1922 in the United Kingdom

The social and political problems which attained the most prominence in the United Kingdom in 1922 showed a further departure from those which had chiefly occupied public attention during World War I, and the country had by now 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 had 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 which had been brought about in the presence of a common danger was no longer found to work satisfactorily when the normal problems of peace were at issue. 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 which had made themselves felt for so many months past reached a bursting-point, and the coalition was finally rent asunder in a day.

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

*Monarch - George V of the United Kingdom
*Prime Minister - David Lloyd George, coalition (until 22 October), Andrew Bonar Law, Conservative Party

Events

* 7 January - In Ireland the Dáil Éireann ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty.cite book|last=Williams|first=Hywel|title=Cassell's Chronology of World History|publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson|year=2005|isbn=0-304-35730-8|pages=491–493]
* 12 January - British government releases remaining Irish prisoners captured in the War of Independence.
* 13 January - Flu epidemic has claimed 804 victims in Britain.
* 28 February - The United Kingdom accepts the independence of Egypt.cite book|title=Penguin Pocket On This Day|publisher=Penguin Reference Library|isbn=0-141-02715-0|year=2006]
* 1 March - The British Civil Aviation Authority is established.
* 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 July 18.
* 17 July - County Hall, London opened, as the new headquarters of the London County Council.cite book |last=Palmer |first=Alan & Veronica |year=1992 |title= The Chronology of British History|publisher= Century Ltd|location=London|pages= 361-362|isbn= 0-7126-5616-2]
* 7 October - Speaking on the radio station 2LO, the Prince of Wales becomes the first Royal to make a public broadcast.
* 18 October - The British Broadcasting Company is formed.
* 19 October - David Lloyd George's Coalition Ministry resigns over the Chanak Crisis.
* 23 October - Andrew Bonar Law's Conservative Ministry took office.
* 1 November - The broadcasting license fee of ten shillings introduced.
* 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.
* 14 November - The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) begins radio service in the United Kingdom. 2LO became the first radio station in the United Kingdom.
* 15 November
** General election, the first following the partition of Ireland, won by the Conservative Party under Bonar Law. The Labour Party overtakes the Liberal Party as Britain's second largest political party.
** First BBC broadcasts from Birmingham (station 5IT) and Manchester (station 2ZY).
* 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. George V becomes the Free State's monarch.
* 7 December - The Parliament of Northern Ireland votes to remain part of the United Kingdom.
* 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". [cite web|url=http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1922/|title=The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1922|accessdate=2008-02-02]
* 24 December - First BBC broadcast from Newcastle upon Tyne (station 5NO).

Undated

* Meteorologist Lewis Fry Richardson proposes a scheme for weather forecasting by solution of differential equations, the method used today, in his work "Weather Prediction by Numerical Process". [cite book |title= The Hutchinson Factfinder |publisher= Helicon |year= 1999 |isbn= 1-85986-000-1 ]
* Archibald Hill wins the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for his discovery relating to the production of heat in the muscle". This award was announced on 25 October 1923. [cite web|url=http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1922/|title=The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1922|accessdate=2008-02-02]
* Transport and General Workers' Union formed.
* Urdd Gobaith Cymru founded in Wales by Ifan ab Owen Edwards.
* Production of the Austin 7 car begins in Cowley.
* Archaeologist Leonard Woolley discovers the Sumerian city of Ur.

Publications

* Agatha Christie's novel "The Secret Adversary".
* Richmal Crompton's children's novel "Just William".
* T. S. Eliot's poem "The Waste Land".
* James Joyce's novel "Ulysses".

Births

* 21 January - Paul Scofield, actor (died 2008)
* 26 January - Michael Bentine, actor (died 1996)
* 6 February
** Patrick Macnee, actor
** Denis Norden, television and radio scriptwriter
* 7 February - Hattie Jacques, actress (died 1980)
* 9 February - Jim Laker, cricketer (died 1986)
* 26 February - Margaret Leighton, actress
* 9 March - Tommy Cooper, comedian and magician (died 1984)
* 5 April
** Tom Finney, footballer
** Christopher Hewett, actor (died 2001)
* 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)
* 6 August - Freddie Laker, airline entrepreneur (died 2006)
* 9 August - Philip Larkin, poet (died 1985)
* 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

* 5 January - Ernest Shackleton, explorer (born 1874)
* 3 February - John Butler Yeats, artist (born 1839)
* 24 March - Walter Parr, preacher (born 1871)
* 10 April - John Benn, politician (born 1850)
* 14 May - Mary Victoria Hamilton Scottish-German-French great-grandmother of Prince Rainier III of Monaco (born 1850)
* 2 August - Alexander Graham Bell, Scottish-born inventor (born 1847)
* 14 August - Alfred Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe newspaper and publishing magnate (born 1865)
* 7 October - Marie Lloyd, music-hall singer (born 1870)
* 24 October - George Cadbury, businessman (born 1839)

References

ee also