1988 in Wales
overview of Wales-related events during the year of 1988
This article is about the particular significance of the year 1988 to Wales and its people.
Incumbents
Secretary of State for Wales – Peter Walker
Archbishop of Wales – George Noakes, Bishop of St David's
Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales – Emrys Deudraeth
Events
14 February - Lynette White is murdered in her Cardiff flat. The case remains controversial for over 20 years, with Jeffrey Gafoor eventually being convicted in 2003.
26 March - The Welsh Ornithological Society is founded at Aberystwyth.
October - County Hall, Cardiff, officially opened as the headquarters of South Glamorgan County Council beside the disused Bute East Dock in the Atlantic Wharf area of Butetown, Cardiff.
4 November - British Rail operates the last steam locomotives in its ownership (and its last narrow gauge trains) on the Vale of Rheidol Railway in regular service prior to its privatisation next year (Santa Specials run on 18 December).
date unknown - The complete Bible translation into Welsh that has been in use since 1620 is replaced with a new version, Y Beibl Cymraeg Newydd (BCN), translated directly from the original languages.
Arts and literature
January - BAFTA Cymru is founded.
28–31 May - First Hay Festival of literature held in Hay-on-Wye.
The Gregynog festival is re-launched by Anthony Rolfe Johnson.
The public source identifies “1988 in Wales” as overview of Wales-related events during the year of 1988. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Wales, overview and Wales-related.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “1988 in Wales”, the useful work is to connect “overview of Wales-related events during the year of 1988” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 31, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4584845. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1988, 2003 and 1620.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “1988 in Wales”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow 1988 in Wales primary sources, 1988 in Wales archive and Wales research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “1988 in Wales”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “1988 in Wales” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.