1888 in Wales

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1888 to Wales and its people.

Incumbents

 * Lord Lieutenant of Anglesey – Richard Davies
 * Lord Lieutenant of Brecknockshire – Joseph Bailey, 1st Baron Glanusk
 * Lord Lieutenant of Caernarvonshire – John Ernest Greaves
 * Lord Lieutenant of Cardiganshire – Edward Pryse (until 29 May); Herbert Davies-Evans (from 16 July)
 * Lord Lieutenant of Carmarthenshire – John Campbell, 2nd Earl Cawdor
 * Lord Lieutenant of Denbighshire – William Cornwallis-West
 * Lord Lieutenant of Flintshire – Hugh Robert Hughes
 * Lord Lieutenant of Glamorgan – Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot
 * Lord Lieutenant of Merionethshire – Robert Davies Pryce
 * Lord Lieutenant of Monmouthshire – Henry Somerset, 8th Duke of Beaufort
 * Lord Lieutenant of Montgomeryshire – Edward Herbert, 3rd Earl of Powis
 * Lord Lieutenant of Pembrokeshire – William Edwardes, 4th Baron Kensington
 * Lord Lieutenant of Radnorshire – Arthur Walsh, 2nd Baron Ormathwaite


 * Bishop of Bangor – James Colquhoun Campbell
 * Bishop of Llandaff – Richard Lewis
 * Bishop of St Asaph – Joshua Hughes
 * Bishop of St Davids – Basil Jones


 * Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales – Clwydfardd

Events

 * January – Plans are presented for a Welsh Presbyterian Chapel in Charing Cross Road, London.
 * March – Construction work begins on the Dowlais steelworks at East Moors, Cardiff.
 * 11 April - Earthquake centred on Corwen.
 * May – Owen Glynne Jones climbs Cadair Idris by the east ridge of the Cyfrwy.
 * 13 May – The young Beatrix Potter records a trip to Machynlleth in her diary.
 * 14 May – Five miners are killed in an accident at the Aber Colliery, Porth, Rhondda.
 * August – Joshua Hughes, Bishop of St Asaph, has a seizure while staying in Scotland, and is paralysed until his death a few months later.
 * 27 September – A new dock at Milford Haven is opened.
 * 5 October – Five sailors are drowned at Colwyn Bay while returning to their ship by boat.
 * date unknown
 * University of Wales, Bangor, opens its agriculture department – the first in a British university.
 * The Welsh Parliamentary Liberal Party is formed.
 * Henry Morton Stanley "discovers" Lake Edward and names it after the Prince of Wales.
 * R. J. Lloyd Price opens a whisky distillery at Frongoch.
 * The remains of Llantwit Major Roman Villa are discovered.

Awards
National Eisteddfod of Wales – held at Wrexham
 * Chair – Thomas Tudno Jones, "Peroriaeth"
 * Crown – Howell Elvet Lewis, "Y Sabath yng Nghymru"

New books

 * Daniel Owen – Y Siswrn
 * J. Rhys – Lectures of the Origin and Growth of Religion as Illustrated by Celtic

Music

 * William Griffith – "I Will Extol Thee"

Sport

 * Cricket – Glamorgan County Cricket Club founded.
 * Golf – Tenby Links becomes the first golf course in Wales. The first competition held by the club is held on 25 October over 9 holes and is won by Mr T A Rees.
 * Rugby union
 * Briton Ferry RFC, Builth Wells RFC, Llantrisant RFC, Newbridge RFC and Tonna RFC are founded.
 * Willie Thomas is the only Welsh international to take part in the first overseas tour by a British rugby union team.
 * Wales win their first international game against Scotland, during the 1888 Home Nations Championship.
 * Wales face their first international opposition, the New Zealand Native football team. Wales win by a goal to nil.

Births

 * February – Grace Wynne Griffith, novelist (died 1963)
 * 23 March – Fred Hando, writer and artist (died 1970)
 * 29 April – Fred Dyer, boxer and baritone singer (died after 1934)
 * 14 May – Nansi Richards, harpist (died 1979)
 * 21 May – William Cove, politician (died 1963)
 * 24 May – Howell Lewis, Wales international rugby player (died 1971)
 * 18 June – Margaret Lindsay Williams, artist (died 1960)
 * 16 August – T. E. Lawrence, writer and war hero (died 1935)
 * 24 August – Valentine Baker, pilot and war hero (died 1942)
 * 5 September – Rhys Hopkin Morris, politician (died 1956)
 * 7 October – Frances Stevenson, secretary and later wife of David Lloyd George (died 1972)
 * 19 October – Peter Freeman, politician (died 1956)
 * 27 November – Ezer Griffiths, physicist (died 1962)
 * 29 December – Reg Plummer, Wales and British Lion rugby union player (died 1953)

Deaths

 * 23 February – Evan Davies (Myfyr Morganwg), poet and archdruid, 87
 * 29 February – Thomas Price, Baptist minister and author, 67
 * 7 March – Hugh Hughes (Cadfan), Patagonian colonist, 63
 * 16 March – Thomas Thomas, chapel architect and minister, c. 81
 * 22 March – Henry Robertson, Scottish engineer and founder of Brymbo Steel Works, 72
 * 24 March – Benjamin Piercy, civil engineer, 61
 * 29 May – Edward Pryse, politician, 70
 * 7 June – Charles William Nevill, industrialist and politician, 72
 * 2 August – David Davies (Dewi Emlyn), poet, 70
 * 5 August – Charles Octavius Swinnerton Morgan, politician, historian and antiquary, 84
 * 20 August – Henry Richard, politician and peace campaigner, 76
 * 3 September – Robert H. Roberts, Welsh-born US senator, 51 (boatyard accident)
 * 20 September – Elias Owen, footballer, 35 (suicide)
 * 23 November – Edward John Sartoris, politician, 74/75
 * date unknown
 * John Evans (Y Bardd Cocos), poet
 * Morgan Morgans, mining engineer, 73/4