Events from the year
1958 in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
.
Incumbents
*
Monarch
A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority ...
–
Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...
*
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
–
Harold Macmillan
Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, (10 February 1894 – 29 December 1986) was a British Conservative statesman and politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963. Caricatured as "Supermac", he ...
(
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
)
*
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
–
41st
Events
* 6 January – Chancellor of the Exchequer
Peter Thorneycroft
George Edward Peter Thorneycroft, Baron Thorneycroft, (26 July 1909 – 4 June 1994) was a British Conservative Party politician. He served as Chancellor of the Exchequer between 1957 and 1958.
Early life
Born in Dunston, Staffordshire, Thorn ...
together with junior Treasury Ministers
Enoch Powell
John Enoch Powell, (16 June 1912 – 8 February 1998) was a British politician, classical scholar, author, linguist, soldier, philologist, and poet. He served as a Conservative Member of Parliament (1950–1974) and was Minister of Health (1 ...
and
Nigel Birch resign over Cabinet opposition to spending cuts, an event dismissed to the Press the following day by the Prime Minister as "little local difficulties".
* 14 January –
TWW, the ITV franchise for
South Wales
South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...
and the
West of England
West of England is a combined authority area in South West England. It is made up of the Bristol, South Gloucestershire, and Bath and North East Somerset unitary authorities. The combined authority is led by the Mayor of the West of England Dan N ...
goes on the air.
* 6 February – the
Manchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd), or simply United, is a professional football club based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. The club competes in the Premier League, ...
team plane flying back from a
European Cup
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
tie in
Belgrade
Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...
crashes on take-off after refuelling at
Munich Airport
Munich International Airport- Franz Josef Strauß (german: link=no, Flughafen München) is an international airport serving Munich and Upper Bavaria. It is the second-busiest airport in Germany in terms of passenger traffic after Frankfurt A ...
in
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
. 21 of the 44 people on board are killed. Seven of them are Manchester United players: captain and left-back
Roger Byrne
Roger William Byrne (8 September 1929
England Football Online. Retrieved 6 June 20 ...
(aged 28), centre-half
Mark Jones (aged 24), right-half
Eddie Colman
Edward Colman (1 November 1936 – 6 February 1958) was an English football player and one of the eight Manchester United players who lost their lives in the Munich air disaster.
Colman was born on Archie Street in Ordsall, Salford, Lanca ...
(aged 21), centre-forward
Tommy Taylor
Thomas Taylor (29 January 1932 – 6 February 1958) was an English footballer, who was known for his aerial ability. He was one of the eight Manchester United players who died in the Munich air disaster.
Career
Taylor was born in Smithies, ...
(aged 26), full-back
Geoff Bent
Geoffrey Bent (27 September 1932 – 6 February 1958) was an English footballer who played as a full-back. He was one of the eight Manchester United players who lost their lives in the Munich air disaster.
Personal life
Bent was born at Ir ...
(aged 25), left-winger
David Pegg
David Pegg (20 September 1935 – 6 February 1958) was an English footballer and one of the eight Manchester United players who died in the Munich air disaster on 6 February 1958.
Career
He signed for United on leaving school in 1950 an ...
(aged 22), and inside-forward
Billy Whelan (aged 22). Eight of the nine sports journalists travelling on the plane are also killed, including the former
Manchester City
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...
and
England national football team
The England national football team has represented England in international Association football, football since the first international match in 1872. It is controlled by The Football Association (FA), the governing body for football in Engl ...
goalkeeper
Frank Swift
Frank Victor Swift (26 December 1913 – 6 February 1958) was an English footballer, who played as a goalkeeper for Manchester City and England. After starting his career with local clubs near his home town of Blackpool, in 1932 he was signed b ...
. Among the survivors are 10 United players and manager
Matt Busby
Sir Alexander Matthew Busby (26 May 1909 – 20 January 1994) was a Scottish association football, football player and manager, who managed Manchester United F.C., Manchester United between 1945 and 1969 and again for the second half of the 197 ...
, who is reported to be seriously injured. Outside-right
Johnny Berry
Reginald John Berry (1 June 1926 – 16 September 1994), also listed as John James Berry, was an English footballer. Berry joined Manchester United from Birmingham City in 1951. Despite his diminutive stature, he was a natural right winger with ...
and left-half
Duncan Edwards
Duncan Edwards (1 October 1936 – 21 February 1958) was an English footballer who played for Manchester United and the England national team. He was one of the Busby Babes, the young United team formed under manager Matt Busby in the mid ...
are also reported to be in a serious condition.
* 20 February – the government announces plans to close the 300-year-old naval dockyards at
Sheerness
Sheerness () is a town and civil parish beside the mouth of the River Medway on the north-west corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, England. With a population of 11,938, it is the second largest town on the island after the nearby town ...
on the
Isle of Sheppey
The Isle of Sheppey is an island off the northern coast of Kent, England, neighbouring the Thames Estuary, centred from central London. It has an area of . The island forms part of the local government district of Swale. ''Sheppey'' is derived ...
, which would result in more than 2,500 workers losing their jobs.
* 21 February – Duncan Edwards dies of his injuries in a
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
hospital fifteen days after the Munich air crash. Edwards, twenty-one years old and rated by many as the finest player in England, is the eighth Manchester United player to die.
* 25 February –
Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British mathematician, philosopher, logician, and public intellectual. He had a considerable influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, linguistics, ...
launches the
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) is an organisation that advocates unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, international nuclear disarmament and tighter international arms regulation through agreements such as the Nucle ...
, initiated at a meeting called by
Canon John Collins
Canon or Canons may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base
* Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture
** Western can ...
on 15 January.
The campaign symbol has been launched on 21 February by
Gerald Holtom
Gerald Herbert Holtom (20 January 1914 – 18 September 1985Westcott, Kathryn (20 March 2008"World's best-known protest symbol turns 50"'' BBC.co.uk (News)'' (Retrieved: 21 February 2010)) was a British artist and designer. In 1958, he designed ...
.
* 27 February – the final death toll of the Munich air disaster reaches 23 with the death of co-pilot Kenneth Rayment in hospital.
* 28 February – the
Victorian Society
The Victorian Society is a UK amenity society and membership organisation that campaigns to preserve and promote interest in Victorian and Edwardian architecture and heritage built between 1837 and 1914 in England and Wales. It is a registered ...
, the pressure group for
Victorian architecture
Victorian architecture is a series of architectural revival styles in the mid-to-late 19th century. ''Victorian'' refers to the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901), called the Victorian era, during which period the styles known as Victorian we ...
, holds its first meeting.
* March – removal of
Derbyshire
Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...
county administrative headquarters from
Derby
Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...
to
Matlock begins.
* 2 March – a British team led by Sir
Vivian Fuchs
Sir Vivian Ernest Fuchs ( ; 11 February 1908 – 11 November 1999) was an English scientist-explorer and expedition organizer. He led the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition which reached the South Pole overland in 1958.
Biography
Fuchs ...
completes the first crossing of the
Antarctic
The Antarctic ( or , American English also or ; commonly ) is a polar region around Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica, the Kerguelen Plateau and other ...
using
Sno-Cat
The Tucker Sno-Cat is a family of tracked vehicles for snow conditions, manufactured in Medford, Oregon by the company of the same name.
Different models have been used for expeditions in the Arctic and the Antarctic during the second half of ...
caterpillar tractors and dogsled teams in 99 days.
* 19 March – official opening by
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from El ...
of the
London Planetarium
The London Planetarium building is located on Marylebone Road, London. It is adjacent to and owned by Madame Tussauds. It previously housed a planetarium, offering shows related to space and astronomy. In 2006, it closed as a separate attrac ...
, the first
planetarium
A planetarium ( planetariums or ''planetaria'') is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation.
A dominant feature of most planetarium ...
in Britain. Public presentations commence on 20 March.
* 24 March – work on the
M1, Britain's first full-length motorway, begins. The first stretch of the motorway, due to open next year, will run from
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
to the
Warwickshire
Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...
-
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by
two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...
border. During the 1960s, the remainder of the motorway will be built to give London an unbroken motorway link with
Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
some 200 miles away.
* 29 March –
Mary Elizabeth Wilson of
Windy Nook in County Durham is convicted as a
serial mariticide
Mariticide (from Latin ''maritus'' "husband" + ''-cide'', from ''caedere'' "to cut, to kill") literally means the killing of one's own husband. It can refer to the act itself or the person who carries it out. It can also be used in the context o ...
.
* 1 April –
BBC Radiophonic Workshop
The BBC Radiophonic Workshop was one of the sound effects units of the BBC, created in 1958 to produce incidental sounds and new music for radio and, later, television. The unit is known for its experimental and pioneering work in electroni ...
created.
