1909 in the United Kingdom

1909 in the United Kingdom

Other years

1907 | 1908 | 1909 (1909) | 1910 | 1911

Constituent countries of the United Kingdom

England | Ireland | Scotland | Wales

Sport

1909 English cricket season Football: England | Scotland

Events from the year 1909 in the United Kingdom.

Incumbents

• Monarch – Edward VII
• Prime Minister – H. H. Asquith (Liberal)

Events

• 1 January – the first pensions are paid out under terms of the Old Age Pensions Act 1908, which provides for a non-contributory weekly sum of 5 shillings to be paid through post offices to people aged over seventy with a weekly income under 12 shillings but of 'good character'.^[1] Around 490,000 people are granted the pension during its first year.^[2]
• 9 January – Ernest Shackleton's Nimrod Expedition to the South Pole forced to turn back 112 miles from the pole.^[3]
• 23 January – the Tottenham Outrage, an armed robbery and the murder of a ten-year-old boy and a police constable in Tottenham, North London, carried out by two Latvian anarchists.
• 16 February – West Stanley Pit Disaster, a coal mining disaster in Stanley, County Durham, in which more than 160 miners are killed in an explosion.^[4]
• 22 February – Thomas Beecham conducts the first concert with his newly established Beecham Symphony Orchestra.^[5]
• 26 February – first film shown in colour using Kinemacolor at the Palace Theatre, London.^[3]
• March – construction of the Rosyth Dockyard for the Royal Navy on the east coast of Scotland begins.
• 6 March – Birkenhead dock disaster: a temporary cofferdam collapses during construction of Vittoria Dock, killing 14 navvies.
• 10 March – Anglo-Siamese Treaty signed in Bangkok.
• 15 March – Selfridges department store opens in London.^[3]
• 16 March – Port of London Authority established.^[3]
• 11 April – coming into effect of Children Act 1908 (8 Edw. 7. c. 67), establishing separate juvenile courts for 10–16-year-olds; abolishing the use of custody for under-fourteens and hanging for under-sixteens; introducing the registration of foster parents; and restricting access for under-16s to cigarettes and alcohol.
• 24 April – the FA Cup final is won by Manchester United for the first time, as they beat Bristol City 1–0 at Crystal Palace.^[6]
• 29 April – People's Budget introduced in the British Parliament by David Lloyd George.^[7]
• 2 May – John Moore-Brabazon becomes the first resident British citizen to make a recognised powered heavier-than-air flight in the UK, flying from The Aero Club's ground at Leysdown on the Isle of Sheppey in his Voisin biplane Bird of Passage.^[8]
• 13 May – Lonmin is incorporated in the UK as the London and Rhodesian Mining and Land Company Limited.^[9]
• 26 May – the King's horse, Minoru, wins the Epsom Derby.^[10]
• 15 June – representatives from England, Australia and South Africa meet at Lord's and form the Imperial Cricket Conference.
• 25 June – Herbert Samuel, is appointed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, making him the first practising Jew to serve as a member of the Cabinet.^[11]
• 26 June – Edward VII and Queen Alexandra open the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, designed by Aston Webb.^[1] The Science Museum, London, comes into existence as an independent entity.
• 27 June – Eric Gordon England flies a Weiss glider at Amberley, West Sussex, in the first recorded soaring flight, origin of sport gliding.^[12]
• July – Ivy Evelyn Woodward is admitted as the first woman Member of the Royal College of Physicians.^[13]
• 1 July – The British Indian army officer and politician Curzon Wyllie is shot dead at the Imperial Institute in South Kensington, London, and a bystander fatally wounded; the assassin, Madan Lal Dhingra, an Indian nationalist student, is subsequently sentenced to death and hanged at Pentonville Prison on 17 August.^[14]
• 25 July – Louis Blériot flies a Blériot XI monoplane across the English Channel from Calais to Dover, winning a prize of £1000 from the Daily Mail.^[15]
• 23 August – the Secret Service Bureau counter-espionage unit (later known as MI5) is secretly established.^[1]
• 3 September – the first Boy Scout rally held at The Crystal Palace in London.^[3]
• 17 September – militant suffragette Mabel Capper is among the first to suffer force-feeding while on hunger strike, at Winson Green Prison in Birmingham.^[16]
• 20 September – Labour Exchanges Act leads to setting up of labour exchanges as a source of information on employment.
• 2 October – the first match is played at the Rugby Football Union's Twickenham Stadium in Middlesex, Harlequins v. Richmond.
• 15–23 October – "Aviation week" of demonstration flying held at Doncaster;^[17] this is followed by a similar event at Blackpool.
• 20 October – the Trade Boards Act, a form of minimum wage legislation, is passed.
• 5 November – the first Woolworth's branch in the UK opens in Liverpool.^[3]
• 8 November – first contest for a Lonsdale Belt in boxing, won by Welsh lightweight Freddie Welsh in London.
• 30 November – the House of Lords rejects the People's Budget proposed by David Lloyd George, forcing a general election.^[1]
• 3 December – the SS Ellan Vannin sinks in Liverpool Bay resulting in the loss of all 15 passengers and 21 crew.
• 4 December – the University of Bristol is founded and receives its Royal Charter.
• 7 December – South Africa granted dominion status.^[1]
• Undated – First British bird ringing programme initiated by Arthur Landsborough Thomson at Aberdeen.^[18]

