1707: EDWARD LHUYD'S "ARCHAEOLGIA BRITANNIA"
Edward Lhuyd, of Llandorda, Oswestry, was regarded as the finest natural scientist in Europe. Keeper of the Ashmolean Museum Oxford, his notes for a new edition of Camden's 1586 "Britannia" are an outstanding contribution to the history of topographical and archaeological studies in Britain. In 1707, Lhuyd published his own book in which he desired to put objective truth above the current fad for romantic antiquarianism.
1716: THEOPHILUS EVANS "DRYCH Y PRIF OESOEDD" (Mirror the First Age)
Evans was alarmed at the rise of nonconformity that he felt was destroying many ancient Welsh traditions. His book recounts the history of the Welsh people all the way from the Tower of Babel to Llywelyn ap Gruffudd's death in 1282. He retells some of the great myths of Welsh history such as the descent from Noah's grandson Gomer, the founding of Britain by Brutus of Troy, and the betrayal of the Britons by Hengist. Written in their own language, the book gave the Welsh people a sense of their own unique history.
1717: "TREASURES OF THE ANCIENT AGES" (Lewis Morris)
Continuing the appeal to the classical past, Lewis Morris, anxious to counter the appeal of English books to Welsh readers, also produced books in Welsh that were designed to entertain. His "Tlysau yr Hen Oesoedd" was the first Welsh periodical, containing much-needed light-hearted verse and prose.
1718: PRINTING PRESS SET UP AT TRFHEDYN, CARDIGANSHIRE
Over 500 books were printed in the Welsh language at Trefhedyn and at another press set up in 1721 at Carmarthen. Most of these were translation of religious works in English, but the production of so many cheap catechisms and prayer books had the unintended effect of helping ensure the survival of the Welsh language.
1723: "MONA ANTIQUA RESTAURATA" PUBLISHED IN LONDON
One of the results of this book of Henry Rowlands, in which he surveys the antiquities of his native Anglesey, was to set in motion a "druid fad" that became highly popular in London and that resulted, eventually, not only in misconceptions about role of the druids in Welsh history, but also in the colorful (and very popular) shenanigans of the present day ceremonies of the Gorsedd.
1729: WESLH SOCIET ESTABLISHED IN PHILADELPHIA
In addition to religious persecution, land enclosures in Wales sent whole villages fleeing to the New World, especially to an area near Philadelphia, where Welsh books had been published as early as 1721 and where the St. David's Society was established in 1729, the oldest of its kind in North America.
1735: HYWEL HARRIS CONVERTS TO METHODISM
Because of his tireless work on behalf of his new-found faith and his zeal in converting others, Harris has been given the title of "father of Methodism in Wales." He worked closely with other religious enthusiasts such as Daniel Rowland, William Williams, Peter Williams and the English evangelist John Wesley.
1740: GRIFFITH JONES' "WELCH PIETY"
In publishing his "Welsh Piety", Griffith Jones stressed the need for the people of Wales to be able to read the Scriptures for themselves. Married to the sister of John Philips (one of the founders of SPCK), Jones helped set up schools in almost every parish in Wales. Evening classes were also set up for laborers and farm workers. These "circulating schools" became one of the great success stories in the long history of the country, acquainting much of the population with the literary language of the Bible and making Wales one of the most literate countries in Europe. Professor John Davies points out that Empress Catherine of Russia commissioned reports on the schools in Wales in 1764 as did UNESCO in 1955.
1751: THE HONOURABLE SOCIETY OF THE CYMMRODORION FOUNDED
There is a Welsh expression that translates as "the best Welshman is one who lives outside Wales." In the middle of the 18th century, most of the advocates of Welsh nationhood lived in London where the Cymmrodorion was founded by Richard Morris after the travels of such writers as Daniel Defoe and Samuel Johnson had toured Wales and stirred up interest in all things Celtic. Morris saw the need for an organization that could give the Welsh people a strong voice in the social and cultural affairs of the British nation The appetites of the London Welsh were also whetted after the unfortunate forgeries of James Macpherson's "Songs of Ossian" with what results we shall see later.
