1922 in the United Kingdom
The social and political problems of most prominence in the United Kingdom in 1922 showed a further departure from those that chiefly occupied public attention during World War I, and the country had by then almost returned to its normal condition. Prices continued to fall during the early part of the year, but very slowly as compared with the previous decline, and in the latter half of the year the fall ceased almost entirely, prices becoming comparatively stabilized at about 80% above the level of July 1914. Labour problems, which occupied so much attention during and after the war, were less constantly in the public eye. The principle of inevitable reductions in wages had been accepted by the working classes as a whole, and there were few strikes on a large scale, the worst being that in the engineering trade. Unemployment continued to be very great, but it was recognized that little more could be done by government measures for its alleviation, and the subject was much less prominent in the political world than it had been in the previous year. A further indication of the return to normal conditions was in the gradual decay of the coalition government. The combination of parties brought about in the presence of a common danger no longer worked in peacetime. Very early in the year signs of disintegration became manifest in the coalition. On several occasions the two wings threatened to fall apart, but the government was successfully held together by the personality of Prime Minister David Lloyd George until the last quarter of the year, when the internal dissensions of many months reached a bursting-point, and the coalition collapsed.
Irish affairs occupied an important place in politics throughout the year. 1922 saw the establishment of the Irish Free State in the south and west of the island.
Incumbents
Events
- 1 January - Transport and General Workers' Union formed by merger of fourteen smaller unions under its first general secretary Ernest Bevin, forming by far the largest trade union.[1]
- 7 January - In Ireland the Dáil Éireann ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty.[1]
- 12 January
- 13 January - Flu epidemic has claimed 804 victims in Britain.
- 24 January - Façade – An Entertainment, poems by Edith Sitwell recited over an instrumental accompaniment by William Walton, first performed, privately in London.[3]
- 1 February - Formal handing over of Beggars Bush Barracks takes place in Dublin, marking the first act of British military withdrawal from Ireland.
- 28 February - The United Kingdom accepts the independence of Egypt.[4]
- 29 April - Huddersfield Town win the FA Cup with a 1-0 win over Preston North End in the final at Stamford Bridge, London. From next year, the final will be played at the new stadium being built at Wembley, North London.[5]
- 1 March - The British Civil Aviation Authority is established.
- 16 May - The final group of British troops leave the Curragh Camp in Ireland.
- 29 May - British Liberal MP Horatio Bottomley jailed for 7 years for fraud.
- 1 June - Official founding of the Royal Ulster Constabulary.
- 22 June - IRA agents assassinate British field marshal Henry Wilson in Belgravia - assassins are sentenced to death 18 July.
- 17 July - County Hall, London opened, as the new headquarters of the London County Council.[6]
- 20 July - Infanticide Act effectively abolishes the death penalty for a woman who deliberately kills her newborn child while the balance of her mind is disturbed as a result of giving birth, by providing a partial defence to murder.[7]
- 17 August - Dublin Castle is formally handed over to the Irish Republican Army as the last British Army troops leave.
- 5 September - An underground explosion at Haig Pit, Whitehaven, in the Cumberland Coalfield, kills 39.[8]
- 7 October - Speaking on the radio station 2LO, the Prince of Wales becomes the first Royal to make a public broadcast.[4]
- 17 October - First Hunger March sets out, from Glasgow to London.[9]
- 18 October - The British Broadcasting Company (BBC) is formed.[4]
- 19 October - David Lloyd George's Coalition Ministry resigns over the Chanak Crisis.[1]
- 23 October - Bonar Law's Conservative government takes office.[4]
- 1 November - The broadcasting license fee of ten shillings is introduced.
- 2 November - Archaeologist Leonard Woolley begins excavations at the Sumerian city of Ur.[1]
- 4 November - In Egypt, British archaeologist Howard Carter and his men find the entrance to King Tutankhamen's tomb in the Valley of the Kings.[1]
- 14 November - The British Broadcasting Company begins radio service in the United Kingdom,[1] broadcasting from station 2LO in London.
- 15 November
- 5 December - UK Parliament enacts the Irish Free State Constitution Act, by which it legally sanctions the new Constitution of the Irish Free State.
- 6 December - The Irish Free State officially comes into existence.[1] George V becomes the Free State's monarch.
- 7 December - The Parliament of Northern Ireland votes to remain part of the United Kingdom.[1]
- 10 December - Francis William Aston wins the Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for his discovery, by means of his mass spectrograph, of isotopes, in a large number of non-radioactive elements, and for his enunciation of the whole-number rule".[10]
- 18 December - Carrie Morrison becomes the first woman solicitor admitted to practice in England.[11]
- 24 December - First BBC broadcast from Newcastle upon Tyne (station 5NO).
Undated
Publications
Births
- 21 January - Paul Scofield, actor (died 2008)
- 26 January - Michael Bentine, actor (died 1996)
- 6 February
- 7 February - Hattie Jacques, actress (died 1980)
- 9 February - Jim Laker, cricketer (died 1986)
- 26 February - Margaret Leighton, actress (died 1976)
- 9 March - Tommy Cooper, comedian and magician (died 1984)
- 5 April
- 13 April - John Braine, novelist (died 1986)
- 16 April - Kingsley Amis, novelist (died 1995)
- 28 April - Alistair MacLean, writer (died 1987)
- 27 May - Christopher Lee, actor
- 31 May - Denholm Elliott, actor (died 1992)
- 21 July - Mollie Sugden, actress (died 2009)
- 6 August - Freddie Laker, airline entrepreneur (died 2006)
- 9 August - Philip Larkin, poet (died 1985)
- 22 August - Dave Freeman, scriptwriter (Benny Hill, Carry On films, etc.) (died 2005)
- 5 October - Jock Stein, footballer and manager of Scotland (died 1985)
- 16 October - Max Bygraves, singer and entertainer
- 26 December - Richard Mayes, actor (died 2006)
Deaths
References
See also