Publications

• Florence Barclay's novel The Rosary.^[19]
• Angela Brazil's schoolgirl story The Nicest Girl in the School.
• Daniel Jones' introductory The Pronunciation of English.
• H. G. Wells' novels Ann Veronica and Tono-Bungay.

Births

• 24 January – Martin Lings, Islamic scholar (died 2005)
• 28 January – Geoff Charles, photojournalist (died 2002)
• 29 January – Phoebe Hesketh, poet (died 2005)
• 9 February
  • Marjorie Ogilvie Anderson, historian (died 2002)^[20]
  • Heather Angel (actress), actress (died 1986)
• 10 February – Irene Calvert, politician and economist (died 2000)
• 24 February – Ethel MacDonald, activist (died 1960)
• 14 March – William Montgomery Watt, Anglican priest and professor (died 2006)
• 26 March – Martin Hodgson, rugby league footballer (died 1991)
• 6 April - Katherine Russell, social worker and university teacher (died 1998)
• 7 April – Robert Raglan, actor (died 1985)
• 30 April – F. E. McWilliam, sculptor (died 1992)
• 5 May – Sonia Dresdel, actress (died 1976)
• 11 May – Herbert Murrill, organist and composer (died 1952)
• 15 May – James Mason, actor (died 1984)
• 16 May – Charles Wilson, political scientist (died 2002)
• 18 May – Fred Perry, tennis player (died 1995)^[21]
• 19 May – Nicholas Winton, humanitarian (died 2015)
• 26 May – Matt Busby, football manager (Manchester United) (died 1994)
• 5 June – Marion Crawford, educator and governess to Princess Margaret and Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II) (died 1988)
• 7 June – Jessica Tandy, actress (died 1994)
• 18 June – Christabel Bielenberg, writer (died 2003)
• 28 June – Eric Ambler, novelist and playwright (died 1998)
• 3 July – Sylvia Gray, businessperson (died 1991)^[22]
• 4 July – Robert Manuel Cook, classical scholar (died 2000)
• 5 July – Douglas Dodds-Parker, soldier and politician (died 2006)
• 19 July – Percy Stallard, cyclist (died 2001)
• 28 July – Malcolm Lowry, novelist (died 1957)
• 30 July – C. Northcote Parkinson, historian and author (died 1993)
• 21 August – Ethel Caterham, supercentenarian and the last surviving person in the UK born in the 1900s decade.
• 25 August – Michael Rennie, actor (died 1971)
• 28 August – Ralph Kilner Brown, athlete, politician and judge (died 2003)
• 12 September – Chili Bouchier, actress (died 1999)
• 14 September – Peter Scott, ornithologist and painter (died 1989)
• 23 September
  • Molly Harrison, museum curator (died 2002)
  • Susan Travers, World War II nurse (died 2003)
• 6 October – Robert Potter, architect (died 2010)
• 28 October – Francis Bacon, painter (died 1992)
• 8 November – Eric Bedford, architect (died 2001)
• 17 November – E. S. Turner, author and journalist (died 2006)
• 19 November – Griffith Jones, actor (died 2007)
• 23 November – Nigel Tranter, historian and writer (died 2000)
• 30 November – Nancy Carline, artist (died 2004)
• 1 December – Frank Gillard, radio broadcaster (died 1998)
• 4 December
  • Edward Britton, trade unionist (died 2005)
  • Jimmy Jewel, comedian and actor (died 1995)^[23]
• 8 December – Lesslie Newbigin, bishop and theologian (died 1998)
• 10 December – F. W. Walbank, scholar of Greek history (died 2008)
• 15 December – Jack Gwillim, actor (died 2001)
• 22 December – Patricia Hayes, character actress (died 1998)
• 23 December
  • Donald Coggan, Archbishop of Canterbury (died 2000)
  • Maurice Denham, actor (died 2002)

