1929 in the United Kingdom
Encyclopedia
 1929 in the United Kingdom: |
| Other years |
| 1927 1927 in the United Kingdom Events from the year 1927 in the United Kingdom.1927 saw the renaming of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland into the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, recognising in name the Irish free state's independence, it having come into existence with the Anglo-Irish Treaty... | 1928 1928 in the United Kingdom Events from the year 1928 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George V*Prime Minister - Stanley Baldwin, Conservative-Events:... | 1929 | 1930 1930 in the United Kingdom Events from the year 1930 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:* Monarch - King George V* Prime Minister - Ramsay MacDonald, Labour-Events:* 1 February - The Times publishes its first crossword.... | 1931 1931 in the United Kingdom Events from the year 1931 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George V*Prime Minister - Ramsay MacDonald, Labour and national coalition-Events:* 6 January - Sadler's Wells Theatre opens in London.... |
| Sport |
| 1929 English cricket season 1929 English cricket season The 1929 English cricket season featured a tour by the South African team. In domestic cricket, Nottinghamshire overcame their two northern rivals, Lancashire and Yorkshire, to win the County Championship.-Honours:*County Championship - Nottinghamshire... |
| Football Football in the United Kingdom Football in the United Kingdom is organised on a separate basis in each of the four countries of the United Kingdom, with each having a national football association responsible for the overall management of football within their respective country. There is no United Kingdom national football team...  England1928-29 in English football The 1928–29 season was the 54th season of competitive football in England.-Honours:Notes = Number in parentheses is the times that club has won that honour... |  Scotland1928-29 in Scottish football The 1928–29 season was the 39th season of competitive football in Scotland.-Scottish League Division One:Champions: RangersRelegated: Third Lanark, Raith Rovers-Scottish League Division Two:NOTE:... |
Events from the year 1929 in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
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Incumbents
- Monarch - King George VGeorge V of the United KingdomGeorge V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
- Prime Minister - Stanley BaldwinStanley BaldwinStanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, KG, PC was a British Conservative politician, who dominated the government in his country between the two world wars...
, ConservativeConservative Party (UK)The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
(until 5 June), Ramsay MacDonaldRamsay MacDonaldJames Ramsay MacDonald, PC, FRS was a British politician who was the first ever Labour Prime Minister, leading a minority government for two terms....
, LabourLabour Party (UK)The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
Events
- 30 March - Imperial AirwaysImperial AirwaysImperial Airways was the early British commercial long range air transport company, operating from 1924 to 1939 and serving parts of Europe but especially the Empire routes to South Africa, India and the Far East...
begins operating the first commercial flights between LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and KarachiKarachiKarachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...
. - 22 April - Chat MossChat MossChat Moss is a large area of peat bog that makes up 30 percent of the City of Salford, in Greater Manchester, England. It is north of the River Irwell, to the west of Manchester, and occupies an area of about...
airport opens in ManchesterManchesterManchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, Britain's first municipal airportAirportAn airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...
. - 14 May - Wilfred RhodesWilfred RhodesWilfred Rhodes was an English professional cricketer who played 58 Test matches for England between 1899 and 1930. In Tests, Rhodes took 127 wickets in and scored 2,325 runs, becoming the first Englishman to complete the double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in Test matches...
takes his 4000th first-classFirst-class cricketFirst-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
wicket during a performance of 9 for 39 at Leyton. - 31 May - The General electionUnited Kingdom general election, 1929-Seats summary:-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987*-External links:***...
returns a hung parliamentHung parliamentIn a two-party parliamentary system of government, a hung parliament occurs when neither major political party has an absolute majority of seats in the parliament . It is also less commonly known as a balanced parliament or a legislature under no overall control...
. LiberalsLiberal Party (UK)The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
will determine who has power. Among the Conservative casualties is Harold MacmillanHarold MacmillanMaurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, OM, PC was Conservative Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 10 January 1957 to 18 October 1963....
