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Established in 1872, the University College of Aberystwyth was a founding member of the former federal University of Wales. Its establishment was prompted by the inadequacies of the further education system in Wales during the nineteenth century. The main concern was the absence of a university, apart from the country's various theological colleges. The campaign for a university began in the early 1850s, but was sidetracked by the foundation of a teaching college in Bangor. In 1863, it was revived by one of the university's most prominent supporters, Sir Hugh Owen. As leader of the campaign, he felt that its failure to capture the public imagination had caused great damage and that by this point the establishment of a university was a matter of great urgency.

In 1867, Owen and his collaborators made a decisive move and bought, with the little money they had raised, an unfinished, recently bankrupted hotel on the Aberystwyth sea front. It was hoped that the physical existence of a home for the university would encourage people to join the campaign. Appeals were made to the public for personal contributions and the people of Wales, especially the inhabitants of Aberystwyth, quickly responded. As a result of this popular effort in collecting 'the pennies of the poor', the university finally did become a reality. It opened at what is now the Old College, in 1872, with a mere 25 students and was formally incorporated by Royal Charter in 1889.

The University's initial mission was limited - merely the establishment in Wales of a non-denominational university to bring education to the masses. The first Principal, Thomas Charles Edwards (1872-91), saw the university through its infancy. He steered it through the disastrous implications of the 1881 Aberdare report on Intermediate and Higher Education in Wales, ensuring its survival despite the establishment of University Colleges in Bangor for North Wales and Cardiff for South Wales. 1894 saw the unification of all three colleges into the University of Wales. Edwards also ensured that the college survived the testing times that followed the fire of 1885, co-ordinating the resultant re-building programme.

Subsequent years saw a continuous increase in both students and members of staff at Aberystwyth. The range of subjects taught also rapidly expanded. Halls of residence and new facilities were being built and student societies were also appearing and developing, providing a busy social life for Aberystwyth students. The work of academic departments also developed from the original remit of teaching students, to the conduction of ground-breaking research noted on both a national and international scale. Today, the University of Wales Aberystwyth has over 7,000 registered students, including over 1,100 postgraduates, across eighteen academic departments.

As of the 1st of October 2007, the University of Wales, Aberystwyth changed its name to Aberystwyth University. The Privy Council has approved Aberystwyth University's new charter and statutes which includes powers to award its own degrees. Despite the name change, Aberystwyth University will continue to award University of Wales degrees and the new status does not, in any way, affect degrees awarded to past students or the programmes being followed by current students.

The League of Nations came into being when the Versailles Treaty was ratified on 10 January 1920, although the League of Nations Union had been formed on 13 October 1918 by the amalgamation of two societies which had been working for the establishment of a League of Nations during the concluding years of the First World War. It was not until Whitsuntide 1920 that the first conference took place to consider what Wales might do to further the ideals of the League. That conference was held in Llandrindod Wells on 25 May 1920, and an executive council was appointed to act provisionally until such time as the Welsh National Council could be formed. On 31 January 1922 the Executive Committee decided to launch an intensive campaign throughout Wales, and the first Annual Conference of the Welsh Council met at Easter 1922 at Llandrindod Wells. 'Here it was decided to press for a generous measure of self-government in matters of organisation affecting Wales and Monmouthshire, a demand which was readily granted by the General Council and afterwards endorsed as to detail by the Executive Committee of the League of Nations Union'. (Wales and World Peace. A summary of the Report of The Welsh Council of the League of Nations Union to Whitsuntide, 1923, Cardiff [1923]). In 1945 the League of Nations gave way to the United Nations Association, and the Welsh branch continued its work under the new order. The records show a certain amount of continuity from one organisation to the other, for example, within Executive Committee Minute Book A1/3, which spans the period 4 November 1936 to 29 February 1956.

The Church in Wales came formally into being in 1920 when the disestablishment of the Church of England within Wales took effect. St Asaph was one of the four original dioceses in Wales, along with Bangor, St Davids and Llandaff.

