1880s in Wales

This article is about the particular significance of the decade 1880–1889 to Wales and its people.

Incumbents

 * Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales – Clwydfardd

Events

 * 1880
 * 1881
 * 1882
 * 1883
 * 1884
 * 1885
 * 1886
 * 1887
 * 1888
 * 1889

Awards
National Eisteddfod of Wales
 * 1880 – Caernarfon
 * 1881 – Merthyr Tydfil
 * Chair – Evan Rees ("Dyfed")
 * Crown – Watkin Hezekiah Williams
 * 1882 – Denbigh
 * Chair – withheld
 * Crown – Dafydd Rees Williams
 * 1883 – Cardiff
 * Chair – withheld
 * Crown – Anna Walter Thomas
 * 1884 – Liverpool
 * Chair – Evan Rees ("Dyfed")
 * Crown – Edward Foulkes
 * 1885 – Aberdare
 * Chair – Watkin Hezekiah Williams
 * Crown – Griffith Tecwyn Parry
 * 1886 – Caernarfon
 * Chair – Richard Davies
 * Crown – John Cadfan Davies
 * 1887 – London
 * Chair – Robert Arthur Williams
 * Crown – John Cadfan Davies
 * 1888 – Wrexham
 * Chair – Thomas Tudno Jones
 * Crown – Howell Elvet Lewis
 * 1889 – Brecon
 * Chair – Evan Rees
 * Crown – Howell Elvet Lewis

New books

 * Rhoda Broughton – Doctor Cupid (1886)
 * Richard Davies (Mynyddog) – Pedwerydd Llyfr Mynyddog (1882)
 * Amy Dillwyn
 * The Rebecca Rioter (1880)
 * Jill and Jack(1887)
 * Daniel Silvan Evans – Dictionary of the Welsh Language (Geiriadur Cymraeg) (1887)
 * Frances Hoggan – Education for Girls in Wales (1882)
 * Daniel Owen
 * Y Dreflan (1881)
 * Rhys Lewis (1885)
 * Robert Williams (Trebor Mai) – Gwaith Barddonol Trebor Mai (1883)

Sport

 * 1881 – Welsh Rugby Union is formed.
 * 1884 – The Cardiff Arms Park hosts its first rugby international (between Wales and Ireland).
 * 1889 – In a football match between Wales and Scotland at Wrexham, the referee allows the injured Welsh goalkeeper to be replaced – the first ever substitution in a soccer match.

Births

 * 1880
 * 30 April – George Maitland Lloyd Davies, pacifist (died 1949)
 * 9 May – Thomas Scott-Ellis, 8th Baron Howard de Walden, patron of the arts (died 1946)
 * 11 May – David Davies, 1st Baron Davies, politician (died 1944)
 * 22 June – Rhys Gabe, rugby player (died 1967)
 * 2 September – Isaac Daniel Hooson, poet (died 1948)
 * 15 September – William Charles Williams, VC recipient (died 1915)
 * date unknown
 * Edward Tegla Davies, author (died 1967)
 * Harry Grindell Matthews, inventor (died 1941)
 * 1881
 * 3 January – Lewis Pugh Evans, VC recipient (died 1962)
 * 14 February – William John Gruffydd, academic and politician (died 1954)
 * 16 April – Ifor Williams, academic (died 1965)
 * 5 May – Rupert Price Hallowes, VC recipient (died 1915)
 * 16 June – David Grenfell, politician (died 1968)
 * 20 June – John Crichton-Stuart, 4th Marquess of Bute, landowner (died 1947)
 * August – John Lewis, footballer (died 1954)
 * 30 September – Philip Lewis Griffiths, lawyer (died 1945)
 * 28 October – Edward Evans, 1st Baron Mountevans, explorer (died 1957)
 * December – George Hall, politician (died 1965)
 * date unknown
 * David Thomas ("Afan"), composer (died 1928)
 * Robert Williams, trade union leader
 * 1882
 * 24 July – Reginald Clarry, politician (died 1945)
 * 6 November – David Rees Griffiths, poet (died 1953)
 * 16 December – Cyril Fox, archaeologist (died 1967)
 * date unknown – Ivor Lewis, artist (died 1958)
 * 1883
 * 30 April – David John de Lloyd, composer (died 1948)
 * 28 May – Clough Williams-Ellis, architect (died 1978)
 * 13 September – Percy Thomas, architect (died 1969)
 * date unknown
 * John Jones (Tydu), poet (died 1968)
 * James Walker, politician
 * 1884
 * 19 February – Clement Davies, politician (died 1962)
 * 24 November – Jack Jones, novelist (died 1970)
 * date unknown
 * Arthur Jenkins, politician (died 1946)
 * Thomas Jones, footballer (died 1958)
 * 1885
 * 2 August – Clarence Bruce, 3rd Baron Aberdare (died 1957)
 * 21 November – Robert Evans, footballer (died 1965)
 * date unknown
 * Ernest Evans, politician (died 1965)
 * David John Williams, writer and politician (died 1970)
 * 1886
 * 28 March – John Osborn Williams, entrepreneur (died 1963)
 * 3 May – Morgan Jones, Welsh politician (died 1939)
 * 29 September – Jack Williams, VC recipient (died 1953)
 * 1887
 * 13 January – Hedd Wyn, poet (died 1917)
 * 27 February – James Dickson Innes, painter (died 1914)
 * date unknown
 * Huw Menai, poet (died 1961)
 * 1888
 * 21 May – William Cove, politician (died 1963)
 * 16 August – T. E. Lawrence, writer and war hero (died 1935)
 * 19 October – Peter Freeman, politician (died 1956)
 * 5 September – Rhys Hopkin Morris, politician (died 1956)
 * 1889
 * 1 February – John Lewis, philosopher (died 1976)
 * 11 December – Cedric Morris, artist (died 1982)

Deaths

 * 1880
 * 23 April – Robert Thomas (Ap Vychan), minister and writer (b. 1809)
 * 1881
 * 20 April – William Burges, architect
 * 20 November – Hugh Owen, educationist (born 1804)
 * 1882
 * August – John Dillwyn Llewelyn, botanist and photographer (born 1810)
 * 16 December – Alfred Ollivant, Bishop of Llandaff (born 1798)
 * 1883
 * 8 November – William Rees (Gwilym Hiraethog), poet (born 1802)
 * 1884
 * 17 March – Edward Lloyd-Mostyn, 2nd Baron Mostyn (born 1795)
 * 24 May – Henry Thomas Edwards, preacher (born 1837)
 * 6 November – George Vane-Tempest, 5th Marquess of Londonderry, industrialist
 * 1885
 * 1 May – Henry Brinley Richards, composer (born 1817)
 * 1 August – Sidney Gilchrist Thomas, inventor (born 1850)
 * 1886
 * 31 March – Edward Douglas-Pennant, 1st Baron Penrhyn (born 1800)
 * 1887
 * 25 January – Rowland Prichard, musician (born 1811)
 * 23 April – John Ceiriog Hughes, poet (born 1832)
 * 19 July – Lewis Edwards, educationist (born 1809)
 * 1888
 * 20 August – Henry Richard, politician and peace campaigner (born 1812)
 * 1889
 * 21 January – Joshua Hughes, Bishop of St Asaph (born 1807)
 * 8 June – Gerard Manley Hopkins, Anglo-Welsh poet (born 1844)
 * date unknown – John Hughes, industrialist (in St Petersburg)