, the 35-year-old MPMember of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Stockton-on-TeesStockton-on-TeesStockton-on-Tees is a market town in north east England. It is the major settlement in the unitary authority and borough of Stockton-on-Tees. For ceremonial purposes, the borough is split between County Durham and North Yorkshire as it also incorporates a number of smaller towns including...
, who first entered parliament five years ago. - 7 June - The ConservativesConservative Party (UK)The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
concede power rather than risk courting Liberals for fragile majority. - 8 June - Ramsay MacDonaldRamsay MacDonaldJames Ramsay MacDonald, PC, FRS was a British politician who was the first ever Labour Prime Minister, leading a minority government for two terms....
founds new LabourLabour Party (UK)The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
government. - 17 June - Alfred HitchcockAlfred HitchcockSir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
's BlackmailBlackmail (1929 film)Blackmail is a 1929 British thriller drama film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Anny Ondra, John Longden, and Cyril Ritchard, and featuring Donald Calthrop, Sara Allgood and Charles Paton. The film is based on the play Blackmail by Charles Bennett, as adapted by Hitchcock, with dialogue by...
shown for the first time in LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, the first British sound filmSound filmA sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades would pass before sound motion pictures were made commercially...
. - 1 July - C. P. ScottC. P. ScottCharles Prestwich Scott was a British journalist, publisher and politician. Born in Bath, Somerset, he was the editor of the Manchester Guardian from 1872 until 1929 and its owner from 1907 until his death...
retires after 57½ years as editor of The Manchester GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
and is succeeded by his son, TedEdward Taylor ScottEdward Taylor "Ted" Scott was a British journalist, who was editor and briefly co-owner of the Manchester Guardian, and the younger son of its legendary editor-owner C. P...
. - 5 July - Scotland YardScotland YardScotland Yard is a metonym for the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service of London, UK. It derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became...
seizes 13 nude paintings by D. H. LawrenceD. H. LawrenceDavid Herbert Richards Lawrence was an English novelist, poet, playwright, essayist, literary critic and painter who published as D. H. Lawrence. His collected works represent an extended reflection upon the dehumanising effects of modernity and industrialisation...
from a MayfairMayfairMayfair is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster.-History:Mayfair is named after the annual fortnight-long May Fair that took place on the site that is Shepherd Market today...
gallery on grounds of indecency. - 11 July - Gillingham Fair fire disasterGillingham Fair fire disasterThe Gillingham Fair fire disaster took place on 11 July 1929 in Gillingham, Kent, England, when a firefighting demonstration went wrong, and resulted in the deaths of 15 men and boys.-Background:...
kills 15 as a firefighting demonstration goes catastrophically wrong. - 20 August - First transmissions of John Logie BairdJohn Logie BairdJohn Logie Baird FRSE was a Scottish engineer and inventor of the world's first practical, publicly demonstrated television system, and also the world's first fully electronic colour television tube...
's experimental 30-line television system by the BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
. - 2 October - The Union between the Church of ScotlandChurch of ScotlandThe Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation....
and the United Free Church of ScotlandUnited Free Church of ScotlandThe United Free Church of Scotland is a Scottish Presbyterian denomination formed in 1900 by the union of the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland and the Free Church of Scotland...
takes place. - 28 October - Sharp fall on the London Stock ExchangeLondon Stock ExchangeThe London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London within the United Kingdom. , the Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$3.7495 trillion, making it the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world by this measurement...
, following a similar crash on Wall StreetWall StreetWall Street refers to the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, or...
on 24 October. - 1 November - The Pony ClubPony ClubPony Club is an international youth organization devoted to the educating youths about horses and riding. Pony Club organizations exist in over 30 countries worldwide...
established. - 10 November - Première of John GriersonJohn GriersonJohn Grierson was a pioneering Scottish documentary maker, often considered the father of British and Canadian documentary film. According to popular myth, in 1926, Grierson coined the term "documentary" to describe a non-fiction film.-Early life:Grierson was born in Deanston, near Doune, Scotland...
