1873 in Wales

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1873 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 – William Cornwallis-West
 * 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, 4th 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 – Joshua Hughes
 * Bishop of St Davids – Connop Thirlwall

Events

 * 1 March – The sailing ship Chacabuco sinks off the Great Orme with the loss of 24 lives.
 * 18 March – Work begins on construction of the Severn Tunnel.
 * 30 March – The Glyn Valley Tramway opens as a horse-worked line to carry slate and other minerals from Glyn Ceiriog to Chirk.
 * 19 August – The Holyhead Breakwater (the longest in the world) is officially opened by Albert Edward, Prince of Wales. having taken 28 years to construct.
 * 9 October – The first recorded sheepdog trial in the UK takes place at Bala.
 * 2 December – In a mining accident at Hafod Colliery, Rhiwabon, five men are killed.
 * date unknown – Construction of:
 * Tŵr Mawr Lighthouse on Ynys Llanddwyn.
 * Buckley Arms hotel, Dinas Mawddwy, in reinforced concrete.

New books

 * Rhoda Broughton – Nancy
 * Robert Elis (Cynddelw) – Manion Hynafiaethol
 * Ebenezer Thomas – Gweithiau Barddonol Eben Fardd (posthumously published)

Music

 * Henry Brinley Richards – Songs of Wales
 * Richard Davies (Mynyddog) writes the song "Rheolau yr Aelwyd", the basis of "Sosban Fach".

Sport

 * December – Major Walter Wingfield of Nantclwyd Hall at Llanelidan designs a game for the amusement of his visitors. Wingfield soon patents nets for the game of lawn tennis, which he calls "sphairistike".

Births

 * 7 January – Christopher Williams, artist (died 1934)
 * 16 January – Ivor Guest, 1st Viscount Wimborne, politician (died 1939)
 * 7 April
 * John Dyfnallt Owen, poet and Archdruid (died 1956)
 * Charles Butt Stanton, politician (died 1946)
 * 23 April – Sir Robert Thomas, 1st Baronet, politician (died 1951)
 * 1 May – Harry Evans, musician (died 1914)
 * 22 May – J. Brynach Davies (Brynach) (died 1923)
 * 5 June – Ben Davies, Wales international rugby player (died 1930)
 * 14 October – Sam Livesey, actor (died 1936)
 * date unknown – Arthur Tysilio Johnson, plantsman and author of The Perfidious Welshman (died 1956)

Deaths

 * January – John Emlyn Jones, poet, 54
 * 27 January – Josiah Thomas Jones, publisher, 73
 * 20 February – (at Launceston, Tasmania) William Jones, Chartist leader, 64
 * 29 March – David Jones, merchant in Australia, 80
 * 17 May – Lord William Paget, soldier and politician, 70
 * 9 October – John Evan Thomas, sculptor, 63
 * 31 October – William Ambrose (Emrys), poet, 60
 * 10 November – Maria Jane Williams, musician, 78