Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 2, 2026

List of Welsh mathematicians

This is a list of Welsh mathematicians, who have contributed to the development of mathematics.

Last revised
Jul 2, 2026
Read time
≈ 4 min
Length
986 w
Citations
78
Source
Wikipedia ↗

This is a list of Welsh mathematicians, who have contributed to the development of mathematics.

Name Image Born Died Notes
Brian Bowditch Edit this on Wikidata19611
Neath		n/aKnown for his contributions to geometry and topology, particularly in the areas of geometric group theory and low-dimensional topology. He is also known for solving the angel problem. Bowditch holds a chaired Professor appointment in Mathematics at the University of Warwick.
George H. Bryan Edit this on Wikidata1 Mar 18643
Cambridge		13 Oct 19283
Bordighera		Credited with developing the modern mathematical treatment of the motion of airplanes in flight. In 1888, Bryan developed mathematical models for fluid pressures within a pipe and for external buckling pressures. These models are still used today. Aside from minor differences in notation, Bryan's 1911 equations are the same as those used today to evaluate modern aircraft. Born at Cambridge, he was Professor of Mathematics at Bangor University 1896 till 1928.2
Griffith Davies Edit this on Wikidata5 Dec 178856
Llandwrog56		25 Mar 1855786
Islington6		Noted actuary and author, born in Llandwrog, Caernarfon. Fellow of the Royal Society.4
Lancelot Hogben Edit this on Wikidata9 Dec 18959103
Portsmouth		22 Aug 19759103
Wrexham		Medical statistician, founder of the Society for Experimental Biology, and author of Mathematics for the Million (1936). Learnt Welsh and lived and died in Glyn Ceiriog, Wrexham, Wales.2
William Jones Edit this on Wikidata167511812
Llanfihangel Tre'r Beirdd5		1 Jul 17491113
London14		Born in Anglesey in 1675, was the first recorded mathematician to use the symbol π in its present sense in 1706, though it would not achieve widespread adoption until used by famed Swiss mathematician Euler.
Thomas Jones Edit this on Wikidata23 Jun 17563
Berriew		18 Jul 18073
Edgware Road		Senior Wrangler and Senior Tutor of Trinity College, Cambridge.15
John T. Lewis Edit this on Wikidata15 Apr 193216
Swansea16		21 Jan 200416
Dublin16		Contributed to quantum measurement, Bose–Einstein condensation and large deviations theory.
William Morgan Edit this on Wikidata26 May 175017318
Bridgend192018		4 May 183318
London17		Considered the father of modern actuarial science.
Richard Price Edit this on Wikidata23 Feb 172332122
Llangeinor23		19 Apr 179132221
Newington Green23		Wrote a paper on the proper method of calculating the values of contingent reversions which were said to have exercised a beneficial influence in drawing attention to the inadequate calculations on which many insurance and benefit societies had recently been formed. In 1769 Price received the degree of D.D. from the university of Glasgow for this work. He also wrote on finance, economics, probability, and life insurance. Price edited Bayes's major work An Essay towards solving a Problem in the Doctrine of Chances (1763), which contains the Bayes' Theorem with an introduction to the paper which provides some of the philosophical basis of Bayesian statistics. In 1765 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in recognition of his work on the legacy of Bayes.
Robert Recorde Edit this on Wikidata1510252627
Tenby5		1558282529
London252930		Sixteenth-century inventor of the equals sign was from Tenby. As it has been suggested, "[h]is equals sign was an invention that, while slow in becoming universally adopted, is still perhaps the most fundamental thing ever invented by a Welsh person."24.
Elmer Gethin Rees Edit this on Wikidata19 Nov 194131
Llandybie		4 Oct 201932
Bristol		A Welsh mathematician and Director of the Heilbronn Institute for Mathematical Research from its creation in 2005 until 2009.
Bertrand Russell Edit this on Wikidata18 May 187233343
Trellech35		2 Feb 1970363334
Plas Penrhyn35, Penrhyndeudraeth37		Influential British thinker of the twentieth century, though more properly a philosopher than a mathematician, was of English descent but born in Monmouthshire.
Neil Sloane Edit this on Wikidata10 Oct 19393
Beaumaris		Neil James Alexander Sloane FLSW has had major contributions in combinatorics, error-correcting codes, and sphere packing. He is perhaps best known for being the creator and maintainer of the On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences (OEIS).38
Mary Wynne Warner Edit this on Wikidata22 Jun 193239
Carmarthen5		1 Apr 199839
Spain5		'Pioneer' in fuzzy mathematics, born in Carmarthen.
References

