'The language of Heaven'

The majority of Welsh people spoke Welsh as their first language up until the twentieth century. At the beginning of the 19th century, 70% of the population spoke only Welsh, 10% spoke Welsh and English, and 20% spoke only English. By the end of the century only half the population could speak Welsh. This was due to a number of complicated factors, including the arrival of the railways in Wales and the influx of thousands of people from England to work mainly in the industrial areas of the country.

Although the language was flourishing in many aspects of life in Wales in the last decades of the 19th century, such as the chapel and the Eisteddfod, some argued that learning English was the means 'to get on in the world'. As a result of this attitude, proper consideration was not given to the Welsh language in the development of the education system in the second half of the 19th century.

The first 'Welsh Language Society'

The first Welsh Language Society was established in 1885 to promote the use of the Welsh language in education. Dan Isaac Davies (1839-1887), a school inspector from Glamorgan, founded the society, with the support of the pacifist MP Henry Richard (1812-1888). Dan Isaac Davies published a series of articles entitled, 'Tair miliwn o Gymru Dwy-ieithawg mewn can mlynedd', (3 million bilingual Welsh people in a hundred years time) which argued that an enlightened education policy would ensure 3 million bilingual Welsh people by 1985.

The Society succeeded in persuading the Royal Commission on Elementary Education to include a recommendation that Welsh should be used in elementary schools from 1889 onwards, but even then English was given far more attention than Welsh in the schools.

With the sudden death of Dan Isaac Davies, the first society bearing the name 'Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg', (Welsh Language Society), came to an end.

The Welsh language petition

A National Petition was launched during the National Eisteddfod of 1938 under the leadership of Undeb Cymru Fydd ('Young Wales'). The purpose of the petition was to demand equal status for the Welsh language, so that the Welsh language would be entitled to the same privileges as English in every aspect of the administration of the law and public services in Wales. Over a quarter of a million signatures were collected and the petition received the support of 30 out of the 36 Welsh Members of Parliament.

Educational Campaigns in the Twentieth Century

Owen M Edwards, who was the Chief Inspector of Schools in Wales from 1907 to 1920, promoted the use of the Welsh language in primary schools, and Welsh language and literature were taught as subjects in the secondary schools that had been established as a result of the 1889 Education Act. The atmosphere in these secondary schools was still English in nature, even in the areas that were predominantly Welsh speaking.