# 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