This article is about the particular significance of the year 1882 to Wales and its people.
Incumbents
Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales – Clwydfardd
Lord Lieutenant of Anglesey – William Owen Stanley
Lord Lieutenant of Brecknockshire – Joseph Bailey, 1st Baron Glanusk
Lord Lieutenant of Caernarvonshire – Edward Douglas-Pennant, 1st Baron Penrhyn
Lord Lieutenant of Cardiganshire – Edward Pryse
Lord Lieutenant of Carmarthenshire – John Campbell, 2nd Earl Cawdor
Lord Lieutenant of Denbighshire – William Cornwallis-West
Lord Lieutenant of Flintshire – Hugh Robert Hughes
Lord Lieutenant of Glamorgan – Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot
Lord Lieutenant of Merionethshire – Edward Lloyd-Mostyn, 2nd Baron Mostyn
Lord Lieutenant of Monmouthshire – Henry Somerset, 8th Duke of Beaufort
Lord Lieutenant of Montgomeryshire – Edward Herbert, 3rd Earl of Powis
Lord Lieutenant of Pembrokeshire – William Edwardes, 4th Baron Kensington
Lord Lieutenant of Radnorshire – Arthur Walsh, 2nd Baron Ormathwaite
Bishop of Bangor – James Colquhoun Campbell
Bishop of Llandaff – Alfred Ollivant (until 16 December); Bishop of St Asaph – Joshua Hughes Bishop of St Davids – Basil Jones
Events
10 January – The vessels Constancia and Primus attempt to pass through a lock at Newport Docks at the same time and a collision results. The lock is blocked and the vessels already in the dock are trapped for nearly two weeks. The resulting losses eventually culminate in the demise of the Newport Dock Company a year later. February – Charles Wilkins launches the English-language periodical The Red Dragon in Cardiff. 11 February – Six miners are killed in an accident at the Lewis Merthyr Colliery. 3 March – Five miners are killed in an accident at the Henwaen Colliery, Blaina. 20 October The steamer Clan MacDuff sinks off Holyhead, resulting in 32 deaths. The Victory, a Bideford schooner carrying coal from Cardiff to Waterford, sinks near Ballyteique with the loss of all crew. 1 November – An Austrian barque, the Petroslava, is wrecked on Skokholm with the loss of 10 of its 11 crew members. 16 November – The new Fishguard Lifeboat Station boat Sir Edward Perrott is launched 5 times and rescues 46 lives from 15 different vessels. Anti-Irish riots break out at Tredegar. Lager is brewed at Wrexham, for the first time in the UK. Brains Brewery opens in Cardiff. St Catharine's Church, Baglan, is consecrated. The Welsh Charity School in Ashford, Surrey, becomes girls-only and changes its name to the Welsh Girls' School. Plymouth Ironworks at Merthyr Tydfil is closed. Slate workings in Cwm Llan on Snowdon are closed because of the expense of transporting the slate to a port.
Arts and literature
The Cambrian Academy of Art becomes the 'Royal Cambrian Academy of Art' after gaining patronage from Queen Victoria.
Awards
National Eisteddfod of Wales – held at Denbigh
Chair – No Winner
Crown – Dafydd Rees Williams
New books
Richard Davies (Mynyddog) – Pedwerydd Llyfr Mynyddog
Frances Hoggan – Education for Girls in Wales
Music
Sport
Football
25 February - John Price becomes the first Welsh footballer to score a hat-trick in an international match, when he produces four of the goals in a 7–1 win against Ireland. Druids win the Welsh Cup for the third time in its five-year history. Rugby Union Bargoed RFC, Loughor RFC, Pentyrch RFC and Pontardawe RFC are formed. First Wales national game against Ireland. Result sees first Welsh victory and first points scored, by Newport's Thomas Baker Jones.