1961 in the United Kingdom

none May 2020 January 2013 1961 Constituent countries of the United Kingdom Northern Ireland Scotland Wales Popular culture 1961 British Grand Prix 1961 English cricket season Football: England Scotland 1961 in British television 1961 in British music 1961 in British radio UK in the Eurovision Song Contest 1961 thumb|right Events from the year 1961 in the United Kingdom. Incumbents Monarch – Elizabeth II Prime Minister – Harold Macmillan (Conservative) Events January–March 1 January The farthing coin, used since the thirteenth century, ceases to be legal tender in the United Kingdom. The Conservative Monday Club is established.Andrew Andrew Marr Marr A History of Modern Britain London Macmillan 2007 978-1-4050-0538-8 189 Betting and Gaming Act 1960 comes into force, permitting operation of commercial bingo halls. 7 January Members of the Soviet Portland spy ring are arrested in London (and charged 2 days later). The Avengers television series first screened on ITV. 16 January – 12-year-old Linda Smith is murdered in Essex.2013-08-27 Police appeal to killer of 1961 schoolgirl Linda Smith https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-suffolk-23853588 2026-09-29 BBC News en-GB 5 February – The Sunday Telegraph newspaper first published.Penguin Pocket On This Day Penguin Reference Library 0-14-102715-0 2006 9 February – The Beatles at The Cavern Club: Lunchtime – The Beatles perform under this name at The Cavern Club for the first time following their return to Liverpool from Hamburg, George Harrison's first appearance at the venue. On 21 March they begin regular performances here; in June/July Stu Sutcliffe leaves the group; and on 9 November their future manager Brian Epstein sees them for the first time at The Cavern. 19 February – Police break up a demonstration outside the Belgian embassy in London protesting about the murder of the ex-Congolese Prime Minister, Patrice Lumumba.https://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/19/newsid_2748000/2748931.stm Lumumba rally clashes with UK police BBC News 10 February 2008 19 February 1961 https://web.archive.org/web/20080307120001/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/19/newsid_2748000/2748931.stm 7 March 2008 live 8 March – Edwin Bush is arrested in London for the capital stabbing of Mrs. Elsie May Batten (for which he will be convicted and hanged). He is the first British criminal identified by the Identikit facial composite system. 9 March – "Water towers" speech: The Minister of Health, Enoch Powell, in a speech to a Conservative Party conference, proposes closing down of large, traditional psychiatric hospitals in favour of more community-based care.1960s http://nhstimeline.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/1960s.html dead https://web.archive.org/web/20170823092355/http://nhstimeline.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/1960s.html 2017-08-23 2018-08-14 NHS Timeline Nuffield Trust 13 March The five members of the Portland spy ring go on trial at the Old Bailey accused of passing nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union.https://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/13/newsid_4059000/4059209.stm Five Britons accused of spying for Moscow BBC News 10 February 2008 13 March 1961 https://web.archive.org/web/20080305070355/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/13/newsid_4059000/4059209.stm 5 March 2008 live Black and white £5 notes cease to be legal tender. 15 March – The Jaguar E-Type, a sports car capable of reaching speeds of 150 mph, is launched as a two-seater roadster or 2+2 coupé (at the Geneva Motor Show).https://www.expressandstar.com/days/1950-75/1961.html 1961 Those were the days Express & Star 30 March 2012 On 3 April it makes its racing debut by winning at Oulton Park. 20 March – Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, becomes the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and its company the Royal Shakespeare Company (Peter Hall (director)).http://www.rsc.org.uk/about-us/history-key-dates.aspx Key Dates Royal Shakespeare Company 2010 30 June 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20100616162051/http://www.rsc.org.uk/about-us/history-key-dates.aspx 16 June 2010 dead April–June 1 April – The schoolboy character Winker Watson is introduced in The Dandy comic. 