Famous People

Cynan is famous for being a poet, dramatist and ‘Eisteddfodwr’.

Alfred Russel Wallace

Alfred Russel Wallace is famous for being a naturalist and a promoter of social reforms.

Alice Helena Alexandra Williams (Alys Meirion)

Alice Williams is famous for being a writer, artist, and voluntary welfare worker. Her bardic name was Alys Meirion.

Aneurin Bevan

Aneurin Bevan is famous for being the politician who established the National Health Service.

Annie Jane Hughes Griffiths

Annie Hughes Griffiths led a Peace Petition delegation of Welsh women to America.

Augustus Edwin John

During the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, Augustus Edwin John was considered amongst the most important and influential artists in Britain.

Bartholomew Roberts (Black Bart)

Bartholomew Roberts, or Black Bart as he became known, is famous for being a pirate.

Amy Roberta (‘Berta’) Ruck

Berta Ruck is famous for being a novelist.

Elizabeth (‘Betsi’) Cadwaladr

Betsi Cadwaladr is famous for her work as a nurse near the battlefields of Balaclava, during the Crimean War.

Rachel Elizabeth (Betty) Campbell

Betty Campbell is famous for being the first Black headteacher in Wales and civic activist in the Cardiff area.

Caradog Pritchard

Caradog Prichard is famous as a journalist, and award-winning poet and writer. His novel 'Un Nos Ola Leuad' (One Moonlight Night) is considered a classic of Welsh literature.

Katheryn of Berain

Katheryn of Berain is famous because she came from Royal and Noble families. She married four times and she is often refferred to as 'The Mother of Wales'.

Charlotte Guest

Charlotte Guest was the first person to translate the 'Mabinogi' into English. She devised the title 'The Mabinogion'. She was a translator, linguist, entrepreneur, author and art collector.

Clive Sullivan

Clive Sullivan is famous for being a rugby league player who captained the Great Britain side and Wales.

David Davies

David Davies, Llandinam is famous for being an industrialist, benefactor and Member of Parliament.

David John Williams

D. J. Williams is famous as an author and as one of the three convicted of burning down a Bombing School in Penyberth, Gwynedd.

David Lloyd George

David Lloyd George is famous for being the first Welshman to be the Prime Minister of Britain, during the First World War.

Saint David

Saint David is famous for being the Patron Saint of Wales.

Donald Watts Davies

Donald Watts Davies is famous for being a pioneer of digital computing and a method of transferring data that played apart in the development of the internet.

Dorothy Noel Bonarjee

Dorothy Noel Bonarjee is famous for being a poet and solicitor.

Dylan Thomas

Dylan Thomas is famous for being a poet, playwright and author.

Edward Williams (Iolo Morganwg)

Edward Williams is famous for being a poet and antiquarian.

Eirwen Meiriona Gwynn

Eirwen Meiriona Gwynn is famous because she was the first woman to gain a PhD in Physics at University College of Wales, Bangor. She later went on to become an award winning writer.

Eldra Mary Jarman

Eldra Mary Jarman is famous for being a harpist and author.

Eleanor De Montfort

Eleanor de Montfort is famous for being a princess and diplomat.

Elizabeth Amy Dillwyn

Elizabeth Amy Dillwyn was a novelist, feminist campaigner, and an early industrialist. She wrote some of the first lesbian novels to appear in print.

Elizabeth Anne Howe

Liz Howe is famous for being an ecologist.

Elizabeth Phillips Hughes

Elizabeth Phillips Hughes is famous for being an educationalist.

Elizabeth Watkin-Jones

Elizabeth Watkin-Jones is famous for being a children’s author.

Ellis Humphrey Evans (Hedd Wyn)

Ellis Humphrey Evans (Hedd Wyn) is famous for being a poet. He is among a generation of poets and writers who fought in the First World War and is seen as one of the 'war poets' of that time.

Eluned Morgan

Eluned Morgan is famous for being an author.

Emmeline Lewis Lloyd

Emmeline Lewis Lloyd is famous for being one of the first women to climb in the Alps.

Enrico Alphonso Stennett

Enrico Alphonso Stennett is famous for being a race relations activist, businessman and dancer.

Evan James (Ieuan ap Iago)

Evan James and his son are famous for composing 'Hen Wlad fy Nhadau' (Land of my Fathers). Evan James’ nickname was Ieuan ap Iago.

Frances Batty Shand

Frances Batty Shand is famous for being a charity worker.

Frances Elizabeth Hoggan

Frances Hoggan was the first Welsh woman to qualify as a medical doctor, and was a leading figure in the campaign to improve girls’ education in Wales.

Gareth Richard Vaughan Jones

Gareth Richard Vaughan Jones is famous for being a linguist and journalist.

Grace Williams

Grace Williams is famous for being a composer and musician.

Gwen John was an artist who was famous for painting self-portraits, paintings of other women and still life. She studied art at the Slade School of Art in London – this was the only college in Britain that allowed women to attend.

Gwenllian ferch Gruffudd

Gwenllian is famous for being a Princess, and in her husband’s absence, leading an army in a raid against the Normans.

Gwynfor Evans

Gwynfor Evans is famous for being a nationalist and politician.

Henry VII

Henry VII is famous for being King of England and starting the Tudor dynasty.

Helen Josephine Watts

Helen Josephine Watts is famous for being a singer.

Helen Wyn Thomas

Helen Wyn Thomas is famous for being a peace activist, and being one of the women of Greenham Common.

Hywel Dda

'Hywel the Good' is famous for being a king and legislator.

Ifan ab Owen Edwards

Sir Ifan ab Owen Edwards is famous for being a lecturer and the founder of Urdd Gobaith Cymru.

