned by the Welsh.  The castle, however, was held by Robert Fitz Martin, the only one to remain under Norman control by the end of the rebellion.  

Ysgol Gyfyn Rhydfelen (Now Ysgol Gyfun Garth Olwg), the first Welsh medium secondary school in South Wales, was opened in the village of Rhydyfelin near Pontypridd, on 6th September 1962.  In 2006, the school moved to a new site in Church Village and today, has approximately 1000 students, ninety-two percent of whom come from homes where the first language is English.  

Robert Jones (19 August 1857 – 6 September 1898),  born at Penrhos between Raglan and Abergavenny, was a  recipient of the Victoria Cross for his actions inside the hospital at the Battle of Rorke's Drift in January 1879.  

Jones was posted in the hospital room during the battle and despite suffering four spear and one bullet wounds, managed with his colleague, William Jones, to defend his position against wave after wave of Zulu attacks and bring six of the seven patients to safety

After discharge, Jones became a farm labourer in Peterschurch, Herefordshire where he died from self-inflicted gunshot wounds in 1898 aged 41 years.  The Coroner's court heard that he was plagued with recurring nightmares of his hand to hand combat during the battle and a verdict of suicide whilst temporarily insane was passed. 

He is buried in Peterchurch churchyard with the gravestone facing the opposite way to all the others, presumably because he committed suicide. In 1998 a campaign was launched to have it realigned but as yet, this has not happened.  

Born on this day 1920 in Gorslas, near St Clears. 

Trevor Morris OBE  - professional footballer, manager and secretary of the FAW ( the Football Association of Wales)  

The son of a miner, Morris began his career with Ipswich Town.  With the outbreak of  World War II, Morris' playing career came to an end when he served in RAF Bomber Control and piloted the lead aircraft in a squadron of 40 Lancaster Bombers on D-Day.  He flew over 40 missions over enemy territory and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Coss. 

Morris returned to football and became manager-secretary of Cardiff City in 1954 and the following season,  took over at Swansea.  In 1971, he was appointed the secretary of the Football Association of Wales, where he remained until 1982.   One of Morris's long-term achievements was the acceptance of the principle that footballers could play for a country with which they had blood ties but which was not the country of their birth. 

Born on this day 1869 in Oswestry. 

Sir Henry Walford Davies - composer, 

*  Davies was appointed Master of the King's Musick (a post comparable to that of Poet Laureate), during the reign of King George V.

*  Upon the creation of the RAF he was appointed its Director of Music and composed the well-known RAF March Past. 

*  Davies became Gregynog Professor of Music at Aberystwyth University in 1919 and later, Musical Director of the University of Wales. 

*  He became chairman of the National Council of Music for Wales and helped greatly with the promotion of Welsh music. 

*  Prior to the outbreak of World War II, Davies was a well-known and popular radio personality. 

On 5th September 1927, Kathleen Thomas from Penarth, became the first person, as well as the first woman, to swim the Bristol Channel.  Many men had attempted the challenge and failed.

She had announced her intention to swim the treacherous 11 miles of chill, grey water between Penarth and Weston-super-Mare in the South Wales Echo, and no one believed that "a mere woman" would have the strength or stamina to go the distance

That part of The Bristol Chanel, which has the second highest tidal range in the world, has a fearsome reputation due to its lethal tides, caused by scattered headlands and islands funneling enormous volumes of tidal water through small spaces and the distance Kathleen swam was considered closer to 22 miles once the perfidious currents were taken into account.

'Crowds lined the beach to watch Kathleen wade into waters, accompanied by a launch containing representatives from the Welsh Amateur Swimming Association and a rowing boat carrying her uncle Jack in a bowler hat and 7hrs 20mins later, fortified by Bovril and chocolate, Kathleen arrived on the shores of the West Country.  The terrific struggle against the currents had called on all her reserves of energy and the final 100 yards had demanded every last ounce of her strength.

