2002 in the United Kingdom

Events from the year 2002 in the United Kingdom. This year was the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.

Incumbents

Monarch – Elizabeth II
Prime Minister – Tony Blair

Events

January

1 January – Ford unveils their all-new Fiesta supermini which is due on sale in March, but the new model will not be produced in Dagenham, instead, it will be produced in Ford's other European plants in Germany and Spain.
7 January – It is announced that a record of 2,450,000 new cars were sold during 2001, breaking the previous record set in 1989. The Ford Focus was Britain's best-selling car for the third year in a row.
14 January – The foot and mouth crisis is declared over after eleven months.
25 January – Detectives investigating the murder of an unknown boy, called "Adam", whose torso was found in the Thames last year, announce that he may have been the victim of a so-called muti ritual killing.

February

8–24 February – Great Britain competes at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, and wins 1 gold and 1 bronze medal.
9 February – Princess Margaret, the Queen's younger sister, dies after suffering a stroke aged 71.
14 February – 2002 Ogmore by-election: The Labour Party candidate Huw Irranca-Davies holds the seat held by Sir Ray Powell until his death
15 February – The funeral of Princess Margaret takes place at St. George's Chapel, Windsor.
18 February – Constitutional law case of Thoburn v Sunderland City Council decided in the High Court, regarding the use of metric units in retail.
19 February – Ford ends 90 years of British car production with the loss of more than 2,000 jobs after the last Fiesta was made at their factory in Dagenham, ahead of the launch of a new generation model in the Spring. However, the plant will be retained for the production of engines and gearboxes and Ford will continue to make commercial vehicles at their plant in Southampton.
20 February – Andrew Aston, a 29-year-old Birmingham cocaine addict, is sentenced to 26 concurrent terms of Life imprisonment – officially the longest prison sentence imposed on any criminal in England and Wales – for murdering two elderly people in robberies and attacking 24 others.
21 February – The much-admired television actor John Thaw dies suddenly from cancer aged 60 at his home in Luckington, Wiltshire, less than two years after his final appearance as Inspector Morse.
27 February – Ryanair Flight 296 catches fire at London Stansted Airport.
28 February – Nocton rail crash. Van driver John Fletcher, 47, crashes his vehicle through a wall and ends up on the railway line at Nocton, Lincolnshire; he contacts the emergency services when a passenger train hits the wrecked van. Fletcher is killed and 14 people on the train are injured.

March

March – Vauxhall unveils a new generation of its Vectra family car which is due on sale in the Summer.
1 March – Singer Doreen Waddell dies aged 36 after fleeing a supermarket in Shoreham-by-Sea before being struck down and killed by three vehicles.
2 March – The animated series of Mr. Bean premieres on ITV1. It is based on Rowan Atkinson's Mr. Bean.
11 March – BBC 6 Music, the first new BBC Radio station in decades, is launched.
21 March – 13-year-old Amanda "Milly" Dowler goes missing on her way home from school in Surrey. Soon afterwards, the News of the World hacks her phone.
22 March – A woman known as "Miss B", who was left quadriplegic last year as a result of a burst blood vessel in her neck, is granted the right to die by the High Court.
29 March – Coal mining in Scotland which has a history stretching back more than 800 years, comes to an end with the closure of Longannet coal mine in Fife after it floods and the owners go into liquidation, putting more than 500 people out of work.
30 March – The Queen Mother">Elizabeth II">The Queen Mother dies aged 101 at Royal Lodge, Windsor.

April

April – Nursing and Midwifery Council takes over the registration function for nurses.
4 April – Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother's funeral procession in London from the Chapel Royal at St James's Palace to Westminster Hall to lie in state.
9 April – The funeral of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother takes place at Westminster Abbey, London. She is buried beside her husband and daughter at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.
23 April – A badly decomposed female body is found in the River Thames; it is feared to be that of Milly Dowler.
24 April – The body found in the River Thames is identified as that of 73-year-old Mrs. Maisie Thomas, who was last seen alive near her home in Shepperton just over a year ago and whose death is not believed to be suspicious.
25 April – Two 16-year-old twin brothers are cleared of murdering 10-year-old Damilola Taylor, who was stabbed to death in South London 17 months earlier.
29 April – As part of her Golden Jubilee celebrations, the Queen dines at 10 Downing Street with the five living former prime ministers who have served under her: Tony Blair, John Major, Margaret Thatcher, James Callaghan and Edward Heath. She is also joined by several relatives of deceased former Prime Ministers, including Clarissa Eden, widow of Prime Minister Anthony Eden.

