Second Act of Disunion

The late 19th and early 20th century saw a general rise in Welsh consciousness with a number of national institutions established and the formation of Plaid Cymru in 1925. In response to increasing demands for more consideration of Welsh affairs, the UK government started a process of administrative devolution, creating the Council for Wales in 1949 to be replaced by the Office of Secretary of State for Wales in 1964 and the Welsh Office in 1965.

While still controlled very closely from Westminster, this led ultimately to a major step forward – the Welsh Language Act of 1967. While this was significant in its own right because it gave the first official recognition to Cymraeg - of arguably more significance was Part 4 of the Act which repealed the Wales and Berwick Act (as relating to Wales). From this point on, the term England would no longer be deemed to include Wales, and I consider this:

......................The Second Act of Disunion

Another step forward came five years later with the Local Government Act of 1972, which clarified the boundaries of Wales, and in particular removed the confusion over Monmouthshire which was now clearly and unequivocally in Wales.

Wales had survived England’s best efforts to remove us from the map, and our borders were even growing! However, we remained firmly ruled from England.