1915 in Wales
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| See also: | List of years in Wales Timeline of Welsh history
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This article is about the particular significance of the year 1915 to Wales and its people.
Incumbents
- Prince of Wales - Edward
- Princess of Wales - vacant
- Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales - Dyfed
Events
- January - A memorial to Captain Robert Falcon Scott, in the form of a model lighthouse, is erected on an island in Roath Park Lake, commemorating the support given to Scott's expedition by the people of Cardiff.
- 26 February - The Welsh Guards regiment is created.
- 4 April - Three German prisoners-of-war escape from an internment camp at Llansannan in Denbighshire, but are quickly recaptured.
- 25 April - At Gallipoli, Able Seaman William Charles Williams of Chepstow helps secure lighters on HMS River Clyde under continuous fire. He is posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross - the first such award made to a member of the Royal Navy in World War I.
- 7 May - When RMS Lusitania is sunk by a German torpedo, notable survivors include David Alfred Thomas, Viscount Rhondda and tenor Gwynn Parry Jones.
- 26 July - The Glamorganshire Canal closes between Abercynon and Pontypridd.
- 11 September - The first branch of the Women's Institute in Britain opens at Llanfair PG, Anglesey.
- 1 October - For his conduct at the Battle of Hooge, Lt. Rupert Price Hallowes of Port Talbot is posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.
- November - The 38th (Welsh) Division is posted to France.
- 15 November - Sir James Cory, 1st Baronet, becomes MP for Cardiff, following the death in action of the previous incumbent, Lord Ninian Crichton-Stuart.
- 25 November - In the Merthyr Tydfil by-election, caused by the death of Keir Hardie, Charles Stanton becomes Independent Labour Party MP for Merthyr.
- 4 December - First submarine to be launched at Pembroke Dock, HMS J3.
- Welshmen continue to enlist for military service in World War I, including architect Percy Thomas, who joins the Artists' Rifles.
- Sir William Rice Edwards becomes surgeon-general of Bengal.
Arts and literature
- Gomer Berry and William Ewart Berry become owners of The Sunday Times.
- Clough Williams-Ellis marries Amabel Strachey.
Awards
- National Eisteddfod of Wales (held in Bangor)
- National Eisteddfod of Wales: Chair - T. H. Parry-Williams
- National Eisteddfod of Wales: Crown - T. H. Parry-Williams
New books
- Caradoc Evans – My People: Stories of the Peasantry of West Wales
- John Gwenogvryn Evans (ed.) - Poems from the Book of Taliesin, amended and translated
- William Evans (Wil Ifan) - Dros y Nyth
- Arthur Machen – The Great Return
- Eluned Morgan - Plant yr Haul
- John Cowper Powys - Wood and Stone
Music
- David Roberts - Y Tant Aur (2nd edition)
- William Penfro Rowlands - "Blaenwern" (hymn tune)
Film
- The Birth of a Nation directed by Welsh-descended D. W. Griffith.
Sport
- Boxing - Llew Edwards wins the British and Commonwealth featherweight titles.
Births
- 16 January - David Davies, 2nd Baron Davies of Llandinam (died 1944)
- 11 February - Mervyn Levy, artist (died 1996)
- 20 February - Mary Jones, actor (died 1990)
- 25 March - Dorothy Squires, singer (died 1998)
- 2 April - Patrick Gibbs, RAF Wing Commander, author and film critic (died 2008)
- 9 April - Bill Clement, Welsh international rugby player and Secretary of the WRU (died 2007)
- 13 May - Hrothgar John Habakkuk, economic historian (died 2002)
- 4 June - David Bell, writer and curator (died 1959)
- 1 July - Alun Lewis, poet (died on active service 1944)
- 3 July - Ifor Owen, illustrator (died 2007)
- 30 August - Lillian May Davies, later Princess Lilian, Duchess of Halland, fashion model and Swedish princess (died 2013)
- 4 September - Roland Mathias, poet and critic
- 10 September - Geraint Bowen, poet and Archdruid
- 22 September - Thomas Williams, politician (died 1986)
- 23 September - John Samuel Rowlands, GC (died 2006)
- 11 October - T. Llew Jones, writer
- 10 November - Leslie Manfield, Wales international rugby union player (died 2006)
- 26 December - Keidrych Rhys, poet and journalist (died 1987)
Deaths
- 6 January - Owen Roberts, educator, 79
- 19 January - Anna Leonowens, Indian-born governess claiming Welsh birth, 83 (died in Canada)
- 24 January - Charles Taylor, naval officer and Wales rugby international, 51 (killed in action)
- 30 January - Thomas Benbow Phillips, pioneer settler, 85
- 21 March - Edward Pegge, Wales international rugby player, 50
- 25 April - William Charles Williams, posthumous Victoria Cross recipient, 34 (killed in action)
- 6 June - John Lloyd, political reformer, 81
- 31 July - Billy Geen, soldier and Wales international rugby union player, 24 (killed in action)
- 4 September - David Gwynne-Vaughan, botanist, 44
- 7 September - Robert Lewis-Lloyd, rower and barrister, High Sheriff of Radnorshire, 79
- 26 September - Keir Hardie, Scottish-born serving MP for Merthyr Tydfil (Labour) and pacifist, 59 (died in Scotland)
- 27 September - Richard Garnons Williams, soldier and Wales international rugby union player, 59 (killed in action)
- 30 September - Rupert Price Hallowes, posthumous Victoria Cross recipient, 34 (killed in action)
- 2 October - Lord Ninian Crichton-Stuart, Scottish-born British Army officer and serving MP for Cardiff (Unionist), 32 (killed in action)
- 22 November - Llewellyn John Montfort Bebb, Principal of St David's College, Lampeter, 53
- 29 November - Rachel Davies (Rahel o Fôn), Baptist preacher, 69
- 10 December - David Jenkins, composer, 66
- 17 December - John Rhys, philologist, 75