1915 in Wales

← 1914 1913 1912 1915 in Wales → 1916 1917 1918
Centuries:	18th 19th 20th 21st
Decades:	1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s
See also:	List of years in Wales 1915 in The United Kingdom Ireland Scotland

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)
• Ivor Novello - "Keep the Home Fires Burning" (lyrics by Lena Ford)
• 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)
• date unknown
  • Norah Isaac, educationalist (died 2003)
  • Keidrych Rhys, poet and journalist (died 1987)
  • John Griffith Williams, writer (died 1987)

Deaths

• 6 January - Owen Roberts, educator, 79
• 19 January - Anna Leonowens, governess who claimed Welsh birth (but was actually born in India)
• 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, VC 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)
• 7 September - Robert Lewis-Lloyd, rower and barrister, High Sheriff of Radnorshire, 79
• 26 September - Keir Hardie, MP for Merthyr Tydfil
• 27 September - Richard Garnons Williams, soldier and Wales international rugby union player, 59 (killed in action)
• 30 September - Rupert Price Hallowes, VC recipient, 34 (killed in action)
• 2 October - Lord Ninian Crichton-Stuart, politician, 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
• date unknown - David Gwynne-Vaughan, botanist