's documentary filmDocumentary filmDocumentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
DriftersDrifters (1929 film)Drifters is silent documentary film by John Grierson, his first and only personal film. It tells the story of Britain's North Sea herring fishery...
about North SeaNorth SeaIn the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
herringHerringHerring is an oily fish of the genus Clupea, found in the shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and the North Atlantic oceans, including the Baltic Sea. Three species of Clupea are recognized. The main taxa, the Atlantic herring and the Pacific herring may each be divided into subspecies...
fishermen, made for the Empire Marketing BoardEmpire Marketing BoardThe Empire Marketing Board was formed in May 1926 by the Colonial Secretary Leo Amery to promote inter-Empire trade and to persuade consumers to 'Buy Empire'...
, effectively inaugurating the British Documentary Film MovementDocumentary Film MovementThe Documentary Film Movement is the name given to the group of British film-makers, led by John Grierson, who were influential in British film culture in the 1930s and 1940s.-Principles:...
. (It debuts at the private Film Society in London on a double-bill with the UK première of Eisenstein'sSergei EisensteinSergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein , né Eizenshtein, was a pioneering Soviet Russian film director and film theorist, often considered to be the "Father of Montage"...
The Battleship PotemkinThe Battleship PotemkinThe Battleship Potemkin , sometimes rendered as The Battleship Potyomkin, is a 1925 silent film directed by Sergei Eisenstein and produced by Mosfilm...
.) - 1 December - Underground Electric Railways Company of LondonUnderground Electric Railways Company of LondonThe Underground Electric Railways Company of London Limited , known operationally as The Underground for much of its existence, was established in 1902. It was the holding company for the three deep-level "tube"A "tube" railway is an underground railway constructed in a circular tunnel by the use...
officially opens its new headquarters building at 55 Broadway55 Broadway55 Broadway is a notable building overlooking St. James's Park in London. It was designed by Charles Holden and built between 1927 and 1929, and in 1931 the building earned him the RIBA London Architecture Medal...
designed by Charles HoldenCharles HoldenCharles Henry Holden, Litt. D., FRIBA, MRTPI, RDI was a Bolton-born English architect best known for designing many London Underground stations during the 1920s and 1930s, for Bristol Central Library, the Underground Electric Railways Company of London's headquarters at 55 Broadway and for the...
and incorporating sculptures by Jacob EpsteinJacob EpsteinSir Jacob Epstein KBE was an American-born British sculptor who helped pioneer modern sculpture. He was born in the United States, and moved to Europe in 1902, becoming a British citizen in 1911. He often produced controversial works which challenged taboos on what was appropriate subject matter...
, Eric GillEric GillArthur Eric Rowton Gill was a British sculptor, typeface designer, stonecutter and printmaker, who was associated with the Arts and Crafts movement...
and Henry MooreHenry MooreHenry Spencer Moore OM CH FBA was an English sculptor and artist. He was best known for his semi-abstract monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art....
. - 10 December
- Arthur HardenArthur HardenSir Arthur Harden FRS was an English biochemist. He shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1929 with Hans Karl August Simon von Euler-Chelpin for their investigations into the fermentation of sugar and fermentative enzymes....
wins the Nobel Prize in ChemistryNobel Prize in ChemistryThe Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of chemistry. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outstanding contributions in chemistry, physics, literature,...
jointly with Hans von Euler-ChelpinHans von Euler-ChelpinHans Karl August Simon von Euler-Chelpin was a German-born Swedish biochemist. He won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1929 with Arthur Harden for their investigations on the fermentation of sugar and fermentative enzymes.He was professor of general and organic chemistry at Stockholm University...