May

1 May – Airdrieonians, of the Scottish Football League Division One, go into liquidation with debts of £3,000,000. They are the first Scottish senior side to go out of business for 35 years.
4 May – Arsenal win the FA Cup with a 2–0 win over London rivals Chelsea in the cup final.
8 May – Arsenal win their second double in five seasons after a 1–0 away win over defending champions Manchester United.
10 May
*Potters Bar rail crash in Hertfordshire kills seven people.
*£5million-rated striker Marlon King, of Gillingham F.C., is jailed for 18 months after being found guilty of handling a stolen car worth £32,000.
24 May – Falkirk Wheel boat lift opens in Scotland, also marking the reopening of the Union Canal for leisure traffic.
27 May – Former leader of the Liberal Democrats Paddy Ashdown appointed as the international community's High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina.
28 May – Stephen Byers resigns as Secretary of State for Transport.

June

2 June – The England national football team's World Cup campaign, hosted jointly by Japan and South Korea, begins with a 1–1 draw against Sweden.
3 June – The "Party in the Palace" takes place at Buckingham Palace, London for The Queen's Golden Jubilee celebrations.
4 June – The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh ride in the gold state coach from Buckingham Palace to St Paul's Cathedral for a special service marking the Queen's 50 years on the throne. In New York City, the Empire State Building is lit purple in her honour.
7 June – England beat Argentina 1–0 in their second World Cup group game, with the only goal of the game being scored by captain David Beckham.
10 June – The first direct electronic communication experiment between the nervous systems of two humans is carried out by Kevin Warwick in the University of Reading.
12 June – England qualify for the knockout stages of the World Cup despite only managing a goalless draw against Nigeria.
15 June – England beat Denmark 3–0 in the World Cup second round and reach the quarter-finals for the first time since 1990. Ironically, the far-right British National Party had declared their support for all-white Denmark before the World Cup due to the England team featuring black players.
21 June – England's hopes of winning the World Cup are ended by a 2–1 defeat to Brazil in the quarter-finals.
25 June – Jason Gifford is shot dead by armed police in Aylesbury after brandishing a shotgun and a machete in a residential street.
27 June – The Who's bass guitarist, John Entwistle, dies of a heart attack in Paradise, Nevada, aged 57.

July

July – London City Hall is opened on the south bank of the River Thames, designed by Thames Bank|Norman Foster].
1 July – Rochdale Canal, crossing the Pennines, reopened throughout for leisure traffic.
3 July – Decapitation of a statue of Margaret Thatcher: a man decapitates a statue of the former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher on display at the Guildhall Art Gallery in London.
5 July – The Imperial War Museum North in Manchester, designed by Daniel Libeskind, opens.
8 July – John Taylor, a 46-year-old postman from Bramley in Leeds, is sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of 16-year-old Leanne Tiernan. Leanne was last seen alive in Leeds City Centre on 26 November 2000 and her body was found in the Yorkshire countryside nine months later. Police believed that Taylor may have been responsible for other unsolved sex attacks and murders in the Yorkshire area, and the trial judge has warned Taylor to expect to spend the rest of his life in prison.
9 July – Clydebank F.C. of the Scottish Football League Second Division become defunct after a takeover by the owners of the new Airdrie United club, who take their place in the Scottish league and continue the tradition of senior football in the town of Airdrie following the recent demise of Airdrieonians, whose stadium they will play at.
10 July – The funeral of John Entwistle is held at St Edward's Church in Stow-on-the-Wold.
12 July – Ribble Link waterway opened for leisure traffic.
13 July – Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art opens in the converted Baltic Flour Mill at Gateshead.
22 July – Rio Ferdinand becomes the most expensive player in English football when he completes his £29,100,000 transfer from Leeds United to Manchester United.
23 July
* Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Wales, is elected to be the successor of George Carey as Archbishop of Canterbury.
* Leicester City F.C. move into their new 32,000-seat Walker's Stadium, named under a sponsorship deal with Walker's Crisps, after 111 years at Filbert Street. It is officially opened by former England striker Gary Lineker, who was born locally and started his playing career with the club.
25 July – The Commonwealth Games, hosted by Manchester, are opened by The Queen. The event also marks the opening of the City of Manchester Stadium, which will host the games. It will be partly remodelled after the games are over to become home of Manchester City F.C. from August 2003.
30 July – Heavy rain overnight results in floods in Glasgow.