17 April – Tottenham Hotspur win the Football League First Division for the second time, with a 2–1 win over Sheffield Wednesday, an achievement they do not repeat.http://www.tottenhamhotspur-mad.co.uk/footydb/loadgen.asp?Day=17&Month=Apr&ssnno=90&teamno=527 English Premier League 1960/1961 Tottenham Hotspur Mad 2 March 2011 26 July 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20110726100008/http://www.tottenhamhotspur-mad.co.uk/footydb/loadgen.asp?Day=17&Month=Apr&ssnno=90&teamno=527 dead 27 April – Sierra Leone gains independence from the UK.https://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/27/newsid_2502000/2502411.stm Sierra Leone wins independence BBC News 10 February 2008 27 April 1961 https://web.archive.org/web/20080307120041/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/27/newsid_2502000/2502411.stm 7 March 2008 live 1 May Betting shops become legal under terms of the Betting and Gaming Act 1960.Palmer Alan Palmer Veronica 1992 The Chronology of British History Century Ltd London 0-7126-5616-2 A fire at the Top Storey Club in Bolton results in nineteen deaths.Bolton Evening News, 2 May 1961. A new Licensing Act is rapidly passed to improve fire safety. 2 May – The United Kingdom becomes a member of the OECD.http://www.oecd.org/document/58/0,3343,en_2649_201185_1889402_1_1_1_1,00.html Ratification of the Convention on the OECD 14 September 2009 https://web.archive.org/web/20070624222844/http://www.oecd.org/document/58/0,3343,en_2649_201185_1889402_1_1_1_1,00.html 24 June 2007 live 6 May – Tottenham Hotspur becomes the first English football team this century, and only the third in history, to win the double of the league title and FA Cup, with a 2–0 victory over Leicester City in the FA Cup Final.http://www.tottenhamhotspur-mad.co.uk/footydb/loadtmrs.asp?ssnno=90&teamno=527 Tottenham Hotspur results 1960/1961 Tottenham Hotspur Mad 2 March 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20111001145228/http://www.tottenhamhotspur-mad.co.uk/footydb/loadtmrs.asp?ssnno=90&teamno=527 1 October 2011 dead (The last previous team to achieve this were Aston Villa in 1897.) 8 May – George Blake is sentenced to 42 years imprisonment for spying, having been found guilty of being a double agent in the pay of the Soviet Union, the longest non-life sentence ever handed down by a British court. 17 May – Consecration of Guildford Cathedral.A Factual Guide to Guildford Cathedral Anita Basset 1963 28 May – Peter Benenson's article "The Forgotten Prisoners" is published in several internationally read newspapers. This will later be thought of as the founding of the human rights organisation Amnesty International. 8 June – Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, marries Katharine Worsley at York Minster. 14 June – The Government unveils new "panda" crossings with push button controls for pedestrians, due to concerns about the increasing volume of traffic. The new crossings first appear on British streets in April 1962.https://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/14/newsid_3044000/3044335.stm Panda replaces zebra at road crossing BBC News 14 June 1961 30 March 2012 19 June – The British protectorate ends in Kuwait and it becomes an emirate. 27 June Michael Ramsey enthroned as the hundredth Archbishop of Canterbury, in succession to Geoffrey Fisher. Kuwait requests help from the UK and British troops are sent. July–September 4 July – Barclays open their "No. 1 Computer Centre" in Drummond Street, London, with an EMI mainframe computer, Britain's first bank with an in-house computing centre.The Computer Centre Opens Spread Eagle 1961 252 8 July – At an all-British women's final to The Championships, Wimbledon in tennis, Angela Mortimer beats Christine Truman.Dramatic End to Britain's Memorable Wimbledon The Times London 10 July 1961 3 21 July – The Runcorn Widnes Bridge (later known as the Silver Jubilee Bridge) over the River Mersey opened by Princess Alexandra. 25 July The Government calls for a voluntary "pay pause" in wage increases (continuing to April 1962). The Lancashire-set film Whistle Down the Wind, starring Hayley Mills and Alan Bates, opens. 3 August – Suicide Act 1961 decriminalises acts of, or attempts at suicide in England and Wales. 10 August – The UK applies for membership of the EEC. 16 August – The play Lady Chatterley by John Harte – based on D. H. Lawrence's novel – opens at the Arts Theatre in London and is well-reviewed by West End theatre critic Harold Hobson. 