* 4–7 April – the first protest march for the
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) is an organisation that advocates unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, international nuclear disarmament and tighter international arms regulation through agreements such as the Nucle ...
from
Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster, Central London, laid out in the early 19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. At its centre is a high column bearing a statue of Admiral Nelson commemo ...
to
Aldermaston
Aldermaston is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England. In the 2011 Census, the parish had a population of 1015. The village is in the Kennet Valley and bounds Hampshire to the south. It is approximately from Newbury, Basingsto ...
,
Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...
, demanding a ban on
nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bom ...
s.
* 7 April – the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
gives its moral backing to
family planning
Family planning is the consideration of the number of children a person wishes to have, including the choice to have no children, and the age at which they wish to have them. Things that may play a role on family planning decisions include marita ...
.
* 27 April –
BOAC
British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) was the British state-owned airline created in 1939 by the merger of Imperial Airways and British Airways Ltd. It continued operating overseas services throughout World War II. After the passi ...
's first
de Havilland Comet
The de Havilland DH.106 Comet was the world's first commercial jet airliner. Developed and manufactured by de Havilland in the United Kingdom, the Comet 1 prototype first flew in 1949. It featured an aerodynamically clean design with four d ...
4 makes its maiden flight.
* 30 April
** The
Life Peerages Act receives
Royal Assent
Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in other ...
; the Act allows the creation of
life peers
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the Peerages in the United Kingdom, peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are cr ...
who can sit in the
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...
. As life peerages could be bestowed on women, this Act allows for women to sit in the House of Lords for the first time.
** The musical ''
My Fair Lady
''My Fair Lady'' is a musical based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play ''Pygmalion'', with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons f ...
'', starring
Rex Harrison
Sir Reginald Carey "Rex" Harrison (5 March 1908 – 2 June 1990) was an English actor. Harrison began his career on the stage in 1924. He made his West End debut in 1936 appearing in the Terence Rattigan play ''French Without Tears'', in what ...
and
Julie Andrews
Dame Julie Andrews (born Julia Elizabeth Wells; 1 October 1935) is an English actress, singer, and author. She has garnered numerous accolades throughout her career spanning over seven decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Fi ...
, opens in London's
Drury Lane theatre
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) and backs onto Drur ...
.
* 3 May –
Bolton Wanderers
Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...
win the
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
for the fourth time in their history with a
2–0 win over Manchester United at
Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...
. Both goals are scored by centre-forward
Nat Lofthouse
Nathaniel Lofthouse (27 August 1925 – 15 January 2011) was an English professional footballer who played as a forward for Bolton Wanderers for his entire career. He won 33 caps for England between 1950 and 1958, scoring 30 goals, with o ...
.
* 21 May –
United Kingdom Postmaster General
The Postmaster General of the United Kingdom was a Cabinet of the United Kingdom, Cabinet-level Minister of the Crown, ministerial position in Her Majesty's Government, HM Government. Aside from maintaining mail, the postal system, the Telegrap ...
Ernest Marples
Alfred Ernest Marples, Baron Marples, (9 December 1907 – 6 July 1978) was a British Conservative politician who served as Postmaster General (1957–1959) and Minister of Transport (1959–1964).
As Postmaster General, he oversaw the introdu ...
announces that from December,
Subscriber Trunk Dialling
Subscriber trunk dialling (STD), also known as subscriber toll dialing, is a telephone numbering plan feature and telecommunications technology for the dialling of trunk calls by telephone subscribers without the assistance from switchboard oper ...
will be introduced in the
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
area.
* 27 May –
Shelagh Delaney
Shelagh Delaney, FRSL (; 25 November 1938 – 20 November 2011) was an English dramatist and screenwriter. Her debut work, '' A Taste of Honey'' (1958), has been described by Michael Patterson as "probably the most performed play by a post-war B ...
's ''
A Taste of Honey
''A Taste of Honey'' is the first play by the British dramatist Shelagh Delaney, written when she was 19. It was intended as a novel, but she turned it into a play because she hoped to revitalise British theatre and address social issues that ...
'' staged by
Theatre Workshop Theatre Workshop is a theatre group whose long-serving director was Joan Littlewood. Many actors of the 1950s and 1960s received their training and first exposure with the company, many of its productions were transferred to theatres in the West En ...
at the
Theatre Royal Stratford East
The Theatre Royal Stratford East is a 460 seat Victorian producing theatre in Stratford in the London Borough of Newham. Since 1953, it has been the home of the Theatre Workshop company, famously associated with director Joan Littlewood, whose ...
.
* 4 June –
the Duke of Edinburgh's Award
The Duke of Edinburgh's Award (commonly abbreviated DofE) is a youth awards programme founded in the United Kingdom in 1956 by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, that has since expanded to 144 nations. The awards recognise adolescents and young ...
presented for the first time at
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...
.
* 7 June –
Ian Donald publishes an article in ''
The Lancet
''The Lancet'' is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal and one of the oldest of its kind. It is also the world's highest-impact academic journal. It was founded in England in 1823.
The journal publishes original research articles, ...
'' which describes the diagnostic use of
ultrasound
Ultrasound is sound waves with frequency, frequencies higher than the upper audible limit of human hearing range, hearing. Ultrasound is not different from "normal" (audible) sound in its physical properties, except that humans cannot hea ...
in
obstetrics
Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a surgi ...
as pioneered in Glasgow.
* 9 June – the Queen officially reopens
Gatwick Airport
Gatwick Airport (), also known as London Gatwick , is a major international airport near Crawley, West Sussex, England, south of Central London. In 2021, Gatwick was the third-busiest airport by total passenger traffic in the UK, after H ...
, which has been expanded at a cost of more than £7,000,000.
* 18 June –
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...
's one-act opera ''
Noye's Fludde
''Noye's Fludde'' is a one-act opera by the British composer Benjamin Britten, intended primarily for amateur performers, particularly children. First performed on 18 June 1958 at that year's Aldeburgh Festival, it is based on the 15th-century ...
'' premiered at the
Aldeburgh Festival
The Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts is an English arts festival devoted mainly to classical music. It takes place each June in the Aldeburgh area of Suffolk, centred on Snape Maltings Concert Hall.
History of the Aldeburgh Festival
Th ...
.
* 3 July
**
1958 US–UK Mutual Defence Agreement signed in Washington, D.C.
** Last
débutante
A debutante, also spelled débutante, ( ; from french: débutante , "female beginner") or deb is a young woman of aristocratic or upper-class family background who has reached maturity and, as a new adult, is presented to society at a formal ...
formally presented to the Queen, at
Holyroodhouse
The Palace of Holyroodhouse ( or ), commonly referred to as Holyrood Palace or Holyroodhouse, is the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland. Located at the bottom of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, at the opposite end to Edinburgh ...
in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
.
* 10 July – first
parking meter
A parking meter is a device used to collect money in exchange for the right to park a vehicle in a particular place for a limited amount of time. Parking meters can be used by municipalities as a tool for enforcing their integrated on-street par ...
s installed in the UK.
* 17 July – British paratroopers arrive in
Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
: King
Hussein
Hussein, Hussain, Hossein, Hossain, Huseyn, Husayn, Husein or Husain (; ar, حُسَيْن ), coming from the triconsonantal root Ḥ-S-i-N ( ar, ح س ی ن, link=no), is an Arabic name which is the diminutive of Hassan, meaning "good", " ...
has asked for help against pressure from Iraq.
* 18–26 July –
British Empire and Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...
held in
Cardiff
Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
.
* 24 July – the first
life peerage
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages Ac ...
is created.
* 26 July
**
the Queen
In the English-speaking world, The Queen most commonly refers to:
* Elizabeth II (1926–2022), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 1952 until her death
The Queen may also refer to:
* Camilla, Queen Consort (born 1947), ...
gives her son
Charles
Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...
the customary title of
Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...
.
** Abolition of the presentation of
débutante
A debutante, also spelled débutante, ( ; from french: débutante , "female beginner") or deb is a young woman of aristocratic or upper-class family background who has reached maturity and, as a new adult, is presented to society at a formal ...
s to the royal court.
* 1 August
**
Ian Fraser, Baron Fraser of Lonsdale
William Jocelyn Ian Fraser, Baron Fraser of Lonsdale, (30 August 1897 – 19 December 1974) was a British Conservative Party politician, a Governor of the BBC, a successful businessman and the first person to be awarded a life peerage under t ...
becomes the first life peer.
** Premiere of ''
Carry on Sergeant
''Carry On Sergeant'' is a 1958 British comedy film about National Service starring William Hartnell, Bob Monkhouse and Eric Barker; it is the first in the series of ''Carry On'' films, with 31 entries released from 1958 to 1992. The film wa ...
'', the first
''Carry On'' film.
* 8 August –
Barbara Wootton, Baroness Wootton of Abinger
Barbara Wootton, Baroness Wootton of Abinger, CH (14 April 1897 – 11 July 1988) was a British sociologist and criminologist. She was the first of four women to be appointed as a life peer, entitled to serve in the House of Lords, under the ...
becomes the first female peer in her own right.
