1908 in the United Kingdom

1908 in the United Kingdom

Other years

1906 | 1907 | 1908 (1908) | 1909 | 1910

Individual countries of the United Kingdom

England | Ireland | Scotland | Wales

Sport

1908 English cricket season Football: England | Scotland

Events from the year 1908 in the United Kingdom.

Incumbents

• Monarch – Edward VII
• Prime Minister – Henry Campbell-Bannerman (Liberal) (until 3 April), H. H. Asquith (Liberal) (starting 5 April)
• Parliament – 28th

Events

• 1 January
  • Nimrod Expedition: Ernest Shackleton sets sail from New Zealand on the Nimrod for Antarctica.
  • Harry Bensley leaves for his would-be trip around the world pushing a pram and wearing an iron mask, beginning from Trafalgar Square in London.
• 22 January – Arthur Henderson becomes the second leader of the Labour Party following the resignation of Keir Hardie.^[1]
• 24 January – start of publication of Robert Baden-Powell's Scouting for Boys in London. The book will over time sell over 100 million copies and effectively begin the worldwide Boy Scout movement.
• March – The Children's Encyclopedia begins publication in London.
• 1 April – the Territorial Force of the British Army is established^[2] by merger of the civilian-organised Volunteer Force with the Yeomanry; and remaining units of the militia are transferred into the regular Special Reserve.^[3]
• 7 April – Campbell-Bannerman resigns as Prime Minister, on the grounds of health; replaced by Asquith.^[2]
• 8 April – David Lloyd George becomes Chancellor of the Exchequer, while Winston Churchill enters the Cabinet for the first time, as President of the Board of Trade.^[2]
• 18 April – Manchester United secure the Football League First Division title The first major trophy of their history.
• 1 May - 31 October – Scottish National Exhibition is held in Edinburgh^[4]
• 11 May – foundation stone of the Royal Liver Building in Liverpool is laid.^[5]
• 24 May (Empire Day) – formation of the 1st Arundel (Earl of Arundel's Own) Scout Group (traditionally accepted date although Scouting was probably active in Arundel prior to this).
• 26 May–October – Franco-British Exhibition held at what becomes known as White City, London.
• 21 June – first large suffragette rally, in London.^[2]
• July – Allied Artists' Association holds its first exhibition, at the Royal Albert Hall.
• 13–25 July – 1908 Summer Olympics held at the White City Stadium as part of the Franco-British Exhibition and of a festival of sport beginning on 14 May. The marathon (beginning at Windsor) is run on 24 July and the Winter Olympics are held here on 19–31 October.^[5] The Great Britain and Ireland team win 56 gold, 51 silver and 39 bronze medals.
• 31 July – Irish Universities Act receives Royal Assent in Parliament. This provides for establishment of the federal National University of Ireland based in Dublin and the Queen's University of Belfast.^[6]
• 10 September – the first Minas Geraes-class Dreadnought battleship for Brazil, Minas Geraes is launched at Armstrong Whitworth's yard on the River Tyne.
• October
  • Edith Morley is made Professor of English at University College, Reading, the first woman appointed to a chair at an English university-level institution.^[7]
  • First Ideal Home Exhibition held, at Olympia (London) sponsored by the Daily Mail newspaper.
• 16 October – American-born Samuel F. Cody makes the first powered fixed-wing aircraft flight in Britain, taking off at the School of Ballooning, Farnborough, Hampshire, in British Army Aeroplane No 1.^[2][8]
• November
  • Horace, Eustace and Oswald Short found Short Brothers, the first aircraft manufacturing company in England, in Battersea, London.
  • The North and South Wales Bank is absorbed into the London City and Midland Bank, bringing an end to banknote issue in Wales.^[9]
• 14 November – Elizabeth Garrett Anderson is the first woman in England to be elected as a mayor (of Aldeburgh).
• 3 December – the first performance of Edward Elgar's Symphony No. 1 is given by the Hallé in Manchester's Free Trade Hall.
• 10 December – the National Farmers' Union is founded.^[5]
• 21 December – royal assent given to the following Acts of Parliament:
  • Children Act – comes into force 1909, q.v.^[10]
  • Prevention of Crime Act – regularises national provision of Borstals.