19–20 August – Race riots in Middlesbrough.Panikos Panayi Middlesbrough 1961: A British race riot of the 1960s? Social History May 1991 151 21 August – Goya's Portrait of the Duke of Wellington is stolen from the National Gallery in London, three weeks after first going on display there, intended as ransom in Kempton Bunton's campaign for free television licences for pensioners. It is returned 4 years later. 23 August – Police launch a manhunt for the perpetrator of the A6 murder, who shot dead 36-year-old Michael Gregsten and paralysed Valerie Storie.https://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/23/newsid_3013000/3013236.stm Couple found shot in A6 lay-by BBC News 10 February 2008 23 August 1961 https://web.archive.org/web/20080307074221/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/23/newsid_3013000/3013236.stm 7 March 2008 live 25 August – Murder of Jacqueline Thomas: Police in Birmingham launch a murder inquiry after the strangled body of a missing teenager is found on an allotment in the Alum Rock area of the city. The probable murderer is not identified until 2007 but cannot be tried.http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Did+this+man+escape+justice+for+Jackie's+murder%3F+FROM+THE+ARCHIVES.-a0227929015 Did this man escape justice for Jackie's murder? Mark Cowan Trinity Mirror Birmingham Mail 3 June 2010 18 February 2012 31 August – Premiere of the film Victim, notable as the first in English to use the word "homosexual".Intelligent Film on Homosexuality 30 August 1961 11 http://archive.timesonline.co.uk/tol/keywordsearch.arc?queryKeywords=Intelligent+Film+On+Homosexuality The Times London 18 July 2010 16 July 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20110716080316/http://archive.timesonline.co.uk/tol/keywordsearch.arc?queryKeywords=Intelligent+Film+On+Homosexuality dead 4 September – James Pitman's Initial Teaching Alphabet is tested in a number of schools. 14 September Film A Taste of Honey, including themes of interracial relationship, unmarried pregnancy and homosexuality, is released. First Mothercare shop opens, as Mother-and-Child Centre in Kingston upon Thames.Special events in the development of women's equality http://www.catherineofsiena.net/about/firsts.asp Catherine of Siena Virtual College 1 February 2011 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20120319163130/http://www.catherineofsiena.net/about/firsts.asp 19 March 2012 16 September – Three people die and 35 are injured when a stand collapses during a Glasgow Rangers football match at Ibrox Park.http://www.contrast.org/hillsborough/history/worldwide.shtm Worldwide Disasters Hillsborough Football Disaster 30 March 2012 17 September – Police arrest over 1,300 protesters in Trafalgar Square during a CND rally. October–December October – Acker Bilk's clarinet instrumental "Stranger on the Shore" is released. 1 October – Religious programme Songs of Praise first broadcast on BBC Television; it will still be running sixty years later. 9 October – Skelmersdale, a small Lancashire town fifteen miles north-east of Liverpool, is designated as a new town and its population will expand over the coming years, bolstered by large council housing developments to rehouse families from inner city slums on Merseyside.http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a/records.aspx?cat=055-ntsk&cid=0&kw=Lancashire%20Record%20Office#0 Skelmersdale Development Corporation records Access to Archives The National Archives 30 March 2012 10 October – A volcanic eruption on the South Atlantic British overseas territory of Tristan da Cunha causes the island's entire population to be evacuated to Surrey, where they will remain until 1963. 25 October – The first edition of Private Eye, the satirical magazine, is published in London. 8 November – In a referendum on Sunday opening of public houses in Wales, the counties of Anglesey, Cardiganshire, Caernarfonshire, Carmarthenshire, Denbighshire, Merionethshire, Montgomeryshire and Pembrokeshire all vote to stay "dry", that is, opposed to the Sunday sale of alcohol. 9 November – At the Lyceum Theatre, London, Miss United Kingdom, Welsh-born Rosemarie Frankland, becomes the first British winner of the Miss World beauty pageant. 