She was taken to a nearby hotel after the swim, where she had both a warm and cold bath, took half-hour rest and ate a fish lunch before returning to Wales a hero.

Jasper Newton "Jack" Daniel -  founder of  Jack Daniel's Tennessee whiskey distillery was born on September 5th, 1850 in Lynchburg, Tennessee, his grandfather Joseph "Job" Daniel, was born in Wales and had emigrated to America.  Jack Daniel died from blood poisoning in 1911, which was allegedly caused when he kicked his safe in anger when he could not get it open — he always had trouble remembering the combination.

Was the original recipe for Jack Daniel's legendary American whiskey discovered in Wales.

Mark Evans was researching his family history when he discovered a recipe, the ingredients of which match that which goes into making the  in the world's best selling whiskey.  It was written in 1853 by his great-great grandmother who was called Daniels and who was a local herbalist in Llanelli.  Her brother-in-law John 'Jack the Lad' Daniel left Llanelli at about the same time to move to Tennessee, where the Jack Daniel distillery was opened three years later.  The assumption being that he made contact with his namesake and introduced him to the Welsh recipe.     

Born on this day 1962 in Cardiff

Peter Wingfield - television actor, well known for his television roles in Holby City, Queen of Swords and Cold Squad. But he is best known for his role as the  Immortal Methos in Highlander.  In addition, Peter also played  Simon Pemberton on the  BBC radio drama The Archers. 

In 2011, Peter put his acting career on hold, to return to medical school and subsequently qualified as a doctor. Peter was Welsh National Trampoline champion at age 15.  

Born on this day 1959 in Blaina

Mike Ruddock, OBE - former Wales Grand Slam winning  rugby coach, who won the Welsh Coach of the Year in 1992 and 2005.  Ruddock is currently coach of the Ireland Under 20 rugby team.  As a player Ruddock  made 119 appearances for Swansea, scoring 43 tries and played for Wales B. before his playing days were ended prematurely in 1985. Working as an electricity linesman, he fell from a pole, suffering serious injuries including three compressed vertebrae and a fractured skull.  

Born on this day 1888 at Blaencaerau farm, Caerau, near Maesteg

Sir Rhys Hopkin Morris, Liberal MP, who was a fierce opponent of Lloyd George throughout his political career and later became the first Regional Director of the BBC in Wales. 

He graduated from  U.C.N.W. Bangor in Philosophy also serving as student President and taught in Bargoed for a few months after leaving College.  He enlisted in the Royal Welch Fusiliers on the outbreak of war in 1914. He was twice mentioned in dispatches and awarded a medal for action in which he was severely wounded and carried shrapnel in his leg for the rest of his life.  He was called to the Bar in the Middle Temple in 1920 and practised in the South Wales circuit, before becoming interested in politics.

Morris was a Gladstonian Liberal and as such believed in  limited government expenditure, low taxation, free trade and little government intervention as opposed to Lloyd George, who was an Interventionist Liberal.  His characteristic independence of mind twice contradicted expectations and saw him elected to parliament,  he ran as an Independent Liberal against a pro-Lloyd George candidate and was elected in one of the most surprising results of the 1923 General Election.  He returned to Parliament after the 1945  election, when he won Carmarthen  from the  Labour Party  despite the rest of the country experiencing a Labour landslide.  Hopkin Morris was to hold this seat for the remainder of his life.  

Born on this day 1885 in Aberaeron

Reverend Jenkin Alban Davies - Former Wales rugby captain. 

 Davies served during World War I and was later appointed vicar of Hook in 1924.  But he is best remembered as captain of the Terrible eight, the Welsh forwards that got the better of their Irish opponents in an extremely physical encounter in Belfast in 1914.

This match is remembered as 'The Roughest Ever' and the niggling had started the evening before the match when the Irish came to the Welsh hotel and their pack leader, Doctor William Tyrell told Welsh forward Percy Jones: 'It's you and me for it tomorrow.'  Jones, a miner replied 'I shall be with you, doing the best I can.'  Another Wales forward asked: 'Can anyone join in?' And so they did!  It was one of the all-time best punch-ups, with players continually fighting during the match  and the referee, a Mr.Tulloch, from Scotland, taking little notice. 

