1932 in the United Kingdom

Other years

* 1930
* 1931
* 1932 (1932)
* 1933
* 1934

Constituent countries of the United Kingdom
England | Northern Ireland | Scotland | Wales
Popular culture

1932 English cricket season
Football: England | Scotland
1932 in British radio
1932 in British television
1932 in British music

Events from the year 1932 in the United Kingdom.

## Incumbents

[edit]

* Monarch – George V
* Prime Minister – Ramsay MacDonald (Coalition)

## Events

[edit]

* 1 January
* the English Folk Dance and Song Society holds its first festival under this name following merger of the Folk-Song Society and the English Folk Dance Society.
* the King gives the title of Princess Royal to his only daughter, Princess Mary, Countess of Harewood, a year after the death of the previous holder.
* 8 January — the Archbishop of Canterbury forbids church remarriage of divorcees.
* 24 January — inmates at Dartmoor Prison mutiny.[1]
* 26 January — British submarine HMS M2 sinks off the Dorset coast with all sixty hands.
* 1-29 February — with an average precipitation of 9.5 millimetres or 0.37 inches, this period constitutes the driest calendar month over the United Kingdom as a whole since records began in 1836.[2]
* 4-15 February — Great Britain and Northern Ireland compete in the Winter Olympics at Lake Placid, New York, but do not win any medals.

Broadcasting House

* 1 March — Import Duties Act re-establishes protective trade tariffs.[3]
* 15 March — first BBC radio broadcast from the new Broadcasting House in London;[3] all programmes transfer from 15 May.
* 6 April – Ministry of Health encourages local councils to engage in widespread slum clearance.[3]
* 13 April — mass trespass of Kinder Scout, a wilful trespass by ramblers at Kinder Scout, in the Peak District of England, to protest against lack of free public access to open country.[4]
* 14 April – John Cockcroft and Ernest Walton, at the Cavendish Laboratory in the University of Cambridge, focus a proton beam on lithium and split its nucleus ("splitting the atom").[5]
* 23 April — new Shakespeare Memorial Theatre opens in Stratford-upon-Avon;[6] designed by Elisabeth Scott, it is the country's first important work by a woman architect.[7]
* 1 May — protestors clash with police in Hyde Park, London, during a May day protest against Japan's attitude towards China when they try to march on the Japanese Embassy.
* 10 May — James Chadwick, working at the Cavendish Laboratory in the University of Cambridge, reports the existence of the neutron.[8]
* 26 May — the Scots law case of Donoghue v Stevenson is decided in the House of Lords, establishing the modern concept of a duty of care in cases of negligence.[9]
* 25 June – India plays its first Test cricket match with England at Lord's.
* 2 July — the exiled former king of Portugal, Manuel II, dies at Fulwell in Middlesex; his body is later returned to Portugal for burial.
* 4 July — George Carwardine patents the Anglepoise lamp.
* 12 July — Hedley Verity of Yorkshire establishes a new first-class cricket record by taking all ten wickets for only ten runs against Nottinghamshire on a pitch affected by a storm.
* 19 July — King George V opens the replacement Lambeth Bridge across the Thames in London.
* 30 July-14 August — Great Britain and Northern Ireland compete at the Olympics in Los Angeles, California and win 4 gold, 7 silver and 5 bronze.
* 1 August — Forrest Mars produces the first Mars bar in his Slough factory.[10]
* 22 August — first experimental television broadcast by the BBC.[6]
* 20 September — Methodist Union: the Methodist Church is formed in Britain by merger of the Wesleyan Methodist Church, the Primitive Methodists and the United Methodist Church.
* 26 September — first contingent of the National Hunger March leaves Glasgow.[11]
* October
* Oswald Mosley founds the British Union of Fascists.[3]
* Anglo-Irish Trade War begins.
* 3 October — The Times newspaper first appears set in the Times New Roman typeface devised by Stanley Morison.[12]
* 7 October — Thomas Beecham establishes the London Philharmonic Orchestra.[3]
* 10 October — a mine cage accident at Bickershaw Colliery in the Lancashire Coalfield drowns 19.[13]
* 13 October — Britain grants independence to the kingdom of Iraq, ending the British mandate there in exchange for a restrictive long-term military alliance.
* 25 October – George Lansbury becomes the leader of the opposition Labour Party.[14]v
* 27 October — arrival of the Hunger March in London leads to several violent clashes with police.[15]
* 14 November — book tokens go on sale in the UK.[6]
* 30 November — the BBC begins a series of radio broadcasts to mark the 75th birthday of Sir Edward Elgar.
* 2 December — English cricket team in Australia in 1932–33: opening of the “bodyline” series.
* 5 December — the comic strip character Jane first appears in the Daily Mirror.
* 10 December
* John Galsworthy wins the Nobel Prize in Literature "for his distinguished art of narration which takes its highest form in The Forsyte Saga".[16]
* Charles Scott Sherrington and Edgar Adrian, 1st Baron Adrian, win the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for their discoveries regarding the functions of neurons".[17]
* 19 December — the BBC Empire Service, later known as the BBC World Service, begins broadcasting[6] using a shortwave radio facility at its Daventry transmitting station.[18]
* 25 December — King George V delivers the first Royal Christmas Message[3] on the BBC Empire Service from Sandringham House; the text has been written by Rudyard Kipling.