"for their investigations on the fermentation of sugar and fermentative enzymes". - Frederick HopkinsFrederick HopkinsSir Frederick Gowland Hopkins OM FRS was an English biochemist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1929, with Christiaan Eijkman, for the discovery of vitamins. He also discovered the amino acid tryptophan, in 1901...
wins the Nobel Prize in Physiology or MedicineNobel Prize in Physiology or MedicineThe Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine administered by the Nobel Foundation, is awarded once a year for outstanding discoveries in the field of life science and medicine. It is one of five Nobel Prizes established in 1895 by Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, in his will...
"for his discovery of the growth-stimulating vitamins".
- Arthur Harden
- 31 December - Glen Cinema DisasterGlen Cinema DisasterThe Glen Cinema Disaster of 31 December, 1929 in Paisley, Scotland, killed 69 children and injured 40; the final death toll was 71.On the afternoon of 31 December 1929, during a children's matinee, a freshly shown film was put in its metal can, in the spool room, where it began to issue thick black...
in PaisleyPaisleyPaisley is the largest town in the historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland and serves as the administrative centre for the Renfrewshire council area...
, ScotlandScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
: 69 children die trying to escape smoke.
Undated
- First TescoTescoTesco plc is a global grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues and the second-largest measured by profits...
store opens, at Burnt OakBurnt OakBurnt Oak is a suburb predominantly in the London Borough of Barnet south of Edgware, although parts of it fall within Brent and Harrow.The name Burnt Oak was first used in 1754 and from then until the 1850s referred to no more than a field on the eastern side of the Edgware Road...
, EdgwareEdgwareEdgware is an area in London, situated north-northwest of Charing Cross. It forms part of both the London Borough of Barnet and the London Borough of Harrow. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London....
, MiddlesexMiddlesexMiddlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...
. - The Christian MarxistChristian communismChristian communism is a form of religious communism based on Christianity. It is a theological and political theory based upon the view that the teachings of Jesus Christ compel Christians to support communism as the ideal social system...
Hewlett JohnsonHewlett JohnsonThe Very Reverend Hewlett Johnson , was an English clergyman, Dean of Manchester and later Dean of Canterbury, where he acquired his nickname The Red Dean of Canterbury for his unyielding support for the Soviet Union and its allies.-Life:Born in Manchester, the third son of Charles Johnson, a wire...
is appointed Dean of CanterburyDean of CanterburyThe Dean of Canterbury is the head of the Chapter of the Cathedral of Christ Church, Canterbury, England. The office of dean originated after the English Reformation, and its precursor office was the prior of the cathedral-monastery...
. - CoypuCoypuThe coypu , , also known as the river rat, and nutria, is a large, herbivorous, semiaquatic rodent and the only member of the family Myocastoridae. Originally native to subtropical and temperate South America, it has since been introduced to North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa, primarily by...
introduced to East AngliaEast AngliaEast Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of...
for their fur. - Ross County F.C.Ross County F.C.Ross County Football Club are a Scottish professional football team from the town of Dingwall, Ross and Cromarty. Founded in 1929 they currently compete in the Scottish Football League First Division and play their home matches at Victoria Park. Prior to the 1994–95 season they played in the...
founded in DingwallDingwallDingwall is a town and former royal burgh in the Highland council area of Scotland. It has a population of 5,026. It was formerly an east-coast harbor but now lies inland. Dingwall Castle was once the biggest castle north of Stirling. On the town's present-day outskirts lies Tulloch Castle, parts...
, Scotland. They initially play in the Highland League.
Publications
- Agatha ChristieAgatha ChristieDame Agatha Christie DBE was a British crime writer of novels, short stories, and plays. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but she is best remembered for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections , and her successful West End plays.According to...
's novel The Seven Dials MysteryThe Seven Dials MysteryThe Seven Dials Mystery is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by William Collins & Sons on January 24, 1929 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year...
. - Robert GravesRobert GravesRobert von Ranke Graves 24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985 was an English poet, translator and novelist. During his long life he produced more than 140 works...