Jacob Thomas

Jacob Thomas is famous for representing Britain in the Paralympics.

Jimmy Wilde

Jimmy Wilde is famous for being a boxer, the world flyweight champion between 1916 and 1923.

John Charles

John Charles was a footballer who played for Leeds United, Juventus and Wales. According to some, he was one of the best Welsh footballers of the twentieth century.

John Davies

John Davies is famous for being a historian and television presenter.

John Frost

John Frost is famous for being a Chartist.

John Jones

John Jones is famous for being an Astronomer and Linguist.

John Roberts (Alaw Elwy, Telynor Cymru)

John Roberts is famous for being a musician. He was also called Alaw Elwy (Melody of Elwy), and Telynor Cymru (Harpist of Wales).

John Ystumllyn

John was a gardener and land steward, and one of the first Black people in Wales with a well-recorded history.

Kate Bosse-Griffiths

Kate Bosse-Griffiths is famous for being an Egyptologist and author.

Kate Roberts

Kate Roberts is regarded as Wales’s most prominent writer in the 20th century.

Kathleen Carpenter

Kathleen Carpenter is famous for being an ecologist.

Kyffin Williams

Kyffin Williams is considered to be one of Wales’ leading painters and the most successful ever in terms of a career as a professional artist.

Laura Ashley

Laura Ashley is famous for being a fashion designer.

Lewis Edward Valentine

Lewis Valentine is famous for being an author, nationalist and Baptist minister.

Llywelyn ap Gruffudd

Llywelyn ap Gruffudd is famous for being a Prince of Wales.

Lois Blake

Lois Blake is famous for being a historian and a promoter of Welsh folk dancing.

Lucy Gwendolen Williams

Lucy Gwendolen Williams is famous for being a sculptor.

Margaret Davies

Margaret Davies of Gregynog is famous for being an art collector and benefactor.

Maragret Haig Thomas

Margaret Haig Thomas is famous for being a suffragette, editor, author and businesswoman.

Maria Jane Williams (Llinos)

Maria Jane Williams is famous for being a folklore collector and musician. Her bardic name was Llinos.

Martha Hughes Cannon

Martha Hughes Cannon is famous for being a doctor, and the first woman to be elected as a State Senator in the United States of America.

Mary Dilys Glynne

Mary Dilys Glynne is famous for being a leading scientist and plant pathologist.

Mary Eleanor Gillham

Mary Gillham is famous for being a naturalist and educator

Mary Jones

Mary Jones is famous for walking 25 miles to the Bala to buy a Bible, after saving for 6 years.

Mary Wynne Warner

Mary Wynne Warner is famous for being a mathematician.

Megan Arfon Lloyd George

Megan was famous for being the first female Member of Parliament from Wales and for campaigning for women’s rights. Her father, David Lloyd George, was the British Prime Minister between 1916 and 1922.

Michael D Jones

Michael D. Jones is famous for being an Independent Minister and College Principal and one of the founders of Y Wladfa (Welsh settlement) in Patagonia.

Morfydd Llwyn Owen

Morfydd Owen is famous for being a composer, pianist and singer.

Myriel Irfona Davies

Myriel Irfona Davies is famous for being a campaigner for the United Nations.

Nansi Richards Jones (Telynores Maldwyn)

Nansi Richards was one of Wales’s most famous harpists.

Non

Non is famous for being the mother of St David, the Patron Saint of Wales.

Olive Annie Wheeler

Olive Annie Wheeler is famous for being a Psychologist and Educator.

Owain Glyndwr

Owain Glyndŵr is famous for being Prince of Wales.

Rachel Barrett

Rachel Barrett is famous for being a suffragette.

Rhys ap Gruffudd

Rhys ap Gruffudd is famous for being the Lord of Deheubarth and holding the first Eisteddfod at Cardigan.

Richard Burton

Film and Television

Richard Burton is famous for being an actor.

Richard Lewis (Dic Penderyn)

Richard Lewis is famous for being a Welsh revolutionary.

Robert Recorde

Robert Recorde is famous for being a mathematician and doctor. He invented the equals symbol (=).

Ryan Davies

Film and Television

Ryan Davies is famous for being a comedian, inger and actor.

Sarah Jane Rees (Cranogwen)

Poetry

She was a poet, editor, seafarer, preacher and teacher, and is known by her bardic name, Cranogwen.

Sarah Siddons

Performing Arts

Sarah Siddons is famous for being an actor.

Saunders Lewis

Saunders Lewis is famous for being a politician, critic and dramatist.

William Price

William Price is famous for being a physician and an eccentric.

T. Llew Jones

T.Llew Jones is famous for being a poet and a prolific writer.

Terrence Higgins

Terry Higgins is known for being one of the first people in the United Kingdom to die of an AIDS-related illness.

Thomas Charles Bamford

Tommy Bamford is famous for being a footballer, playing for Wrexham, Manchester United and Swansea.

Thomas Maldwyn Pryce

Thomas Maldwyn Pryce is famous for being a racing driver.

Thomas William Jones (Twm Titanic)

Thomas William Jones is famous for rowing lifeboat number 8 from the 'Titanic' and saving the lives of many people.

Waldo Williams

Waldo was a poet and pacifist from Pembrokeshire. He was often referred to by his first name only.

William Morgan

William Morgan is recognised as the person who was mainly responsible for publishing the first full Welsh language translation of the Bible in 1588. The translation gave the people of Wales the opportunity to read the Old Testament for the first time in Welsh.

William Williams, Pantycelyn

William Williams, Pantycelyn, is famous for being an author and hymn-writer.

Winifred Margaret Coombe Tennant