1984 in Wales

← 1983 1982 1981 1980 1979 1984 in Wales → 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
Centuries:	18th 19th 20th 21st
Decades:	1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s
See also:	List of years in Wales Timeline of Welsh history 1984 in The United Kingdom England Scotland Elsewhere

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1984 to Wales and its people.

Incumbents

For United Kingdom incumbents, see 1984 in the United Kingdom § Incumbents.

• Secretary of State for Wales – Nicholas Edwards^[1]
• Archbishop of Wales – Derrick Childs, Bishop of Monmouth^[2]
• Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales
  • Jâms Nicholas (outgoing)^[3]
  • Elerydd (incoming)^[4]

Events

• 2 March – Carmarthen MP Dr Roger Thomas announces his resignation, having been prosecuted for importuning.^[5]
• 12 March – The miners' strike begins, with a solid turn out from all NUM mines in Wales.^[6]
• 31 March - The Guildford Crescent Baths close in Cardiff after 122 years, despite a campaign to keep them open.^[7]
• 3 May – At the Cynon Valley by-election brought about by the death of MP Ioan Lyonel Evans, Ann Clwyd retains the seat for Labour with an increased majority.^[8]
• 19 July – The Lleyn Peninsula earthquake, which strikes the Llŷn Peninsula at 06:56 UTC (07:56 BST), measuring 5.4 on the Richter scale, is the largest known onshore earthquake to occur in the UK since instrumental measurements began.^[9]
• 4 October – Dafydd Wigley resigns as leader of Plaid Cymru for domestic reasons.^[10]
• 30 November – Taxi driver David Wilkie is killed when a concrete block is dropped onto his car as he drives a strikebreaker to work on the M4 motorway. Dean Hancock and Russell Shankland of Rhymney are later convicted of murder.^[11]
• 3 December – First McDonald's hamburger fast food restaurant in Wales opens in Cardiff.
• date unknown
  • Sam Edwards becomes Cavendish Professor of Physics at Cambridge.^[12]
  • Clive Sinclair's C5 electric vehicle is manufactured at the Hoover works in Merthyr Tydfil.^[13]
  • Border Breweries (Wrexham) ceases to brew in Wales.
  • Creation of Cadw: Welsh Historic Monuments Executive Agency.^[14]

Arts and literature

Awards

• Griff Rhys Jones wins the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best Comedy Performance for his role in Charley's Aunt.^[15]
• National Eisteddfod of Wales (held in Lampeter)
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Chair – Aled Rhys Wiliam^[16]
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Crown – John Roderick Rees^[17]
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Prose Medal – John Idris Owen^[18]
• Gwobr Goffa Daniel Owen – Richard Cyril Hughes, Castell Cyfaddawd

New books

English language

• Duncan Bush – Aquarium
• Hywel Francis – Miners Against Fascism: Wales and the Spanish Civil War
• Sian James – Dragons and Roses
• Mike Jenkins – Empire of Smoke^[19]
• Robert Minhinnick – Life Sentences
• Leslie Thomas – In My Wildest Dreams^[20]

Welsh language

• Gwynn ap Gwilym – Gwales
• Geraint H. Jenkins – Hanes Cymru yn y Cyfnod Modern Cynnar: 1530–1760
• Alun Jones – Oed Rhyw Addewid
• Gerwyn Williams – Colli cyswllt

Music

• Ar Log IV
• The Alarm – Declaration (debut studio album)
• Icons of Filth – Onward Christian Soldiers
• Shakin' Stevens records "Teardrops" with Hank Marvin on guitar.
• Phil Campbell joins Motörhead.
• First Brecon Jazz Festival staged.

Film

• Ray Milland makes his last film appearance in The Sea Serpent.
• Sian Phillips stars in Dune.
• Kevin Allen makes his big screen debut in The Man Who Shot Christmas.

Welsh-language films

• None

Broadcasting

• Gareth Gwenlan becomes Head of Comedy at the BBC.