### Undated

[edit]

* Opening of the Hoover Building on the Western Avenue in Perivale, Middlesex, a noted example of Art Deco architecture, designed by Wallis, Gilbert and Partners for The Hoover Company.[19]
* Production of Fordson tractors in the U.K. begins at Dagenham in Essex.
* Production of Weetabix breakfast cereal in the U.K. begins at Burton Latimer in Northamptonshire.

## Publications

[edit]

* Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot novel Peril at End House.
* Lewis Grassic Gibbon's novel Sunset Song, first in A Scots Quair trilogy.
* Stella Gibbons' parodic novel Cold Comfort Farm.
* J. B. S. Haldane's book The Causes of Evolution, unifying Mendelian genetics and evolutionary science.
* Aldous Huxley's dystopian novel Brave New World.
* Captain W. E. Johns' first Biggles aviation stories, collected as The Camels are Coming.
* F. R. Leavis' book New Bearings in English Poetry.
* Q. D. Leavis' book Fiction and the Reading Public.
* John Cowper Powys' novel A Glastonbury Romance.
* Dorothy L. Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey novel Have His Carcase.
* Evelyn Waugh's novel Black Mischief.
* First issue of the journal of literary criticism Scrutiny: a quarterly review edited by F. R. Leavis (published in May).
* First issue of the magazine Woman's Own.

## Births

[edit]

Elizabeth Taylor Nigel Lawson Phyllida Law Arnold Wesker V. S. Naipaul W. Morgan Sheppard Richard Dawson