' memoir Good-Bye to All That. - Richard HughesRichard Hughes (writer)Richard Arthur Warren Hughes OBE was a British writer of poems, short stories, novels and plays.He was born in Weybridge, Surrey. His father was a civil servant Arthur Hughes, and his mother Louisa Grace Warren who had been brought up in Jamaica...
' novel A High Wind in Jamaica. - Charles Kay OgdenCharles Kay OgdenCharles Kay Ogden was an English linguist, philosopher, and writer. Described as a polymath but also an eccentric and outsider, he took part in many ventures related to literature, politics, the arts and philosophy, having a broad impact particularly as an editor, translator, and activist on...
's book Basic EnglishBasic EnglishBasic English, also known as Simple English, is an English-based controlled language created by linguist and philosopher Charles Kay Ogden as an international auxiliary language, and as an aid for teaching English as a Second Language...
. - J. B. PriestleyJ. B. PriestleyJohn Boynton Priestley, OM , known as J. B. Priestley, was an English novelist, playwright and broadcaster. He published 26 novels, notably The Good Companions , as well as numerous dramas such as An Inspector Calls...
's novel The Good CompanionsThe Good CompanionsThe Good Companions is a novel by the English author J. B. Priestley.Written in 1929 , it focuses on the trials and tribulations of a concert party in England between World War I and World War II. It is arguably Priestley's most famous novel, and the work which established him as a national figure...
. - Alison UttleyAlison UttleyAlison Uttley , née Alice Jane Taylor, was a prolific British writer of over 100 books. She is now best known for her children's series about Little Grey Rabbit, and Sam Pig....
's children's book The Squirrel, The Hare and the Little Grey Rabbit, introducing Little Grey RabbitLittle Grey RabbitLittle Grey Rabbit is the lead character in an English classic series of children's books, written by Alison Uttley and illustrated by Margaret Tempest.-Characters:* Little Grey Rabbit* Hare* Milkman Hedgehog* Mrs Hedgehog* Fuzzypeg, a hedgehog...
. - Virginia WoolfVirginia WoolfAdeline Virginia Woolf was an English author, essayist, publisher, and writer of short stories, regarded as one of the foremost modernist literary figures of the twentieth century....
's essay A Room of One's OwnA Room of One's OwnA Room of One's Own is an extended essay by Virginia Woolf. First published on 24 October 1929, the essay was based on a series of lectures she delivered at Newnham College and Girton College, two women's colleges at Cambridge University in October 1928...
.
Births
- 28 January - Acker Bilk, jazz clarinetist and band leader
- 31 January - Jean SimmonsJean SimmonsJean Merilyn Simmons, OBE was an English actress. She appeared predominantly in motion pictures, beginning with films made in Great Britain during and after World War II – she was one of J...
, actress (died 2010) - 6 February - Keith WaterhouseKeith WaterhouseKeith Spencer Waterhouse CBE was a novelist, newspaper columnist, and the writer of many television series.-Biography:Keith Waterhouse was born in Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England...
, novelist and journalist (died 20092009 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 2009 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - HM Queen Elizabeth II*Prime Minister - Gordon Brown, Labour Party-January:...
) - 15 February - Graham HillGraham HillNorman Graham Hill was a British racing driver and two-time Formula One World Champion. He is the only driver to win the Triple Crown of Motorsport — the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Indianapolis 500 and Formula One World Championship.Graham Hill and his son Damon are the only father and son pair both to...
, race car driver (died 19751975 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1975 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - Elizabeth II*Prime Minister - Harold Wilson, Labour Party-Events:* 6 January - Brian Clough, former manager of Derby County and more recently Leeds United, is appointed manager of Football League Second Division strugglers...
) - 17 February - Patricia RoutledgePatricia RoutledgeKatherine Patricia Routledge, CBE is an English character comedy actress and singer. She is best known for her role as character Hyacinth Bucket in the British television series Keeping Up Appearances and Hetty Wainthropp in the British television series Hetty Wainthropp Investigates...
