Wales' Top Ten

Written by Richard E Huws and originally printed in Country Quest Magazine, February 1983.

In 1913 David Alfred Thomas (Viscount Rhondda), the coal magnate, offered to defray the entire cost of placing ten statues of eminent Welshmen in the new City Hall at Cardiff, a fine building which had been completed in 1905.

Each statue was to be entrusted to a gifted sculptor, with the intention that the collection should not only commemorate the most famous Welshmen of all time, but also provide examples of the work of leading contemporary British artists. The material incorporated in the statues was to be the finest Italian statuary marble, Serravezza, and the pedestals were to be made from Pentelicaon marble, with Siena marble panels.;In order to determine which famous Welshmen or Welshwomen (previous to the reign of Queen Victoria) should form the ten memorial statues, a panel of three adjudicators was appointed - Professor Thomas Powell, Sir Marchant Williams, and W. Llewelyn Williams, M.P.

To generate public interest in the munifence of D. A. Thomas's proposal, the Western Mail ran a novel competition inviting the public to submit their own selections, offering a prize of £20 to the competitor whose list coincided most closely with the choice of the three judges.

Although the response to the competition was not overwhelming, a satisfactory total of 354 entries were received, suggesting no fewer than 250 subjects. Perhaps a larger sample would be necessary to provide a more realistic 'popularity poll' of Welsh heroic figures, but a simple breakdown of the voting figures in 1913 does at least give an indication of their relative standing during that period.

The overwhelming favourite was Owain Glyndwr who received 295 nominations, and a list of the leading contenders with votes cast in their favour makes interesting reading and provides a useful yardstick with which to assess the merits of the independent selections made by the adjudicators.

Eight of the top ten popular selections were nominated by the judges, with Henry VII and General Picton being preferred to Llywelyn the Great and Griffith Jones, Llanddowror. However, this selection did not satisfy everyone, and perhaps this is best reflected in the fact that no competitor managed to submit a corresponding list. (Among the joint winners, with eight correct nominations, was the late W.W. Price, the Aberdare born local historian of repute). The adjudicators' choice of certain individuals precipitated a wave of correspondence in various newspapers. A typical example is provided by an anonymous contributor to the Liverpool Daily Post & Mercury, 31 July 1913, who criticised the inclusion of Henry VII, felt that the Tudor monarch could 'as justly be called a Frenchman', and further claimed that 'Griffith Jones had done more for Wales than General Picton'. Another writer, T. Roberts of Anglesey, rather more parochial in his criticism, was rather unhappy at the omission from the list of such local worthies as John Elias, Lewis Morris and Goronwy Owen!

The Welsh Historical Statuary at City Hall, Cardiff took a further two years to complete and is estimated to have cost its benefactor at least £10,000. The central figure is 'Dewi Sant' (St. David), by Sir W. Goscombe John, R.A Flanking the staircase on the one side are pedestal statues of Llewelyn the Last, by Henry Pegram, A.R.A., Henry V11, by E. C. Gillick; Owain Glyndwr, by Alfred Turner, R.B.S.; Sir Thomas Picton by T. Mewburn Crook, R.B.S. AND William Williams of Pantycelyn, by L. S. Merrifield.;On the other side are Hywel Dda, by F.W. Pomeroy, A.R.A.; Dafydd ap Gwilym, by W. Wheatley Wagstaff; Giraldus Cambrensis, by Henry Poole, R.B.S. and Bishop William Morgan, by T. J. Clapperton.

Probably in the interests of sexual equality a sculptured memorial to Boadicea by J Havard Thomas was added to the original ten males chosen by the adjudicators!

Votes cast be newspaper readers were as follows.

  1. Owain Glyndwr 295
  2. Hywel Dda 231
  3. St. David 221
  4. Bishop William Morgan 221
  5. Llewelyn the Great 201
  6. Dafydd ap Gwilym 197
  7. Williams Pantycelyn 154
  8. Llywelyn the Last 145
  9. Griffith Jones 137
  10. Giraldus Cambrensis 124
  11. John Parry 123
  12. Thomas Charles 114
  13. Howel Harris 91
  14. Caradog 82
  15. Arthur 60
  16. Daniel Rowland 56
  17. Rhys Prichard 53
  18. Goronwy Owen 50
  19. General Picton 49
  20. Richard Wilson 45
  21. Owain Gwynedd 44
  22. Henry VII 36
  23. Gruffydd ap Cynan 34
 

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