1918 in the United Kingdom

1918 in the United Kingdom:

Other years

1916 | 1917 | 1918 | 1919 | 1920

Sport and Music

1915 to 1918 English cricket seasons

Football England | Scotland

Events from the year 1918 in the United Kingdom. This year sees the end of World War I after four years, which Britain and its allies won, and a major advance in women's suffrage.

Incumbents

• Monarch - King George V
• Prime Minister - David Lloyd George, coalition

Events

• 12 January - Minnie Pit disaster, a mining accident at Halmer End in the North Staffordshire Coalfield, kills 155 as the result of an explosion caused by firedamp.
• 28 January - Night of unusually heavy bombing in London and south-east England.^[1]
• 6 February - Representation of the People Act gives women the vote provided they are over 30 and are (or are married to) a local government elector. It also removes most property qualifications, giving all adult (over-21) male resident householders the vote, and requires elections to be restricted to a single day.^[2]
• 1 March - German submarine U-19 sinks HMS Calgarian off Rathlin Island, Ireland.
• 23 March - In London at the Wood Green Empire, Chung Ling Soo (William E Robinson, US-born magician) dies during his trick where he was supposed to "catch" two separate bullets – one of them perforates his lung. He dies the following morning in hospital.
• 1 April - The Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service are merged to form the Royal Air Force; the Women's Royal Air Force is also founded to provide mechanics.^[2]
• 23 April - Zeebrugge Raid attempts to seal off the German U-Boat base there.^[1]
• 3 June - GPO raises postage rates: the ordinary letter rate is now 1½d., bringing an end to the Uniform Penny Post which has existed since 1840; and the rate for postcards doubles from ½d. to 1d.^[3]
• 15 July - Ration books introduced for butter, margarine, lard, meat, and sugar.^[1]
• 17 July - RMS Carpathia is torpedoed and sunk off the east coast of Ireland by German submarine U-55; 218 of the 223 on board are rescued.^[4]
• August - Education Act raises the school leaving age in England and Wales to fourteen.^[1][5]
• 1 August - British anti-Bolshevik forces occupy Archangel, Russia. On 10 August their commander is told to help White Russians.
• 30 August - Strike of 20,000 London policemen with demands of increased pay and union recognition.
• 26 October - Cecil Chubb donates Stonehenge to the nation.
• 27 October to 2 November - 2,200 deaths in London over this period due to Spanish Flu.^[1]
• 3 November - Armistice with Austria-Hungary signed in Padua.^[1]
• 5 November - Former Cunarder HMS Campania sinks in an accident in the Firth of Forth.
• 11 November - World War I ends: Germany signs an armistice agreement with the Allies in a railroad car outside Compiègne in France.^[2]
• 21 November - The Parliamentary Qualification of Women Act 1918 receives Royal Assent, giving women over 21 the right to stand as a Member of Parliament.^[2]
• 14 November - Labour Party leaves the wartime coalition government.^[1]
• 23 November - British military government of Palestine begins.^[6]
• 5 December - Light cruiser HMS Cassandra sunk by mine in the Gulf of Finland while assisting Estonia against the Bolsheviks, with eleven crew lost.^[7]
• 14 December - General election polling held. It is the first national election in the United Kingdom at which women are entitled to vote or stand, and the male franchise is extended. This is known as the "Coupon election" from the letter of endorsement given to candidates of the official (and victorious) Coalition by Bonar Law and Lloyd George.^[2]
• 24 December - First Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols held at King's College, Cambridge.^[8]
• 28 December - Constance Markievicz, while detained in Holloway Prison, becomes the first woman to be elected MP to the British House of Commons, following the counting of votes in the General Election. In common with the other Sinn Féin TD members, she does not take her seat.^[9]
• 29 December - The Sunday Express newspaper published for the first time.^[2]

Undated

• United Newspapers Ltd. founded in London.
• Gainsborough wins the English Triple Crown by finishing first in the Derby, 2,000 Guineas and St Leger.

Publications

• Gerard Manley Hopkins' Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins (posthumous).
• Daniel Jones's textbook An Outline of English Phonetics (containing the first comprehensive description of British Received Pronunciation).
• Wyndham Lewis's novel Tarr (in book form).
• André Maurois' novel Les Silences du Colonel Bramble.
• Siegfried Sassoon's Counter-Attack and Other Poems
• Dr Marie Stopes' books Married Love and Wise Parenthood.
• Lytton Strachey's historical biography Eminent Victorians.
• Rebecca West's novel The Return of the Soldier.

Births

• 1 January - Patrick Anthony Porteous, recipient of the Victoria Cross (died 2000)
• 1 February - Muriel Spark, author (died 2006)
• 1 March - Roger Delgado, actor (died 1973)
• 16 April - Spike Milligan, comedian, writer, musician, poet and playwright (died 2002)
• 16 May - Wilf Mannion, footballer (died 2000)
• 25 June - P. H. Newby, novelist (died 1997)
• 8 August - Brian Stonehouse, painter and World War II spy (died 1998)
• 13 August - Frederick Sanger, biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 8 September - Derek Harold Richard Barton, chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1998)
• 17 September - Chaim Herzog, British-born sixth president of the State of Israel died 1997)
• 27 September - Martin Ryle, radio astronomer, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics (died 1984)
• 21 December - Frank Hampson, illustrator (died 1985)

Deaths

• 1 April - Isaac Rosenberg, poet (killed in action) (born 1890)
• 7 October - Hubert Parry, composer (born 1848)
• 4 November - Wilfred Owen, poet (killed in action) (born 1893)

References

See also