UK-related events during the year of 1937
Events from the year 1937 in the United Kingdom
The coronation of King George VI took place on 12 May, after he had ascended to the throne at the end of the previous year.
1 January – safety glass in vehicle windscreens becomes mandatory in the United Kingdom.
25 February – UK première of the historical film Fire Over England Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh .
8 March – Prince Edward, the former King Edward VIII , is created Duke of Windsor .
19 March – Regency Act 1937 provides for the minority, incapacity or absence abroad of any future monarch.
12 April – Frank Whittle ground-tests the world's first jet engine designed to power an aircraft, at Rugby .
27 April – National Maritime Museum opened at Greenwich in former Royal Hospital School premises.
April – the Royal Mint introduces the nickel-brass twelve-sided threepence coin , replacing the earlier round silver coin.
May – the Georgian Group is set up as part of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings in England.
1–27 May – London 's bus drivers and conductors go on strike.[ 1]
12 May – Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth takes place at Westminster Abbey , London . The BBC makes its first television outside broadcast covering the event.[ 2] social research organisation Mass Observation makes its first survey of social attitudes on this day.
23 May – nearly 4000 Basque (and other) child refugees of the Spanish Civil War arrive at Southampton .
27 May – George VI passes letters patent denying the style of Royal Highness
28 May – Neville Chamberlain becomes Prime Minister after Baldwin's retirement.[ 3]
3 June – the Duke of Windsor marries Wallis Simpson in the Château de Candé .[ 2]
1 July
2 July – Holditch Colliery Disaster , a coal mining accident in Chesterton, Staffordshire , in which thirty men die following a fire and explosions.[ 4]
6 July – Littlewoods , the pools company formed fourteen years ago by Liverpool businessman John Moores , expands to create a department store in Blackpool , Lancashire .[ 5] [ 6]
7 July – Peel Commission proposes partition of the British Mandate of Palestine into separate Arab and Jewish states.[ 7]
23 July – Matrimonial Causes Act adds insanity and desertion to infidelity as legitimate grounds for divorce .[ 3]
28 July – assassination attempt on King George VI in Belfast by the Irish Republican Army .[ 8]
4 August – return of the British Graham Land Expedition from Antarctica.
27 August – Benjamin Britten 's string orchestral work Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge Salzburg Festival , bringing the composer to international attention.[ 9]
7 September – Witley Court in Worcestershire is gutted by fire.[ 10]
30 September – last issue of The Morning Post The Daily Telegraph
October–December – Croydon typhoid outbreak of 1937 : 341 cases of typhoid fever (43 fatal) result from a polluted well.
6 October – the fictional character 'Mrs. Miniver ' first appears in the column on domestic life written by 'Jan Struther ' for The Times [ 11]
16 October – Jimmy McGrory plays his last match with Celtic F.C. , achieving a United Kingdom record of 550 goals scored during his senior career.[ 12]
4 December – the first issue of children's comic The Dandy Desperate Dan , is published.[ 2]
10 December
16 December – the musical Me and My Girl West End Victoria Palace Theatre ; the dance number "The Lambeth Walk " becomes popular.[ 17]
December – the Hawker Hurricane enters service with the Royal Air Force as its first monoplane fighter aircraft (with No. 111 Squadron at Northolt ).[ 18]
Undated
1 January
2 January – Terence Rigby , actor (died 2008)
7 January – Ian La Frenais , English screenwriter and producer
8 January – Shirley Bassey , Welsh-born singer
9 January
14 January – Ken Higgs , English cricketer (died 2016)
18 January – John Hume , Northern Irish SDLP politician, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (died 2020)
19 January – Ian Samwell , rock guitarist, singer-songwriter and record producer (died 2003)
21 January – Ursula Owen , editor and publisher
27 January – John Ogdon , pianist (died 1989)
29 January – Jeff Clyne , jazz bassist (died 2009)
30 January – Vanessa Redgrave , actress
7 February – Peter Jay , economist, broadcaster and diplomat (died 2024)
10 February – Anne Anderson , Scottish physiologist (died 1983)
11 February – Ian Gow , Member of Parliament for Eastbourne (assassinated by the IRA 1990)[ 24]
12 February – Roland Boyes , Labour politician (died 2006)
16 February – Peter Hobday , radio presenter and journalist (died 2020)
17 February – Peter Beet , general practitioner and railway preservationist (died 2005)