Ater the match Jones and Tyrell  signed each others menu-card and then in 1951, the two sat together to watch the match in Cardiff.  Tyrell at that time being president of the IRU and Jones an hotelier.

 In 1947, John, the fifth Marquess of Bute, inherited Cardiff Castle on the death of his father and faced considerable death duties. He sold the very last of the Bute lands in Cardiff and on 4th September 1947, he gifted the castle and the surrounding park to the city.  The castle is now run as a tourist attraction and protected as a grade I listed building and as a scheduled monument.   

Thomas the Tank was first broadcast on television on 4 September 1984

In 1943, Reverend Wilbert Awdry, whilst a curate in Kings Norton, Birmingham, invented stories about Thomas the Tank Engine to amuse his son Christopher during a bout of measles.  Afterwards, Awdry was encouraged to write the book "Thomas the Tank Engine", which was released in 1946.

 Then in 1952, Awdry volunteered as a guard to help preserve  the narrow gauge Talyllyn Railway and turn it into a museum. It had originally been used for hauling slate from  the village of Abergynolwyn in the heart of Snowdonia  to the coast at Tywyn.  Working on Talyllyn Railway inspired Awdry to write into the stories, the fictional Skarloey Railway Line, whose history closely parallels that of the Talyllyn Railway and whose purple landscape of hills that Thomas was invariably shown puffing through, was inspired by the countryside of Snowdonia.

The Talyllyn Railway now carries thousands of tourists and fans of the children classic each year and Reverend Awdry remained a supporter until his death in 1997.  

Born on this day 1969 in Bangor

Sasha (Alexander Paul Coe) -  world famous DJ and record producer, who has produced many UK-charting singles and has remixed tracks for artists such as Madonna and The Chemical Brothers.  

Born on this day 1911 in Pwllheli

John Robert Jones - philosopher and political activist.

Jones studied philosophy at University of Wales, Aberystwyth and Balliol College, Oxford, then in 1952, he was appointed Professor of Philosophy at University of Wales, Swansea, where seeing the decline of Welsh in the south Wales valleys, he became more politically active, as his interest turned to what he saw as the crisis of Wales and of Welsh.  He strongly opposed the 1969 Investiture of Prince Charles and resigned as a member of the Gorsedd of Bards in protest.

World War II  

On 3rd September 1939, the United Kingdom declared war on Nazi Germany following the German invasion of Poland on 1st September.  The war would subsequently cost Wales around 15,000 lives.

There was a feeling of  inevitability after the announcement, there were no wild scenes of patriotism as there had been in 1914 and  streets virtually empty as the  deadline of 11.00am approached.

The Second World War changed Welsh society, bringing employment and improved incomes.  Many war industries were established in Wales and troops, workers, civilians, government departments and evacuees totaling as many as 200,000 were moved to Wales between 1939 and 1941.

Food shortages led to enhanced prices for food and farmers enjoyed unprecedented prosperity.  Coal was central to the war effort, as after the loss of French and Belgian coalfields, Welsh coal became very important.  Initially, 25,000 Welsh workers left mining for the armed forces and other jobs between 1938 and 1941, which led to a serious labour shortage.  To combat the problem, the government exempted coal miners from military service. The labour shortage also led to the introduction of the 'Bevin Boys' in 1943 - named after Ernest Bevin, the Minister of Labour and National serservice.  One  in  ten eighteen-year-olds were  draughted into mines  rather than the forces.

Wales was believed to be too far to the west to be subject to German air raids, however the docks and industrial works of Cardiff and Swansea made them obvious targets. Over the course of the war 33,000 houses were damaged and over 500 demolished in Cardiff, with 355 civilians killed.  In Swansea, which suffered the most intense attack in Wales, a raid that lasted three nights in February 1941 and destroyed half the town's centre, 11,084 houses were damaged and 282 demolished, with 227 people killed.