* 28 August – first
Miss United Kingdom
Miss United Kingdom is a title held by the highest-ranked contestant from the UK in the Miss World pageant. The winner sometimes competes at Miss International the following year under the ''Britain'' or ''United Kingdom'' banner. From 1958 ...
beauty pageant
A beauty pageant is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the physical attributes of the contestants. Pageants have now evolved to include inner beauty, with criteria covering judging of personality, intelligence, ...
held, on
Blackpool
Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...
beach; Eileen Sheridan of
Walton-on-Thames
Walton-on-Thames, locally known as Walton, is a market town on the south bank of the Thames in the Elmbridge borough of Surrey, England. Walton forms part of the Greater London built-up area, within the KT postcode and is served by a wide ran ...
is the winner.
* 29 August
**
Project Emily
Project Emily was the deployment of American-built Thor intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBMs) in the United Kingdom between 1959 and 1963. Royal Air Force (RAF) Bomber Command operated 60 Thor missiles, dispersed to 20 RAF air stations ...
: The first United States
Thor missile
The PGM-17A Thor was the first operational ballistic missile of the United States Air Force (USAF). Named after the Norse god of thunder, it was deployed in the United Kingdom between 1959 and September 1963 as an intermediate-range ballistic mi ...
is delivered to the UK, for operation by
No. 77 Squadron RAF
No. 77 Squadron RAF was a squadron of the Royal Air Force which was active in various incarnations between 1916 and 1963.
History
No. 77 Squadron was formed on 1 October 1916 at Edinburgh, and was equipped with B.E.2 and B.E.12 aircraft. The squ ...
at
RAF Feltwell
Royal Air Force Feltwell or more simply RAF Feltwell is a Royal Air Force station in Norfolk, East Anglia that is used by the United States Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa. The station is located about 10 miles west of Thetford, and i ...
.
**
Cliff Richard
Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...
's debut
single
Single may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Single (music), a song release
Songs
* "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004
* "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008
* "Single" (William Wei song), 2016
* "Single", by ...
''
Move It
"Move It" is a song written by Ian Samwell and recorded by Cliff Richard and the Drifters (the English band that would later become "The Shadows"). Originally intended as the B-side to "Schoolboy Crush", it was released as Richard's debut sing ...
'' is released, reaching #2 in the
chart
A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...
s. It is credited with being one of the first authentic
rock and roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...
songs produced outside the United States.
* 30 August
**
Notting Hill race riots
The Notting Hill race riots were a series of racially motivated riots that took place in Notting Hill, England, between 29 August and 5 September 1958.
Background
Following the end of the Second World War, as a result of the losses during the wa ...
in London.
**
Southern Television
Southern Television was the ITV broadcasting licence holder for the South and South-East of England from 30 August 1958 to 31 December 1981. The company was launched as 'Southern Television Limited' and the title 'Southern Television' was con ...
, the ITV franchise for the
South of England
Southern England, or the South of England, also known as the South, is an area of England consisting of its southernmost part, with cultural, economic and political differences from the Midlands and the North. Officially, the area includes ...
goes on the air.
* 1 September – the first
Cod War
The Cod Wars ( is, Þorskastríðin; also known as , ; german: Kabeljaukriege) were a series of 20th-century confrontations between the United Kingdom (with aid from West Germany) and Iceland about fishing rights in the North Atlantic. Each o ...
between UK and
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
breaks out.
* 5 September – a severe
storm
A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere
An atmosphere () is a layer of gas or layers of gases that envelop a planet, and is held in place by the gravity of the planetary body. A planet retains an atmos ...
over the South-East of England seriously disrupts communications.
* 16 September – relaxation of restrictions on
hire purchase
A hire purchase (HP), also known as an installment plan, is an arrangement whereby a customer agrees to a contract to acquire an asset by paying an initial installment (e.g., 40% of the total) and repaying the balance of the price of the asset pl ...
.
* 1 October – the sovereignty of
Christmas Island
Christmas Island, officially the Territory of Christmas Island, is an Australian external territory comprising the island of the same name. It is located in the Indian Ocean, around south of Java and Sumatra and around north-west of the ...
is transferred from the United Kingdom to Australia.
* 4 October –
BOAC
British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) was the British state-owned airline created in 1939 by the merger of Imperial Airways and British Airways Ltd. It continued operating overseas services throughout World War II. After the passi ...
uses new
Comet
A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena ar ...
jets to become the first
airline
An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines for ...
to fly jet passenger services across the
Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...
.
* 11 October – first broadcast of the long-running
BBC Television
BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 193 ...
sports programme ''
Grandstand
A grandstand is a normally permanent structure for seating spectators. This includes both auto racing and horse racing. The grandstand is in essence like a single section of a stadium, but differs from a stadium in that it does not wrap a ...
''.
* 16 October – first broadcast of the long-running BBC Television children's programme ''
Blue Peter
''Blue Peter'' is a British children's television entertainment programme created by John Hunter Blair. It is the longest-running children's TV show in the world, having been broadcast since October 1958. It was broadcast primarily from BBC Tel ...
''.
* 19 October – by finishing second in the
Moroccan Grand Prix
The Moroccan Grand Prix (Arabic: سباق الجائزة الكبرى المغربي) was a Grand Prix first organised in 1925 in Casablanca, Morocco with the official denomination of "Casablanca Grand Prix".
History
In 1930, the race was held ...
,
Mike Hawthorn
John Michael Hawthorn (10 April 1929 – 22 January 1959) was a British racing driver. He became the United Kingdom's first Formula One World Champion driver in 1958, whereupon he announced his retirement, having been profoundly affected by the ...
becomes the first British racing driver to win the
Formula One World Championship
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
.
* 21 October – the first life peers, including the first female peers, enter the House of Lords.
The Baronesses Swanborough (
Stella Isaacs, Marchioness of Reading
Stella Isaacs, Marchioness of Reading, Baroness Swanborough, GBE (6 January 1894 – 22 May 1971), née Stella Charnaud, was an English philanthropist who is best remembered as the founder and chairman of the Women's Voluntary Service (WVS), n ...
) and Wootton (
Barbara Wootton
Barbara Wootton, Baroness Wootton of Abinger, CH (14 April 1897 – 11 July 1988) was a British sociologist and criminologist. She was the first of four women to be appointed as a life peer, entitled to serve in the House of Lords, under the ...
) are the first women to take their seats.
* 25 October – the
Short SC.1
The Short SC.1 was the first British fixed-wing vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) jet aircraft. It was developed by Short Brothers. It was powered by an arrangement of five Rolls-Royce RB.108 turbojets, four of which were used for vertical ...
experimental
VTOL
A vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft is one that can take off and land vertically without relying on a runway. This classification can include a variety of types of aircraft including helicopters as well as thrust-vectoring fixed-win ...
aircraft makes its first free vertical flight.
* 28 October – the
State Opening of Parliament
The State Opening of Parliament is a ceremonial event which formally marks the beginning of a session of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It includes a speech from the throne known as the King's (or Queen's) Speech. The event takes place ...
is broadcast on television for the first time.
* 10 November –
Donald Campbell
Donald is a masculine given name derived from the Gaelic name ''Dòmhnall''.. This comes from the Proto-Celtic *''Dumno-ualos'' ("world-ruler" or "world-wielder"). The final -''d'' in ''Donald'' is partly derived from a misinterpretation of the ...
sets the world water speed record at 248.62 mph.
* 24 November – exhibition of
computer
A computer is a machine that can be programmed to Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as C ...
s held at
Earl's Court
Earl's Court is a district of Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in West London, bordering the rail tracks of the West London line and District line that separate it from the ancient borough of Fulham to the west, the ...
, London; the first of its kind in the world.
[
* 25 November – the Austin FX4 London taxi goes on sale, it will remain in production until 1997.
* 30 November – during the live broadcast of the '']Armchair Theatre
''Armchair Theatre'' is a British television drama anthology series of single plays that ran on the ITV network from 1956 to 1974. It was originally produced by ABC Weekend TV. Its successor Thames Television took over from mid-1968.
The Canadi ...
'' play ''Underground
Underground most commonly refers to:
* Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth
Underground may also refer to:
Places
* The Underground (Boston), a music club in the Allston neighborhood of Boston
* The Underground ...
'' on the ITV network, actor Gareth Jones has a fatal heart attack between scenes.
* 5 December
** The Preston Bypass
The Preston Bypass was the United Kingdom’s first motorway. It was designed and engineered by Lancashire County Council surveyor James Drake as part of a larger initiative to create a north-south motorway network that would later form part ...
, the UK's first motorway, is opened by Prime Minister Harold Macmillan
Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, (10 February 1894 – 29 December 1986) was a British Conservative statesman and politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963. Caricatured as "Supermac", he ...
.
