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'MORGAN, Most Rev. John', Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014; online edn, April 2014 accessed 29 May 2017 1 August – Llewellyn Lloyd, Wales international rugby union player, 80 15 August – Alice Williams, writer, painter and voluntary worker, 94Ceridwen Lloyd-Morgan, ‘Williams, Alice Helena Alexandra (1863–1957)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 20 Oct 2017 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