Even rural communities were bombed.  Caernarfonshire, which was near the flightpath of bombers targeting Liverpool, suffered five deaths in bombing raids during the war and 27 people were killed as a result of a raid on Cwmparc in the Rhondda.

Charles II's aborted escape through Wales after The Battle of Worcester. 

The Battle of Worcester took place on 3 September 1651.  It was the final battle of the English Civil War, where the Parliament defeated the Royalist forces of King Charles II.  The King was attempting to regain the throne that had been lost when his father Charles I was executed.

The following six weeks was one of the most astonishing episodes in British history, as Charles desperately tried to avoid capture and reach safety in France.  It became  known as the Royal Miracle because he narrowly escaped discovery and capture so many times.

Once Charles realised that all was lost, legend has it that he fled as out the back door of his lodgings as the enemy entered at the front and escaped out of the last unguarded city gate.  When the King arrived at Whiteladies, some 50 miles from the battlefield, his hair was cut, his face and arms stained and he was dressed in the coarse clothes of a woodman.  With the road to London blocked by Commonwealth troops and the route to Scotland choked with the remnants of his fleeing Royalist Army, Charles made the decision to head for Wales and the port of Swansea, where there were known royalist sympathisers.  Travelling at night, the King found all the bridges and ferries across the River Severn heavily guarded and so decided that escape through Wales was impossible.

The King continued to evade capture, even by hiding in an oak tree, just as Paliamentary troops were searching the woods nearby and over the next six weeks, he made his way to Shoreham near Brighton, riding with a woman, and disguised as a servant.   It was an improbable venture, as he was a noticeable man at six feet two, but he rode right under the noses of Cromwell’s soldiers time after time, without being recognized.  He was sheltered and helped by dozens of people – mostly simple country folk and minor gentry, who despite the reward of £1000 offered for his capture, put their lives in jeopardy to help him.  He sailed for France on October 15, not to return until  The Restoration of The Monarchy in 1660.  After his return to the throne, he told the story frequently for the rest of his life, and it is said that the hardships he endured gave him an understanding of the common people such as no other king had had.    

 
Born on this day 1974 in Llwynypia, near Tonypandy

Robert Page - former Wales soccer international, who gained 41 caps  in a ten-year international career.   In an eighteen-year career in the Premier League and the Football League, he made 475 league appearances for six different clubs. He both captained a team and scored a goal in all top four divisions of English football.  

The last hanging at Cardiff jail occured on 3rd September 1952.  Mahmood Hussein Mattan's case was the first to be referred to the Court of Appeal, who found the judgement to be "demonstrably flawed" and his family were awarded £725,000 compensation, which was the first award to a family for a person wrongfully hanged.

Mahmood Hussein Mattan was a Somali merchant seaman who was convicted of the murder of Lily Volpert  in the Docklands of Cardiff, mainly on the evidence of a single prosecution witness.  In 1996 the family were given permission to have Mattan's body exhumed and moved from a felon's grave at the prison to be buried in consecrated ground in a Cardiff cemetery and his conviction was quashed in 1998.  

Born on this day 1879 in Llanmaes, near Cardiff 

Illtyd Buller Pole-Evans -  The man who is credited as saving the South African citrus fruit industry

After graduating from Cambridge in 1905, where he studied mycology and plant pathology. Pole Evans moved to Pretoria, South Africa, where he was appointed as mycologist and plant pathologist, in the newly-established Transvaal Department of Agriculture.  His dedication to botany in South Africa, set a high standard for a whole generation of South African botanists.

 Among his many achievements were; 

*  In 1916 an outbreak of citrus canker threatened to bring down the citrus industry in the Transvaal. Pole-Evans introduced a program that eradicated all the infected orchards and is credited with saving the industry.

*  He was world renowned expert on the Aloes, the most widely known species of which is Aloe vera.