21 February – Jilly Cooper , novelist
25 February – Tom Courtenay , actor
16 March – Ben Aris , actor (died 2003)
22 March – Foo Foo Lammar , drag queen (died 2004)
6 April
9 April
10 April – Stan Mellor , National Hunt jockey and trainer (died 2020)
11 April - Jill Gascoine , actress (died 2020)
12 April – Edward Hide , jockey (died 2023)
13 April – Edward Fox , actor
18 April
29 April – Jill Paton Walsh , novelist (died 2020)
1 May
5 May – Delia Derbyshire , electronic music composer (died 2001)
6 May – Paul Stephenson , civil rights campaigner (died 2024)
12 May
13 May
19 May – Pat Roach , wrestler and actor (died 2004)
26 May – Neil Ardley , composer (died 2004)
2 June – Rosalyn Higgins , born Rosalyn C. Cohen, President of the International Court of Justice
8 June – Gillian Clarke , Welsh poet and playwright
15 June – Alan Thornett , Trotskyist activist
16 June – Charmian May , actress (died 2002)
21 June
23 June – Sir Nicholas Shackleton , geologist (died 2006)
26 June – Len Worley , English footballer
2 July – Dee Palmer , born David Palmer, composer, arranger and progressive rock keyboardist
3 July
13 July – Ghillean Prance , botanist and ecologist
14 July
16 July
17 July – Alan Hopper , English footballer
18 July – Peter Smith , Scottish footballer
21 July – Neville Bannister , footballer
25 July – Colin Renfrew , archaeologist (died 2024)
27 July – Anna Dawson , actress
2 August – Jim McLean , football player and manager (died 2020)
4 August – Dave Pearson , painter (died 2008)
6 August – Barbara Windsor , actress (died 2020)[ 25]
18 August
19 August – Richard Ingrams , journalist and editor
20 August – Jim Bowen , born Peter Williams, stand-up comedian and television host (died 2018)
21 August – Donald Dewar , First Minister of Scotland (died 2000)[ 26]
28 August – Ian Campbell, 12th Duke of Argyll , peer (died 2001)
1 September – Allen Jones , pop artist
2 September
7 September – Clive Everton , sports commentator (died 2024)
13 September – Jessica Mann , crime novelist (died 2018)
16 September – Keith Bosley , broadcaster, poet and translator (died 2018)
20 September – Geoffrey Dear, Baron Dear , police officer
27 September – Valerie Gearon , actress (died 2003)
1 October – Matthew Carter , type designer
4 October – Jackie Collins , romance novelist (died 2015 in the United States)
7 October – Christopher Booker , journalist (died 2019)
9 October – Brian Blessed , actor
11 October – Bobby Charlton , England footballer (died 2023)
17 October – Paxton Whitehead , English actor (died 2023 in the United States)
24 October – Barry Davies , English journalist and sportscaster
8 November – Paul Foot , journalist (died 2004)
9 November – Roger McGough , Liverpool poet
15 November – Ron Yeats , Scottish footballer (died 2024)
16 November – Alan Budd , economist and academic (died 2023)
17 November – Peter Cook , comedian and writer (died 1995)
23 November – Geoffrey Hinsliff , actor (died 2024)
27 November – Rodney Bewes , television actor (died 2017)
28 November – Matisyahu Salomon , English-born American rabbi (died 2024 in the United States)
30 November
7 December – Kenneth Colley , actor
10 December – Scott Baker , lawyer and judge
18 December – Anne Wood , children's television producer
21 December – Jimmy Collins , Scottish footballer (died 2018)
22 December – Charlotte Lamb , novelist (died 2000)
26 December – John Horton Conway , mathematician (died 2020 in the United States)
29 December – Barbara Steele , actress
30 December – Gordon Banks , English goalkeeper (died 2019)
31 December – Anthony Hopkins , Welsh actor 5 January – Marie Booth , third daughter of William and Catherine Booth (born 1864)
10 January – Bertie Crewe , theatre architect (born 1860)
18 January – Isaac Barr , Anglican clergyman, promoter of colonial settlement schemes (born 1847)
28 January – Dame Agnes Jekyll , artist, writer on domestic matters and philanthropist (born 1861)
19 February – Edward Garnett , critic (born 1868)
20 February – Sir Percy Cox , army general and colonial administrator (born 1864)
27 February – Douglas Carnegie , politician (born 1870)
13 March – Elihu Thomson , engineer and inventor in the United States (born 1853)
16 March – Sir Austen Chamberlain , statesman, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (born 1863)
20 March – Harry Vardon , golf professional (born 1870)
22 March
25 March – John Drinkwater , poet and dramatist (born 1882)
8 April
19 April – Martin Conway, 1st Baron Conway of Allington , art critic, politician and mountaineer (born 1856)
24 April – Lucy Beaumont , actress (born 1869)
10 May – Sir James Blindell , politician (born 1884)
12 May
15 May – Philip Snowden, 1st Viscount Snowden , politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (born 1864)
