1870 in Wales
This article is about the particular significance of the year 1870 to Wales and its people.
Incumbents
- Lord Lieutenant of Anglesey – William Owen Stanley
- Lord Lieutenant of Brecknockshire – Charles Morgan, 1st Baron Tredegar
- Lord Lieutenant of Caernarvonshire – Edward Douglas-Pennant, 1st Baron Penrhyn
- Lord Lieutenant of Cardiganshire – Edward Pryse
- Lord Lieutenant of Carmarthenshire – John Campbell, 2nd Earl Cawdor
- Lord Lieutenant of Denbighshire – Robert Myddelton Biddulph
- Lord Lieutenant of Flintshire – Sir Stephen Glynne, 9th Baronet
- Lord Lieutenant of Glamorgan – Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot
- Lord Lieutenant of Merionethshire – Edward Lloyd-Mostyn, 2nd Baron Mostyn
- Lord Lieutenant of Monmouthshire – Henry Somerset, 8th Duke of Beaufort
- Lord Lieutenant of Montgomeryshire – Sudeley Hanbury-Tracy, 3rd Baron Sudeley
- Lord Lieutenant of Pembrokeshire – William Edwardes, 3rd Baron Kensington
- Lord Lieutenant of Radnorshire – John Walsh, 1st Baron Ormathwaite
- Bishop of Bangor – James Colquhoun Campbell
- Bishop of Llandaff – Alfred Ollivant
- Bishop of St Asaph – Thomas Vowler Short ; Joshua Hughes
- Bishop of St Davids – Connop Thirlwall
Events
- January — Francis Kilvert begins his famous diary.
- 14 February — In a mining accident at Morfa Colliery, Port Talbot, 30 men are killed.
- April — George Osborne Morgan introduces the Burials Bill and the Places of Worship Bill to Parliament.
- unknown dates
- *Sir George Gilbert Scott completes the restoration of Bangor Cathedral.
- *In India, Timothy Richards Lewis discovers a nematoid worm, which he calls Filaria sanguinis hominis.
- *William Thomas Lewis, 1st Baron Merthyr of Senghenydd, begins acquiring the collieries later known as the Lewis Merthyr collieries in Rhondda.
- *Jacob Lloyd is created a Knight of the Order of St. Gregory the Great by Pope Pius IX.
- *Thomas William Rhys Davids begins a series of articles for the Ceylon branch of the Royal Asiatic Society Journal.
Arts and literature
New books
- John Ceiriog Hughes — Oriau'r Haf
- David Lloyd Davies — Ceinwen Morgan neu y Rian Ddiwylliedig
- Richard Davies (Mynyddog) — ''Yr Ail Gynnig''
Sport
- Billiards — John Roberts, Sr. loses the English billiards championship after 21 years.
- Association football — Druids of Rhiwabon formed.
Births
- 13 January — Conway Rees, rugby player
- 10 March — George "Honey Boy" Evans, Welsh-born US entertainer
- 20 March — Eluned Morgan, author
- 25 March — Wallace Watts, Wales international rugby union player
- 19 June — Charles Nicholl, Wales international rugby union player
- 29 June
- *Arthur Boucher, Wales international rugby union player
- *Sir Charles Dillwyn-Venables-Llewellyn, 2nd Baronet, politician
- 14 July — Helena Jones, doctor and suffragette
- 16 July — William Henry Prosser, teacher and cricketer
- 27 July — Herbert Millingchamp Vaughan, historian
- 18 August — William Cope, 1st Baron Cope, politician and Wales international rugby player
- 27 September — Thomas Jones (T. J.), civil servant
- 22 October — J. Glyn Davies, scholar, poet and songwriter
- 3 November — Norman Biggs, Wales international rugby player
- 15 November — William Elsey, Wales international rugby player
- 20 December — Sir David Davies, politician
- 29 December — Robert Dewi Williams, teacher, minister and writer
- 31 December — David John Jones, Dean of Llandaff
- December — Ernest William Jones, steamship agent and cricketer
- date unknown
- *John William Evans, politician
- *John Hughes Morris, missionary
Deaths
- 16 March — Thomas Parry, Bishop of Barbados, 74
- 4 April — Owen Wynne Jones, writer, 42
- 15 May — Charles Hinde (army officer), soldier, 49
- 27 May — John Etherington Welch Rolls, Monmouthshire landowner and father of 1st Baron Llangattock, 63
- 23 June — Isaac Hughes, Calvinist missionary and preacher, 71/72
- 1 August — Levi Gibbon, balladeer, 92
- 17 September — Joseph David Jones, composer, 43
- 27 October — Owen Jones Ellis Nanney, politician, 80
- 29 October — Jacob Owen, architect and civil engineer, 92
- 16 November — Harry Longueville Jones, antiquary, 64