*  He travelled widely throughout Africa and his "The Plant Geography of South Africa" was the standard reference work of the time.  He was also instrumental in the publication in 1920 of the magazine the "Flowering Plants of South Africa".

*  One of his longstanding interests was pasture grasses and he was instrumental in collecting and introducing many of these to South Africa.  

  Welsh International rugby players killed in action during World Wars One and Two.

Horace Wyndham Thomas  was a Welsh international rugby union fly-half who played club rugby for Swansea.  He reached the rank of  Second Lietenant within the Rifle Brigade and was killed in battle at Guillemont on 3rd September 1916.

Thomas was one of thirteen Welsh internationals to die in conflict during World War I and three in World War II;

World War I;

W.P. (Billy) GEEN - 2nd lt, 9th Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps. Killed in action at Ypres 31/7/15. AGED 24. Oxford Univ/Newport - 3 caps 1912-13.

Brinley R LEWIS - Major in Royal Field Artillery. Killed in action at Ypres 2/4/17. AGED 26. Swansea/Cambridge Univ - 2 caps 1912-13.

L.A.(Lou) PHILLIPS - Sgt in Public Schools Battl'n of Royal Fusiliers. Killed in action at Cambrai 4/3/16. AGED 38. Newport - 4 caps 1900-01.

C.M.(Charlie) PRITCHARD - Capt in 12th Batl'n South Wales Borderers. Wounded in Battle of Somme and died at no 1 Casualty Clearing Station, France 14/8/16. AGED 33. Newport - 14 caps - 1904-10.

Charles G TAYLOR - Engineer/captain of 1st Battle Cruiser Squadron. Killed on board HMS Tiger at the Battle of the Dogger Bank 24/1/15. AGED 51. Ruabon - 9 caps 1884-87.

E.J.(Dick) THOMAS - CSM in 16th Batl'n of 38th Welsh Division of Welch Rgt. Killed in action in attack at Mametz Wood in Battle of the Somme. AGED 32. Mountain Ash - 4 caps 1906-09.

Horace W THOMAS - Temp 2nd lt in 11 Batl'n of the Rifle Brigade. Killed in action at Guillemont, France during the Battle of the Somme 3/9/16.  AGED 26. Swansea - 2 caps 1912-13.

Phil D WALLER - 2nd lt in South African Heavy Artillery (71st Siege Battery). Killed in action at Arras 14/12/17. AGED 28. Newport - 6 caps 1908-10.

David WATTS - Corporal in 7th Batl'n King's Shropshire Light Infantry. Killed in action at Ancre Valley, France during the Battle of the Somme 14/7/16. AGED 30. Maesteg - 4 caps 1914.

David WESTACOTT - Private in 16th platoon D company of the Gloucestershire Rgt. Killed in action in France 28/8/17.  AGED 35. Cardiff - 1 cap 1906.

Johnnie L WILLIAMS - Captain in Welch Rgt. Killed in action at 5th Casualty Clearing Station at Mametz Wood during Battle of the Somme 12/7/16. AGED 34. Cardiff - 17 caps 1906-11.

Richard D.G.WILLIAMS - Lt-Col in 12th Batl'n of the Royal Fusiliers. Killed in action at Loos, France 27/9/15. AGED 59. Newport - 1 cap 1881.

World War II;

Cecil R DAVIES - Royal Air Force. Killed in action 25/12/41. Bedford/RAF - 1 cap 1934.

John R EVANS - Lt in 3rd Batl'n of the Parachute Rgt. Killed in action in North Africa 8/3/43. AGED 31. Newport - 1 cap 1934 (as captain).

Maurice J.L.TURNBULL - Major in the 1st Batl'n Welsh Guards. Killed in action near Montchamp, Normandy 5/8/44. AGED 38. Cardiff - 2 caps 1933.  

Born on this day 1974 in Llwynypia, near Tonypandy

Robert Page - former Wales soccer international, who gained 41 caps.  He also made 475 Football League appearances, captaining a team and scoring a goal in all top four divisions of English football.