August

2 August – 2002 Barrow-in-Furness legionellosis outbreak: First fatality in an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease in Barrow-in-Furness which results in seven deaths and 172 cases throughout the month, ranking it as the worst in the UK's history and fifth-worst worldwide.
4 August – 10-year-old girls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman go missing in Soham, Cambridgeshire.
5 August – Police and volunteers in the Soham area begin the search for Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.
7 August – Police investigating the case of the two missing Soham girls seize a white van in nearby Wentworth and admit they are now looking at the case as a possible abduction.
12 August – A possible sighting of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman is reported by a local taxi driver who claims to have seen the driver of a green car struggling with two children and driving recklessly along the A142 into Newmarket on the evening the girls went missing.
13 August – Two mounds of disturbed earth are found at Warren Hill, near Newmarket, in the same area where screams were reported on the night that Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman went missing. It is initially feared that the mounds of earth were the graves of the two girls, but a police examination fails to uncover any link to the girls.
16 August – Ian Huntley, caretaker of Soham Village College, and his girlfriend, Maxine Carr, are questioned in connection with the disappearance of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, but are released after seven hours in custody.
17 August – Following the recovery of items of major interest to the police investigation, Ian Huntley and Maxine Carr are arrested again on suspicion of murder, as police admit for the first time that they fear the missing girls are now dead. Several hours later, two "severely decomposed and partially skeletonised" bodies are found in the Lakenheath area; they have not been identified but police say that they are likely to be those of the two missing girls.
21 August – Ian Huntley, detained under the Mental Health Act, is charged with the murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, whereas Maxine Carr is charged with perverting the course of justice. Both are remanded in custody. Meanwhile, police confirm that the two bodies found at Lakenheath are those of the two girls.

September

4 September – A memorial service is held for actor John Thaw at St Martin-in-the-Fields in London.
20 September – Police confirm that human remains found in woodland in north Hampshire are those of Milly Dowler, who went missing in Surrey six months ago. A murder investigation is launched. The perpetrator, who subsequently murders three young women, is convicted in 2011
22 September – An earthquake in Dudley is felt throughout England and Wales.

October

1 October – The main provisions of National Health Service Reform and Health Care Professions Act come into force in England, including renaming and merger of existing NHS regional health authorities to form 28 new strategic health authorities, and introduction of primary care trusts to be responsible for the supervision of family health care functions.
9 October – A judge decides that Ian Huntley is fit to face prosecution for the Soham Murders.
14 October – The Northern Ireland Assembly is suspended following allegations of spying in "Stormontgate".
23 October – Estelle Morris resigns as Secretary of State for Education, explaining that she did not feel up to the job.
25 October – Memorial service held at St Paul's Cathedral for the victims of the Bali bombing, which killed 26 British nationals.