5 June – Owen Philipps, 1st Baron Kylsant , shipowner
11 June – R. J. Mitchell , aeronautical engineer (born 1895)
19 June – J. M. Barrie , novelist and dramatist (born 1860)
22 June – Sir Eric Geddes , transport manager and politician (born 1875)
12 July – Hugo Charteris, 11th Earl of Wemyss , politician, public servant (born 1857)
17 July – Percy Gardner , archaeologist (born 1846)
18 July – Julian Bell , poet, killed in Spanish Civil War (born 1908)
14 August – H. C. McNeile (Sapper), novelist and soldier (born 1888)
22 August – Albert Goodman , politician (born 1880)
24 August – Gervase Beckett , politician (born 1866)
31 August – Ruth Baldwin , socialite (born 1905)
6 September – Harry Charles Purvis Bell , civil servant, commissioner (born 1851)
15 September – Clifford Heatherley , actor (born 1888)
16 October – William Sealy Gosset , statistician (born 1876)
17 October – J. Bruce Ismay , shipowner (born 1862)
30 October – Sir Herbert Maxwell , Scottish novelist, essayist, artist, antiquarian, horticulturalist and Conservative politician (born 1845)
4 November – William Bennett , politician (born 1873)
6 November – Johnston Forbes-Robertson , stage actor (born 1853)
9 November – Ramsay MacDonald , Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1866)
25 November – Lilian Baylis , theatrical producer (born 1874)
9 December — Lilias Armstrong , phonetician (born 1882)
14 December - Lord Edward Gleichen , army officer (born 1863)
22 December – Joseph Darby , spring jumper (born 1861)
26 December
27 December – Sir Coote Hedley , army officer and sportsman (born 1865)
28 December – Herbert Bullmore , Scottish Rugby Union international (born 1874)
^ "What London Bus Strike Is Costing" . Commercial Motor (archive). 21 May 1937.^ a b c d Penguin Pocket On This Day . Penguin Reference Library. 2006. ISBN 0-14-102715-0 ^ a b Palmer, Alan; Palmer, Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History . London: Century Ltd. pp. 382– 383. ISBN 0-7126-5616-2 ^ Holditch, Charles. "Disaster at Holditch Colliery 1937 Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine ". The Holdiches. Retrieved 10 November 2015^ "Report - Littlewoods Pools, Liverpool" . 28DaysLater . 31 August 2011. Retrieved 11 November 2020 .^ "Jobs to go as Index stores close" . BBC News . Retrieved 25 April 2011 .^ League of Nations Mandates - Palestine: Report of the Palestine Royal Commission . Retrieved 8 March 2012 .^ Chen, C. Peter. "George VI" . World War II Database . Retrieved 9 December 2014 . ^ "BRITTEN Frank Bridge Variations etc. NAXOS 8.557200 [KS]: Classical CD Reviews- August 2005 MusicWeb-International" . www.musicweb-international.com .^ "Stately in Abandonment: Witley Court" . Sometimes Interesting . 7 August 2014. Retrieved 11 August 2020 .^ "Mrs. Miniver (1942)" . Reel Classics . Archived from the original on 2 May 2008. Retrieved 28 April 2008 .^ McManus, John (28 October 2006), "Jimmy McGrory" , The Scotsman , retrieved 19 October 2012 ^ "The Nobel Peace Prize 1937" . Archived from the original on 15 October 2007. Retrieved 25 November 2007 .^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1937" . Archived from the original on 22 October 2007. Retrieved 25 November 2007 .^ "The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1937" . Archived from the original on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 25 November 2007 .^ "Accident at Castlecary on 10th December 1937" . Railways Archive . Retrieved 21 July 2014 .^ "Peace and 'The Lambeth Walk'The Times ^ Crosby, Francis (2006). The Complete Guide to Fighters & Bombers of the World: An Illustrated History of the World's Greatest Military Aircraft, From the Pioneering Days of Air Fighting in World War I Through the Jet Fighters and Stealth Bombers of the Present Day . London: Anness Publishing. p. 21. ISBN 978-1-84476-917-9 ^ Berry, Steve; Norman, Phil (2014). A History of Sweets in 50 Wrappers . London: The Friday Project . pp. 84– 85. ISBN 9780007575480 ^ "Kensal House" . Open University . 26 November 2001. Retrieved 6 July 2020 .^ "Pelican Books" . Penguin First Editions . 2013. Retrieved 16 July 2015 .^ Malcolm Cecil, influential producer and Stevie Wonder collaborator, has died ^ "Michael Nicholson, war correspondent who worked in Vietnam, the Falklands and Iraq – obituary" . The Daily Telegraph . London. 16 December 2016. Retrieved 16 December 2016 .^ "Mr Ian Gow (Hansard)" . api.parliament.uk .^ "Obituary: Dame Barbara Windsor" . BBC News . 11 December 2020. Retrieved 11 December 2020 .^ MacAskill, Ewen (11 October 2000). "Donald Dewar" . The Guardian . Archived from the original on 9 May 2014. Retrieved 16 February 2023 .