The South Wales Daily News was a newspaper with readership in Breconshire, Cardiganshire, Carmarthenshire, Glamorganshire, Monmouthshire, Montgomeryshire, Pembrokeshire, Radnorshire, the Forest of Dean, and other parts of western England. It covered both local and national events, as well as news pertaining to such topics as agriculture, mining, and shipping in South Wales. The newspaper also served as a voice for Welsh liberal politics.

Amongst its pages you can find mention of famous Welsh artists such as Lyn Harding and the famous Cardiff-born sculptor William Goscombe John. Harding made a name for himself as a stage actor and the star of several British silent films. With the advent of sound films and the birth of ‘talkies’, Harding leant his talents to such productions as well.

The South Wales Daily News provides fascinating details about life during the late 1800s, including points of commonality with beliefs held today. For example, have you noticed that hotels don’t have a designated thirteenth floor? The same superstition that led to such a decision can be found causing similar trouble for proprietors in 1893: ‘A strange case of superstition has just come before the Town Council of Frankfort-on-the-Main. It appears that with consent of the magistrate, No. 13 in several streets of the town has been omitted at the request of the proprietors. They say that people refused to rent apartments in houses bearing this number’.

David Duncan & Sons owned and published the South Wales Daily News, which began in 1872 and ran as a daily publication. When David Duncan & Sons merged with Western Mail Ltd in 1928 and became the Western Mail and Echo Ltd. (which later became Media Wales), the South Wales Daily News closed.