The press of the Welsh colony in Patagonia

During the second half of the 19th century the government of Argentina was eager to attract immigrants from Europe to colonise its southern territory. A number of Welshmen took the opportunity to establish a Welsh colony in Patagonia.

A short history of the emigration

The first group of Welshmen emigrated in 1865, followed by another in 1876. By 1888 another settlement was established in Cwm Hyfryd at the foot of the Andes. After suffering terrible hardship for several years, Welsh culture began to flourish successfully in the colony by the end of the century, and 4 newspapers were established to serve the colonists.

The Welsh colony newspapers

Y Brut [The Chronicle], which circulated in manuscript form, first appeared in January 1868, and about 6 issues are known to have appeared. 6 issues of Ein Breiniad [Our Privilege] were published in 1878, but this also was short-lived. Then in 1891 Y Dravod [Discussion] was established by Lewis Jones, one of the colony's pioneers, and it appeared weekly until 1961. Still published as a quarterly, most of its articles are in Spanish rather than Welsh. Eluned Morgan, one of the colony's foremost Welsh writers, was its editor for a time.