November

1 November – Diana, Princess of Wales' former butler, Paul Burrell, is cleared of stealing from the late princess' estate after it was revealed that he had told The Queen that he was keeping some of her possessions.
3 November – Singer-songwriter Lonnie Donegan, 71, known as the "King of Skiffle", dies of heart failure during a tour at Market Rasen, Lincolnshire.
13 November – 2002–2003 United Kingdom firefighter dispute begins.
15 November – Moors murderer Myra Hindley dies in West Suffolk Hospital at the age of 60 after being hospitalised with a heart attack. She was in the 37th year of her life sentence and had spent the last decade attempting to gain parole, having been told by no less than four Home Secretaries that she would have to spend the rest of her life in prison, having previously increased her minimum term from 25 to 30 years during the 1980s, and then to a whole life tariff in 1990. Media sources report that the Home Office will soon be stripped of its power to set minimum terms for life sentence prisoners, and Hindley had been widely expected to gain parole in the near future as a result.
20 November
*German anatomist Gunther von Hagens conducts a public autopsy in a London theatre, the first in Britain in more than 170 years.
*40 years after the first James Bond film was made, the twentieth film is released in British cinemas as Pierce Brosnan bows out as Bond in Die Another Day after four films in seven years.
23 November – The Miss World beauty competition is held in London after rioting in the Nigerian capital Lagos prevented it from being hosted there.
24 November – Home Secretary David Blunkett rules that four convicted child murderers should spend at least 50 years in prison before being considered for parole. This ruling means that Roy Whiting, Howard Hughes, Timothy Morss and Brett Tyler are likely to remain behind bars until at least the ages of 92, 80, 79 and 81 respectively.
26 November – Politicians in England and Wales lose their power to set minimum terms on life sentence prisoners after the European Court of Human Rights and the High Court both rule in favour of a legal challenge by convicted double murderer Anthony Anderson. Anderson had been sentenced to life imprisonment in 1988 and the trial judge recommended that he should serve a minimum of 15 years before being considered for parole, but the Home Secretary later decided on a 20-year minimum term.
30 November – Girl band Girls Aloud are formed from the five female contestants who win the ITV talent show Popstars: The Rivals.

December

10 December
*Sydney Brenner and John E. Sulston win the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly with H. Robert Horvitz "for their discoveries concerning 'genetic regulation of organ development and programmed cell death'".
*Cherie Blair apologises for the embarrassment she caused in buying flats with the help of convicted fraudster Peter Foster.
12 December – The latest MORI poll puts Labour four points ahead of the Conservatives on 37%, while the Liberal Democrats are enjoying a new boost in popularity with a 24% approval rating.
15 December – On the Record, the BBC's flagship political programme, finishes after fourteen years on air.
19 December
*Shaied Nazir, Ahmed Ali Awan and Sarfraz Ali all convicted of the racist murder of Ross Parker in Peterborough.
*Stuart Campbell, a 44-year-old builder from Grays in Essex, is found guilty of murdering his 15-year-old niece Danielle Jones 18 months ago. Danielle's body has never been found. It is then revealed that Campbell, who is sentenced to life imprisonment, has a string of previous convictions including keeping an underage girl at his home without lawful authority in 1989.
22 December – Sound of the Underground, Girls Aloud's debut single, is the UK's Christmas number one.

Undated

Appz Magazine is founded.
BedZED, the country's first large-scale zero energy housing development, of 99 homes in Beddington, London, designed by Bill Dunster, is completed.
The mobile network BT Cellnet changes its name to O2.
Over 50% of the UK population now have internet access.
Car sales in Britain reach a record level for the second year running, now exceeding 2,500,000 for the first time ever. The Ford Focus is Britain's best-selling car for the fourth year in a row with more than 150,000 sold and Ford retains its lead of the manufacturers for British sales which it has held since 1975. They have a total of four model ranges among Britain's top 10 selling cars for the first time since 1989. Vauxhall, Peugeot, Renault and Volkswagen also enjoy strong sales.
Moneyhelpline price comparison service company is founded in Kent.
The red-billed chough breeds on the coast of Cornwall for the first time since 1947.
Nip & Tuck, a DJ and producer collaboration, release their first dance production.
Thornton's Bookshop closes, Oxford's oldest bookshop.

Publications

Iain Banks' novel Dead Air.
Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels Night Watch which wins the Prometheus Award.
Ben Schott's compendium Schott's Original Miscellany.