** Subscriber Trunk Dialling (STD) is inaugurated by The Queen
In the English-speaking world, The Queen most commonly refers to:
* Elizabeth II (1926–2022), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 1952 until her death
The Queen may also refer to:
* Camilla, Queen Consort (born 1947), ...
when she dials a call from Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
to Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
and speaks to Lord Provost.
** First service by a Royal National Lifeboat Institution
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is the largest charity that saves lives at sea around the coasts of the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man, as well as on some inland waterways. It i ...
self-righting life-boat, RNLB ''J.G. Graves of Sheffield'' (ON 942) at Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to:
People
* Scarborough (surname)
* Earl of Scarbrough
Places Australia
* Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth
* Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong
* Scarborough, Queensland, su ...
.
* 10 December – English biochemist Frederick Sanger
Frederick Sanger (; 13 August 1918 – 19 November 2013) was an English biochemist who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry twice.
He won the 1958 Chemistry Prize for determining the amino acid sequence of insulin and numerous other p ...
wins his first Nobel Prize in Chemistry
)
, image = Nobel Prize.png
, alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then "M ...
"for his work on the structure of proteins, especially that of insulin" (his second comes in 1980).
* 24 December – 1958 Bristol Britannia 312 crash: a BOAC
British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) was the British state-owned airline created in 1939 by the merger of Imperial Airways and British Airways Ltd. It continued operating overseas services throughout World War II. After the passi ...
Bristol Britannia airliner crashes near Winkton in Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
on a routine test flight.
Undated
* First boutique
A boutique () is a small shop that deals in fashionable clothing or accessories. The word is French for "shop", which derives ultimately from the Ancient Greek ἀποθήκη (''apothēkē'') "storehouse".
The term ''boutique'' and also ''d ...
, His Clothes, to be opened in Carnaby Street
Carnaby Street is a pedestrianised shopping street in Soho in the City of Westminster, Central London. Close to Oxford Street and Regent Street, it is home to fashion and lifestyle retailers, including many independent fashion boutiques.
Stre ...
, London, by John Stephen
John Stephen (28 August 1934 – 1 February 2004), dubbed by the media "The £1m Mod" and "The King Of Carnaby Street", was one of the most important fashion figures of the 1960s.
Stephen was the first individual to identify and sell to the yo ...
.
* British Nylon Spinners
British Nylon Spinners (BNS) was a British company set up in 1940 by ICI and Courtaulds to produce nylon yarn. In 1964 it was taken over by ICI after ICI had tried and failed to take over Courtaulds.
Beginning
In 1939, ICI took out a licenc ...
introduce the name Bri-Nylon
Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers composed of polyamides ( repeating units linked by amide links).The polyamides may be aliphatic or semi-aromatic.
Nylon is a silk-like thermoplastic, generally made from petro ...
.
* The first Little Chef
Little Chef was a chain of restaurants in the United Kingdom, founded in 1958 by entrepreneur Sam Alper, who was inspired by American diners. The chain was famous for the "Olympic Breakfast" – its version of a full English – as well as it ...
diner is opened in Reading, Berkshire
Reading ( ) is a town and borough in Berkshire, Southeast England, southeast England. Located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the rivers River Thames, Thames and River Kennet, Kennet, the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 mot ...
, by Sam Alper.
* German-born British mathematician Klaus Roth
Klaus Friedrich Roth (29 October 1925 – 10 November 2015) was a German-born British mathematician who won the Fields Medal for proving Roth's theorem on the Diophantine approximation of algebraic numbers. He was also a winner of the De M ...
wins the Fields Medal
The Fields Medal is a prize awarded to two, three, or four mathematicians under 40 years of age at the International Congress of the International Mathematical Union (IMU), a meeting that takes place every four years. The name of the award ho ...
for his work on the Thue–Siegel–Roth theorem
In mathematics, Roth's theorem is a fundamental result in diophantine approximation to algebraic numbers. It is of a qualitative type, stating that algebraic numbers cannot have many rational number approximations that are 'very good'. Over half a ...
.
* The British Rally Championship
The British Rally Championship is a rallying series based in the United Kingdom. The first championship was run in 1958 and it has been licensed by the Motor Sports Association (MSA) since 1999. MSA has opted not to run the series in 2015, in ...
in motor sport begins its first year.
Publications
* H. E. Bates
Herbert Ernest Bates (16 May 1905 – 29 January 1974), better known as H. E. Bates, was an English writer. His best-known works include ''Love for Lydia'', '' The Darling Buds of May'', and '' My Uncle Silas''.
Early life
H.E. Bates was ...
' novel '' The Darling Buds of May'', first in the Larkin family series.
* John Betjeman
Sir John Betjeman (; 28 August 190619 May 1984) was an English poet, writer, and broadcaster. He was Poet Laureate from 1972 until his death. He was a founding member of The Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architecture, ...
's ''Collected Poems''.
* Michael Bond
Thomas Michael Bond (13 January 1926 – 27 June 2017) was a British author. He is best known for a series of fictional stories for children, featuring the character of Paddington Bear. More than 35 million Paddington books have been sold ...
's children's story ''A Bear Called Paddington'', introducing the character Paddington Bear
Paddington Bear is a fictional character in children's literature. He first appeared on 13 October 1958 in the children's book ''A Bear Called Paddington'' and has been featured in more than twenty books written by British author Michael Bond, a ...
.
* Agatha Christie
Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictiona ...
's novel ''Ordeal by Innocence
''Ordeal by Innocence'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 3 November 1958 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company the following year. The UK edition retaile ...
''.
* Lawrence Durrell
Lawrence George Durrell (; 27 February 1912 – 7 November 1990) was an expatriate British novelist, poet, dramatist, and travel writer. He was the eldest brother of naturalist and writer Gerald Durrell.
Born in India to British colonial pare ...
's novels '' Balthazar'' and ''Mountolive
''Mountolive'', published in 1958, is the third volume in The Alexandria Quartet series by British author Lawrence Durrell. Set in Alexandria, Egypt, around World War II, the four novels tell essentially the same story from different points of v ...
'' from ''The Alexandria Quartet
''The Alexandria Quartet'' is a tetralogy of novels by British writer Lawrence Durrell, published between 1957 and 1960. A critical and commercial success, the first three books present three perspectives on a single set of events and characters ...
''.
* Ian Fleming
Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer who is best known for his postwar ''James Bond'' series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., a ...
's James Bond
The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...
novel '' Dr. No''.
* Graham Greene
Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...
's novel ''Our Man in Havana
''Our Man in Havana'' (1958) is a novel set in Cuba by the British author Graham Greene. He makes fun of intelligence services, especially the British MI6, and their willingness to believe reports from their local informants. The book predates ...
''.
* Dr D. G. Hessayon
David Gerald Hessayon OBE (born 1928) is a British author and botanist of Cypriot descent who is known for a best-selling series of paperback gardening manuals known as the "Expert Guides" under his title Dr. D. G. Hessayon. The series started ...
's guide ''Be Your Own Gardening Expert'', first in the best selling gardening book series in history.
* Alan Sillitoe
Alan Sillitoe FRSL (4 March 192825 April 2010) was an English writer and one of the so-called "angry young men" of the 1950s. He disliked the label, as did most of the other writers to whom it was applied. He is best known for his debut novel ...
's first novel ''Saturday Night and Sunday Morning
''Saturday Night and Sunday Morning'' is the first novel by British author Alan Sillitoe and won the Author's Club First Novel Award.
It was adapted by Sillitoe into a 1960 film starring Albert Finney, directed by Karel Reisz, and in 1964 was ...
''.
* T.H. White's Arthurian novel ''The Once and Future King
''The Once and Future King'' is a collection of fantasy novels by T. H. White about the legend of King Arthur. It is loosely based upon the 1485 work '' Le Morte d'Arthur'' by Sir Thomas Malory. It was first published in 1958 as a collection ...
''.
* Raymond Williams
Raymond Henry Williams (31 August 1921 – 26 January 1988) was a Welsh socialist writer, academic, novelist and critic influential within the New Left and in wider culture. His writings on politics, culture, the media and literature contribu ...
' book ''Culture and Society
''Culture and Society'' is a book published in 1958 by Welsh progressive writer Raymond Williams, exploring how the notion of culture developed in Great Britain, from the eighteenth through the twentieth centuries.
When first published, the book ...
''.
* Michael Young's satirical essay ''The Rise of the Meritocracy
''The Rise of the Meritocracy'' is a book by British sociologist and politician Michael Young, Baron Young of Dartington, Michael Dunlop Young which was first published in 1958. It describes a dystopian society in a future United Kingdom in whic ...
''.
* ''Bunty
''Bunty'' was a British comic for girls published by D. C. Thomson & Co. from 1958 to 2001.Gibson (2003)p. 91/ref> It consisted of a collection of many small strips, the stories typically being three to five pages long. In contrast to earlier ...
'' comic first published.
Births
* 2 January – Helen Goodman
Helen Catherine Goodman (born 2 January 1958) is a British former politician who served as Member of Parliament for Bishop Auckland from 2005 to 2019. A member of the Labour Party, she was Deputy Leader of the House of Commons from 2007 to 20 ...