* 2 January – Peter Redgrove, poet (died 2003)
* 4 January – Thelma Holt, actress and producer
* 12 January – Des O'Connor, comedian, singer and television presenter (died 2020)
* 14 January – Timothy Sprigge, philosopher (died 2007)
* 15 January – Louis George Alexander, teacher and author (died 2002)
* 19 January – Russ Hamilton, singer (died 2008)
* 23 January – George Allen, footballer (died 2016)
* 29 January – Tommy Taylor, footballer (died 1958)
* 30 January – Lady Mary Colman, socialite and philanthropist (died 2021)
* 1 February – John Nott, Conservative politician (died 2024)
* 3 February – Molly Parkin, painter, novelist and journalist
* 8 February
* Cliff Allison, racing driver (died 2005)
* Elspeth Howe, public servant (died 2022)[20]
* Jean Saunders, romantic novelist (died 2011)[21]
* 11 February – Dennis Skinner, politician
* 12 February – Richard Rougier, judge (died 2007)
* 13 February
* David Neal, actor (died 2000)
* Barbara Shelley, actress (died 2021)
* 14 February
* Peter Ball, bishop and sex offender (died 2019)
* Jocelyn Stevens, publisher, journalist and charity executive (died 2014)
* 15 February – Adrian Swire, English businessman (died 2018)
* 22 February – Roger Squires, crossword compiler (died 2023)
* 25 February – Tony Brooks, racing driver (died 2022)
* 27 February – Elizabeth Taylor, film actress (died 2011 in the United States)
* 28 February – Brian Moore, football commentator (died 2001)
* 11 March – Nigel Lawson, Chancellor of the Exchequer (died 2023)
* 21 March – Tom Watson, actor (died 2001)
* 25 March – Martin Brandon-Bravo, politician (died 2018)
* 27 March – Patrick Newell, actor (died 1988)
* 1 April – Avril Elgar, actress (died 2021)[22]
* 9 April – Jack Smethurst, actor (died 2022)
* 10 April – Adrian Henri, Liverpool poet (died 2000)
* 14 April – Bob Grant, actor, comedian and writer (died 2003)
* 15 April – John T. Lewis, Welsh physicist (died 2004)
* 25 April
* David Frederick Case, audiobook narrator (died 2005)
* William Roache, actor (Coronation Street)
* 26 April – Michael Smith, chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2000 in Canada)
* 4 May – Ivor Wood, television animator (died 2004)
* 6 May – Alexander Thynn, 7th Marquess of Bath, peer and landowner (died 2020)
* 7 May – Jenny Joseph, poet (died 2018)
* 9 May
* Gavin Lyall, novelist (died 2003)
* Geraldine McEwan, actress (died 2015)
* 12 May – Derek Malcolm, historian and film critic (died 2023)
* 19 May – Alma Cogan, singer (died 1966)
* 24 May – Arnold Wesker, dramatist (died 2016)
* 25 May – Norman Drew, Northern Irish golfer (died 2023)
* 27 May – Jeffrey Bernard, journalist (died 1997)
* 29 May – Walker H. Land, academic bioengineering researcher[23]
* 30 May
* Ray Cooney, farceur
* Ivor Richard, Welsh Labour politician (died 2018)
* 8 June – Ray Illingworth, cricketer (died 2021)
* 9 June – Denise Robertson, broadcaster and writer (died 2016)
* 18 June – Geoffrey Hill, poet (died 2016)
* 21 June – Bernard Ingham, journalist and government press secretary (died 2023)
* 22 June
* Prunella Scales, actress
* John Wakeham, businessman and Conservative Party politician
* 25 June
* Peter Blake, pop artist
* Charles Morrison, politician (died 2005)
* Tim Parnell, racing driver (died 2017)[24]
* 26 June – John Wall, inventor (died 2018)
* 27 June
* Alan Warren, Anglican priest and author (died 2020)
* Hugh Wood, composer (died 2021)
* 4 July – Matt Crowe, Scottish football (soccer) player (died 2017)
* 6 July – Phyllida Law, actress
* 8 July
* Roy Proverbs, football (soccer) player (died 2017)
* Brian Walden, politician and political interviewer (died 2019)
* 10 July – George Black, Royal Air Force officer
* 16 July – John Chilton, jazz trumpeter (died 2016)
* 17 July – Colin Webster, Welsh footballer (died 2001)
* 21 July – Vilma Hollingbery, actress (died 2021)
* 23 July
* Hugh Davies, Welsh cricketer (died 2017)
* Tony Dean, racing driver (died 2008)
* 26 July – Neil McCarthy, actor (died 1985)[25]
* 28 July – Russell Johnston, politician (died 2008)
* 6 August
* Michael Deeley, film producer
* Howard Hodgkin, painter and print-maker (died 2017)
* 9 August – Reginald Bosanquet, television news presenter (died 1984)
* 11 August – Eric Varley, politician (died 2008)
* 17 August – V. S. Naipaul, Trinidadian-born writer (died 2018)
* 20 August – Anthony Ainley, actor (died 2004)
* 23 August – Christopher Parsons, film-maker (died 2002)
* 24 August
* Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, cardinal and Archbishop of Westminster (died 2017)
* W. Morgan Sheppard, actor (died 2019)
* 27 August – Lady Antonia Fraser, writer
* 31 August – Roy Castle, entertainer (died 1994)
* 1 September – Raymond Durgnat, film critic (died 2002)
* 4 September
* Edward de Souza, actor
* Dinsdale Landen, actor (died 2003)
* 7 September – Malcolm Bradbury, author and academic (died 2000)
* 9 September – Alice Thomas Ellis, writer (died 2005)
* 11 September
* Peter Anderson, footballer (died 2009)
* Ian Hamer, jazz trumpeter (died 2006)
* 21 September – Shirley Conran, author and journalist (died 2024)
* 22 September
* Michael Barnes, politician (died 2018)
* Ian Kennedy, comics artist (died 2022)
* 25 September
* Terry Medwin, footballer (died 2024)
* Brian Murphy, comedy actor (died 2025)
* 27 September – Michael Colvin, Conservative politician (died 2000)
* 28 September – Jeremy Isaacs, television executive and opera manager
* 4 October – Edward Judd, actor (died 2009)
* 5 October – Michael John Rogers, ornithologist (died 2006)
* 8 October – Ray Reardon, Welsh snooker player (died 2024)
* 9 October – Colin Clark, film-maker (died 2002)
* 10 October – Harry Smith, footballer (died 2016)
* 15 October – Vince Karalius, English rugby league footballer and coach (died 2008)
* 24 October – Adrian Mitchell, poet and novelist (died 2008)
* 25 October – Maurice Dodd, cartoonist (died 2005)
* 6 November – Ron Saunders, footballer and manager (died 2019)
* 4 November – Joyce Blair, actress (died 2006)
* 11 November – John Zamet, periodontist (died 2007)
* 15 November – Petula Clark, singer, actress and songwriter
* 18 November – Trevor Baxter, actor and playwright (died 2017)
* 20 November – Richard Dawson, comedian and game show host (died 2012)
* 21 November – Beryl Bainbridge, novelist (died 2010)
* 30 November – Arthur Hopcraft, scriptwriter (died 2004)
* 5 December – Alf Dubs, Baron Dubs, politician
* 15 December – John Meurig Thomas, scientist (died 2020)
* 16 December – Quentin Blake, cartoonist and illustrator
* 18 December – Marian Wenzel, art historian (died 2002)
* 19 December
* Angela Flowers, gallerist (died 2023)
* Crispin Nash-Williams, mathematician (died 2001)
* 24 December – Colin Cowdrey, cricketer (died 2000)
* 28 December – Roy Hattersley, Labour politician