Births

2 January – Jonjo Heuerman, charity fundraiser
18 January – Samuel Joslin, actor
31 January – Jensen Weir, English footballer
1 February – Connor Smith, Scottish footballer
11 February – Barry Baggley, Northern Irish footballer
23 February – Emilia Jones, English actress
10 March – Noni Madueke, English footballer
16 March – Isabelle Allen, English actress
27 March – Ty Tennant, English actor
4 April – Damian Hurley, actor and model
18 April – Maya Le Tissier, footballer
4 May – Joe Gelhardt, footballer
6 May – Cole Palmer, footballer
10 May – Haydon Roberts, footballer
14 May – Lady Margarita Armstrong-Jones, member of the British Royal Family, daughter of David Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon and Serena Armstrong-Jones, Countess of Snowdon.
31 May – Nathan Wood, footballer
26 June – Hayden Hackney, footballer
26 July – Morgan Rogers, footballer
30 July – Finn Ecrepont, Scottish footballer
4 August – Kieron Williamson, watercolourist
8 August – Katie Robinson, footballer
9 August – Owen Beck, Welsh footballer
17 August – Chloe Hawthorn, actress
4 September – Alfie Chang, Malaysian footballer
21 September – Isabella Blake-Thomas, actor
1 October – Milo Parker, child actor
2 October – Luke Matheson, footballer
10 October – James Trafford, footballer
6 November – Mya-Lecia Naylor, actress, model and singer
13 November – Emma Raducanu, Canadian-born tennis player
2 December – Eden Cheng, diver
22 December – Emma Finucane, Welsh track cyclist
Approximate date – Jack Topping, chorister

Deaths

January

2 January – Ian Grist, Conservative politician
5 January – Graham Ryder, geologist
6 January – Marian Wenzel, art historian
7 January – Geoffrey Crossley, racing driver
8 January
*M. S. Bartlett, statistician
*Charles "Nish" Bruce, soldier and author
*David McWilliams, Northern Irish singer-songwriter
10 January
*Philip Drazin, mathematician
*Cedric Smith, statistician
12 January
*Bernard Bennett, snooker player
*Stanley Unwin, actor and comedian
14 January – Michael Young, Baron Young of Dartington, sociologist who coined the term "meritocracy"
15 January – Jeremy Hawk, actor
16 January
*Robert Hanbury Brown, astronomer
*Michael Walford, field hockey player
17 January
*Peter Adamson, actor
*Queenie Leonard, actress
19 January – Jeff Astle, footballer
20 January – Harold Kasket, actor
21 January – Marjorie Lewty, writer
22 January
*Kenneth Armitage, sculptor
*Peter Bardens, keyboardist
*Eric de Maré, architectural photographer
*John McGrath, playwright
24 January – Stuart Burge, actor and producer
26 January – Dorothy Carrington, writer
27 January – John James, racing driver
29 January
*R. M. Hare, moral philosopher
*Stratford Johns, actor
*James Marjoribanks, diplomat

February

2 February – Robin Medforth-Mills, professor and former husband of Princess Elena of Romania
3 February – Charles Reep, football analyst
4 February – Bert Head, English footballer and football manager
5 February – Angela du Maurier, actress and novelist, sister of Daphne du Maurier
6 February – Max Perutz, molecular biologist
7 February
*Jack Fairman, racing driver
*Tony Pond, rally driver
8 February – Bob Wooler, disc jockey
9 February
*Birkin Haward, architect, author and artist
*Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, sister of the Queen
10 February
*Leslie Barnett, microbiologist
*John Erickson, historian
11 February – Barry Foster, actor
12 February – Erna Low, businesswoman
13 February
*George Bray, English footballer
*Sidney Weighell, footballer and trade unionist
14 February – Mick Tucker, rock drummer
16 February
*Sidney De Haan, businessman, founder of Saga
*Sir Walter Winterbottom, footballer and football manager
17 February – Anthony Benjamin, painter, sculptor and printmaker
21 February
*A. L. Barker, writer
*Trevor Hampton, scuba diver
*John Thaw, actor
22 February – Raymond Firth, anthropologist
24 February – Martin Esslin, producer, dramatist and journalist
25 February – Claire Davenport, actress
27 February – Spike Milligan, comedian, writer and poet