1760: JOHN GUEST ARRIVES AT DOWLAIS
An industrial enterprise begun in 1748 at Dowlais, near Merthyr, came under the directorship of John Guest (husband of Lady Llanover) in 1761 and within a few years was producing over 5,000 tons of iron a year. It was the beginning of Merthyr's phenomenal growth as one of the leading iron manufacturing centers of the world. Another industrialist, Anthony Bacon, built a road from Merthyr to Cardiff in 1867. When Bacon's works at Cyfartha came into the possession of Richard Crawshay in 1794, a dynasty was established that lasted well into this century.
1761: JOHN WILKINSON COMES TO BERSHAM
Bersham, a small village near Wrexham in Clwyd, holds special importance for economic historians, for not only did it house the workshops of the skilled Davies Brothers, it was one of the cradles of the Industrial Revolution. This is the place where British iron making began in 1670, where smelting iron ore with coke began in 1721, and where John "Iron-Mad" Wilkinson set up shop in 1761. For many years the area was one of the most important iron manufacturing centers in the world. The Bersham Industrial Center tells the story of the man who bored cannon for the American War of Independence and cylinders for James Watts' revolutionary steam engine that changed the face of the modern world.
1762: "CANIADAU Y RHAI SYDD AR Y MOR O WYDR" PUBLISHED
William Williams' collection of hymns, translated as "Songs of Those that are on the Sea of Glass", is a collection of 130 hymns that constitute the great classical body of Welsh hymnody by one of its greatest writers. William Williams' "Pantycelyn" was converted by Hwyel Harris and through his hymnologies helped give the fledgling Methodist Movement a firm literary base. Perhaps his most well-known hymn is "Guide me, O thou Great Jehovah" (usually sung in Wales to the tune "Cwm Rhondda". Williams inspired many of his contemporaries, including Dafydd Jones, who translated many of the hymns of Isaac Watts, David Williams of "Ebenezer" fame, Peter Jones and David Charles (brother of Thomas) who wrote the stirring hymn "Llef".
1763: GORONWY OWEN'S WORK PUBLISHED
The drunken escapades and profligacy of the lifestyle of Goronwy Owen, who emigrated to take up a teaching post at William and Mary College in Virginia in 1757 read like the history of an early Dylan Thomas. Yet, like his 12th century counterpart, the earlier poet left behind some outstanding works of literature.
Before emigrating, Owen had taken upon himself the task of reviving Welsh poetry by writing his awdlau and cywyddau in the manner of the classical poets, notably Horace. He also planned a Welsh epic in the style of Milton, the composition of which occupied many 19th century Welsh poets greatly influenced by the form and content of Owen's work. Much of Owen's poetry was published in the anthology "Diddanwch Teuluaidd" in 1763 and again in 1817. A plaque installed by the NWAF at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg commemorates the memory of this brilliant, if eccentric literary figure who spend the last years of his life as tobacco planter and a vicar in St. Andrew's Parish, Virginia.
1764: "SOME SPECIMENS OF THE POETRY OF THE ANCIENT WELSH BARDS"
Evan Evans published this result of his tireless research into the ancient manuscripts. He was also responsible for the preservation of so many priceless medieval Welsh literary works such as "The Red Book of Hergest" that alerted the literary world to the glories of much hitherto-unknown Welsh literature. It was Evans (Ieuan Brydydd Hir) who discovered and published the work of Taliesin and "Y Gododdin" of Aneirin.
1768: COPPER ORE MINED AT MYNYDD PARYS, ANGLESSEY
The copper industry, begun at Holywell in Flintshire around 1750, could now use Welsh ore mined at Parys Mountain. Huge copper works were built first at Holywell in the North and then at Swansea in the South (by Thomas Williams), leading to an industry that controlled half the world's production by the end of the century. In the hinterland of Swansea, the Tawe Valley's hell-like appearance marked its position as the leading copper producer in Britain if not the entire world.
1770: THE PETER WILLIAMS BIBLE
The very first edition of the Welsh Bible to be printed in Wales was that of Peter Williams at Carmarthen in 1770 by John Ross. Popular throughout the 19th century, and reprinted many times, it had pride of place in most Welsh homes where it became a standard possession (for his translation of the Bible, Williams was excommunicated for heresy in 1791).