, English lawyer and politician
* 4 January – , English actor
* 9 January – Stephen Neale
Stephen Roy Albert Neale (born 9 January 1958) is a British philosopher and specialist in the philosophy of language who has written extensively about meaning, information, interpretation, and communication, and more generally about issues a ...
, English philosopher and academic
* 10 January – Caroline Langrishe
Caroline Langrishe (born 10 January 1958) is an English actress.
Early life
Born in London, Langrishe is the elder daughter of Patrick Nicholas Langrishe (1932–2022), of The Manor House, Sellindge, Kent, a Lieutenant in the 11th Hussars, late ...
, English actress
* 24 January – Jools Holland, British musician
* 27 January – Alan Milburn
Alan Milburn (born 27 January 1958) is a British Labour Party politician who was Member of Parliament (MP) for Darlington from 1992 to 2010. He served for five years in the Cabinet, first as Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 1998 to 1999, a ...
, British Labour politician and MP for Darlington
Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town.
In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...
* 29 January – Linda Smith, comedian (died 2006)
* 1 February – Eleanor Laing
Dame Eleanor Fulton Laing, (' Pritchard; born 1 February 1958) is a British politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Epping Forest constituency since 1997. Laing is a member of the Conservative Party and has served as a De ...
, British Conservative politician, MP for Epping Forest
Epping Forest is a area of ancient woodland, and other established habitats, which straddles the border between Greater London and Essex. The main body of the forest stretches from Epping in the north, to Chingford on the edge of the London ...
, and Shadow Minister for Women
* 6 February – Tim Dakin
Timothy John Dakin (born 6 February 1958) is a retired Anglican bishop. He was the general secretary of the Church Mission Society (CMS) and the South American Missionary Society (SAMS) prior to his consecration. He was appointed as Bishop ...
, English bishop and missionary
* 7 February – Matt Ridley
Matthew White Ridley, 5th Viscount Ridley, (born 7 February 1958), is a British science writer, journalist and businessman. He is known for his writings on science, the environment, and economics and has been a regular contributor to ''Th ...
, English science writer
* 10 February – Billy Thomson, Scottish footballer (d. 2023)
* 11 February – Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...
, British broadcast executive
* 12 February – Steve Grand
Steve Grand (born February 28, 1990) is an American singer, songwriter and model from Lemont, Illinois, a Chicago suburb. He became an overnight internet celebrity and the music video of his first hit " All-American Boy" went viral on YouTube ...
, English computer scientist
* 17 February – Steve Fox, footballer and gardener (d. 2012)
* 19 February – Steve Nieve
Steve Nieve ( "naïve"; born Stephen John Nason, 21 February 1958) is an English musician and composer. In a career spanning more than 40 years, Nieve has been a member of Elvis Costello's backing bands the Attractions, the Imposters and Madnes ...
, musician
* 20 February – James Wilby
James Jonathon Wilby (born 20 February 1958) is an English actor.
Early life and education
Wilby was born in Rangoon, Burma to a corporate executive father. He was educated at Terrington Hall School, North Yorkshire and Sedbergh School in Cu ...
, actor
* 26 February – Paul Ackford
Paul Ackford (born 26 February 1958) is a former English rugby union international who played lock forward. He was formerly an inspector in the Metropolitan Police, and is now a columnist for The Telegraph.
Early life
Ackford was born in Hano ...
, rugby player
* 28 February – Ian Burnett
Ian Duncan Burnett, Baron Burnett of Maldon, (born 28 February 1958) is a British judge and the current Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales.
Early life and education
Burnett was born on 28 February 1958. He was educated at St John's Colleg ...
, Lord Chief Justice
* 1 March – Nik Kershaw
Nicholas David Kershaw (born 1 March 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, musician and record producer.
Kershaw came to prominence in 1984 as a solo artist. He released eight singles that entered the Top 40 of the UK Singles Chart during the ...
, English singer
* 3 March – Miranda Richardson, English actress
* 5 March – Andy Gibb
Andrew Roy Gibb (5 March 1958 – 10 March 1988) was an English singer, songwriter, and actor. He was the younger brother of Barry Gibb, Barry, Robin Gibb, Robin and Maurice Gibb, Maurice, who went on to form the Bee Gees.
Gibb came to pr ...
, English-born singer (died 1988)
* 8 March – Gary Numan
Gary Anthony James Webb (born 8 March 1958), known professionally as Gary Numan, is an English musician. He entered the music industry as frontman of the new wave band Tubeway Army. After releasing two albums with the band, he released his d ...
, British singer
* 13 March
** Caryl Phillips
Caryl Phillips (born 13 March 1958) is a Kittitian-British novelist, playwright and essayist. Best known for his novels (for which he has won multiple awards), Phillips is often described as a Black Atlantic writer, since much of his fictional ...
, British writer
** Linda Robson
Linda Patricia Mary Dunford ( Robson; born 13 March 1958) is an English actress and television presenter. She is best known for playing Tracey Stubbs in the sitcom '' Birds of a Feather'' (1989–1998, 2014–2020) and her appearances as a weekl ...
, English actress
* 16 March – Chris Mole, British Labour politician and MP for Ipswich
Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...
* 18 March – Neil Brand
Neil Brand (born 18 March 1958) is an English dramatist, composer and author. In addition to being a regular silent film accompanist at London's National Film Theatre, Brand has composed new scores for two restored films from the 1920s, '' The ...
, British writer and composer
* 21 March – Gary Oldman
Gary Leonard Oldman (born 21 March 1958) is an English actor and filmmaker. Known for his versatility and intense acting style, he has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and three British Academy Fi ...
, English actor
* 6 April
** Graeme Base
Graeme Rowland Base (born 6 April 1958) is a British-Australian author and artist of picture books. He is perhaps best known for his second book, '' Animalia'' published in 1986, and third book '' The Eleventh Hour'' which was released in 1989.
...
, Australian children's illustrator and author
** Jackie Gallagher, English footballer
* 9 April – Nadey Hakim
Nadey S. Hakim FASMBS (born 9 April 1958), is a British-Lebanese professor of transplantation surgery at Imperial College London and general surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic London. He is also a writer, musician and sculptor, known for kidney an ...
, British-Lebanese surgeon and sculptor
* 11 April – Stuart Adamson
William Stuart Adamson (11 April 1958 – 16 December 2001) was a Scottish rock guitarist and singer. Adamson began his career in the late 1970s as a founding member and performer with the punk rock band Skids. After leaving Skids in 1981, he ...
, Scottish singer and guitarist (Big Country
Big Country are a Scottish rock band formed in Dunfermline, Fife, in 1981.
The height of the band's popularity was in the early to mid 1980s, although it has retained a cult following for many years since. The band's music incorporated Scott ...
) (d. 2001
The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...
)
* 12 April – Will Sergeant
William Alfred Sergeant (born 12 April 1958) is an English guitarist, best known for being a member of Echo & the Bunnymen. Born in Walton Hospital, he grew up in the village of Melling and attended nearby Deyes Lane Secondary Modern. He is th ...
, English guitarist ( Echo & the Bunnymen)
* 14 April – Peter Capaldi
Peter Dougan Capaldi (; born 14 April 1958) is a Scottish actor, director, writer and musician. He portrayed the Twelfth Doctor, twelfth incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in ''Doctor Who'' (2013–2017) and Malcolm Tucker in ' ...
, Scottish actor and director
* 15 April
** Benjamin Zephaniah
Benjamin Obadiah Iqbal Zephaniah (born 15 April 1958)Gregory, Andy (2002), ''International Who's Who in Popular Music 2002'', Europa, p. 562. . is a British writer and dub poet. He was included in ''The Times'' list of Britain's top 50 post-wa ...
, British writer and musician
** Abu Hamza al-Masri
Mustafa Kamel Mustafa ( ar, مصطفى كامل مصطفى; born 15 April 1958), also known as Abu Hamza al-Masri (; , – literally, father of Hamza, the Egyptian), or simply Abu Hamza, is an Egyptian cleric who was the imam of Finsbury Park ...
, Muslim cleric convicted of inciting racial hatred
Incitement to ethnic or racial hatred is a crime under the laws of several countries.
Australia
In Australia, the Racial Hatred Act 1995 amends the Racial Discrimination Act 1975, inserting Part IIA – Offensive Behaviour Because of Race, Colour ...
and murder
** Sir Robert Smith, 3rd Baronet, British Liberal Democrat politician and MP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine
* 18 April – Saviour Pirotta
Saviour Pirotta is a Maltese-born British author and playwright who resides in England. He is mostly known for the bestselling The Orchard Book of First Greek Myths, an adaptation of the Russian folktale, Firebird, and the Ancient Greek Myste ...