Publications

• Robert Baden-Powell's book Scouting for Boys.
• The Children's Encyclopedia, first edition.
• G. K. Chesterton's novel The Man Who Was Thursday and his book Orthodoxy.
• W. H. Davies' autobiography The Autobiography of a Super-Tramp.
• E. M. Forster's novel A Room with a View.
• Kenneth Grahame's children's novel The Wind in the Willows.
• E. Nesbit's children's novel The House of Arden.
• H. De Vere Stacpoole's novel The Blue Lagoon.^[14]
• First issue of The Magnet, featuring a story of Greyfriars School by Frank Richards.

Births

• 7 January – Frederick Gibberd, architect (died 1984)
• 8 January – William Hartnell, actor (died 1975)
• 5 February – Daisy and Violet Hilton, conjoined twin actresses (died 1969)
• 11 February – Vivian Fuchs, geologist and explorer (died 1999)
• 22 February – John Mills, actor (died 2005)
• 29 February – A. L. Lloyd, folk song collector (died 1982)
• 5 March – Rex Harrison, actor (died 1990)
• 12 March – Ida Crowe Pollock, writer (died 2013)
• 19 March – George Rodger, photojournalist (died 1995)
• 20 March – Michael Redgrave, actor (died 1985)
• 25 March
  • David Lean, film director (died 1991)
  • Bridget D'Oyly Carte, head of D'Oyly Carte Opera Company (died 1985)
• 27 March – Semprini, musician (died 1990)
• 11 April – Dan Maskell, tennis coach and commentator (died 1992)
• 14 May – Amy Jagger, gymnast (died 1993)
• 28 May – Ian Fleming, writer (died 1964)
• 30 May – Bernard Fitzalan-Howard, 16th Duke of Norfolk, peer and Earl Marshal (died 1975)
• 1 June – Percy Edwards, animal impersonator (died 1996)
• 30 June – Winston Graham, writer (died 2003)
• 9 July – Ian Mikardo, politician (died 1993)
• 25 July – Bill Bowes, cricketer (died 1987)
• 4 August – Osbert Lancaster, cartoonist (died 1986)
• 12 August – David Renton, politician (died 2007)
• 21 August – M. M. Kaye, writer (died 2004)
• 23 August – Hannah Frank, artist and sculptor (died 2008)
• 31 August – Kenneth Gandar-Dower, sportsman, aviator, explorer and author (died 1944)
• 6 September
  • Louis Essen, physicist (died 1997)
  • Anthony Wagner, herald at the College of Arms (died 1995)
• 12 September – Reginald C. Fuller, Roman Catholic priest and writer (died 2011)
• 19 October – Sydney MacEwan, singer (died 1990)
• 2 November – Fred Bakewell, cricketer (died 1983)
• 20 November – Alistair Cooke, journalist (died 2004)
• 26 November – Charles Forte, businessman (died 2007)
• 18 December – Celia Johnson, actress (died 1982)
• 25 December – Quentin Crisp, writer and raconteur (died 1999)

Deaths

• 25 January – Ouida, novelist (born 1839; died in Italy)
• 22 March – John William Crombie, Scottish woollen manufacturer and politician (born 1858)
• 20 April – Henry Chadwick, baseball writer and historian (born 1824; died in the United States)
• 22 April – Henry Campbell-Bannerman, Prime Minister (born 1836)
• 31 May – Sir John Evans, archaeologist (born 1823)
• 2 June – William Napier, recipient of the Victoria Cross (born 1828)
• 22 July – William Randal Cremer, politician and pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (born 1828)
• 25 August – Eyre Massey Shaw, first Chief Officer of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade (London) (born 1828 in Ireland)
• 16 October – Joseph Leycester Lyne (Father Ignatius of Jesus), Anglican Benedictine abbot (born 1837)
• 1 December – Howell Jones, Welsh rugby union player (born 1882)

See also

• List of British films before 1920

References

See also