The Football Association of Wales was founded in 1876 by a group of businessmen who wished to organise an international match between Wales and Scotland. It has since been responsible for Welsh football at all levels. It created the Welsh Cup Competition in 1877-1878. The F.A.W.'s principal officers are the President, Vice-President, Treasurer, and Secretary. Its first president was Sir Watkin Williams Wynn. Its most notable secretary was Ted Robbins, who served in that role from 1910 to 1945. In addition to responsibility for Wales's international football and the cup competition, the F.A.W. exercises control over the regional football associations which began to emerge in the years after its creation. These associations came to elect members to the F.A.W. Council, the association's governing body. Various committees answer to it, most noteably the Finance, Referees, International, Amateur and Youth International committees and, from 1978, the Executive committee. A Selection Committee sat prior to international matches, and there was a Commission and an Emergency Committee to deal with local associations and disciplinary matters. The Council considers subjects such as international matches, sanctioned competitions, refereeing, discipline, meetings, and correspondence. The F.A.W. also holds annual general meetings and an annual meeting to consider the rules of the association. It also participates in meetings of the four British Football Associations, the International Football Association Board and FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association) and in meetings with the Football Leagues of England, Scotland, and Ireland.

Bangor is the earliest of the Welsh dioceses and the diocesan boundaries have changed very little. During the medieval period it consisted of three Archdeaconries, Anglesey, Bangor and Meirionnydd. In 1844, the Archdeaconries of Anglesey and Bangor were merged and given the title of Archdeaconry of Bangor, leaving the two Archdeaconries of Bangor and Meirionnydd. At this time, the Deanery of Llyn was transferred from the Archdeaconry of Bangor to the Archdeaconry of Meirionnydd. Further changes occurred in 1859 when the Deanery of Cyfeiliog and Mawddwy was transferred from the Archdeaconry of Montgomery, in St Asaph diocese, to the Archdeaconry of Meirionnydd, in Bangor diocese; and the Deanery of Dyffryn Clwyd and Kimerch was transferred from Bangor diocese to the diocese and Archdeaconry of St Asaph.

The diocese extends across the whole of the north-western quarter of Wales, and includes the old counties of Anglesey, Caernarfonshire, Meirionnydd and the northern part of Montgomeryshire. The Archdeaconry of Bangor is now made up of seven Rural Deaneries: Arfon, Arllechwedd, Llifon and Talybolion, Malltraeth, Ogwen, Tindaethwy and Menai, and Twrcelyn; and Meirionnydd five: Ardudwy, Arwystli, Cyfeiliog and Mawddwy, Llyn and Eifionydd, and Ystumaner.

The Church in Wales came formally into being in 1920 when the disestablishment of the Church of England within Wales took effect. St Davids was one of the four original dioceses in Wales, along with Bangor, St Asaph and Llandaff, and broadly comprised the counties of Cardiganshire, Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire, Radnorshire, and Breconshire, along with Swansea and the Gower. An Order in Council dated 30 July 1849 transferred the two Montgomeryshire parishes of Ceri and Mochdre from the diocese of St Davids to the diocese of St Asaph. Eight parishes were transferred to the diocese of Hereford by Order in Council dated 15 May 1852, namely Clodock, Craswall, Dulas, Ewyas Harold, Llanveynoe, Longtown, Rowlstone, and St Margaret. In 1923 the new diocese of Swansea and Brecon was created out of the existing diocese, consisting of Radnorshire, Breconshire, Swansea and the Gower.

The South Wales Baptist College was founded at Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, in 1807 by the Rev. Micah Thomas who acted as president until 1835. In 1836 it moved to Pontypool, Monmouthshire. It moved again in 1893 to Cardiff, Glamorgan, where a hostel in Richmond Road, previously used for women students attending the university was acquired. The College students were able to attend Cardiff University (formerly University College of Wales Cardiff). The College continues to teach religious and theological studies in partnership with Cardiff University.
The Rev. Micah Thomas was succeeded by Thomas Thomas (1805-1881) the first President of the Academy in Pontypool, from 1836 to 1876; the Rev. Dr William Edwards, president, 1880-1925, who oversaw the relocation of the college to Cardiff; the Rev. Thomas Phillips, Principal during the period 1928-1936, and the Rev. Thomas Williams Chance (1872-1954) Principal from 1936-1944.