March

1 March
*John Challens, scientist and civil servant
*Doreen Waddell, singer
3 March – Roy Porter, historian
4 March
*Eric Flynn, actor and singer
*Prunella Ransome, actress
*Shirley Ann Russell, costume designer
5 March
*Frances Macdonald, artist
*Harry Wingfield, illustrator
6 March – Donald Wilson, screenwriter and television producer
7 March – Geoff Charles, Welsh photojournalist
8 March – Peter Holmes, businessman
9 March – Hamish Henderson, Scottish poet
11 March – Herbert Spencer, graphic designer, writer and photographer
12 March – John "Speedy" Keen, singer-songwriter
16 March – Sir Marcus Fox, Conservative politician
23 March
*James Culliford, actor
*Ben Hollioake, English cricketer
25 March – Kenneth Wolstenholme, sports commentator
27 March – Dudley Moore, comedian and actor
28 March – F. N. Souza, artist
30 March – Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, consort of George VI and mother of Elizabeth II
31 March
*Lady Anne Brewis, botanist
*Barry Took, comedian, writer and broadcast presenter

April

2 April – Ike Clarke, English footballer and football manager
3 April – Fad Gadget, singer-songwriter
6 April – Margaret Wingfield, Liberal politician
8 April – Sir Nigel Bagnall, field marshal and former Chief of the General Staff
11 April – Delphi Lawrence, actress
12 April – Henry van Straubenzee, Army lieutenant-colonel and cricketer
13 April – Desmond Titterington, Northern Irish racing driver
14 April – Sir Michael Kerr, judge
15 April
*Dave King, actor and comedian
*Will Reed, composer
16 April – Billy Ayre, football coach, manager and former player
17 April – James Copeland, actor
18 April – Cy Laurie, musician
21 April
*Christopher Price, journalist and broadcaster
*Terry Walsh, actor and stuntman
25 April – Michael Bryant, actor
27 April – Arthur Owen, racing driver
28 April
*Sir Peter Parker, businessman
*Gerd Sommerhoff, neuroscientist
29 April
*Michael Camille, art historian
*Pete Jacobsen, jazz pianist

May

1 May – John Nathan-Turner, screenwriter and producer
2 May – Olive Cook, writer and artist
3 May – Barbara Castle, Baroness Castle of Blackburn, Labour politician
4 May – John Hasted, physicist and folk musician
7 May
*Sir Bernard Burrows, diplomat
*Sir Ewart Jones, chemist
8 May – Basil Chubb, political scientist, author and broadcaster
10 May – Austen Kark, television executive
11 May – Diane Pretty, right-to-die campaigner
12 May – Richard Chorley, geographer
14 May – Sir Laurence Sinclair, air marshal
15 May – Bryan Pringle, actor
17 May
*James Chichester-Clark, Northern Irish politician
*Norman Vaughan, comedian
18 May
*Davey Boy Smith, professional wrestler
*Gordon Wharmby, actor
19 May – Raymond Durgnat, film critic
21 May – Roy Paul, footballer
22 May
*Dick Hern, racehorse trainer
*Patrick Wolrige-Gordon, Conservative politician
25 May – Pat Coombs, actress
27 May
*Marjorie Ogilvie Anderson, Scottish historian
*Barbara Hamilton, 14th Baroness Dudley, British noblewoman
30 May
*Kenny Craddock, musician, composer and producer
*Walter Laird, dancer
31 May – Jeremy Bray, Labour politician