, British/Maltese children's author
* 24 April – Brian Paddick
Brian Leonard Paddick, Baron Paddick (born 24 April 1958), is a British politician and retired police officer, currently sitting in the House of Lords as a life peer. He was the Liberal Democrat candidate for the London mayoral elections of 2 ...
, British police commander
* 25 April – Fish
Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...
, Scottish singer
* 3 May – Sandi Toksvig
Sandra Birgitte Toksvig (; ; born 3 May 1958) is a Danish-British writer, comedian and broadcaster on British radio, stage and television. She is also a political activist, having co-founded the Women's Equality Party in 2015. She has written ...
, Danish-born comedian, author and radio presenter
* 4 May
** Caroline Spelman
Dame Caroline Alice Spelman (' Cormack; born 4 May 1958) is a British Conservative Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Meriden in the West Midlands from 1997 to 2019. From May 2010 to September 2012 she was the Sec ...
, British Conservative politician, MP for Meriden, Shadow Secretary of State for Local and Devolved Government Affairs
** Jane Kennedy Jane Kennedy may refer to:
* Jane Kennedy (courtier) (died 1589), Scottish courtier
*Jane Kennedy (actress) (born 1964), Australian actress and comedian
*Jane Kennedy (politician) (born 1958), British Labour Party Member of Parliament
See also
*Ja ...
, British Labour politician, MP for Liverpool Wavertree
Liverpool Wavertree is a borough constituency of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1997 and every election since has been won by a Labour Party candidate.
An earlier constituency of the same name existed between 1918 and ...
* 8 May – Brooks Newmark
Brooks Phillip Victor Newmark (born 8 May 1958) is a British Conservative politician and former Member of Parliament and minister. He was elected as the Member of Parliament for Braintree in the 2005 general election and stood down at the 201 ...
, American-English businessman and politician, Lord of the Treasury
In the United Kingdom there are at least six Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury, serving as a commission for the ancient office of Treasurer of the Exchequer. The board consists of the First Lord of the Treasury, the Second Lord of the ...
* 18 May – Toyah Willcox
Toyah Ann Willcox (born 18 May 1958) is an English musician, actress, and TV presenter. In a career spanning more than 40 years, Willcox has had eight top 40 singles, released over 20 albums, written two books, appeared in over 40 stage plays an ...
, actress and singer
* 22 May – Denise Welch
Jacqueline Denise Welch (born 22 May 1958) is an English actress, television personality, writer and broadcaster. Her roles include Natalie Barnes in ''Coronation Street'' (1997–2000), Steph Haydock in '' Waterloo Road'' (2006–2010), and ...
, English actress
* 25 May – Paul Weller
Paul John Weller (born John William Weller; 25 May 1958) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Weller achieved fame with the punk rock/ new wave/mod revival band the Jam (1972–1982). He had further success with the blue-eyed soul m ...
, English singer-songwriter (The Jam
The Jam were an English mod revival/ punk rock band formed in 1972 at Sheerwater Secondary School in Woking, Surrey. They released 18 consecutive Top 40 singles in the United Kingdom, from their debut in 1977 to their break-up in December 198 ...
, The Style Council
The Style Council were a British musical ensemble, band formed in late 1982 by Paul Weller, the former singer, songwriter and guitarist with the punk rock/New wave music, new wave/mod revival band the Jam, and keyboardist Mick Talbot, previousl ...
)
* 3 June – Simon Fraser, diplomat
* 5 June – Graeme Crallan, heavy metal drummer (died 2008)
* 6 June – Paul Burrell
Paul Burrell (born 6 June 1958) is a former servant of the British Royal Household and latterly butler to Princess Diana.
Background and Royal Household career
Burrell was born and raised in Grassmoor, Derbyshire, a coal-mining village. His ...
, butler to Princess Diana
* 7 June – Ivan Henderson, British Labour politician and MP for Harwich
Harwich is a town in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports on the North Sea coast. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the north-east, Ipswich to the north-west, Colchester to the south-west and Clacton-on- ...
* 11 June – Barry Adamson
Barry Adamson (born 11 June 1958)
Discography Studio Albums
Compilation Albums
EPs
Singles
Soundtracks
References
External links
*
Adamson's art-house
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adamson, Barry
1958 births
Living people
People from ...
, English singer and bass player
* 14 June - Nick Van Eede, Singer/Songwriter, Frontman for Cutting Crew
Cutting Crew are an English rock band formed in London in 1985. They are best known for their debut album ''Broadcast'' and hit single, " (I Just) Died in Your Arms".
History 1985–1986: Formation
While still in his teens, Nick Van Eede (b ...
* 18 June – Gary Martin, voice actor and actor
* 23 June – John Henry Hayes, British Conservative politician, MP for South Holland and The Deepings
South Holland and The Deepings is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament, since its 1997 creation, by John Hayes, a Conservative.
At the 2017 general election, the constituency recorded a higher Conservative sh ...
, and Chairman of the Cornerstone Group
The Cornerstone Group is a High Tory or traditional conservative political organisation within the British Conservative Party. The Group espouses traditional values as exemplified by its motto: Faith, Flag, and Family. It comprises Members of P ...
* 30 June – Pam Royle
Pamela “Pam” June Royle (born 30 June 1958) is a British television journalist and presenter.
Biography
Royle was born in Leicester, Leicestershire and was brought up mostly in North Yorkshire, but also in South Africa and Devon. After gra ...
, British television presenter, journalist and voice coach
* July – Huw Dixon
Huw David Dixon (/hju: devəd dɪksən/), born 1958, is a British economist. He has been a professor at Cardiff Business School since 2006, having previously been Head of Economics at the University of York (2003–2006) after being a professor ...
, Welsh economist
* 1 July – Les Morton, English racewalker
* 6 July – Jennifer Saunders
Jennifer Jane Saunders (born 6 July 1958) is an English actress, comedian, singer and screenwriter. Saunders originally found attention in the 1980s, when she became a member of The Comic Strip after graduating from the Royal Central School of ...
, British comedian
* 9 July – Robin Kermode
Robin William Kermode (born 9 July 1958), is an English actor, author and communications coach. He is best known for his role in ''Never the Twain'', ''Ffizz'', ''The Ruth Rendell Mysteries'', ''The Iron Lady (film), Iron Lady'', ''Wilde (film), ...
, English actor, author and communications coach
* 11 July – Mark Lester
Mark Lester (born Mark A. Letzer; 11 July 1958) is an English former child actor, osteopath, and acupuncturist who starred in a number of British and European films in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1968 he played the title role in the film '' Olive ...
, former child actor
* 17 July – Suzanne Moore
Suzanne Lynn Moore (born 17 July 1958) is an English journalist.
Early life and education
Moore is the daughter of an American father and a working-class British mother, who split up during her childhood. As a child, she was told that her mo ...
, English journalist
* 24 July – Joe McGann
Joseph McGann (born 24 July 1958) is an English actor. His roles include the lead role of Charlie Burrows, the "housekeeper" in the TV comedy series '' The Upper Hand'' (1990–1996), '' Night and Day'' and his voice role as Sir Gideon Ofnir ...
, English actor
* 27 July
** Christopher Dean, ice dancer
** Vincenzo Nicoli
Vincenzo Nicoli (born 27 July 1958) is a British actor who appears in film, television and theatre. He is best known for roles in blockbuster films, such as Alan Jude in the 1992 science fiction film '' Alien³'' (1992), Enrico Biscaglia in the ...
, actor
* 30 July
** Kate Bush
Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer and dancer. In 1978, at the age of 19, she topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks with her debut single "Wuthering Heights (song), Wuthering Heights", ...
, British singer and songwriter
** Daley Thompson
Francis Morgan Ayodélé Thompson, (born 30 July 1958), better known as Daley Thompson, is a British former decathlete. He won the decathlon gold medal at the Olympic Games in 1980 and 1984, and broke the world record for the event four tim ...
, athlete and Olympic champion
* 7 August – Bruce Dickinson
Paul Bruce Dickinson (born 7 August 1958) is an English singer who has been the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden from 1981 to 1993 and 1999–present. He is known for his wide-ranging operatic vocal style and energetic stage ...
, English musician
* 10 August – Rosie Winterton, British Labour politician, MP for Doncaster Central and member of the Privy Council
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...
* 13 August – Feargal Sharkey
Seán Feargal Sharkey (born 13 August 1958) is a singer from Northern Ireland most widely known as the lead vocalist of punk band The Undertones in the 1970s and 1980s, and for solo works in the 1980s and 1990s. His 1985 solo single "A Good ...
, Northern Irish musician, lead singer of The Undertones
The Undertones are a rock band formed in Derry, Northern Ireland in 1974. From 1975 to 1983, the Undertones consisted of Feargal Sharkey (vocals), John O'Neill (rhythm guitar, vocals), Damian O'Neill (lead guitar, vocals), Michael Bradle ...
