1840 in Wales

Aberystwyth of 1840

← 1839 1838 1837 1836 1835 1840 in Wales → 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845
Centuries:	17th 18th 19th 20th 21st
Decades:	1820s 1830s 1840s 1850s 1860s
See also:	List of years in Wales Timeline of Welsh history 1840 in The United Kingdom Scotland Elsewhere

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1840 to Wales and its people.

Incumbents

• Lord Lieutenant of Anglesey – Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey ^{[1] [2] [3] [4]}
• Lord Lieutenant of Brecknockshire – Penry Williams ^{[5] [6]}
• Lord Lieutenant of Caernarvonshire – Peter Drummond-Burrell, 22nd Baron Willoughby de Eresby ^[7]
• Lord Lieutenant of Cardiganshire – William Edward Powell ^[2]
• Lord Lieutenant of Carmarthenshire – George Rice, 3rd Baron Dynevor
• Lord Lieutenant of Denbighshire – Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, 5th Baronet (until 6 January); Robert Myddelton Biddulph (from 8 February) ^[8]
• Lord Lieutenant of Flintshire – Robert Grosvenor, 1st Marquess of Westminster ^[9]
• Lord Lieutenant of Glamorgan – John Crichton-Stuart, 2nd Marquess of Bute ^[10]
• Lord Lieutenant of Merionethshire – Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, 5th Baronet (until 6 January); Edward Lloyd-Mostyn, 2nd Baron Mostyn (from 25 January) ^[11]
• Lord Lieutenant of Monmouthshire – Capel Hanbury Leigh ^[12]
• Lord Lieutenant of Montgomeryshire – Edward Herbert, 2nd Earl of Powis ^[13]
• Lord Lieutenant of Pembrokeshire – Sir John Owen, 1st Baronet ^[14]
• Lord Lieutenant of Radnorshire – George Rodney, 3rd Baron Rodney ^{[15] [2] [16]}

• Bishop of Bangor – Christopher Bethell ^{[17] [18]}
• Bishop of Llandaff – Edward Copleston ^[19]
• Bishop of St Asaph – William Carey ^{[20] [21] [19]}
• Bishop of St Davids – John Jenkinson (until 7 July); Connop Thirlwall (from 9 August) ^{[22] [19] [23]}

Events

• 1 January - Trial of Chartists John Frost, Zephaniah Williams and William Jones for their part in the Newport Rising of 1839 continues at Monmouth ^[24] before Chief Justice Tindal. This is the first trial where proceedings are recorded in shorthand.
• 16 January - Frost, Williams and Jones are all found guilty of high treason for their part in the Chartist riots, ^[25] and are sentenced to death - the last time the sentence of hanging, drawing and quartering is passed in the United Kingdom, although following a nationwide petitioning campaign and, extraordinarily, direct lobbying of the Home Secretary by the Lord Chief Justice, it is commuted to transportation for life (and Frost is much later pardoned).
• 5 June - Joseph Brown is appointed Vicar Apostolic of the Roman Catholic District of Wales, being consecrated as a bishop on 28 October.
• 8 October - Taff Vale Railway is officially opened, the first steam-worked passenger railway in Wales, running from Cardiff docks to Navigation House at Abercynon via the Cardiff station known in modern days as Queen Street. ^{[26] [27]} Public service begins the following day.
• 30 October - First branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Wales formed in Flintshire. ^[28]
• 18 November - The paddle steamer City of Bristol is wrecked at Llangennith, Gower, drowning about 22 people. ^[29]
• Approximate date - Rebuilding of Gregynog Hall with extensive use of concrete begins. ^[30]

Arts and literature

• An eisteddfod is held at Liverpool.

New books

English language

• Sir John Hanmer - Memorials of the Parish and Family of Hanmer
• William Lloyd - The Narrative of a Journey from Cawnpoor to the Boorendo Pass

Welsh language

• Evan Davies (Eta Delta) - Y Weinidogaeth a'r Eglwysi ^[31]
• David Price (Dewi Dinorwig) - Y Catechism Cyntaf
• Taliesin Williams - Hynafiaeth ac Awdurdodaeth Coelbren y Beirdd

Music

• John Orlando Parry - Wanted: a Governess (opera)

Births

• 7 February - Charles Warren, military and police officer and archaeologist (died 1927) ^[32]
• 21 June - Sir John Rhŷs, educationist (died 1915) ^[33]
• 16 September - Alfred Thomas, 1st Baron Pontypridd (died 1927) ^[34]
• 29 November - Rhoda Broughton, novelist (died 1920) ^[35]
• 3 December - Francis Kilvert, diarist (died 1879) ^[36]
• 5 December - John E. Jones, Welsh-born governor of Nevada (died 1896) ^[37]
• 17 December - Matthew Vaughan-Davies, 1st Baron Ystwyth, politician (died 1935) ^[38]

Deaths

• 6 January - Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, 5th Baronet, politician and soldier, 67 ^[39]
• 17 March - William Williams of Wern, 58 ^[40]
• 19 May - John Blackwell (Alun), poet, 42? ^[41]
• 7 July - John Jenkinson, Bishop of St Davids, 58 ^[42]
• 17 December - George Hay Dawkins-Pennant, politician, 76 ^[43]

