1909 in the United Kingdom:

Other years

1907 | 1908 | 1909 | 1910 | 1911

Sport and Music

1909 English cricket season

Football England | Scotland

Events from the year 1909 in the United Kingdom.

Incumbents

• Monarch - Edward VII of the United Kingdom
• Prime Minister - H. H. Asquith, Liberal

Events

• 1 January - National old age pension scheme comes into force.^[1]
• 9 January - Ernest Shackleton's Nimrod Expedition to the South Pole forced to turn back eleven miles from the pole.^[2]
• 26 February - First film shown in colour using Kinemacolor at the Palace Theatre, London.^[2]
• 10 March - Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909 signed in Bangkok.
• 15 March - Selfridges department store opens in London.^[2]
• 16 March - Port of London Authority established.^[2]
• 15 June - Representatives from England, Australia and South Africa meet at Lord's and form the Imperial Cricket Conference.
• 26 June - King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra open the Victoria and Albert Museum, designed by Aston Webb.^[1]
• 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.^[2]
• 26 September - Force-feeding of hunger striking sufragettes begins.^[1]
• 2 October - The first rugby football match played in Twickenham.
• 5 November - The first Woolworth's store in Britain opens in Liverpool.^[2]
• 30 November - House of Lords rejects the Budget, forcing a general election.^[1]
• 4 December - The University of Bristol was founded and received its Royal Charter.
• 7 December - South Africa granted dominion status.^[1]

Publications

• H. G. Wells' novel Tono-Bungay.

Births

• 24 January - Martin Lings, Islamic scholar (died 2005)
• 1 March - David Niven, actor (died 1983)
• 30 April - F. E. McWilliam, sculptor (died 1992)
• 15 May - James Mason, actor (died 1984)
• 18 May - Fred Perry, tennis player (died 1995)
• 19 May - Nicholas Winton, humanitarian
• 20 May - Matt Busby, football manager (Manchester United) (died 1994)
• 7 June - Jessica Tandy, actress (died 1994)
• 28 June - Eric Ambler, novelist and playwright (died 1998)
• 28 July - Malcolm Lowry, novelist (died 1957)
• 30 July - C. Northcote Parkinson, historian and author (died 1993)
• 25 August - Michael Rennie, actor (died 1971)
• 14 September - Peter Scott, ornithologist and painter (died 1989)
• 28 October - Francis Bacon, painter (died 1992)
• 23 November - Nigel Tranter, historian and writer (died 2000)
• 23 December - Donald Coggan, Archbishop of Canterbury (died 2000)

Deaths

• 14 January - Arthur William a Beckett, journalist (born 1844)
• 10 April - Algernon Charles Swinburne, poet (born 1837)
• 31 May - Thomas Price, Welsh-born Prime Minister of South Australia (born 1852)
• June - Edward John Gregory, painter (born 1850)
• 1 August - Hugh Rowlands, first Welshman to win a VC (born 1828)
• 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)

References

See also