Welsh-language television

English-language television

• The District Nurse starring Nerys Hughes^[21]

Sport

• Football – Ian Rush becomes the first Welshman to win the European Golden Boot award.
• BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year – Ian Rush^[22]
• Horse racing – Neil Doughty wins the Grand National on Hallo Dandy.

Births

• 27 February – Rhys Williams, athlete
• 9 March – Owain Wyn Evans, broadcast presenter
• 11 March – Tom James, Olympic gold medal-winning rower
• 22 June – Arron Davies, footballer
• 23 June – Duffy, singer
• 31 July – Craig Stiens, footballer
• 14 August – Rob Davies, table tennis player
• 15 September – Prince Harry, son of the Prince and Princess of Wales (Charles and Diana)^[23]
• 20 September – Byron Anthony, footballer
• 15 October – Owain Tudur Jones, footballer
• 24 November – Matthew Mason, cricketer
• date unknown – Gwawr Edwards, soprano

Deaths

• 4 January – Enoch Jenkins, sports shooter, 91^[24]
• 11 January – Gwyn Thomas, rugby player, 91
• 14 January – Ivan Lloyd-Phillips, colonial administrator, 73
• 26 January – Nathan Rocyn-Jones, doctor, international rugby player and President of the WRU, 81
• 10 February – Ioan Evans, politician, 56^[25]
• 11 April – John Lloyd Thomas, clergyman and teacher, 76^[26]
• 15 April – Tommy Cooper, comedian, 63 (heart attack on stage)^[27]
• 21 April – Wilf Hughes, cricketer, 73^[28]
• 8 May – David Williams, geologist, 85^[29]
• 20 May – Meredith Thomas, flying ace, 91^[30]
• 13 June – David Evans, microbiologist, 74^[31]
• 18 June – Idris Foster, academic, 72
• 22 June – Dill Jones, jazz pianist, 60
• 29 June – Seiriol Evans, clergyman and writer, 89^[32]
• 6 July – Denys Val Baker, British writer and promoter of Celtic culture, 66
• 30 July – Peter Jones, surgeon, 67^[33]
• 5 August – Richard Burton, actor, 58 (brain haemorrhage)^[34]
• 17 August – Mostyn Thomas, operatic baritone, 88^[35]
• 27 August – Amabel Williams-Ellis, writer, 90^[36]
• 9 September – Margaret Phillips, actress, 61^[37]
• 23 September – Daniel Granville West, politician, 80^[38]
• 12 October – Sir Anthony Berry, politician and son of Gomer Berry, 1st Viscount Kemsley, 59 (killed in Brighton hotel bombing)^[39]
• 26 October – Seaborne Davies, lawyer and politician, 80^[40]
• 18 November – Thomas Jones, Baron Maelor, politician, 86^[41]
• 11 December (in Hendon) – Will Paynter, miners' leader, 81^[42]
• date unknown – Arthur Fear, operatic bass-baritone