## Deaths

[edit]

* 8 January – William Graham, Scottish politician (born 1887)
* 13 January – Ernest Mangnall, football manager (born 1866)
* 21 January – Lytton Strachey, writer and biographer (born 1880)
* 24 January – Sir Alfred Yarrow, shipbuilder and philanthropist (born 1842)
* 10 February – Edgar Wallace, novelist and screenwriter (born 1875)
* 4 March – Fawcet Wray, admiral (born 1873)
* 11 March – Dora Carrington, painter (born 1893)
* 16 March – Harold Monro, poet and bookshop proprietor (born 1879)
* 22 April – Edward Taylor Scott, newspaper editor/proprietor (drowned in yachting accident) (born 1883)
* 26 April – William Lockwood, cricketer (born 1868)
* 13 June – Alexander Bethell, admiral (born 1855)
* 2 July – Manuel II of Portugal, exiled monarch (born 1889)
* 6 July – Kenneth Grahame, author (born 1859)
* 16 July – Herbert Plumer, 1st Viscount Plumer, general (born 1857)
* 22 July – J. Meade Falkner, novelist and poet (born 1858)
* 23 July – Tenby Davies, Welsh sprinter (born 1884)
* 19 August – E. S. Prior, Arts and Crafts architect and theorist (born 1852)
* 16 September – Ronald Ross, physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (born 1857)
* 1 October – W. G. Collingwood, painter and author (born 1854)
* 30 October – Paul Methuen, 3rd Baron Methuen, field marshal (born 1845)
* 12 November – Sir Dugald Clerk, mechanical engineer (born 1854)
* 13 November – Catherine Isabella Dodd, education writer and novelist (born 1860)
* 8 December – Gertrude Jekyll, garden designer, writer and artist (born 1843)