* 14 August – Philip Dunne, Conservative politician and MP for Ludlow
Ludlow () is a market town in Shropshire, England. The town is significant in the history of the Welsh Marches and in relation to Wales. It is located south of Shrewsbury and north of Hereford, on the A49 road which bypasses the town. The t ...
* 19 August – Gordon Brand Jnr
Gordon Brand Jnr (19 August 1958 – 31 July 2019) was a Scottish professional golfer. He played on the European Tour, winning eight times, and later the European Senior Tour, winning twice. He played in the 1979 Walker Cup and played twic ...
, Scottish professional golfer (died 2019)
* 20 August – Nicholas Bell
Nicholas Bell (born 15 August 1958) is an English actor who has worked in Australia for more than 20 years. He works regularly with the Melbourne Theatre Company as well as with all the major television broadcasters in Australia, most notably th ...
, English actor based in Australia
* 29 August – Lenny Henry
Sir Lenworth George Henry (born 29 August 1958) is a British actor, comedian, singer, television presenter and writer.
Henry gained success as a stand-up comedian and impressionist in the late 1970s and early 1980s, culminating in ''The Lenn ...
, British entertainer
* 30 August – Muriel Gray
Muriel Janet Gray FRSE (born 30 August 1958) is a Scottish author, broadcaster and journalist. She came to public notice as an interviewer on Channel 4's alternative pop-show ''The Tube'', and then appeared as a regular presenter on BBC radio ...
, Scottish author, broadcaster and journalist
* 31 August – Stephen Cottrell, English Anglican bishop
* 13 September – Bobby Davro
Robert Christopher Nankeville, known professionally as Bobby Davro (born 13 September 1958), is an English actor and comedian.
He made his television debut in 1981 followed by breakthrough in ''Live from Her Majesty's'' (1983); this was follow ...
, English actor and comedian
* 18 September – Linda Lusardi
Linda Frances Elide Lusardi (born 18 September 1958) is an English actress, television presenter and former glamour model.
Career Modelling
Lusardi was born in Wood Green, London to Lilian (née Glassman, b. 1933) and Nello Lusardi (1930–2017 ...
, British model, actress and television presenter
* 21 September – Simon Mayo
Simon Andrew Hicks Mayo (born 21 September 1958) is an English radio presenter and author who worked for BBC Radio from 1982 until 2022.
Mayo has presented across three BBC stations for extended periods. From 1986 to 2001 he worked for Radio ...
, British radio presenter
* 23 September – Danielle Dax
Danielle Dax (born 23 September 1958) is an English experimental musician and producer most active from the late-1970s to the mid-1990s.
Early life
She was born Danielle Gardner, in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. Dax's first performance on ...
, British musician
* 27 September – Irvine Welsh
Irvine Welsh (born 27 September 1958) is a Scottish novelist, playwright and short story writer. His 1993 novel '' Trainspotting'' was made into a film of the same name. He has also written plays and screenplays, and directed several short fil ...
, Scottish novelist
* 4 October – Anneka Rice
Anne Lucinda Hartley Rice (born 4 October 1958), known professionally as Anneka Rice, is a Welsh-born television and radio presenter, broadcaster, journalist and painter.
Early life and education
Rice was born in Cowbridge, Glamorgan, Wale ...
, Welsh television presenter
* 14 October – Thomas Dolby
Thomas Morgan Robertson (born 14 October 1958), known by the stage name Thomas Dolby, is an English musician, producer, composer, entrepreneur and teacher.
Dolby came to prominence in the 1980s, releasing hit singles including "She Blinded Me ...
, English musician
* 17 October – Craig Murray
Craig John Murray (born 17 October 1958) is a Scottish author, human rights campaigner, journalist, and former diplomat for the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Between 2002 and 2004, he was the British ambassador to Uzbekistan during ...
, UK Ambassador to Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...
* 20 October – Dave Finlay
David Finlay Jr. (born 31 January 1958) is an Irish retired professional wrestler currently signed to WWE as a trainer/assistant coach. He is known for his work with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) under the ring name Fit Finlay from 1995 to ...
, Northern Irish professional wrestler
** Mark King, English musician (Level 42
Level 42 is an English jazz-funk band formed on the Isle of Wight in 1979. They had a number of UK and worldwide hits during the 1980s and 1990s.
Their highest-charting single in the UK was " Lessons in Love", which reached number three on th ...
)
* 25 October – Phil Daniels
Philip William Daniels (born 25 October 1958) is an English actor, musician and singer, most noted for film and television roles playing Londoners, such as the lead role of Jimmy Cooper in ''Quadrophenia'', Richards in '' Scum'', Stewart in ''Th ...
, English actor
* 26 October – Shaun Woodward
Shaun Anthony Woodward (born 26 October 1958) is a British politician who was the Labour Member of Parliament (MP) for St Helens South from 2001 to 2015. He served in the cabinet from 28 June 2007 to 11 May 2010 as Secretary of State for North ...
, British Labour politician and MP for St Helens South
* 27 October – Simon Le Bon
Simon John Charles Le Bon (born 27 October 1958) is a British singer. He is best known as the lead vocalist and lyricist of the new wave band Duran Duran and its offshoot Arcadia. Le Bon has received three Ivor Novello Awards from the British ...
, English musician (Duran Duran
Duran Duran () are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer and bassist Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. With the addition of drummer Roger ...
)
* 1 November – Mark Austin, English newsreader ( ITN)
* 2 November – Mark Phillip Hendrick, British Labour Co-operative
Labour and Co-operative Party (often abbreviated Labour Co-op; cy, Llafur a'r Blaid Gydweithredol) is a description used by candidates in United Kingdom elections who stand on behalf of both the Labour Party and the Co-operative Party.
Candidat ...
politician and MP for Preston
* 19 November – Isabella Blow
Isabella "Issie" Blow (nee Delves Broughton; 19 November 1958 – 7 May 2007) was an English magazine editor. As the muse of hat designer Philip Treacy, she is credited with discovering the models Stella Tennant and Sophie Dahl as well as pr ...
, British fashion journalist (died 2007)
* 22 November – Bruce Payne
Bruce Martyn Payne (born 22 November 1958) is an English actor, producer, screenwriter, film director and theatre director. Payne is best known for portraying villains, such as Charles Rane in ''Passenger 57'', Jacob Kell in '' Highlander: End ...
, English actor and producer
* 24 November – Nick Knight, photographer
* 25 November – Kim Ashfield, model
* 5 December – Dynamite Kid
Thomas Billington (5 December 1958 – 5 December 2018), best known by the ring name the Dynamite Kid, was a British professional wrestler.
Trained by former wrestler "Dr Death" Ted Betley, he competed in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), ...
, English professional wrestler (died 2018)
* 14 December
** Mike Scott, Scottish singer-songwriter (The Waterboys
The Waterboys are a folk rock band formed in Edinburgh in 1983 by Scottish musician Mike Scott. The band's membership, past and present, has been composed mainly of musicians from Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England. Mike Scott has remained ...
)
** Spider Stacy
Peter Richard "Spider" Stacy (born 14 December 1958, Eastbourne) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, and actor. He is best known for playing tin whistle and sometimes singing for The Pogues.
Early life
Stacy left school at 16 after fa ...
, musician (The Pogues
The Pogues were an English or Anglo-Irish Celtic punk band fronted by Shane MacGowan and others, founded in Kings Cross, London in 1982, as "Pogue Mahone" – the anglicisation of the Irish Gaelic ''póg mo thóin'', meaning "kiss my arse". T ...
)
* 18 December – Joseph Comerford
Dr. Joseph Bernard Comerford (18 December 1958 – 18 August 2000) was a British engineer and one of the UN's leading irrigation experts. He played a critical role in shaping the international humanitarian response to the Great Lakes Crisis at ...
, engineer (died 2000)
* 19 December – Limahl
Christopher Hamill (born 19 December 1958), known professionally as Limahl (an anagram of Hamill), is an English pop singer. He was the lead singer of the pop group Kajagoogoo beginning in 1981, before embarking on a brief solo career, garnering ...
, English singer
* 21 December – Kevin Blackwell
Kevin Patrick Blackwell (born 21 December 1958) is an English former professional football goalkeeper who since retiring as a player has worked as a coach and a manager. He is currently the manager of Thai League 1 club Nakhon Ratchasima.
Ear ...
, English football manager
* 2 December – Andrew George, British Liberal Democrat politician and MP for St Ives
* 6 December – Nick Park
Nicholas Wulstan Park (born 6 December 1958) is a British animator who created ''Wallace and Gromit'', ''Creature Comforts'', ''Chicken Run'', ''Shaun the Sheep'', and '' Early Man''. Park has been nominated for an Academy Award a total of ...
, English filmmaker and animator
Unknown date
* Adrian Bradshaw
General Sir Adrian John Bradshaw, (born 1958) is a former British Army officer who served as Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe. He also served as Director Special Forces from 2006 to 2009 and Commander Land Forces in 2013.
Early life
Bra ...