1770: THE GWYNEDDIGION IN LONDON FOUNDED
The Gwyneddigion was founded by two prominent Welshmen in London, Edward Jones and Edward Williams (Iolo Morgannwg) with aims similar to that of the Cymmrodorion. It is to stone-mason Williams that we owe the elaborate ceremonies of the modern eisteddfod, for he invented many "traditions" he felt belonged to such an ancient Celtic race such as the Welsh, and who had either lost them or who had not enjoyed them in the first place.
1776: RICHARD PRICE PUBLISHES "THE NATURE OF CIVIL LIBERTY"
Price, a prolific author of books on divinity and theology, is best known for his "Observations on the Nature of Civil Liberty" in which he fervently supported the right of the American colonies to independence. For his work, Price was honoured in both England and America, where he was offered citizenship. On October 6, 1778, The American Congress resolved: "That the Honourable Benjamin Franklin, Arthur Lee and John Adams . . . to apply to Dr. Price, and inform him that it is the Desire of Congress to consider him as a Citizen of the United States, and to receive his Assistance in regulating their Finances."
Price's ideas were indeed revolutionary: he urged that governments create a surplus of revenue over expenditure, allow it to build at compound interest and retire the public debt. He also had the startling idea that British MP's were simply trustees to carry out the wishes of their constituents and that communities such as Wales had the right to govern themselves.
1778: THOMAS PENNANT'S TOURS IN WALES
This was the first of Pennant's tours (the second was published in 1781) that helped spread the word about the intellectual and literary treasures to be found in the practically unknown country to the west of Offa's Dyke. Professor Davies sees this as the beginning of a Celtomania affecting English literary society at the close of the century. From 1770 to 1815, over 80 books were published describing tours in Wales, where the superb mountain scenery was now to be admired, not scorned as barbaric and untamed. Landscape artists such as Richard Wilson added their talents to the pool of praise; even the great Turner painted romantic Welsh mountain scenes.
1782: DAVID WILLIAMS PUBLISHES "LETTERS ON POLITICAL LIBERTY"
The essays of David Williams, in which he advocated radical political reform, like those of Richard Price, put him way ahead of his time. Many of his ideas were later adopted by the Chartists whose activities so frightened those in the establishment in the mid-1800's.
1784: HENRY CORT'S IRON PUDDLING ADOPTED AT MERTHYR TYDFIL
The method of puddling iron, invented in Hampshire by Henry Cort in 1783, ensured that, no longer reliant on charcoal, the iron industry could find a perfect home in the Southeastern valleys of Wales with their vast supplies of bituminous or semi-bituminous coal. Merthyr quickly became the home of industrial giants such as John Guest, Richard Crawshay, and the Homfrays. By 1827, the South Wales iron industry was producing one half of Britain's exports. The peaceful, verdant valleys of the South began their rapid transformation.
1784: THOMAS CHARLES CONVERTS
Charles is credited with setting up the successful Sunday School movement in North Wales that had such a profound and lasting influence on the language and culture of that region; an influence that is still a constant source of wonder to monoglot English-speaking Welshmen and women from other parts of Wales, not to mention visitors from other parts of the British Isles. Under Charles' leadership, the British and Foreign Bible Society published the standardized text of their first Welsh Bible, and the SPCK its edition of the New Testament. Another major achievement was the "Thomas Charles Bible" published in 1814.
1788: THE FIRST WELSH PEOPLE ARRIVE DOWN UNDER
The first Welsh people to arrive in the new colony of Australia were guests of the "First Fleet." They were convicts: two men and two women. Before that, the medical officer on Captain Cook's ship the Discovery, was Dafydd Ddu Feddyg (Black David the Doctor). In the 1830's more convicts arrived, including Lewis Lewis, sentenced following the Merthyr Riots and John Frost, following the Newport Rising. Perhaps the most famous of all the Welsh immigrants to arrive "Down Under" was Joseph Jenkins, who left Wales because of a nagging wife and whose exploits as "the jolly swagman" of the popular song has earned him a prominent place in the pantheon of Australian folk heroes.