## See also

[edit]

* List of British films of 1932

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Fitzgerald, Michael (1977). Prisoners in Revolt. Harmondsworth: Penguin. pp. 123–6\. ISBN 0-14-021922-6.
2. ^ UK rainfall ranked, 1836 to 2015.
3. ^ a b c d e f Palmer, Alan; Palmer, Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History. London: Century Ltd. pp. 375–376\. ISBN 0-7126-5616-2.
4. ^ "Mass trespass on Kinder Scout". The Guardian. Manchester. 25 April 1932. Retrieved 30 June 2010.
5. ^ Cockcroft, John; Walton, Ernest (April 1932). "Disintegration of Lithium by Swift Protons". Nature. 129 (649): 649. Bibcode:1932Natur.129..649C. doi:10.1038/129649a0.
6. ^ a b c d Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 2006. ISBN 0-14-102715-0.
7. ^ Pringle, Marian (1994). The Theatres of Stratford-upon-Avon, 1875–1992: an architectural history. Stratford-upon-Avon Society. p. 29\. ISBN 0-9514178-1-9.
8. ^ Chadwick, J. (1 June 1932). "The Existence of the Neutron". Proceedings of the Royal Society. A136 (830): 692–708\. Bibcode:1932RSPSA.136..692C. doi:10.1098/rspa.1932.0112. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
9. ^ Chapman, Matthew (2010). The Snail and the Ginger Beer: the story of Donoghue v Stevenson. London: Wildy, Simmons & Hill. ISBN 978-0-85490-049-7.
10. ^ "Mars — the chocolate planet". Slough History Online. Retrieved 8 February 2010.
11. ^ Hannington, Wal (1973). Unemployed Struggles, 1919–1936: My Life and Struggles Amongst the Unemployed. Barnes & Noble Books. p. 237\. ISBN 0-85409-837-2.
12. ^ The Times: Past, Present, Future. 1985. p. 50.
13. ^ "Lift Crashes". Australian Cable Service. 15 October 1932.
14. ^ Shepherd, John (2002). George Lansbury: At the Heart of Old Labour. Oxford University Press. p. 282\. ISBN 0-19-820164-8.
15. ^ Cronin, James E. (1984). Labour and Society in Britain, 1918–1979. London: Batsford Academic & Educational. p. 96\. ISBN 0-7134-4395-2.
16. ^ The Nobel Prize in Literature 1932.
17. ^ The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1932.
18. ^ Tomalin, Norman (1998). Daventry Calling the World (PDF). Whitby: Caedmon. ISBN 0-905355-46-6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 December 2013. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
19. ^ "Hoover Factory, Perivale". 74SIMON.Co.UK. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 7 July 2010.
20. ^ Baroness Elspeth Howe dies aged 90
21. ^ Weston Mercury Article, archived from the original on 13 September 2016, retrieved 8 August 2019
22. ^ Coveney, Michael (29 September 2021). "Avril Elgar obituary". The Guardian.
23. ^ "bioengineering people". Archived from the original on 30 May 2010. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
24. ^ Jenkins, Richard. "The World Championship drivers – Where are they now?". OldRacingCars.com. Retrieved 29 July 2007.
25. ^ "Neil McCarthy birth GRO index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 18 August 2019.

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