, actress - 18 February - Len DeightonLen DeightonLeonard Cyril Deighton is a British military historian, cookery writer, and novelist. He is perhaps most famous for his spy novel The IPCRESS File, which was made into a film starring Michael Caine....
, author - 21 February - James BeckJames BeckStanley James Carroll Beck was a British actor best remembered for his role as Private Joe Walker, the cockney spiv in the popular BBC sitcom Dad's Army. The cast was mainly composed of older actors, but Beck was one of the younger members.-Early life:Beck was born in Islington, North London and...
, actor (died 19731973 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1973 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:* Monarch - Elizabeth II* Prime Minister - Edward Heath, Conservative Party-Events:...
) - 23 March - Sir Roger BannisterRoger BannisterSir Roger Gilbert Bannister, CBE is an English former athlete best known for running the first recorded mile in less than 4 minutes...
, runner - 5 April - Nigel HawthorneNigel HawthorneSir Nigel Barnard Hawthorne, CBE was an English actor, perhaps best remembered for his role as Sir Humphrey Appleby, the Permanent Secretary in the 1980s sitcom Yes Minister and the Cabinet Secretary in its sequel, Yes, Prime Minister. For this role he won four BAFTA Awards during the 1980s in the...
, actor (died 20012001 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 2001 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:* Monarch - HM Elizabeth II* Prime Minister - Tony Blair, Labour Party-Events:...
) - 18 April - Peter JeffreyPeter JeffreyPeter Jeffrey was a British actor with many roles in television and film.Jeffrey was born in Bristol, the son of Florence Alice and Arthur Winfred Gilbert Jeffrey. He was educated at Harrow School and Pembroke College, Cambridge but had no formal training as an actor...
, actor (died 19991999 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1999 in the United Kingdom.-Overview:1999 in the United Kingdom is noted for the first meetings of the new Scottish Parliament and National Assembly for Wales.-Incumbents:*Monarch - Elizabeth II...
) - 22 April - Michael AtiyahMichael AtiyahSir Michael Francis Atiyah, OM, FRS, FRSE is a British mathematician working in geometry.Atiyah grew up in Sudan and Egypt but spent most of his academic life in the United Kingdom at Oxford and Cambridge, and in the United States at the Institute for Advanced Study...
, mathematician - 4 May - Audrey HepburnAudrey HepburnAudrey Hepburn was a British actress and humanitarian. Although modest about her acting ability, Hepburn remains one of the world's most famous actresses of all time, remembered as a film and fashion icon of the twentieth century...
, actress (died 19931993 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1993 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - Elizabeth II*Prime Minister - John Major, Conservative-January:* January - The economy grew in the final quarter of last year - the second successive quarter of economic growth - but the recovery was still too weak for the end...
) - 14 May - Henry McGeeHenry McGeeHenry McGee was a British actor, best known as straight man to Benny Hill for many years. McGee was also often the announcer on Hill's TV programme, delivering the upbeat intro "Yes! It's The Benny Hill Show!"...
, actor (died 2006) - 12 June - Brigid BrophyBrigid BrophyBrigid Antonia Brophy, Lady Levey was an English writer. In the Dictionary of Literary Biography: British Novelists since 1960, S. J...
, author (died 19951995 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1995 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - Elizabeth II*Prime Minister - John Major, Conservative-January:* 1 January - South Korean industrial giant Daewoo announces plans to build a new car factory in the United Kingdom within the next few years, costing up to...
) - 13 June - Alan CivilAlan CivilAlan Civil OBE was a British horn player.Civil began to play the horn at a young age, and joined an army band while still in his teens...
, horn player (died 19891989 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1989 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:* Monarch - Elizabeth II* Prime Minister - Margaret Thatcher, Conservative-Events:...