See also

• 1984 in Northern Ireland

References

1. Stephen Bates (19 March 2018). "Lord Crickhowell obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
2. "Bishop hat-trick at Newport Cathedral". South Wales Argus. 18 October 2013. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
3. Meic Stephens (17 October 2013). "James Nicholas: Poet, teacher and Archdruid of Wales". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
4. "WJ Gruffydd". The Independent. 20 July 2011. Archived from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
5. "Portrait of the week". The Spectator. F.C. Westley: 7. July 1984.
6. "Miners' Strike 1984-1985". Archives Hub. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
7. Deacon, Thomas (28 January 2019). "How campaigners first fought to save Cardiff's Guildford Crescent in the 1980s". Wales Online. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
8. Dod's Parliamentary Communications (1992). Bedford, Michael J. (ed.). Dod's Guide to the General Election. Dod's Parliamentary Companion. p. 57.
9. "BGS FAQ What are the largest two instrumental, onshore earthquakes?". BGS. Archived from the original on 2007-10-09.
10. Keesing's Contemporary Archives. Keesing's Limited. 1986. p. xii.
11. Winterton, Jonathan; Winterton, Ruth (1989). Coal, Crisis and Conflict: The 1984-85 Miners' Strike in Yorkshire. Manchester University Press. p. 164. ISBN 978-0-7190-2830-4.
12. "The Cavendish Professorship of Physics". University of Cambridge. Archived from the original on 3 July 2013. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
13. Neil Prior (13 July 2014). "Sinclair C5 built in Merthyr in 1984 'was ahead of its time'". BBC News. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
14. Mike Taylor (1995). World Travel Atlas. Columbus Travel Publishing. p. 67. ISBN 978-0-946393-48-0.
15. Plays. Ocean Publications. 1984. p. 4.
16. "Winners of the Chair". National Eisteddfod of Wales. 17 November 2019.
17. "Winners of the Crown". National Eisteddfod of Wales. 17 November 2019.
18. "Winners of the Prose Medal". National Eisteddfod of Wales. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
19. Matthew Jarvis (2008). Welsh Environments in Contemporary Poetry: Writing Wales in English. University of Wales Press. p. 170. ISBN 978-0-7083-2152-2.
20. Leslie Thomas (1987). The Adventures of Goodnight and Loving. Penguin Books. p. 1. ISBN 978-0-14-008672-0.
21. Michael Grade (1996). British television: an illustrated guide. Oxford University Press. p. 292. ISBN 9780198159278.
22. "BBC Wales Sport Personality winners". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
23. "Princess Di gives birth to boy". The Evening News. London. Associated Press. 16 September 1984. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
24. "Enoch Jenkins". IOC. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
25. John Graham Jones. "Evans, Ioan Lyonel (1927-1984), Labour politician". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
26. Rev J. R. Lloyd Thomas. The Times (London, England), Thursday, 19 April 1984; p. 14; Issue 61810
27. Hugh Massingberd (2006). The Spectator. F.C. Westley. p. 72.
28. "Player profile: Wilf Hughes". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
29. Who was who: A Companion to Who's Who, Containing the Biographies of Those who Died. A. & C. Black. 1981. p. 815. ISBN 978-0-7136-3336-8.
30. Barrass, M. B. "Air Vice-Marshal Meredith Thomas". Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation. Retrieved 2 April 2012.
31. Downie, A. W.; Smith, C. E. G.; Tobin, J. O. . (1985). "David Gwynne Evans. 6 September 1909-13 June 1984". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 31: 172–196. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1985.0007. JSTOR 769924.
32. The Antiquaries Journal. Oxford University Press. 1985. p. 590.
33. England, Royal College of Surgeons of (26 May 2015). "Jones, Peter Henry - Biographical entry". Plarr's Lives of the Fellows Online. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
34. J. Randy Taraborrelli (25 March 2011). Elizabeth: The Biography of Elizabeth Taylor. Pan Macmillan. p. 507. ISBN 978-1-4472-0226-4.
35. The Record Collector. J. F. E. Dennis. 1987. p. 245.
36. Roland Turner (1985). The Annual Obituary. St. Martin's. p. 456.
37. "Margaret Phillips Dies at 61; Veteran Broadway Actress" New York Times (11 September 1984).
38. John Graham Jones. "West, Daniel Granville, Baron Granville-West of Pontypool (1904-1984), Labour politician". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
39. Crown, Hannah (12 October 2009). "Brighton bombing: 25th anniversary of Sir Anthony Berry's death remembered". Thisislocallondon. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 14 October 2009.
40. Who was who: A Companion to Who's Who, Containing the Biographies of Those who Died. A. & C. Black. 1981. p. 188. ISBN 978-0-7136-3336-8.
41. John Graham Jones. "Jones, Thomas William ('Tom'), Baron Maelor of Rhos (1898-1984), Labour politician". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
42. Ann Evory; Hal May (October 1985). Contemporary Authors: A Bio-Bibliographical Guide to Current Writers. Gale. p. 350. ISBN 978-0-8103-1915-8.