, army commander
* Omar Bakri Muhammad
Omar Bakri Muhammad ( ar, عمر بکری محمد; born Omar Bakri Fostock; 1958) is a Syrian Islamist militant leader born in Aleppo. He was instrumental in developing Hizb ut-Tahrir in the United Kingdom before leaving the group and heading t ...
, Syrian-born Muslim cleric
Deaths
* 4 January – John Anderson, 1st Viscount Waverley
John Anderson, 1st Viscount Waverley, (8 July 1882 – 4 January 1958) was a Scottish civil servant and politician who is best known for his service in the War Cabinet during the Second World War, for which he was nicknamed the "Home Front Pri ...
, civil servant and politician (born 1882)
* 6 February – Manchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd), or simply United, is a professional football club based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. The club competes in the Premier League, ...
players and associates in the Munich air disaster:
** Roger Byrne
Roger William Byrne (8 September 1929
England Football Online. Retrieved 6 June 20 ...
, team captain (born 1929)
** Geoff Bent
Geoffrey Bent (27 September 1932 – 6 February 1958) was an English footballer who played as a full-back. He was one of the eight Manchester United players who lost their lives in the Munich air disaster.
Personal life
Bent was born at Ir ...
(born 1932)
** Eddie Colman
Edward Colman (1 November 1936 – 6 February 1958) was an English football player and one of the eight Manchester United players who lost their lives in the Munich air disaster.
Colman was born on Archie Street in Ordsall, Salford, Lanca ...
(born 1936)
** Mark Jones (born 1933)
** David Pegg
David Pegg (20 September 1935 – 6 February 1958) was an English footballer and one of the eight Manchester United players who died in the Munich air disaster on 6 February 1958.
Career
He signed for United on leaving school in 1950 an ...
(born 1935)
** Tommy Taylor
Thomas Taylor (29 January 1932 – 6 February 1958) was an English footballer, who was known for his aerial ability. He was one of the eight Manchester United players who died in the Munich air disaster.
Career
Taylor was born in Smithies, ...
(born 1932)
** Billy Whelan (born 1935)
** Frank Swift
Frank Victor Swift (26 December 1913 – 6 February 1958) was an English footballer, who played as a goalkeeper for Manchester City and England. After starting his career with local clubs near his home town of Blackpool, in 1932 he was signed b ...
(born 1913), journalist and former Manchester City F.C.
Manchester City Football Club are an England, English association football, football club based in Manchester that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English football. Fo ...
and England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
goalkeeper
* 11 February – Ernest Jones
Alfred Ernest Jones (1 January 1879 – 11 February 1958) was a Welsh neurologist and psychoanalyst. A lifelong friend and colleague of Sigmund Freud from their first meeting in 1908, he became his official biographer. Jones was the first En ...
, Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
psychoanalyst
PsychoanalysisFrom Greek language, Greek: + . is a set of Theory, theories and Therapy, therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a bo ...
(born 1879)
* 13 February – Christabel Pankhurst
Dame Christabel Harriette Pankhurst, (; 22 September 1880 – 13 February 1958) was a British suffragette born in Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bord ...
, English suffragette (born 1880)
* 21 February – Duncan Edwards
Duncan Edwards (1 October 1936 – 21 February 1958) was an English footballer who played for Manchester United and the England national team. He was one of the Busby Babes, the young United team formed under manager Matt Busby in the mid ...
, Manchester United footballer (born 1936)
* 26 March – Phil Mead
Charles Phillip Mead (9 March 1887 – 26 March 1958) was an English first-class cricketer. He played as a left-handed batsman for Hampshire and England between 1905 and 1936. He was born at 10 Ashton Buildings (since pulled down), second elde ...
, English cricketer (born 1887)
* 16 April – Rosalind Franklin
Rosalind Elsie Franklin (25 July 192016 April 1958) was a British chemist and X-ray crystallographer whose work was central to the understanding of the molecular structures of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), RNA (ribonucleic acid), viruses, co ...
, British crystallographer (born 1920)
* 19 April – Billy Meredith
William Henry Meredith (30 July 1874 – 19 April 1958) was a Welsh professional footballer. He was considered one of the early superstars of football due to his performances, notably for Manchester City and Manchester United. He won each ...
, Welsh footballer (born 1874)
* 3 May – Frank Foster, English cricketer (born 1889)
* 19 May – Ronald Colman
Ronald Charles Colman (9 February 1891 – 19 May 1958) was an English-born actor, starting his career in theatre and silent film in his native country, then immigrating to the United States and having a successful Hollywood film career. He wa ...
, English actor (born 1891)
* 9 June – Robert Donat
Friedrich Robert Donat (18 March 1905 – 9 June 1958) was an English actor. He is best remembered for his roles in Alfred Hitchcock's '' The 39 Steps'' (1935) and ''Goodbye, Mr. Chips'' (1939), winning for the latter the Academy Award for ...
, English film and stage actor (born 1905)
* 13 June – Edwin Keppel Bennett, British writer (born 1887)
* 28 June – Alfred Noyes
Alfred Noyes CBE (16 September 188025 June 1958) was an English poet, short-story writer and playwright.
Early years
Noyes was born in Wolverhampton, England the son of Alfred and Amelia Adams Noyes. When he was four, the family moved to Ab ...
, English poet (born 1880)
* 15 July – Julia Lennon
Julia Lennon (''née'' Stanley; 12 March 1914 – 15 July 1958) was the mother of English musician John Lennon, who was born during her marriage to Alfred Lennon. After complaints to Liverpool's Social Services by her eldest sister, Mimi Sm ...
, mother of John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
(born 1914)
* 20 July – Margaret Haig Thomas, Viscountess Rhondda
Margaret Haig Mackworth, 2nd Viscountess Rhondda ( Thomas; 12 June 1883 – 20 July 1958) was a Welsh peeress, businesswoman and active suffragette who was significant in the history of women's suffrage in the United Kingdom.
Early life
Marg ...
, political campaigner and businesswoman (born 1883)
* 26 August – Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams, (; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...
, British composer (born 1872)
* 25 September – Henry Arthur Evans, Welsh Conservative politician (born 1898)
* 2 October – Marie Stopes
Marie Charlotte Carmichael Stopes (15 October 1880 – 2 October 1958) was a British author, palaeobotanist and campaigner for eugenics and women's rights. She made significant contributions to plant palaeontology and coal classification, ...
, birth control advocate, suffragette and palaeontologist (born 1880)
* 17 October – Charlie Townsend
Charles Lucas Townsend (7 November 1876 – 17 October 1958) was a Gloucestershire cricketer. An all-round cricketer, Townsend was classically stylish, left-handed batsman, who was able to hit well despite his slender build. His off-side strok ...
, English cricketer (born 1876)
* 24 October – G. E. Moore
George Edward Moore (4 November 1873 – 24 October 1958) was an English philosopher, who with Bertrand Russell, Ludwig Wittgenstein and earlier Gottlob Frege was among the founders of analytic philosophy. He and Russell led the turn from ideal ...
, philosopher, author of ''Principia Ethica
''Principia Ethica'' is a 1903 book by the British philosopher G. E. Moore, in which the author insists on the indefinability of "good" and provides an exposition of the naturalistic fallacy. ''Principia Ethica'' was influential, and Moore's a ...
'' (born 1873)
* 28 October – Stephen Butterworth, physicist and engineer (born 1885)
* 30 October – Rose Macaulay
Dame Emilie Rose Macaulay, (1 August 1881 – 30 October 1958) was an English writer, most noted for her award-winning novel ''The Towers of Trebizond'', about a small Anglo-Catholic group crossing Turkey by camel. The story is seen as a spiritua ...
, novelist (born 1881)
* 24 November – Lord Robert Cecil
Edgar Algernon Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 1st Viscount Cecil of Chelwood, (14 September 1864 – 24 November 1958), known as Lord Robert Cecil from 1868 to 1923,As the younger son of a Marquess, Cecil held the courtesy title of "Lord". However, he ...
, English politician and diplomat, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemi ...
(born 1864)
* 30 November – Gareth Jones, actor (born 1925)
* 2 December – Alan McKibbin
Colonel Alan John McKibbin (2 February 1892 – 2 December 1958) was a Northern Irish company director and politician. After serving in the First World War, he later took charge of the Army Cadet Force in Northern Ireland, and also ran the famil ...
, Northern Irish politician (born 1892)
See also
* 1958 in British music
This is a summary of 1958 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.
Events
* 24 January – Paul McCartney makes his first appearance at The Cavern Club in Liverpool with The Quarrymen.
*5 February – Michae ...
* 1958 in British television
* List of British films of 1958
A list of films produced in the United Kingdom in 1958 (see 1958 in film):
1958
See also
* 1958 in British music
* 1958 in British television
* 1958 in the United Kingdom
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:British Films Of 19 ...
References
{{Year in Europe, 1958
Years of the 20th century in the United Kingdom