1852 in Wales

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1852 to Wales and its people.

Incumbents

 * Lord Lieutenant of Anglesey – Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey
 * Lord Lieutenant of Brecknockshire – John Lloyd Vaughan Watkins
 * Lord Lieutenant of Caernarvonshire – Sir Richard Williams-Bulkeley, 10th Baronet
 * Lord Lieutenant of Cardiganshire – William Edward Powell
 * Lord Lieutenant of Carmarthenshire – George Rice, 3rd Baron Dynevor (until 9 April); John Campbell, 1st Earl Cawdor (from 4 May)
 * Lord Lieutenant of Denbighshire – Robert Myddelton Biddulph
 * Lord Lieutenant of Flintshire – Sir Stephen Glynne, 9th Baronet
 * Lord Lieutenant of Glamorgan – Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot (from 4 May)
 * Lord Lieutenant of Merionethshire – Edward Lloyd-Mostyn, 2nd Baron Mostyn
 * Lord Lieutenant of Monmouthshire – Capel Hanbury Leigh
 * Lord Lieutenant of Montgomeryshire – Charles Hanbury-Tracy, 1st Baron Sudeley
 * 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 – Alfred Ollivant
 * Bishop of St Asaph – Thomas Vowler Short
 * Bishop of St Davids – Connop Thirlwall

Events

 * 24 February – The Times reports that Robert Stephenson has approved Isambard Kingdom Brunel's design for a railway bridge at Chepstow.
 * 10 May – 27 men are killed by quicksand at Gwendraeth Colliery, Pontyberem.
 * 14 May – 64 men are killed by underground explosion at Middle Duffryn Colliery, Aberdare.
 * August – Halkyn-born Mormon missionary Dan Jones begins his second (4-year) mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Wales. He also oversees translation of the Book of Mormon into the Welsh language.
 * 14 September – Three-decker sailing first-rate ship of the line HMS Duke of Wellington, converted on the stocks to screw propulsion, is launched at Pembroke Dock.
 * 4 November – In the United Kingdom general election:
 * Walter Coffin becomes the first Nonconformist MP elected in Wales.
 * Henry Vivian becomes MP for Truro.
 * Crawshay Bailey becomes MP for Monmouth Boroughs.
 * December – In the by-election caused by the death of John Josiah Guest, Henry Austin Bruce is elected MP for Merthyr Tydfil.
 * date unknown
 * St David's College, Lampeter, becomes the first institution in Wales to award degrees.
 * Construction of the first Merthyr Synagogue begins.
 * Richard Muspratt sets up an alkali manufacturing factory in Flint.
 * The Alliance Insurance Company is set up in Wrexham, advertising itself as the only Welsh insurance company.

New books

 * Aneurin Jones – Tafol y Beirdd
 * William Rees (Gwilym Hiraethog) – Aelwyd F'Ewythr Robert
 * John Williams (Glanmor) – Awstralia a'r Cloddfeydd Aur
 * Robert Williams – Enwogion Cymru: A Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Welshmen, from the Earliest Times

Music

 * J. Ambrose Lloyd – Teyrnasoedd y Ddaear
 * Edward Stephen (Tanymarian) – Ystorm Tiberias (oratorio)
 * Thomas Williams (Hafrenydd) – Ceinion Cerddoriaeth

Births

 * 20 March – John Gwenogvryn Evans, palaeographer (died 1930)
 * 26 April – William Eilir Evans, journalist (died 1910)
 * 28 April – Sir Francis Edwards, 1st Baronet, Liberal politician (died 1927)
 * 25 November – Sir Evan Vincent Evans, Eisteddfod supporter (died 1934)
 * December – Alice Gray Jones (Ceridwen Peris), writer (died 1943)
 * date unknown
 * Ann Harriet Hughes (Gwyneth Vaughan), novelist (died 1910)
 * David Brynmor Jones, barrister, historian and Liberal MP (died 1921)

Deaths

 * 23 February – Evan Jones (Ieuan Gwynedd), minister and journalist, 31
 * 9 April – George Rice, 3rd Baron Dynevor, Lord Lieutenant of Carmarthenshire, 86
 * 2 May – John Jones (Ioan Tegid), poet, 60
 * 20 May – Robert Williamson ("Bardd Du Môn"), poet, 45?
 * 17 June – John Page (Ioan Glan Dyfrdwy), poet, 21/22
 * 26 November – John Josiah Guest, engineer, entrepreneur and politician, 77
 * 18 December – Evan Owen Allen, writer, 47