1847 in Wales

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1847 to Wales and its people.

Incumbents

 * Lord Lieutenant of Anglesey – Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey
 * Lord Lieutenant of Brecknockshire – Penry Williams (until 16 January); John Lloyd Vaughan Watkins (from 17 February)
 * Lord Lieutenant of Caernarvonshire – Peter Drummond-Burrell, 22nd Baron Willoughby de Eresby
 * Lord Lieutenant of Cardiganshire – William Edward Powell
 * Lord Lieutenant of Carmarthenshire – George Rice, 3rd Baron Dynevor
 * Lord Lieutenant of Denbighshire – Robert Myddelton Biddulph
 * Lord Lieutenant of Flintshire – Sir Stephen Glynne, 9th Baronet
 * Lord Lieutenant of Glamorgan – John Crichton-Stuart, 2nd Marquess of Bute
 * Lord Lieutenant of Merionethshire – Edward Lloyd-Mostyn, 2nd Baron Mostyn
 * Lord Lieutenant of Monmouthshire – Capel Hanbury Leigh
 * Lord Lieutenant of Montgomeryshire – Edward Herbert, 2nd Earl of Powis
 * Lord Lieutenant of Pembrokeshire – Sir John Owen, 1st Baronet
 * Lord Lieutenant of Radnorshire – John Walsh, 1st Baron Ormathwaite


 * Bishop of Bangor – Christopher Bethell
 * Bishop of Llandaff – Edward Copleston
 * Bishop of St Asaph – Thomas Vowler Short
 * Bishop of St Davids – Connop Thirlwall

Events

 * 14 January - All thirteen members of the Point of Ayr lifeboat crew are drowned when it capsizes off Rhyl.
 * 8 April - John Jones (Shoni Sguborfawr) is transferred from Norfolk Island to Tasmania.
 * In the UK general election:
 * Sir Thomas Frankland Lewis becomes MP for Radnor Boroughs.
 * Sir Stephen Glynne, 9th Baronet, loses his Flintshire seat to Edward Lloyd-Mostyn for the second time.
 * 24 May - Five people are killed in the Dee bridge disaster, when Robert Stephenson's railway bridge on the Chester and Holyhead Railway at Chester collapses.
 * 1 July - "Treachery of the Blue Books": Publication of a government report ("blue book") on education in Wales containing opinions hostile to Welsh culture.
 * Prince Albert is unsuccessfully challenged for the chancellorship of the University of Cambridge by The Earl of Powis. The winning margin is less than 120 votes.
 * Sir William Robert Grove is awarded the medal of the Royal Society.

New books

 * Reports of the Commissioners of Inquiry into the state of education in Wales
 * John Lloyd - Poems
 * Morris Williams (Nicander) - Llyfr yr Homiliau

Music

 * John Mills (Ieuan Glan Alarch) - Y Salmydd Eglwysig

Births

 * 27 January - Owen Owens Roberts, choirmaster and conductor (died 1926)
 * 9 February - Hugh Price Hughes, Methodist social reformer (died 1902)
 * 22 April - Charles Henry Wynn, landowner (died 1911)
 * 20 June - Evan Thomas Davies (Dyfrig), clergyman and author (died 1927)
 * 10 July - Alfred Neobard Palmer, historian and ancient monuments inspector (died 1915)
 * 12 September - John Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute, Cardiff landowner (died 1900)
 * 13 October - Owen Owen, draper (died 1910)
 * 14 November - Roland Rogers, musician (died 1927)
 * date unknown - Llewelyn Kenrick, footballer (died 1933)

Deaths

 * 13 February - Sharon Turner, historian, 78
 * 16 February - Taliesin Williams, poet and author, son of Iolo Morganwg, 59
 * 17 March - Sir Harford Jones Brydges, diplomat and author, 83
 * 29 March - Humphrey Gwalchmai, Calvinistic Methodist leader, 59
 * 7 June - David Mushet, Scottish metallurgist (in Monmouth), 74
 * 27 September - Lucy Thomas, colliery owner ('The Mother of the Welsh Steam Coal Trade')
 * 6 October - John Evans (Methodist), 68