1996 in Wales

← 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1996 in Wales → 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
Centuries:	18th 19th 20th 21st
Decades:	1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s
See also:	List of years in Wales Timeline of Welsh history 1996 in The United Kingdom England Scotland Elsewhere

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1996 to Wales and its people.

Incumbents

• Secretary of State for Wales – William Hague
• Archbishop of Wales – Alwyn Rice Jones, Bishop of St Asaph
• Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales
  • John Gwilym Jones (outgoing)
  • Dafydd Rowlands (incoming)

Events

• 1 January - Michael German is awarded the OBE for his public and political service. ^[1]
• 15 February - The Sea Empress, an oil tanker, runs aground off Milford Haven, causing devastation to the west Wales coastline. ^[2]
• 1 April - The Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 comes into force, creating 22 unitary authorities. ^[3]
• 3 April - The first EuroHowl is held in Aberystwyth, Wales.
• 29 June - The Prince's Trust concert in Hyde Park, London is attended by 150,000 people. ^[4]
• 18 July - Howard Hughes is sentenced to life imprisonment at Chester Crown Court for the rape and murder of 7-year-old Sophie Hook at Llandudno 12 months previously. The trial judge recommends that Hughes, 31, should never be released. ^[5]
• 28 August - The Prince and Princess of Wales, are formally divorced at the High Court of Justice in London, the first time in history that a Prince of Wales has successfully gone through a divorce. By negotiation, Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales is restyled, Diana, Princess of Wales.
• November - The Owain Glyndŵr Society is founded.
• date unknown
  • The Church in Wales ordains its first women priests.
  • South Wales Constabulary changes its name to South Wales Police.

Arts and literature

• Sir Anthony Hopkins opens the Cliff Tucker Theatre at the University of Wales, Lampeter.
• Alice Thomas Ellis is dismissed as a columnist on the Catholic Herald newspaper because of her attack on the reputation of the late Archbishop Derek Worlock.
• Steve Balsamo stars in a West End revival of Jesus Christ Superstar .

Awards

• Glyndŵr Award - Jan Morris
• National Eisteddfod of Wales (held in Ffairfach, near Llandeilo)
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Chair - R. O. Williams ^[6]
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Crown - David John Pritchard ^[7]
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Prose Medal - withheld
• Wales Book of the Year:
  • English language: Nigel Jenkins, Gwalia in Khasia
  • Welsh language:
• Gwobr Goffa Daniel Owen - Eirug Wyn, Smoc Gron Bach

New books

• Ron Berry - This Bygone
• Ruth Bidgood - The Fluent Moment
• Gillian Clarke - The Whispering Room
• Keith Kissack - The Lordship, Parish and Borough of Monmouth
• Howard Marks - Mr Nice
• Kenneth Morris - The Dragon Path
• Tim Rishton - Liturgisk orgelspill

Film

• Prince Valiant filmed at Gwrych Castle.

Music

• John Cale - Walking on Locusts
• Peter Maxwell Davies - The Doctor of Myddfai (opera)
• Gillian Elisa - Rhywbeth yn y Glas.
• Karl Jenkins - Diamond Music
• Donna Lewis - Now in a Minute
• Super Furry Animals - Fuzzy Logic.

Broadcasting

• The Broadcasting Act 1996 changes the funding formula for S4C.

Welsh-language television

• Heno (Welsh-language news programme, broadcast until 2001 and returned in 2012).

English-language television

• Barry Welsh is Coming
• In the Blood, presented by Steve Jones

Sport

• BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year – Ryan Giggs ^[8]
• Football
  • The Welsh Football Trust is founded.
  • Llansantffraid F.C. win the Welsh Cup and are offered sponsorship by Total Network Solutions.
• Snooker
  • Mark Williams wins the Welsh Open tournament in Cardiff. ^[9]

Births

• 25 February - Laura Halford, rhythmic gymnast
• 25 April - Kizzy Crawford, Bajan-Welsh folk-pop crossover singer-songwriter
• 17 May - Seb Davies, rugby player
• 25 July - Jarrod Evans, rugby player
• 1 August - Gemma Evans, footballer
• 14 September - Shaun Evans, rugby player
• 2 October - Keston Davies, footballer
• 28 November - Owen Evans, footballer

Deaths

• 16 January - Dai Ward, footballer, 61
• 7 March - Aled Eames, historian, 74 ^[10]
• 11 March - Sir Granville Beynon, physicist, 81 ^[11]
• 14 March - Dewi Bebb, Wales rugby union player, 57 ^[12]
• 16 March - Harry Peacock, Wales rugby union player, 87
• 14 April - Mervyn Levy, artist and critic, 81 ^[13]
• 7 May - Taffy Williams, soldier, 62
• 27 July - Billy Rees, footballer, 72
• 29 August - Dillwyn Thomas, cricketer, 91
• 5 September - Clem Thomas, rugby player, 67
• 24 September - I. E. S. Edwards, Egyptologist, 87
• 26 October - Huw Owen, theologian and academic, 69 ^[14]
• 10 November - Dafydd Orwig, politician and academic, 68 ^[15]
• 9 December
  • Diana Morgan, playwright and screenwriter, 86
  • Ivor Roberts-Jones, sculptor, 83 ^[16]
• 29 December - Pennar Davies, poet and theologian, 85
• date unknown
  • Thomas Nathaniel Davies, artist and teacher ^[17]
  • Thomas David Frank Evans, WWII prisoner-of-war
  • Harry Hanford, footballer, 88
  • Thyrza Anne Leyshon, painter, 103

See also

• 1996 in Northern Ireland

References

1. "No. 54255". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 1995. p. 11.
2. "In detail: The Sea Empress disaster". BBC News. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
3. Neil Hawke (17 October 2013). Introduction to Administrative Law. Routledge. p. 41. ISBN   978-1-135-35177-9.
4. Geoffrey Giuliano (2002). Behind Blue Eyes: The Life of Pete Townshend. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 311. ISBN   978-0-8154-1070-6.
5. "Life for child murderer". Financial Times . London. 19 July 1996. p. 1. ProQuest   248284536.(subscription required)
6. BBC - Eisteddfod Chair Winners. Accessed 26 August 2013
7. BBC - Eisteddfod Crown Winners. Accessed 26 August 2013
8. "BBC Wales Sport Personality winners". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
9. "Regal Welsh". snooker.org. 21 April 2012.
10. Basil Greenhill (15 March 1996). "Obituary:Aled Eames". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
11. John Meurig Thomas (16 March 1996). "Obituary:Professor Sir Granville Beynon". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
12. Robert Cole (15 March 1996). "Obituary:Dewi Bebb" . The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
13. Ceri Levy (17 May 1996). "Obituary:Mervyn Levy" . The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
14. Knibb, Michael (2 December 1996). "Obituary: The Rev Professor Huw Parri Owen". The Independent . findarticles.com. Retrieved 5 March 2009.^{[ permanent dead link ‍]}
15. D. Ben Rees (21 November 1996). "Obituary:Dafydd Orwig". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
16. Who was who. St. Martin's Press. 1996. p. 307. ISBN   978-0-312-29366-6.
17. Philip Vann (2004). Face to Face: British Self-portraits in the Twentieth Century. Sansom. p. 143.