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Giants North Wales

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giants: Visionary

For a small place, North Wales has some big personalities. Politicians, explorers and visionaries who've gone out there and got things done.

Many more have made a difference on a grand scale. Political figures like David Lloyd George, the only Welsh Prime Minister of Britain; his daughter, Lady Megan Lloyd George, Wales' first female Member of Parliament; and pioneers of medicine like Anglesey-born Hugh Owen Thomas, the ‘father of British orthopaedics'.

Our visionary giants have been breaking new ground for centuries. And breaking the ground is exactly what Denbigh-born entrepreneur Sir Hugh Myddelton did to bring fresh water to 17th century London.

Flying the flag on the arts front are BBC broadcaster and ‘founding father of arts television', Prestatyn-born Huw Wheldon, cartographer Humphrey Llwyd, responsible for the first ever printed map of Wales. And 18th century naturalist and prolific author Thomas Pennant from Holywell – the greatest Welsh travel writer of his time.

Don't be surprised to find the odd pioneer who's gone the extra mile. Dr Livingtone was found safe and well thanks to Denbigh-born journalist and explorer Henry Morton Stanley. America's Yale University is named in honour of Elihu Yale, whose family hailed from Llanarmon yn Iâl, Denbighshire. While Tremadog-born archaeologist and soldier T E Lawrence became a stalwart campaigner for Arab independence – you might know him better as Lawrence of Arabia. And it was during the 1800s that Michael D Jones from Bala inspired the resettlement of over 150 colonists. Which is why today, Patagonia in South America has its very own Welsh-speaking community.

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giants: Visionary

David Lloyd George (1863–1945)

One of the 20th century’s greatest statesmen, David Lloyd George was born in Manchester and raised in Criccieth, on the west coast of North Wales. His work as a young solicitor secured a local reputation as a stalwart defender of the poor and in 1890 he was voted Liberal MP for Caernarfon (a seat which he would hold for more than 50 years).

Elihu Yale (1649-1721)

Elihu Yale was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of a Boston Merchant. The Yale family originally hailed from Llanarmon yn Iâl, Denbighshire, and returned to Britain when Elihu was four years old.

Hugh Owen Thomas (1834-1891)

The son of a bone-setter, Anglesey-born Hugh Owen Thomas studied medicine and went on to work in Liverpool as a surgeon.

Humphrey Llwyd (1527-1568)

Humphrey Llwyd was born at Foxhall, Denbighshire and was educated at Oxford. A noted antiquarian and translator, Llwyd went on to to serve 15 years as the personal physician to the Earl of Arundel, Chancellor of Oxford University at the time.

Huw Wheldon (1916-1986)

Huw Weldon was born in Prestatyn on the North Wales coast and in 1933 moved with his family to London. Huw read Latin and German at Bangor Univerisity and later sociology at the London School of Economics. During WWII he served with the Royal Welch Fusiliers, winning the Military Cross for bravery during the Normandy landings.

Lady Megan Lloyd George (1902–1966)

With British Prime Minister David Lloyd George for a father, it’s little wonder Megan Lloyd George chose politics as a career. But women had only been able to become MPs from 1918, so this was ground-breaking stuff. And when she won the Anglesey seat for the Liberal Party in 1929 she became the first ever Welsh female Member of Parliament.

Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence / T E Lawrence / Lawrence of Arabia (1888 – 1935)

Thomas Edward Lawrence was born in Tremadog on the Llŷn Peninsula and was schooled in archaeology at Jesus College, Oxford. His studies led to a lifelong interest in Arab culture and in the year before WWI spent many years in the Middle East.

Michael Daniel Jones (1822-1898) and Mimosa

Michael Daniel Jones was born in Bala, Snowdonia. He was a devout Christian minister who served as Principal of Bala Congregational College. Increasingly disillusioned with the state of 19th century Welsh society, Jones initiated the repatriation of 153 Welsh emigrants to Patagonia, Argentina, who set sail aboard the Mimosa in 1865.

Sir Henry Morton Stanley (1841-1904)

Born John Rowlands in Denbigh, and brought up in a St Asaph workhouse, Stanley left North Wales as a teenager to seek his fortune in America. In New Orleans he met wealthy trader Henry Stanley – whose name he would later assume. He served on both sides of the American Civil War, and later worked as a travel journalist.

Sir Hugh Myddleton (1560-1631)

It seems there was nothing that Denbigh-born Sir Hugh Myddleton couldn’t turn his hand to. Myddleton worked as an apprentice goldsmith, then Royal Jeweller to King James I, clothmaker, banker, merchant, Welsh mine-owner, MP for Denbigh – and was later created a baronet.

Thomas Pennant (1726-1798)

Born at Downing near Holywell, Flintshire, Thomas Pennant was educated at Queen’s College, Oxford, where he discovered a great love for travel and the natural world. His pioneering work in the fields of topography and zoology, and as a naturalist and prolific author forged a reputation as the foremost Welsh intellectual of the 18th century.

Tom Cruise’s real surname is Mapother. His Great Great Grandfather, Dylan Henry Mapother emigrated from Flint to USA in 1850.

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