2 Devolution in Wales: the beginning

Since Tudor times there had been no law-making powers in Wales. Changes in Victorian times meant that the operation of the administration of justice through a separate Welsh court system had also been eroded.

Matters began to change in later Victorian times with campaigns to establish Welsh home rule. Acts relating specifically to Wales began to be passed by the UK Parliament, the first being the Sunday Closing Act 1881, and in 1907 a Welsh Board of Education was established. This was followed in 1919 by the Welsh Board for Health. In 1948 an unelected advisory body on Welsh was established.