See also

• 1840 in Ireland

References

1. Edward Breese (1873). Kalendars of Gwynedd; or, Chronological lists of lords-lieutenant [&c.] ... for the counties of Anglesey, Caernarvon, and Merioneth. p. 24.
2. J.C. Sainty (1979). List of Lieutenants of Counties of England and Wales 1660-1974. London: Swift Printers (Sales) Ltd.
3. Nicholas, Thomas (1991). Annals and antiquities of the counties and county families of Wales. Baltimore: Genealogical Pub. Co. p. 695. ISBN   9780806313146.
4. Cylchgrawn Hanes Cymru. University of Wales Press. 1992. p. 169.
5. "Penpont including attached conservatory and rear service ranges". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
6. Edwin Poole (1886). The Illustrated History and Biography of Brecknockshire from the Earliest Times to the Present Day: Containing the General History, Antiquities, Sepulchral Monuments and Inscriptions. Edwin Poole. p. 378.
7. Edward Breese (1873). Kalendars of Gwynedd; or, Chronological lists of lords-lieutenant [&c.] ... for the counties of Anglesey, Caernarvon, and Merioneth. p. 26.
8. "Myddelton Biddulph, Robert (1805-1872), of Chirk Castle, Denb. and 35 Grosvenor Place, Mdx". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
9. "not known". Old Wales: Monthly Magazine of Antiquities for Wales and the Borders. 3. "Old Wales" Office: 106. 1907.
10. Nicholas, Thomas (1991). Annals and antiquities of the counties and county families of Wales. Baltimore: Genealogical Pub. Co. p. 612. ISBN   9780806313146.
11. Edward Breese (1873). Kalendars of Gwynedd; or, Chronological lists of lords-lieutenant [&c.] ... for the counties of Anglesey, Caernarvon, and Merioneth. p. 29.
12. Amy Audrey Locke (1916). The Hanbury Family. Arthur L. Humphreys. p. 147.
13. Evan David Jones (1959). "Herbert family (earls of Powis)". Dictionary of Welsh Biography . National Library of Wales . Retrieved 30 November 2021.
14. Thorne, R.G. "John Owen (1776-1861) of Orielton, Pembrokeshire". History of Parliament. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
15. Jonathan Williams (1859). The History of Radnorshire. R. Mason. p. 115.
16. William Stockdale (1833). Stockdale's Peerage of the United Kingdom. p. 86.
17. Fryde, E. B. (1996). Handbook of British chronology. Cambridge England: New York Cambridge University Press. p. 292. ISBN   9780521563505.
18. Thomas Duffus Hardy (1854). Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae: Or A Calendar of the Principal Ecclesiastical Dignitaries in England and Wales... University Press. p. 305.
19. Thomas Duffus Hardy (1854). Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae: Or A Calendar of the Principal Ecclesiastical Dignitaries in England and Wales... University Press. p. 307.
20.  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : "Carey, William (1769-1846)". Dictionary of National Biography . London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
21. The Apostolical Succession in the Church of England. James Parkes and Company. 1866. p. 15.
22. Old Yorkshire, volume 3. 1882. p. 90.
23. The Monthly Review Or Literary Journal Enlarged. Porter. 1780. p. 95.
24. Frost, John (1839). Trial of John Frost for high treason: revised by a Barrister. p. 19.
25. Maunder, Samuel; Cox, George William (1856). The Treasury of History (New ed.). Longman & Co. pp. 499–.
26. Barrie, D. S. (1950). The Taff Vale Railway. Oakwood Press.
27. Edward Cresy (1847). An Encyclopædia of Civil Engineering, Historical, Theoretical, and Practical. Paternoster-Row: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans. pp.  595.
28. "Wales" . Retrieved 10 June 2014.
29. Bennett, Tom. Shipwrecks for Walkers 1: A Walkers Guide to Beach Wrecks Around Britain. Author. p. 28.
30. Hughes, Glyn Tegai; Morgan, Prys; Thomas, J. Gareth (1977). Gregynog. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. ISBN   978-0-7083-0634-5.
31. Richard Griffith Owen (1959). "Davies, Evan (Eta Delta; 1794-1855), Independent minister". Dictionary of Welsh Biography . National Library of Wales . Retrieved 5 December 2021.
32. The International Who's who: Who's who in the World. International Who's Who Publishing Company. 1910. p. 213.
33. Fraser, J., & Williams, M. (2006, May 25). Rhŷs [formerly Rees], Sir John (1840–1915), Celtic scholar. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 10 Dec. 2025, from https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-35734.
34. Benjamin George Owens. "Thomas, Alfred, baron Pontypridd (1840-1927), of Bronwydd, Cardiffaccess-date=10 December 2025". Dictionary of Welsh Biography . National Library of Wales.
35. Broughton, Rhoda (March 2010). Cometh Up As A Flower. Broadview Press. p. 9. ISBN   978-1-77048-295-1.
36. Quesne, A. L. (1978). After Kilvert. Oxford England New York: Oxford University Press. p. 2. ISBN   9780192117489.
37. "John Edward Jones". National Governors Association. Retrieved 10 December 2025.
38. "Ystwyth, 1st Baron cr 1921, of Tan-y-Bwlch, (Matthew Lewis Vaughan-Davies) (17 Dec. 1840–21 Aug. 1935)". WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
39. "Williams Wynn, Sir Watkin, 5th Bt. (1772-1840), of Wynnstay, Denb". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
40. Edwin Augustine Owen. "Preece, Sir William Henry (1834-1913), electrical engineer". Dictionary of Welsh Biography . National Library of Wales. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
41. "Blackwell, John (Alun; 1797-1840), cleric and poet". Dictionary of Welsh Biography . National Library of Wales . Retrieved 10 December 2025.
42. Fryde, E. B. (1996). Handbook of British chronology. Cambridge England: New York Cambridge University Press. p. 299. ISBN   9780521563505.
43. "Dawkins Pennant, George Hay (1764–1840), of Penrhyn Castle, Caern., History of Parliament Online" . Retrieved 10 June 2016.