1804 in Wales
overview of Wales-related events during the year of 1804
This article is about the particular significance of the year 1804 to Wales and its people.
Incumbents
Lord Lieutenant of Anglesey – Henry Paget
Lord Lieutenant of Brecknockshire and Monmouthshire – Henry Somerset, 6th Duke of Beaufort
Lord Lieutenant of Caernarvonshire – Thomas Bulkeley, 7th Viscount Bulkeley
Lord Lieutenant of Cardiganshire – Thomas Johnes
Lord Lieutenant of Carmarthenshire – John Vaughan (until 19 January); George Rice, 3rd Baron Dynevor (from 21 April)
Lord Lieutenant of Denbighshire – Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, 5th Baronet
Lord Lieutenant of Flintshire – Robert Grosvenor, 1st Marquess of Westminster
Lord Lieutenant of Glamorgan – John Stuart, 1st Marquess of Bute
Lord Lieutenant of Merionethshire - Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, 5th Baronet
Lord Lieutenant of Montgomeryshire – vacant until 1804
Lord Lieutenant of Pembrokeshire – Richard Philipps, 1st Baron Milford
Lord Lieutenant of Radnorshire – Thomas Harley (until 1 December); George Rodney, 3rd Baron Rodney
Bishop of Bangor – William Cleaver
Bishop of Llandaff – Richard Watson
Bishop of St Asaph – Samuel Horsley
Bishop of St Davids – Thomas Burgess
Events
February 21 - The Cornishman Richard Trevithick's newly built "Penydarren" steam locomotive operates on the Merthyr Tramroad between the Penydarren Ironworks in Merthyr Tydfil and Abercynon, following several trials since February 13, the world's first locomotive to work on rails. As a result of this achievement, Samuel Homfray wins a 1000 guineas wager with Richard Crawshay as to which of them could first build a steam locomotive for use in their works.
March 7 - Inauguration of the British and Foreign Bible Society, largely at the instigation of Thomas Charles.
The Cambrian is the first newspaper published in Wales.
The public source identifies “1804 in Wales” as overview of Wales-related events during the year of 1804. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Wales, overview and Wales-related.
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A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “1804 in Wales”, the useful work is to connect “overview of Wales-related events during the year of 1804” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4553811. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1804 and 1000.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “1804 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.