Deaths

• 8 January – Harry Seeley, palaeontologist (born 1839)
• 14 January – Arthur William à Beckett, journalist (born 1844)
• 24 February – Fanny Cornforth, artists' model (born 1835)
• 1 April – Sir Marshal Clarke, Anglo-Irish colonial administrator (born 1841)
• 10 April – Algernon Charles Swinburne, poet (born 1837)
• 13 April – Sir Donald Currie, Scottish shipping magnate (born 1825)
• 12 May – Sir Hugh Gough, general, Victoria Cross recipient (born 1833 in British India)
• 18 May – George Meredith, novelist and poet (born 1828)
• 31 May – Thomas Price, Welsh-born Prime Minister of South Australia (born 1852)
• 10 June – Aylmer Spicer Cameron, Scottish army officer, VC recipient (born 1833)
• 22 June – Edward John Gregory, painter (born 1850)
• 1 July – Curzon Wyllie, soldier and politician (murdered) (born 1848)
• 9 July
  • George Robinson, 1st Marquess of Ripon, politician (born 1827)
  • Rosa Nouchette Carey, children's writer (born 1840)^[24]
• 1 August – Sir Hugh Rowlands, Welsh general, first Welsh Victoria Cross recipient (born 1828)
• 14 August – William Stanley, inventor, precision engineer (born 1829)
• 22 August – Henry Radcliffe Crocker, dermatologist (born 1846)
• 25 October – Arthur Bromley, British Royal Navy officer, Admiral Superintendent of Malta Dockyard (born 1847)
• 9 November – William Powell Frith, painter (born 1819)
• 10 November – George Essex Evans, Welsh-Australian poet (born 1863)
• 11 December – Ludwig Mond, industrialist (born 1839)
• 13 December – Sir Alfred Lewis Jones, shipping magnate (born 1845)

See also

• List of British films before 1920

References

1. Palmer, Alan; Palmer, Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History. London: Century Ltd. pp. 342–343. ISBN 978-0-7126-5616-0.
2. "Old-Age Pensions. Official Statistics". The Times. No. 38862. London. 21 January 1909. p. 10.
3. Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 2006. ISBN 978-0-14-102715-9.
4. "Ceremony to remember dead miners". BBC News. 4 March 2005. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
5. Jefferson, Alan (2004). "Beecham, Sir Thomas, second baronet (1879–1961)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/30670. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
6. "F A Cup Final 1909". F A Cup Final Programmes. Archived from the original on 11 March 2007.
7. Raymond, E. T. (1922). Mr. Lloyd George: a biography. New York: George H. Doran Co. p. 118. April 29.
8. Fryer, Jonathan (September 2008). "Where British aviation began". The Journal of Kent History. 67: 18–19.
9. Page, Melvin E., ed. (2003). Colonialism: an International Social, Cultural and Political Encyclopedia. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO. pp. 350–351. ISBN 978-1-57607-335-3.
10. "Minoru Wins Derby; Sir Martin Falls". The New York Times. 27 May 1909. p. 1.
11. Samuel's religious views are generally considered atheist, but he was observant to please his wife. Wasserstein, Bernard (2004). "Samuel, Herbert Louis". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/35928. Retrieved 22 March 2014. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.) Sir Rufus Isaacs could be considered the first believing Jew to be a member of Cabinet (1912).
12. "Personalities in the Gliding Movement - Mr. E.C. Gordon England A.F.R.Ae.S." (PDF). The Sailplane & Glider. 3 (7). British Gliding Association: 74. 1 April 1932. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 September 2011. Retrieved 19 March 2010.
13. Cooke, A. M. (1972). A history of the Royal College of Physicians of London. Vol. 3. Clarendon Press for the Royal College of Physicians. p. 976.
14. EJ Beck, Open University, Retrieved 11 June 2022.
15. Blériot, Louis (26 July 1909). "Bleriot Tells of his Flight" (PDF). The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. OCLC 1645522. Retrieved 26 July 2009.
16. WSPU Hunger Strike Medal with Fed by Force bar 17.9.09.
17. Blake, Richard. The Book of Postal Dates, 1635–1985. Caterham: Marden. p. 20.
18. Williamson, Kenneth (1977). "Sir Arthur Landsborough Thomson". Bird Study. 24 (3): 202–3. doi:10.1080/00063657709476557.
19. Leavis, Q. D. (1965). Fiction and the Reading Public (rev. ed.). London: Chatto & Windus.
20. Ewan, Elizabeth L.; Innes, Sue; Reynolds, Sian; Pipes, Rose (27 June 2007). Biographical Dictionary of ScottishWomen. Edinburgh University Press. p. 13. ISBN 978-0-7486-2660-1.
21. "Fred Perry: Hero from the wrong side of the tracks". The Independent. 15 May 2009. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
22. Baker, Anne Pimlott (23 September 2004). "Gray, Sylvia Mary". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/49758. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
23. "Jimmy Jewel". BFI. Archived from the original on 16 March 2017. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
24. Crisp, Jane (1989). Rosa Nouchette Carey (1840-1904): A Bibliography. St. Lucia: Department of English, University of Queensland. p. 2. ISBN 9780867763607.