Statistical Evidence Relating to the Welsh Language 1801‐1911/ Tystiolaeth Ystadegol yn ymwneud â’r Iaith Gymraeg 1801‐1911

Ever since the Tudor Act of Union of 1536 penalised the Welsh people for speaking their own language, Welsh has been assailed by countless zealots, within and without, who wished it dead. Social and economic forces were generally also inimical. At the beginning of the nineteenth century the people of Wales were still overwhelmingly Welsh‐speaking. By 1911, only 10 per cent of the population described themselves as speaking “Welsh only”. Continued decline ever since may now be coming to a halt, with resurgence of national consciousness and confidence and the remarkable growth of Welsh‐medium education since 1950.

The vicissitudes of...