1816 in Wales

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1816 to Wales and its people.

Incumbents

 * Lord Lieutenant of Anglesey – Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey
 * Lord Lieutenant of Brecknockshire and Monmouthshire – Henry Somerset, 6th Duke of Beaufort
 * Lord Lieutenant of Caernarvonshire – Thomas Bulkeley, 7th Viscount Bulkeley
 * Lord Lieutenant of Cardiganshire – Thomas Johnes (until 23 April)
 * Lord Lieutenant of Carmarthenshire – George Rice, 3rd Baron Dynevor
 * Lord Lieutenant of Denbighshire – Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, 5th Baronet
 * Lord Lieutenant of Flintshire – Robert Grosvenor, 1st Marquess of Westminster
 * Lord Lieutenant of Glamorgan – John Crichton-Stuart, 2nd Marquess of Bute
 * Lord Lieutenant of Merionethshire – Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, 5th Baronet
 * Lord Lieutenant of Montgomeryshire – Edward Clive, 1st Earl of Powis
 * Lord Lieutenant of Pembrokeshire – Richard Philipps, 1st Baron Milford
 * Lord Lieutenant of Radnorshire – George Rodney, 3rd Baron Rodney


 * Bishop of Bangor – Henry Majendie
 * Bishop of Llandaff – Richard Watson (until 4 July) Herbert Marsh (from 25 August)
 * Bishop of St Asaph – John Luxmoore
 * Bishop of St Davids – Thomas Burgess

Events

 * 10 February - Pembroke Dock's first Royal Navy ships are launched: HMS Ariadne and HMS Valorous.
 * 7 May - Hay Railway opens throughout.
 * 24 July - Old Wye Bridge, Chepstow (rebuilt in cast iron), is opened across the River Wye.
 * 9 October - Fanny Imlay, half-sister of Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, takes a room at the Mackworth Arms in Swansea, and instructs the maid not to disturb her. The following day she is found dead, having taken a fatal dose of laudanum.
 * Nantyglo Round Towers built.
 * Taliesin Williams, son of Iolo Morganwg, opens a school at Merthyr Tydfil.

English language

 * Ann Hatton - Chronicles of an Illustrious House
 * Samuel Johnson - A Diary of a Journey Into North Wales, in the Year 1774

Welsh language

 * Jane Ellis - Cerddi (first published Welsh language book by a woman)
 * Joseph Harris (Gomer) - Traethawd ar Briodol Dduwdod ein Harglwydd Iesu Grist

Music

 * John Ellis - Mawl yr Arglwydd (collection of hymns)

Births

 * 11 January - Henry Robertson, Scots engineer responsible for building the North Wales Mineral Railway (d. 1888)
 * 7 March - Huw Derfel Hughes, poet and historian (d. 1890)
 * 3 June - John Ormsby-Gore, 1st Baron Harlech, politician (d. 1876)
 * 11 June - Thomas William Davids, ecclesiastical historian (d. 1884)
 * 16 August - Charles John Vaughan, dean of Llandaff and co-founder of University of Wales, Cardiff
 * date unknown
 * Edward Edwards (Pencerdd Ceredigion), musician (d. 1897)
 * Edward Meredith Price, composer (d. 1898)

Deaths

 * 23 April - Thomas Johnes, landowner and politician, 67
 * 18 June - Thomas Henry, apothecary, 81
 * 29 June - David Williams, Enlightenment philosopher, 78
 * 4 July - Richard Watson, Bishop of Llandaff, 78
 * 17 July - John Lewis, missionary, about 24 (fever)
 * 10 October - Fanny Imlay, half-sister of Mary Shelley, 22 (committed suicide at the Mackworth Arms in Swansea)
 * date unknown
 * Benjamin Davies, first Baptist minister at Haverfordwest (age unknown)
 * David Jones, barrister ("the Welsh Freeholder"), c.51