1965 in Wales

← 1964 1963 1962 1961 1960 1965 in Wales → 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970
Centuries:	18th 19th 20th 21st
Decades:	1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s
See also:	List of years in Wales Timeline of Welsh history 1965 in The United Kingdom Scotland Elsewhere

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1965 to Wales and its people.

Incumbents

For United Kingdom incumbents, see 1965 in the United Kingdom § Incumbents.

• Secretary of State for Wales – Jim Griffiths
• Archbishop of Wales – Edwin Morris, Bishop of Monmouth
• Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales – Cynan

Events

• May – Opening of Llandegfedd Reservoir by Newport Corporation. ^[1]
• 17 May – Thirty-one miners are killed in a mining accident at the Cambrian Colliery, Clydach Vale, Rhondda.
• 24 May – The first drive-on car ferry service between Fishguard and Rosslare Harbour (Ireland) officially opens.
• 15 June – The Hughes-Parry Committee submits its report on the legal status of the Welsh language. ^[2]
• 21 October – Official opening of Llyn Celyn reservoir.
• 17 December – A landslide on the main railway line at Bridgend kills a train driver and co-driver.
• unknown dates
  • Foundation of Undeb y Cymraeg Byw ("Union of Living Welsh").
  • Mount Stuart Primary School, Cardiff, appoints Betty Campbell, the first black female head teacher in Wales ^[3]

Arts and literature

Awards

• National Eisteddfod of Wales (held in Newtown, Montgomeryshire)
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Chair – William David Williams
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Crown – Tom Parri Jones
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Prose Medal – Eigra Lewis Roberts

New books

English language

• Peter Bryan George – Commander-1
• Julian Mitchell – The White Father

Welsh language

• Bedwyr Lewis Jones (ed.) – Blodeugerdd o'r Bedwaredd Ganrif ar Bymtheg
• Gwilym Meredydd Jones – Dawns yr Ysgubau

Music

• 12 December – The Beatles' last live U.K. tour concludes with two performances at the Capitol, Cardiff. ^[4]
• Tom Jones releases the film theme, "What's New Pussycat?" as a single.
• Rockfield Studios (near Rockfield, Monmouthshire) becomes the world's first residential recording studio.

Film

• Richard Burton stars in The Spy Who Came in from the Cold , for which he would be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor. ^[5]
• Glynis Johns stars in Mary Poppins .
• Tryweryn, the Story of a Valley (film made by Friars School, Bangor). ^[6]

Theatre

• 26 March – Harold Pinter's play The Homecoming has its world première at the New Theatre, Cardiff. ^[7]

Broadcasting

• February - BBC2 is received in South Wales for the first time, as a result of a new transmitter. ^[8]
• date unknown - Arwel Hughes becomes Head of Music at BBC Wales. ^[9]

Welsh-language television

• Dafydd Iwan begins appearing regularly on TWW's Y Dydd. ^[10]

English-language television

• As I See It, presented by Gwyn Thomas

Sport

• Rugby union – Wales win the Triple Crown for the first time in 13 years.
• BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year – Clive Rowlands ^[11]

Births

• 5 January – Vinnie Jones, footballer (in Watford, England) ^[12]
• 22 February – Steve Speirs, born Steven Roberts, actor
• 2 March (in Bangor, County Down) – Lembit Öpik, politician
• 6 March – Allan Bateman, rugby player
• 1 April – Alexandra Shân "Tiggy" Legge-Bourke, royal nanny ^[13]
• 9 April – Colin Pascoe, footballer
• April – Manon Antoniazzi, née Jenkins, Chief Executive and Clerk of the Senedd
• 3 May – Rob Brydon, comedian and actor ^[14]
• 8 May – Andy Dibble, footballer
• 11 May – Jeremy Goss, footballer
• 16 May – Vincent Regan, actor
• 25 August – David Taylor, soccer player and manager
• 13 September – Andrew Williams, cricketer
• 16 October – Floyd Havard, British super-featherweight boxing champion
• 30 October – Michael Tremellen, cricketer
• 9 November – Bryn Terfel, bass-baritone singer ^[15]
• date unknown – Patrick Jones, poet and author

