Bell, Sir (Harold) Idris (1879–1967), papyrologist and scholar of Welsh literature, was born on 2 October 1879 at Epworth, Lincolnshire, the son of Charles Christopher Bell (b. 1845), chemist, and his wife, Rachel Hughes (d. 1880). His father's family had been yeoman farmers in the north midlands and had marked literary leanings, his father not least; but the Welsh inheritance from his mother meant more to ...
Article
Bell, Sir (Harold) Idris (1879–1967), papyrologist and scholar of Welsh literature
C. H. Roberts
revised
Article
Bowen, Arthur Charles Mainwaring (1922–1980), founder of the British Rheumatic Association
Richard Gutch
Bowen, Arthur Charles Mainwaring (1922–1980), founder of the British Rheumatic Association, was born on 24 March 1922 at Pentre-bach, Pontyberem, near Carmarthen, the son of Arthur Pendragon Bowen (1887–1942), a timber and builder's merchant, and his wife, Edith Helena Stephenson (1895–1984). He was educated at ...
Article
Coburn, Alvin Langdon (1882–1966), photographer and mystic
Mike Weaver
Coburn, Alvin Langdon (1882–1966), photographer and mystic, was born on 11 June 1882 at 134 East Springfield Street, Boston, Massachusetts, the only child of James Alvin Coburn (1849–1891), manufacturer of Coburn and Whitman shirts, and his wife, Fannie E. Howe (d. 1928)...
Article
Edwards, Alfred George (1848–1937), archbishop of Wales
A. S. Duncan-Jones
revised by O. W. Jones
Edwards, Alfred George (1848–1937), archbishop of Wales, was born on 2 November 1848 at The Bryn, a small manor house serving as the rectory of Llanymawddwy, a remote mountain parish in Merioneth. He was the youngest son of William Edwards (d. 1868)...
Article
Lindsay, Lionel Arthur (1861–1945), police officer
Chris Williams
Lindsay, Lionel Arthur (1861–1945), police officer, was born at Mansion House, St Mary's, Brecon, on 27 March 1861, the third son in the family of six sons and one daughter of Henry Gore Lindsay (1830–1914), army officer and chief constable, and his wife, ...
Article
Llewelyn, John Dillwyn (1810–1882), photographer
Richard Leslie Morris
Llewelyn, John Dillwyn (1810–1882), photographer, was born at The Willows, Swansea, on 12 January 1810, the son of the naturalist Lewis Weston Dillwyn (1778–1855) and his wife, Mary Adams (1776–1865). Mary was the illegitimate daughter of Colonel John Llewelyn (d. 1817) of ...
Article
Secombe, Sir Harry Donald (1921–2001), entertainer
Dennis Barker
Secombe, Sir Harry Donald (1921–2001), entertainer, was born in Swansea on 8 September 1921, the younger son and third of four children of Frederick Ernest Secombe, a commercial traveller for the wholesale grocery firm Walters and Batchelors and an amateur cartoonist, and his wife, ...
Article
Thomas, Ronald Stuart (1913–2000), poet and Church in Wales clergyman
T. J. Hughes
Thomas, Ronald Stuart (1913–2000), poet and Church in Wales clergyman, was born at 5 Newfoundland Road, Gabalfa, Llandaff, Cardiff, on 29 March 1913, the only son of Thomas Hubert Thomas (d. 1965), merchant seaman, and Margaret, née Davies. From the age of five he lived in ...
Article
Watkins, Sir Tasker (1918–2007), judge
Malcolm Pill
Watkins, Sir Tasker (1918–2007), judge, was born on 18 November 1918 at 9 Station Terrace, Nelson, Glamorgan, the son of Bertram Watkins, engine fitter, and his wife, Jane, née Phillips. He was educated at Pontypridd grammar school until his parents, like many of that generation living in the valleys of ...
Article
Williams, Sir (John) Kyffin (1918–2006), painter
Meic Stephens
Williams, Sir (John) Kyffin (1918–2006), painter, was born on 9 May 1918 at Tanygraig, a house on the outskirts of Llangefni, Anglesey, the younger son of Henry Inglis Wynne Williams (1870–1942), bank manager, and his wife, Essyllt Mary, née Williams (1883–1964), daughter of ...
