1866 in Wales

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1866 to Wales and its people.

Incumbents

 * Lord Lieutenant of Anglesey – Henry Paget, 2nd Marquess of Anglesey
 * Lord Lieutenant of Brecknockshire – George Pratt, 2nd Marquess Camden (until 8 August) Charles Morgan, 1st Baron Tredegar (from 27 September)
 * Lord Lieutenant of Caernarvonshire – Sir Richard Williams-Bulkeley, 10th Baronet (until 14 September); Edward Douglas-Pennant, 1st Baron Penrhyn (from 14 September)
 * 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 – Benjamin Hall, 1st Baron Llanover
 * 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
 * Bishop of St Davids – Connop Thirlwall

Events

 * 5 February — Railway contractor Thomas Savin goes bankrupt, resulting in a temporary halt in the construction of the Aberystwith and Welsh Coast Railway.
 * 31 March — The last public execution in Wales takes place as Robert Coe is hanged in Swansea.
 * 1 May — Wrexham, Mold and Connah's Quay Railway opens to passengers.
 * July — Launch of Yr Australydd, a Welsh language Calvinistic Methodist newspaper, in Victoria (Australia), edited by William Meirion Evans and Theophilus Williams.
 * 5 September — The Pembroke and Tenby Railway is extended for passengers to Whitland.
 * 6 September — Six people are killed in a railway derailment near Criccieth.
 * September — The song Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau — later to become the official national anthem of Wales — is sung for the first time at the National Eisteddfod held at Chester.
 * 17 October — First confirmed death from a cholera epidemic in Carnarvon.
 * December — The Talyllyn Railway officially opens.
 * Sir George Gilbert Scott begins work on the renovation of Bangor Cathedral.
 * The Baptist Union of Wales is established.
 * Whiteford Lighthouse on Gower, the only remaining large wave-swept cast-iron lighthouse built in the UK, is first lit.
 * Edward Gordon Douglas is created Baron Penrhyn.
 * Morris Brothers department store established at Tenby; it will still be trading 150 years later.

Awards

 * The National Eisteddfod of Wales is held at Chester in England.
 * The harpist William Frost is awarded a pedal harp by Pencerdd Gwalia

English language

 * Rees Howell Gronow — Last Recollections

Welsh language

 * Richard Davies (Mynyddog) — Caneuon Mynyddog
 * Roger Edwards — Y Tri Brawd
 * William Rees (Gwilym Hiraethog) — Nodiadau ar yr Epistol at yr Hebreaid

Music

 * John Owen (Owain Alaw) — Gŵyl Gwalia
 * John Thomas (Pencerdd Gwalia) — The Bride of Neath Valley (cantata)
 * The Eryri music festival (Gwyl Gerddorol Eryri) is founded.

Sport

 * Cricket — Hawarden Park Cricket Club is founded, reputedly by William Ewart Gladstone.
 * Rugby football — First competitive game played in Wales, between college teams at Lampeter.

Births

 * 13 January — Frank Hill, Wales international rugby captain (died 1927)
 * 21 January — Sir Owen Cox, politician and businessman in Australia (died 1932)
 * 22 March — Willie Thomas, Wales international rugby captain (died 1921)
 * 1 April — Sir William Henry Hoare Vincent, diplomat (died 1941)
 * 18 April — Frederick Llewellyn-Jones, lawyer and politician (died 1941)
 * 20 April — Sir John Milsom Rees, laryngologist (died 1952)
 * 30 May — John Gruffydd Moelwyn Hughes, poet and hymn-writer (died 1944)
 * 5 August — Sir Edward Anwyl, Celtic scholar (died 1914)
 * 7 August — Charles Granville Bruce, mountaineer (died 1939)
 * 13 August - William Finney, cricketer (died 1927)
 * 24 August — Caesar Jenkyns, footballer (died 1941)
 * 4 October — Robert Jones (Trebor Aled), poet (died 1917)
 * 12 October — James Ramsay MacDonald, politician (died 1937)
 * 4 November — Sir David William Evans, lawyer, public servant and Wales international rugby player, (died 1926)
 * 5 November — Daniel Protheroe, conductor and choirmaster (died 1934)
 * 14 November — Tom Morgan Wales international rugby player (died 1899)
 * 24 November — Alexander Bland, Wales international rugby player (died 1947)
 * 4 December — Dai Lewis (died 1943), rugby union forward who played international rugby for Wales
 * 10 December — Stanley L. Wood, illustrator (died 1928
 * 15 December — William Williams, Wales national rugby union player (died 1945)
 * date unknown — David Delta Evans (Dewi Hiraddug), journalist, author, and Unitarian minister (died 1948)

Deaths

 * 16 January — David Owen (Brutus), literary editor, 70
 * 27 January — John Gibson, sculptor, 75
 * 31 January — Owen Owen Roberts, physician, 73
 * 29 March - Thomas Jones (Glan Alun), poet, 55
 * 19 May — David Davis, Blaengwawr, industrialist, 69
 * 31 August (approx) — Robert Jermain Thomas, missionary (murdered in Korea), 26
 * October — Evan Bevan, humorous writer, 42/43
 * 16 October — Angharad Llwyd, antiquary, 86
 * 27 October — William Rowlands, minister and author active in the USA
 * 30 October — George Lort Phillips, MP for Pembrokeshire, 55 (injuries from a fall)
 * 1 December (in London) — George Everest, surveyor and geographer, 76