1790: RICHARD PENNANT'S ROAD TO THE COAST
The growth of the North Wales slate industry was ensured by the building of a road from the inland quarries to the coast at Port Penrhyn, near Bangor by capitalist Richard Pennant. Such ports also helped in the growth of the Welsh maritime industry, an important part of the country's economy, especially in the export of the products of the burgeoning Welsh woolen industry.
1790-1800: THE GREAT ERA OF CANAL BUILDING IN WALES
To link the iron works of the Merthyr district to the port of Cardiff, a series of canals was constructed in the 1790's. By 1800, the towns of Swansea, Neath, Cardiff and Newport had all been linked to the coalfields by these canals. In North Wales, the completion of Telford's 1007 ft-long Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, a stupendous feat of contemporary engineering, carried the Shropshire Union Canal across the River Dee at a height of over 120 feet in a leak-proof, cast-iron trough supported by 19 piers.
1792: THE REVIVAL OF THE ANCIENT EISTEDDFOD
An article in "The Gentleman's Magazine" of October, 1792 noted the following: "This being the day on which the autumnal equinox occurred, some Welsh bards, resident in London, assembled in congress on Primrose Hill, according to ancient usage. Present at the meeting was Edward Jones who had published his "The Musical and Poetical Reelicks of the Welsh Bards" in 1784 in a belated effort to try to preserve the native Welsh traditions being so ruthlessly stamped out by the new breed of Methodists.
It was also in 1792 that Sir William Jones (whose study of Sanskrit led him to discover the link between Welsh and other Indo-European languages), announced the discovery of America by Prince Madoc 300 years before the voyages of Columbus.
1793: REVOLT AT SWANSEA
Not all was peaceful in Wales despite the country being favorably compared in "The Cambrian" to Scotland and Ireland with their history of "riot and commotion." Some time in 1793, several hundred copperworkers and colliers marched on Swansea protesting the high price of grain, cheese and butter and demanding higher wages. They got nowhere in their demands, but it was a foretaste of later industrial disputes.
1793-94: PUBLICATION OF THE FIRST WELSH PERIODICAL
Supported by members of the Gwyneddigion, Morgan John Rhys of Llanbradach, Glamorgan, published five issues of "Cylchgrawn Cymmraeg" (Welsh Magazine) expressing the rather radical ideas of the need for education, social reform and freedom of conscience. Rhys later emigrated to found the Welsh settlement of Beulah in Pennsylvania.
1793-1818: ENCLOSURES OF LAND
Though the process of enclosing land had been going on for centuries, the process was vastly speeded up during the years following 1793 when Parliament passes almost a 100 acts authorizing the enclosure of 80,000 hectares of land in Wales (a hectare is 2.471 acres). More and more of these lands came into the possession of those who already owned wealthy estates. Many Welsh people were forced to emigrate overseas or move to such rapidly-growing industrial districts around Merthyr or into its adjoining valleys.
1794: THE GLAMORGAN CANAL LINKS MERTHYR TO CARDIFF
Cardiff was already the main centre for exporting Welsh coal to the Britain's overseas empire. The success of the 1794 canal in getting the coal and iron products to the waiting ships easily and quickly was soon followed up by other canals linking the ports of Newport and Swansea to their industrial hinterlands of Ebbw Vale (in 1796) and the Swansea Valley (in 1798). The importation of Irish "navvies" to dig these canals did much to hasten the decline of the Welsh language in these areas as well as help spread the seeds of the later Chartist Movement.
1797: THE LAST INVASION OF MAINLAND BRITAIN
In the main square of the town of Fishguard (Abergwaun) is situated the Royal Oak Inn where you can view a copy of the treaty that ended the invasion by a body of French troops led by Irish-American General Tate. The troops had landed from three frigates at Carreg Wastad but were apparently frightened into surrendering by the militia of Lord Cawdor aided by a troop of local Welshwomen who looked like Grenadier Guards in their red cloaks and tall black hats. One local townswoman, the fearsome Jemima Nicholas (or Niclas) with her trusty pitchfork, was personally credited with capturing 14 French soldiers (that they were probably drunk hardly excuses their cowardice).
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