What was the capital of Wales before 1905?

Answer 1

Wales did not have an official capital before 1955. There were a number of places that had a claim to this title - St. David's as an ecclesiastical centre and home of Wales's first cathedral, Carnarvon the site of the investiture of the Prince of Wales, Aberystwyth as a neutral, middle town boasting the National Library of Wales or Machynlleth seat of Owain Glyndŵr's Welsh Parliament in 1404. There was a considerable amount of political wrangling ,with debates in Parliament over which town should have the honour.

In the end, an official ballot was organised between the all members of the Welsh local authorities. The results were declared on July 2, 1954, and this found that Cardiff had won 136 votes, Caernarfon took just 11 and Aberystwyth had only four. Local authorities representing more than two million people around 85% of the Principality's total population had opted for Cardiff. Cardiff's position was finally confirmed in a written statement to the House of Commons by the Minister for Welsh Affairs Gwilym Lloyd George, son of David Lloyd George, on Tuesday 20 December 1955.