June

3 June – Brian Woledge, scholar of medieval French literature
7 June – Rodney Hilton, historian
11 June – Peter John Stephens, children's author
14 June – George William Coventry, 11th Earl of Coventry, peer
16 June – Barbara Goalen, model
17 June – Louis George Alexander, teacher and author
18 June – Michael Coulson, lawyer and politician
19 June
*Margaret Johnston, actress
*William Summers, former Crown Jeweller
23 June – Alice Stewart, physician and epidemologist
24 June – Miles Fitzalan-Howard, 17th Duke of Norfolk, peer and Army general
25 June
*Henry Thomas Davies, lifeboatman
*Douglas Hugh Everett, chemist
26 June
*Arnold Brown, General of the Salvation Army
*Donald A. Bullough, historian
27 June
*Charles Frederick Carter, economist
*John Entwistle, bassist

July

4 July
*Ivan Moffat, screenwriter, film producer and socialite
*Winnifred Quick, English-American survivor of the sinking of the RMS Titanic
*Jake Saunders, banker
7 July – Ray Wood, footballer
9 July
*Gerald Campion, actor
*Madron Seligman, Conservative politician
*Kenneth Snowman, jeweller
12 July – Tim Rathbone, Conservative politician
13 July – Carey Blyton, composer and writer
14 July – Michael Stern, educator
15 July
*Charles R. Burton, explorer
*Gavin Muir, actor
17 July – Clare Fell, archaeologist
18 July – Victor Emery, physicist and academic
19 July – Frank Taylor, sports journalist
21 July
*John Cunningham, Royal Air Force officer in World War II
*Gus Dudgeon, record producer
*Peter Elstob, World War II soldier and military historian
*Jeffrey Harborne, chemist
23 July – Arnold Weinstock, Baron Weinstock, businessman
24 July – Maurice Denham, actor
25 July – Angus Montagu, 12th Duke of Manchester, peer
26 July
*Tony Anholt, actor
*Pat Douthwaite, artist
28 July – Archer John Porter Martin, chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
29 July – Peter Bayliss, actor
30 July
*George Alfred Barnard, statistician
*A. E. Dyson, literary critic
31 July
*Sir Peter Ashmore, Royal Navy vice-admiral and Master of the Household to the Sovereign
*Francis Searle, film director and producer

August

1 August – Geoffrey Paulson Townsend, architect
4 August – Carmen Silvera, actress
5 August – Winifred Watson, writer
6 August
*Jim Crawford, racing driver
*John Fage, historian
7 August
*Dominick Browne, 4th Baron Oranmore and Browne, peer
*Molly Harrison, museum curator
8 August – Ronnie Stephenson, jazz drummer
9 August – Paul Samson, guitarist
11 August – Richard Wood, Baron Holderness, Conservative politician
12 August
*Michael De-la-Noy, journalist and author
*John Rennie, diplomat
*Dame Marjorie Williamson, educator and university administrator
14 August – Peter R. Hunt, film editor
17 August – Tony Zemaitis, guitar maker
18 August – Edward Crew, Royal Air Force officer in World War II
19 August – Alastair Gordon, 6th Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair, peer and art critic
20 August – John Willett, translator
21 August – Jimmy Deane, revolutionary socialist
23 August – Stafford Beer, theorist and author
24 August – Hugh Cruttwell, drama teacher and consultant
27 August
*George Mitchell, musician
*Crew Stoneley, Olympic athlete
29 August
*Lance Macklin, racing driver
*Alan MacNaughtan, actor
30 August – J. Lee Thompson, film director
31 August – George Porter, Baron Porter of Luddenham, chemist, Nobel Prize laureate

September

1 September – Peter Ramsden, rugby league player
2 September – Robert Wilson, astrophysicist
3 September – Len Wilkinson, cricketer
5 September – William Cooper, novelist
6 September
*Michael Argyle, psychologist
*Peter Donaldson, economist
*Janet Young, Baroness Young, Conservative politician, first woman Leader of the House of Lords
7 September
*Katrin Cartlidge, actress
*Michael Elphick, actor
8 September – Ken Ashton, journalist and trade union leader
9 September – Geoffrey Dummer, electronics engineer
12 September – Neil Shields, politician and businessman
13 September
*Sir Douglas Black, physician
*George Hills, journalist
*Sir Brooks Richards, diplomat and SOE operator in World War II
14 September – Frederic Bennett, lawyer, journalist and politician
15 September – James Mitchell, crime writer
16 September – Archibald Hall, convicted serial killer
17 September – Eileen Colwell, author and librarian
19 September – Duncan Hallas, Communist politician
20 September – Joan Littlewood, theatre director
22 September – Anthony Milner, composer
23 September
*Vernon Corea, broadcaster
*James Scarlett, 8th Baron Abinger, peer
29 September – Bob Cobbing, poet
30 September – Ewart Oakeshott, illustrator