) - 5 July - Tony LockTony LockGraham Anthony Richard Lock was an English cricketer, who played primarily as a left-arm spinner. He played in forty nine Tests for England taking 174 wickets at 25.58 each.-Life and career:...
, cricketer (died 1995) - 24 July - Peter YatesPeter YatesPeter James Yates was an English director and producer. He was born in Aldershot, Hampshire.The son of an army officer, he attended Charterhouse School as a boy, graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and worked for some years as an actor, director and stage manager...
, film director - 31 July - Lynne Reid BanksLynne Reid BanksLynne Reid Banks is a British author of books for children and adults.She has written forty books, including the best-selling children's novel The Indian in the Cupboard, which has sold over 10 million copies and has been successfully adapted to film. Her first novel, The L-Shaped Room, published...
, author - 8 August - Ronald Biggs, criminal
- 25 August - Clifford ForsytheClifford ForsytheClifford Forsythe was a Northern Ireland Ulster Unionist Party politician. He served as Member of Parliament for South Antrim from 1983 to his death. He had previously been Mayor of Newtownabbey Borough Council, and was also a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly from 1982 to 1986...
, politician (died 20002000 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 2000 in the United Kingdom.-January:* Japanese carmaker Nissan adds a third model to its factory near Sunderland; the new version of the Almera hatchback and slaoon, which goes on sale in March....
) - 29 August - Thom GunnThom GunnThom Gunn, born Thomson William Gunn , was an Anglo-American poet who was praised both for his early verses in England, where he was associated with The Movement and his later poetry in America, even after moving toward a looser, free-verse style...
, poet (died 20042004 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 2004 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:* Monarch - HM Queen Elizabeth II* Prime Minister - Tony Blair, Labour Party-January:...
) - 15 September - John Julius NorwichJohn Julius NorwichJohn Julius Cooper, 2nd Viscount Norwich CVO — known as John Julius Norwich — is an English historian, travel writer and television personality.-Early life:...
, historian - 21 September - Bernard WilliamsBernard WilliamsSir Bernard Arthur Owen Williams was an English moral philosopher, described by The Times as the most brilliant and most important British moral philosopher of his time. His publications include Problems of the Self , Moral Luck , Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy , and Truth and Truthfulness...
, philosopher (died 20032003 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 2003 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:* Monarch - HM Queen Elizabeth II* Prime Minister - Tony Blair, Labour Party-Events:* January - Toyota launches an all-new Avensis to be built at TMUK....
) - 25 September - Ronnie BarkerRonnie BarkerRonald William George "Ronnie" Barker, OBE was a British actor, comedian, writer, critic, broadcaster and businessman...
, comedian (died 20052005 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 2005 in the United Kingdom. The year is dominated by the 7/7 London bombings.-Incumbents:*Monarch – Elizabeth II*Prime Minister – Tony Blair -January:* 1 January...
) - 7 October - Robert WestallRobert WestallRobert Atkinson Westall was the author of many books, mostly children's fiction, though also for adults, and non-fiction. Many of his novels, while supposedly aimed at a teenage audience, deal with many complex, dark and in many ways adult themes...
, author (died 19931993 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1993 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - Elizabeth II*Prime Minister - John Major, Conservative-January:* January - The economy grew in the final quarter of last year - the second successive quarter of economic growth - but the recovery was still too weak for the end...
) - 28 October - Joan PlowrightJoan PlowrightJoan Ann Plowright, Baroness Olivier, DBE , better known as Dame Joan Plowright, is an English actress, whose career has spanned over sixty years. Throughout her career she has won two Golden Globe Awards and a Tony Award and has been nominated for an Academy Award, an Emmy, and two BAFTA Awards...
, actress - 11 December - Kenneth MacMillanKenneth MacMillanSir Kenneth MacMillan was a British ballet dancer and choreographer. He was artistic director of the Royal Ballet in London between 1970 and 1977.-Early years:...
