Sam Jones, 1898-1974

The British Broadcasting Company started broadcasting in February 1922 from a transmitter in London. The first Welsh station was based in Cardiff and opened on 13 February 1923. In 1927 the British Broadcasting Corporation was established. From 1927 until 1935, Wales came under the West Region along with the West of England and Welsh programmes were very rare. In 1935, a studio opened in North Wales, in Bangor.

Samuel Cornelius Jones was born in 1898 in Clydach, Glamorganshire. In 1917 he joined the Navy and served principally in the Mediterranean as a Convoy signaller. After the War, he attended the University College of North Wales and from there went to teach in Liverpool and then became a journalist on the Western Mail . He was appointed on the staff of the Cardiff radio station when Radio Cymru (Radio Wales) came under the West Region. His task was to produce programmes in Welsh. His work promoted the arrival of the Wales Region and he became the B.B.C. representative for North Wales.

Sam Jones greatly influenced the development of broadcasting in Wales. He died in 1974.

From the guide to the B.B.C. Papers, 1926 - 1964, (Bangor University)