Deaths

• 7 January – Sarah Edwards, actress, 83 ^[16]
• 18 January – Ernest Evans, politician, 79 ^[17]
• 29 January – T. Harri Jones, poet and academic, 43 (suicide) ^[18]
• 4 February
  • Hugh Morriston Davies, thoracic surgeon, 85 ^[19]
  • Llywelyn Williams, politician, 53 ^[20]
• 5 February – Sir David Brunt, meteorologist, 78 ^[21]
• 1 April – Sir John William Bowen, trade unionist and politician, 88 ^[22]
• 22 April – Glyn Stephens, Wales international rugby union captain, 73
• 3 May – Howard Spring, novelist, 76 ^[23]
• 29 May – Steve Morris, Wales international rugby player, 68
• 16 June – Dai Parker, Wales and British Lion rugby player, 60
• 17 July (in Scarborough) – Dan Lewis, footballer
• 18 August – Christmas Price Williams, politician, 83 ^[24]
• 24 August – Elvyn Bowen, cricketer, 58
• 30 August – Llew Edwards, boxer, 72
• 11 September – Trevor Preece, cricketer, 82
• 1 October – Gareth Hughes, actor, 71 ^[25]
• 9 October – Russell Taylor, Wales international rugby player, 50
• 16 October – Hywel Davies, radio broadcaster, television interviewer and writer, 46 ^[26]
• 22 October – William Williams, Victoria Cross recipient, 75 ^[27]
• 31 October – John Roberts, Wales international rugby player, 59
• 4 November – Ifor Williams, academic, 84 ^[28]
• 8 November – George Hall, politician, 83 ^[29]
• 23 November – Murray Humphreys, Chicago mobster of Welsh descent, 66 ^[30]
• 26 December – Llewelyn Alberic Emilius Price-Davies, Victoria Cross recipient, 87 ^[31]
• 29 December – Claude Warner, cricketer, 83

See also

• 1965 in Northern Ireland

References

1. Davis, Haydn. "Chronology of the Twentieth Century". Newport Past. Retrieved 2015-03-08.
2. Hansard 1965.
3. "Wales's First Black Headteacher commemorated in striking artwork". Cardiff Newsroom. 28 February 2023. Retrieved 2 October 2024.
4. "Live: Capitol Cinema, Cardiff". The Beatles Bible. 1965-12-12. Retrieved 2014-02-19.
5. "The 38th Academy Awards 1966". Oscars. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
6. "Tryweryn, the Story of a Valley". BFI Online. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
7. Nightingale, Benedict (1965-03-27). "review: The Homecoming at Cardiff". The Guardian . p. 6.
8. David Maxwell Barlow; Tom O'Malley; Philip Mitchell (2005). The media in Wales: voices of a small nation. University of Wales Press. p. 131. ISBN   978-0-7083-1840-9.
9. Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons (1965). Parliamentary Papers, House of Commons and Command. H.M. Stationery Office.
10. Jamie Medhurst (1 June 2010). A History of Independent Television in Wales. University of Wales Press. p. 140. ISBN   978-0-7083-2308-3.
11. "BBC Wales Sport Personality winners". BBC Sport. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
12. Vinnie Jones (17 July 2014). It's Been Emotional. Simon and Schuster. pp. 9–. ISBN   978-1-4711-2759-5.
13. Francis Wheen (2002). Hoo-hahs and Passing Frenzies: Collected Journalism, 1991-2001 . Atlantic. ISBN   978-1-903809-42-6.
14. Rob Brydon (2012). Small Man in a Book. Penguin Books, Limited. p. 8. ISBN   978-0-241-95482-9.
15. "Bryn Terfel: who is the Welsh bass-baritone?". Classic-FM. Retrieved 12 August 2025.
16. Evelyn Mack Truitt (1 July 1977). Who was who on screen. Bowker. p. 139. ISBN   978-0-8352-0914-4.
17. Evan David Jones. "Evans, Ernest (1885-1965), county court judge, M.P." Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
18. Belinda Humfrey (March 1995). 'Fire green as grass': studies of the creative impulse in Anglo-Welsh poetry and short stories of the twentieth century. Gomer. p. 112. ISBN   978-1-85902-168-2.
19. Emyr Wyn Jones. "Davies, Hugh Morriston (1879-1965), probably the most outstanding pioneer of thoracic surgery in Britain". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
20. Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons (1964). Journals of the House of Commons. order of the House of Commons. p. 124.
21. Indian Journal of Meteorology & Geophysics. India Meteorological Department. 1965. p. 527.
22. "Obituary: Sir William Bowen", The Times, 2 April 1965
23. Marion Ursula Howard Spring (1967). Howard. Collins. p. 13.
24. John Graham Jones. "Williams, Christmas Price (1881-1965), politician and engineer". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
25. John A. Willis (1983). Screen World. Crown Publishers. p. 237.
26. Williams, Griffith John. "Hywel Davies". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
27. Max Arthur (2005). Symbol of Courage: The Men Behind the Medal. Pan Macmillan. p. 684. ISBN   978-0-330-49133-4.
28. British Academy (2002). Interpreters of Early Medieval Britain. British Academy. p. 304. ISBN   978-0-19-726277-1.
29. Frank C. Roberts (1961). Obituaries from the Times. Newspaper Archive Developments Limited. p. 335.
30. Virgil W. Peterson (1983). The Mob: 200 Years of Organized Crime in New York . Green Hill Publishers. p.  416. ISBN   978-0-89803-123-2.
31. Max Arthur (2005). Symbol of Courage: The Men Behind the Medal. Pan Macmillan. p. 671. ISBN   978-0-330-49133-4.