, ballet dancer and choreographer (died 19921992 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1992 in the United Kingdom.-Overview:1992 in the United Kingdom is notable for a fourth term General Election victory for the Conservative Party; "Black Wednesday" , the suspension of Britain's membership of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism; and an Annus Horribilis for the...
) - 12 December - John OsborneJohn OsborneJohn James Osborne was an English playwright, screenwriter, actor and critic of the Establishment. The success of his 1956 play Look Back in Anger transformed English theatre....
, playwright and film producer (died 19941994 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1994 in the United Kingdom. It is noted for the opening of the Channel Tunnel.-Incumbents:*Monarch – Elizabeth II*Prime Minister – John Major, Conservative-January:...
) - 16 December - Nicholas CourtneyNicholas CourtneyWilliam Nicholas Stone Courtney was an English television actor, most famous for playing Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who.-Early life:...
, actor - 16 December - James MooreJames Moore (Cornish author)James Harry Manson Moore in Saltash, Cornwall, United Kingdom is a Cornish author.-Biography:A fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society and leading authority on G. I. Gurdjieff, Moore became active in practical and thematic Gurdjieff studies in 1956, after studying with Kenneth Walker and later with...
, author - 17 December - Jacqueline HillJacqueline HillJacqueline Hill was a British actress known for her role as Barbara Wright in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who. As the history teacher of the Doctor's granddaughter, Susan Foreman, Barbara Wright was the first of the companions to appear in the show in 1963, with Hill speaking...
, actress (died 1993) - 28 December - Brian RedheadBrian RedheadBrian Leonard Redhead was a British author, journalist and broadcaster. He was probably best known as a co-presenter of the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 which he worked on from 1975 until 1993, shortly before his death...
, journalist and broadcaster (died 19941994 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1994 in the United Kingdom. It is noted for the opening of the Channel Tunnel.-Incumbents:*Monarch – Elizabeth II*Prime Minister – John Major, Conservative-January:...
) - undated - Kenneth GrangeKenneth GrangeKenneth Grange, CBE, MCSD, RDI, is a British industrial designer.Grange’s career began as a drafting assistant with the architect Jack Howe in the 1950s...
, industrial designer
Deaths
- 12 February - Lillie LangtryLillie LangtryLillie Langtry , usually spelled Lily Langtry when she was in the U.S., born Emilie Charlotte Le Breton, was a British actress born on the island of Jersey...
, British singer and actress (born 18531853 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1853 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — Lord Aberdeen, Peelite-Events:* 20 January — The United Kingdom annexes Lower Burma ending the Second Anglo-Burmese War....
) - 21 May - Lord Rosebery, Prime Minister of the United KingdomPrime Minister of the United KingdomThe Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
(born 18471847 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1847 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — Lord John Russell, Liberal-Events:...
) - 16 June - Bramwell BoothBramwell BoothBramwell Booth, CH was the first Chief of Staff and the second General of The Salvation Army , succeeding his father, William Booth.-Biography:...
, General of The Salvation Army (born 18561856 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1856 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — Lord Palmerston, Liberal-Events:...
) - 28 June - Edward CarpenterEdward CarpenterEdward Carpenter was an English socialist poet, socialist philosopher, anthologist, and early gay activist....
, English poet (born 18441844 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1844 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — Robert Peel, Conservative-Events:* 28 February — The Grand National at Aintree is won by the 5/1 joint favourite Discount....
) - 5 August - Millicent FawcettMillicent FawcettDame Millicent Garrett Fawcett, GBE was an English suffragist and an early feminist....
, British suffragist and feminist (born 18471847 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1847 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — Lord John Russell, Liberal-Events:...
) - 26 August - Sir Ernest Satow, British diplomat and scholar (born 18431843 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1843 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — Robert Peel, Conservative-Events:* 6 January — Antarctic explorer James Clark Ross discovers Snow Hill Island....
)