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Famous people of North Wales

Anna Leonowens, writer with a connection to Wales (Caernarfon)

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Anna Leonowens She was the "I" of the popular story, "The King and I". Her account of her time as a teacher in the Royal Siamese Court. Here actual work was published under the title 'The English governess at the Siamese court'.

Arwel Hughes, composer and conductor born in Rhosllannerchrugog, Wales

  • Person's Name: Arwel Hughes
  • Fame as?: Composer and conductor
  • Fame Hilite: Directed the music for the 1969 Investiture of Charles, Prince of Wales, and was appointed OBE the same year.
  • Death info: Died 23 September 1988.
  • Birth info: Born 25 August 1909 in Rhosllannerchrugog, near Wrexham, North Wales.
  • Body Text 2:

    As Head of BBC Wales from 1965 to 1971, Hughes shaped Welsh music broadcasting for a generation, championing the work of contemporaries such as Grace Williams and Alun Hoddinott. His opera Menna (1954) broke new ground as the first with a Welsh-language libretto, and his choral works and oratorios remain part of the Welsh choral tradition. His son Owain Arwel Hughes carried the family name into a distinguished international conducting career.
  • Career Highlights:
    • Career Highlight: Head of BBC Wales music, later Head of BBC Wales (1965–1971)
    • Career Highlight: Composed Menna (1954), the first opera with a Welsh-language libretto
    • Career Highlight: Appointed OBE in 1969 for services to Welsh music
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  • Connection: Born and raised in Rhosllannerchrugog near Wrexham; returned to Wales in 1935 to join the BBC's music department, later becoming Head of BBC Wales.
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  • Location String: Rhosllannerchrugog, Wrexham
  • Connection Place Map: 53.0104,-3.0399
Arwel Hughes OBE was born on 25 August 1909 in Rhosllannerchrugog, a large village near Wrexham in North Wales. He was educated at Ruabon Grammar School before studying at the Royal College of Music in London under Ralph Vaughan Williams and C. H. Kitson, one of the most respected training...

Bryn Terfel, opera bass-baritone born in Pantglas, Wales

Bryn Terfel opera bass-baritone. image: Frankie Fouganthin
  • Person's Name: Bryn Terfel
  • Fame as?: Opera and concert bass-baritone
  • Fame Hilite: World-renowned bass-baritone; knighted in 2017 for services to music; sang the coronation Kyrie for King Charles III in Welsh.
  • Birth info: Born 9 November 1965 in Pant Glas, Caernarfonshire (Gwynedd), Wales.
  • Body Text 2:

    Beyond the opera house, Terfel founded the Faenol Festival near Snowdonia in 2000 and is a vice president of the historic Dunvant Male Choir in Swansea. In 2023 he made history as the first performer to sing Welsh at a British coronation.
  • Career Highlights:
    • Career Highlight: Won the Lieder Prize at Cardiff Singer of the World, 1989
    • Career Highlight: Debuted at the Royal Opera House and Metropolitan Opera in the early 1990s
    • Career Highlight: Knighted for services to music, 2017
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  • Connection: Born and raised in rural Gwynedd; Welsh was his first language, and he remains a leading patron of Welsh music and culture.
  • Related Material:
  • Location String: Pant Glas, Caernarfon, Gwynedd, Wales
  • Connection Place Map: 53.0068,-4.2814
Sir Bryn Terfel Jones was born on 9 November 1965 in Pant Glas, a small village in Caernarfonshire (now Gwynedd), the son of a farmer. Welsh was his first language, and he grew up singing in chapel and competing at local eisteddfodau, taught traditional Welsh songs by a family friend before he...

Ceinwen Rowlands, Soprano born in Holyhead, Wales

  • Person's Name: Ceinwen Rowlands
  • Fame as?: Soprano / Concert & Opera Singer
  • Fame Hilite: One of the leading Welsh concert sopranos of her generation, a National Eisteddfod double champion and prolific Decca recording artist.
  • Death info: Died 12 June 1983 at Clatterbridge Hospital, Cheshire; cremated at Colwyn Bay, North Wales.
  • Birth info: Born 15 January 1905 in Holyhead, Anglesey, Wales.
  • Body Text 2:

    Rowlands studied under Plunket Greene and Mabel Kelly in London and built a repertoire spanning Welsh folk song, oratorio and opera, becoming particularly known for her interpretations of works by Welsh composers. Her recordings for Decca between 1949 and 1952, along with earlier sessions for the Welsh Recorded Music Society, remain part of the historical record of 20th-century Welsh vocal music, and a biography and discography of her career, "O lwyfan i lwyfan", was published in 1999.
  • Career Highlights:
    • Career Highlight: Won first prize for singing at the National Eisteddfod, Mold, 1923
    • Career Highlight: Won first prize for singing at the National Eisteddfod, Pwllheli, 1925
    • Career Highlight: Gave first Welsh-language performance of Mendelssohn's Hymn of Praise, National Eisteddfod, Bangor, 1943
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  • Connection: Born and raised in Holyhead, Anglesey, before moving to London in 1930 to pursue her singing career; she returned to North Wales in later life, settling in Rhyl.
  • Related Material:
  • Location String: Holyhead, Anglesey, Wales
  • Connection Place Map: 53.3094,-4.6338
Ceinwen Rowlands was born on 15 January 1905 in Holyhead, Anglesey, the only child of William Rowlands, proprietor of the town's Anglesey Emporium menswear shop, and his wife Kate, a well-known singer from Cerrigydrudion, Denbighshire. Educated locally and at Bangor County School for Girls,...

Charles Evans (Sir), Everest expedition commander and Bangor, Wales

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Sir Charles Evans Second in command of the Everest expedition of 1953. Was in fact the first choice for accent to the summit but was defeated by bad weather. Had he done so, he would have achieved all the fame that Edmund Hillary received. In 1955 he led the Khan Chen Junga...