Sir David Brunt KBE FRS, known as the Father of Meteorology, was commemorated with a blue plaque and mural that were unveiled on Friday 22 May in Llanhilleth, Abertillery.
The Brunt family moved to Llanhilleth in 1896. Originally agricultural workers from Staylittle in Montgomeryshire, they relocated to take advantage of employment opportunities in the valley’s coal mines. David was the youngest of nine children.
His early education was in Welsh, so moving to Llanhilleth at the age of 10 and being taught in English must have been a significant challenge. However, he overcame this, securing first place in his entrance exams and earning a scholarship to the Intermediate School in Abertillery. He continued his education locally before going on to university. An outstanding mathematician, David was educated at University College of Wales, Aberystwyth and later at Trinity College Cambridge.
He enlisted in the Royal Engineers’ meteorological section, where he revolutionised weather forecasting by moving it from observation-based methods to one grounded in mathematical principles. He later became meteorologist to the Air Force. And through this work, he is regarded as the father of modern weather forecasting.
He contributed to the wider understanding and use of the Brunt–Väisälä frequency that calculates buoyancy and this work was crucial for understanding atmospheric stability, oceanography, astrophysics, engineering and geophysics.
David was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1939 and was awarded their Royal Medal in 1944. He later served as Physical Secretary of the Royal Society between 1948–57.
He also served as president of the Royal Meteorological Society from 1942 to 1944 and received both their Buchan prize and their 1947 Symons Gold Medal for distinguished work in the field of meteorological science.
He was also president of the Physical Society from 1945 to 1947 and the Brunt Ice Shelf in the Antarctic was named in his honour, recognising his role in initiating the Royal Society Expedition there in 1955.
David was made a Knight Bachelor in 1949 and appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in 1959.
The plaque at 7 High Street—the Brunt family’s first home in Llanhilleth—was unveiled by his great-niece, Rosalyn Carley.
The mural was created by Andy O’Rourke of Malarky Arts, is located in a prominent position on Commercial Road in Llanhilleth. It explores David’s military service, scientific work, and his support for Antarctic exploration.