References

  1. NUKAT, Wikidata Q11789729
  2. Roberts, Prof. Gareth Ffowc (2020). Cyfri'n Cewri. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. p. 80. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  3. SNAC, Wikidata Q29861311
  4. "Davies, Griffith (1788-1855), actuary". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales.
  5. Dictionary of Welsh Biography (in English and Welsh), 1 July 1997, Wikidata Q5273977
  6. O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Griffith Davies", MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive, University of St Andrews
  7. https://biography.wales/article/s-DAVI-GRI-1788
  8. National Library of Wales archives and manuscripts catalogue, Wikidata Q25877697
  9. BnF 12427929f
  10. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wikidata Q5375741
  11. O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "William Jones", MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive, University of St Andrews
  12. Early Modern Letters Online, Wikidata Q44526767
  13. Gareth Ffowc Roberts (July 2020), Cyfri'r Cewri (in Welsh), OL 22141102W, Wikidata Q99227923
  14. http://rsnr.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/roynotesrec/60/1/5.full.pdf
  15. "Jones, Thomas (JNS774T)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  16. O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "John T. Lewis", MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive, University of St Andrews
  17. O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "William Morgan", MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive, University of St Andrews
  18. https://biography.wales/article/s12-MORG-WIL-1750
  19. http://www.oxforddnb.com/templates/article.jsp?articleid=19244&back=&version=2004-09
  20. http://books.google.com/books?vid=9786131162619
  21. BnF 121129970
  22. Internet Philosophy Ontology project, Wikidata Q6023365
  23. O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Richard Price", MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive, University of St Andrews
  24. "Robert Recorde / 100 Welsh Heroes / 100 Arwyr Cymru". 2004-04-18. Archived from the original on 2004-04-18. Retrieved 2021-02-25.
  25. O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Robert Recorde", MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive, University of St Andrews
  26. Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk), ISSN 2464-1480, Wikidata Q746368
  27. National Library of Portugal, Wikidata Q245966
  28. Arthur Berry (1898), A Short History of Astronomy, London: John Murray, Wikidata Q19025604
  29. Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons. 2008. ISBN 978-0-684-31559-1. OCLC 187313311. OL 26821008M. Wikidata Q28970153.
  30. The Galileo Project, Wikidata Q103434068
  31. Library of Congress Authorities, Library of Congress, Wikidata Q13219454
  32. http://www.bris.ac.uk/news/2019/november/elmer-rees-obituary.html
  33. BnF 11923140h
  34. O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Bertrand Russell", MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive, University of St Andrews
  35. Colin Matthew; David Cannadine, eds. (2004), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford: Oxford University Press, Wikidata Q17565097
  36. Большая советская энциклопедия: [в 30 т.] (in Russian) (3rd ed.), Moscow: The Great Russian Encyclopedia, 1969, OCLC 14476314, Wikidata Q17378135
  37. Catalog of the German National Library (in German), Wikidata Q23833686
  38. Contains information on over three hundred thousand integer sequences "The On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences". Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  39. O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Mary Wynne Warner", MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive, University of St Andrews
  • Chambers, Ll. G. Mathemategwyr Cymru (Mathematicians of Wales), Cyd Bwyllgor Addysg Cymru, 1994.
External links