# 1880s in Wales

This article is about the particular significance of the decade 1880–1889 to Wales and its people.

## Incumbents

* Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales – Clwydfardd

## Events

* 1880
* 1881
* 1882
* 1883
* 1884
* 1885
* 1886
* 1887
* 1888
* 1889

## Arts and literature
### Awards

National Eisteddfod of Wales
* 1880 – Caernarfon
* 1881 – Merthyr Tydfil
** Chair – Evan Rees ("Dyfed")
** Crown – Watkin Hezekiah Williams
* 1882 – Denbigh
** Chair – withheld
** Crown – Dafydd Rees Williams
* 1883 – Cardiff
** Chair – withheld
** Crown – Anna Walter Thomas
* 1884 – Liverpool
** Chair – Evan Rees ("Dyfed")
** Crown – Edward Foulkes
* 1885 – Aberdare
** Chair – Watkin Hezekiah Williams
** Crown – Griffith Tecwyn Parry
* 1886 – Caernarfon
** Chair – Richard Davies
** Crown – John Cadfan Davies
* 1887 – London
** Chair – Robert Arthur Williams
** Crown – John Cadfan Davies
* 1888 – Wrexham
** Chair – Thomas Tudno Jones
** Crown – Howell Elvet Lewis
* 1889 – Brecon
** Chair – Evan Rees
** Crown – Howell Elvet Lewis

### New books

* Rhoda Broughton – Doctor Cupid (1886)
* Richard Davies (Mynyddog) – Pedwerydd Llyfr Mynyddog (1882)
* Amy Dillwyn
** The Rebecca Rioter (1880)
** Jill and Jack(1887)
* Daniel Silvan Evans – Dictionary of the Welsh Language (Geiriadur Cymraeg) (1887)
* Frances Hoggan – Education for Girls in Wales (1882)
* Daniel Owen
** Y Dreflan (1881)
** Rhys Lewis (1885)
* Robert Williams (Trebor Mai) – Gwaith Barddonol Trebor Mai (1883)

## Sport

* 1881 – Welsh Rugby Union is formed.
* 1884 – The Cardiff Arms Park hosts its first rugby international (between Wales and Ireland).
* 1889 – In a football match between Wales and Scotland at Wrexham, the referee allows the injured Welsh goalkeeper to be replaced – the first ever substitution in a soccer match.

## Births

* 1880
** 30 April – George Maitland Lloyd Davies, pacifist (died 1949)
** 9 May – Thomas Scott-Ellis, 8th Baron Howard de Walden, patron of the arts (died 1946)
** 11 May – David Davies, 1st Baron Davies, politician (died 1944)
** 22 June – Rhys Gabe, rugby player (died 1967)
** 2 September – Isaac Daniel Hooson, poet (died 1948)
** 15 September – William Charles Williams, VC recipient (died 1915)
** date unknown
*** Edward Tegla Davies, author (died 1967)
*** Harry Grindell Matthews, inventor (died 1941)
* 1881
** 3 January – Lewis Pugh Evans, VC recipient (died 1962)
** 14 February – William John Gruffydd, academic and politician (died 1954)
** 16 April – Ifor Williams, academic (died 1965)
** 5 May – Rupert Price Hallowes, VC recipient (died 1915)
** 16 June – David Grenfell, politician (died 1968)
** 20 June – John Crichton-Stuart, 4th Marquess of Bute, landowner (died 1947)
** August – John Lewis, footballer (died 1954)
** 30 September – Philip Lewis Griffiths, lawyer (died 1945)
** 28 October – Edward Evans, 1st Baron Mountevans, explorer (died 1957)
** December – George Hall, politician (died 1965)
** date unknown
*** David Thomas ("Afan"), composer (died 1928)
*** Robert Williams, trade union leader
* 1882
** 24 July – Reginald Clarry, politician (died 1945)
** 6 November – David Rees Griffiths, poet (died 1953)
** 16 December – Cyril Fox, archaeologist (died 1967)
** date unknown – Ivor Lewis, artist (died 1958)
* 1883
** 30 April – David John de Lloyd, composer (died 1948)
** 28 May – Clough Williams-Ellis, architect (died 1978)
** 13 September – Percy Thomas, architect (died 1969)
** date unknown
*** John Jones (Tydu), poet (died 1968)
*** James Walker, politician
* 1884
** 19 February – Clement Davies, politician (died 1962)
** 24 November – Jack Jones, novelist (died 1970)
** date unknown
*** Arthur Jenkins, politician (died 1946)
*** Thomas Jones, footballer (died 1958)
* 1885
** 2 August – Clarence Bruce, 3rd Baron Aberdare (died 1957)
** 21 November – Robert Evans, footballer (died 1965)
** date unknown
*** Ernest Evans, politician (died 1965)
*** David John Williams, writer and politician (died 1970)
* 1886
** 28 March – John Osborn Williams, entrepreneur (died 1963)
** 3 May – Morgan Jones, Welsh politician (died 1939)
** 29 September – Jack Williams, VC recipient (died 1953)
* 1887
** 13 January – Hedd Wyn, poet (died 1917)
** 27 February – James Dickson Innes, painter (died 1914)
** date unknown
*** Huw Menai, poet (died 1961)
* 1888
** 21 May – William Cove, politician (died 1963)
** 16 August – T. E. Lawrence, writer and war hero (died 1935)
** 19 October – Peter Freeman, politician (died 1956)
** 5 September – Rhys Hopkin Morris, politician (died 1956)
* 1889
** 1 February – John Lewis, philosopher (died 1976)
** 11 December – Cedric Morris, artist (died 1982)

## Deaths

* 1880
** 23 April – Robert Thomas (Ap Vychan), minister and writer (b. 1809)
* 1881
** 20 April – William Burges, architect
** 20 November – Hugh Owen, educationist (born 1804)
* 1882
** August – John Dillwyn Llewelyn, botanist and photographer (born 1810)
** 16 December – Alfred Ollivant, Bishop of Llandaff (born 1798)
* 1883
** 8 November – William Rees (Gwilym Hiraethog), poet (born 1802)
* 1884
** 17 March – Edward Lloyd-Mostyn, 2nd Baron Mostyn (born 1795)
** 24 May – Henry Thomas Edwards, preacher (born 1837)
** 6 November – George Vane-Tempest, 5th Marquess of Londonderry, industrialist
* 1885
** 1 May – Henry Brinley Richards, composer (born 1817)
** 1 August – Sidney Gilchrist Thomas, inventor (born 1850)
* 1886
** 31 March – Edward Douglas-Pennant, 1st Baron Penrhyn (born 1800)
* 1887
** 25 January – Rowland Prichard, musician (born 1811)
** 23 April – John Ceiriog Hughes, poet (born 1832)
** 19 July – Lewis Edwards, educationist (born 1809)
* 1888
** 20 August – Henry Richard, politician and peace campaigner (born 1812)
* 1889
** 21 January – Joshua Hughes, Bishop of St Asaph (born 1807)
** 8 June – Gerard Manley Hopkins, Anglo-Welsh poet (born 1844)
** date unknown – John Hughes, industrialist (in St Petersburg)