October

4 October
*Fram Farrington, scientific officer
*Barbara Fawkes, nurse
5 October
*Sir Reginald Hibbert, diplomat
*Morag Hood, actress
6 October – Nick Whitehead, Olympic sprinter
8 October – Phyllis Calvert, actress
10 October – Lady Marguerite Tangye, debutante and actress
12 October
*Sir Desmond Fitzpatrick, Army general
*Mick Shoebottom, rugby league player
14 October
*Grace Hamblin, secretary to Sir Winston and Lady Clementine Churchill
*Jack Lee, film director
17 October
*Derek Bell, Northern Irish musician
*Pattie Coldwell, television presenter
18 October – Sir Cecil Blacker, Army general
21 October – Beatrice Serota, Baroness Serota, politician and mother of Nicholas Serota
22 October – Robert Nixon, cartoonist
23 October – Elizabeth Pakenham, Countess of Longford, historian and wife of Frank Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford
24 October – Charmian May, actress
25 October – Ian Russell, 13th Duke of Bedford, peer
28 October – Thomas Patrick Russell, judge
31 October
*Sir Napier Crookenden, Army general
*Audrey Hylton-Foster, Baroness Hylton-Foster, peer

November

1 November – Sir Charles Wilson, political scientist
2 November
*Robert Haslam, industrialist
*Annelisa Kilbourn, conservationist
*Charles Sheffield, author and physicist
3 November
*Lonnie Donegan, musician
*Sir John Habakkuk, economic historian
*Sir Rex Roe, air marshal
7 November
*Charles Hambro, Baron Hambro, banker and political fundraiser
*Dilys Hamlett, actress
8 November
*Dorothy Mackie Low, novelist
*Christopher Parsons, film-maker
11 November – Sir Michael Clapham, industrialist
12 November – David Francis Clyde, physician
13 November – Frederick Valentine Atkinson, mathematician, discoverer of Atkinson's theorem
15 November
*W. J. Burley, crime writer
*Myra Hindley, convicted Moors murderer
16 November
*Sir George Gardiner, Conservative politician
*Frank Smithies, mathematician
19 November – Max Reinhardt, publisher
20 November – George Guest, organist and choirmaster
21 November – George Emslie, Baron Emslie, Scottish judge
22 November – Iain Hook, aid worker
25 November
*David Drummond, 8th Earl of Perth, peer
*Karel Reisz, film-maker
27 November – Stanley Black, composer and bandleader
29 November – John Justin, actor
30 November – Bill Sparks, Royal Marine Commando in World War II

December

2 December
*Derek Robinson, physicist
*David Whiffen, physicist
5 December – Ann Welch, glider pilot
7 December – Clare Deniz, jazz pianist
10 December
*Steve Llewellyn, rugby union player
*Ian MacNaughton, television producer
11 December – Arthur Metcalfe, racing cyclist
13 December – Ronald Butt, journalist
17 December
*Colin Clark, film-maker
*James Hazeldine, actor and director
*Frank Jordan, Chief Constable of Kent
*Frederick Knott, playwright and screenwriter
18 December – Bert Millichip, chairman of The Football Association
19 December
*Barbara Lott, actress
*Arthur Rowley, footballer
*Roger Webb, musician and composer
20 December – Joanne Campbell, actress
21 December – Victor Watts, toponymist and medievalist
22 December – Joe Strummer, punk rock musician
23 December – Anthony Besch, opera and theatre director
24 December – Jake Thackray, singer-songwriter
29 December – Paul Hawkins, Conservative politician
30 December – Mary Wesley, novelist
31 December – Desmond Tester, actor and television presenter