In the mid-nineteenth century, the British state was on the march at home and abroad. In Wales, industrialisation and urbanisation were accelerating the decline of the Welsh language.

Michael D Jones was a Congregationalist minister and theologian who, like thousands of his contemporaries, had joined the exodus to the United States.

While many Welsh communities in the U.S. prospered, notably in Pennsylvania,

Jones realised the cultural identity of these emigrants would be diluted over time.

The answer he proposed was an entirely Welsh settlement (Wladfa) free of external control. After considering numerous locations-including Palestine- a tract of one hundred square miles in the Chubut region of Patagonia was chosen and the agreement of the Argentine government secured.

The first 153 Welsh colonists, including Jones’ son Llwyd, arrived from Liverpool aboard the Mimosa in June 1865. Their adventure is vividly recalled by Bruce Chatwin in his book In Patagonia:

“Their leaders had combed the earth for a stretch of open country uncontaminated by Englishness. They chose Patagonia for its absolute remoteness and foul climate; they did not want to get rich”.

The Welsh clung to Patagonia through drought, floods and disease, establishing towns whose names speak loudly of the origins of their founders; Puerto Madryn, Trelew and Dolavon.

Perhaps inevitably, the Welshness of the colony was eroded over time. The rise of Argentine nationalism increased pressure from Buenos Aires for the settlers descendants to Spanish not Welsh. Young people looked outwards for better prospects.

Nevertheless, as interest in the language revived in the 1960’s so the links between Wales and its colony were rekindled. The twice-yearly eisteddfod has grown in stature and more recently the National Assembly began funding Welsh lanuage teaching in Chubut.

Michael Jones visited Patagonia only once. While it’s fair to say his vision for a New Wales was not completely fulfilled, this remarkable region continues to bear unmistakeable traces of Welshness.