Aled Eames

Aled Eames (29 July 1921 – 7 March 1996) was an historian and author, primarily on Welsh maritime history.

Life and career

Eames was born in Llandudno and attended a local grammar school. He joined the Royal Navy in the Second World War and reached the rank of lieutenant, having been twice mentioned in despatches. He then studied at the University College of North Wales, the forerunner of Bangor University, whose staff he joined as an education lecturer and as warden of Neuadd Reichel hall of residence for twenty years.

In 1955 he was awarded the Prince Llywelyn ap Gruffydd Prize for his thesis "Sea Power and Welsh History during the Reign of Charles I". His research interests focused on Welsh merchant shipping in the 18th and 19th centuries. He visited the Canadian Maritime Provinces and parts of the United States on a study trip in 1981.

He was one of the founders of the annual publication Cymru a'r Mor/Maritime Wales in 1976. He also worked on television, for instance on the series of BBC2 films Tradewinds (1986) and several Welsh-language programmes.

Eames was married first to Hazel Phillips, with whom he had two daughters, but the marriage was dissolved. He later married Freda Gale, with whom he had a son and two more daughters. He lived for many years at Moelfre, where a biennial lecture is given in his memory.

Book publications

• Ships and Seamen of Anglesey, 1558–1918: Studies in Maritime and Local History (1973, c. 1981)
• Porthmadog Ships (with Emrys Hughes, 1975)
• Llongau a llongwyr Gwynedd (1976, in English: Ships and Seamen of Gwynedd, 1976)
• Meistri'r Moroedd (1978)
• O Bwllheli i bendraw'r byd : hanes hen longau Pwllheli a'r cylch (1979
• Ship Master: The Life and Letters of Capt. Robert Thomas of Llandwrog and Liverpool 1843–1903 (c. 1980)
• Machlud Hwyliau'r Cymry (The Twilight of Welsh Sail, 1984)
• Gwraig y Capten (Wife of the Captain, 1984)
• Ventures in Sail: Aspects of the Maritime History of Gwynedd, 1840–1914, and the Liverpool Connection (c. 1987)
• Heb long wrth y cei: hen borthladdoedd diflanedig Cymru (No Ship at the Quay. The Old Lost Ports of Wales, 1989. In English Shrouded quays: (the lost ports of Wales), 1991)
• Y Fordaith Bell (1993)

Bibliographic information was taken also from the catalogues of the British Library.