27 November – The RAF participates in air drops of food to flood victims in Somalia.https://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/27/newsid_3230000/3230711.stm RAF flies aid to flood-stricken Somalia BBC News 10 February 2008 27 November 1961 https://web.archive.org/web/20080307120024/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/27/newsid_3230000/3230711.stm 7 March 2008 live 4 December – Birth control pills become available to married women on the NHS after their availability is backed by Health Minister Enoch Powell.https://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/4/newsid_3228000/3228207.stm Birth control pill available to all BBC News 10 February 2008 4 December 1961 https://web.archive.org/web/20080307120134/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/4/newsid_3228000/3228207.stm 7 March 2008 live 9 December – Tanganyika gains independence from the United Kingdom.Tanzania. The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 10 February 2008. Undated Park Hill Flats, Sheffield, opened.Elain Harwood England: a Guide to Post-War Listed Buildings rev. London Batsford 2003 0-7134-8818-2 Release of short documentary film Seawards the Great Ships, which will be the first Scottish film to win an Academy Award. Publications Agatha Christie's novel The Pale Horse. Ian Fleming's James Bond novel Thunderball. Richard Hughes' novel The Fox in the Attic. John le Carré's first novel Call for the Dead, introducing the character George Smiley. Iris Murdoch's novel A Severed Head. Muriel Spark's short novel The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. Derek Tangye's first novel Gull on the Roof, first of The Minack Chronicles.The Minack Chronicles https://minack.info/Home.html 2022-07-16 Evelyn Waugh's novel Unconditional Surrender, last of the Sword of Honour trilogy. Raymond Williams's cultural history The Long Revolution. Parker Morris Committee's report Homes for Today and Tomorrow. Births January–April 1 January Fiona Phillips, journalist and television presenter Mark Wingett, British actor 2 January – Neil Dudgeon, English actor 6 January – Peter Whittle, British politician, author, journalist and broadcaster10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U287927 Whittle, Peter Robin Who's Who 2016 Whittle, Peter Robin, (Born 6 Jan. 1961), author, journalist and broadcaster; Member (UK Ind), London Assembly, Greater London Authority, since 2016 (Leader, UK Independent Group, since 2016); Founder and Director, New Culture Forum, since 2006 8 January – Keith Arkell, English chess player 11 January – Jasper Fforde, fantasy novelist 12 January Sean Blowers, actor Simon Russell Beale, actor, born in Malaysia 13 January Wayne Marshall, musician Suggs, British ska singer (Madness) 16 January – Peter Tanfield, concert violinist 18 January – Peter Beardsley, English footballer and football coach 19 January – Wayne Hemingway, English designer 20 January – Janey Godley, Scottish comedian and writer (died 2024) 27 January – Gillian Gilbert, new wave keyboard player 31 January – Lloyd Cole, English rock singer-songwriter 14 February – Alison Saunders, Director of Public Prosecutions (England and Wales) 16 February – Andy Taylor, English rock guitarist and musician (Duran Duran) 17 February Angela Eagle, politician, Shadow Leader of the House of Commons Maria Eagle, politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Transport 19 February – Justin Fashanu, black British footballer (suicide 1998) 20 February – Imogen Stubbs, British actress 24 February – John Grogan, British Labour politician 1 March – Michael Sundin, trampolinist and television presenter (died 1989) 3 March – Fatima Whitbread, British javelin thrower and Olympic medallistFatima WHITBREAD Profile World Athletics https://worldathletics.org/athletes/great-britain-ni/fatima-whitbread-14351668 worldathletics.org 31 March 2022 12 March – Betty Sworowski, English racewalker 14 March – Marc Koska, English businessman and inventor 22 March Simon Furman, comic book writerInterview with Simon Furman at http://www.bwtf.com. Accessed on 22 May 2020. Giles Worsley, English architectural historian (died 2006) 26 March – William Hague, British statesman 27 March – Ellery Hanley, English rugby league footballer and coach 29 March – Michael Winterbottom, British filmmaker 1 April Susan Boyle, Scottish singer Edward Dutkiewicz, British visual artist (died 2007) 3 April – Edward Highmore, English actor 6 April – Rory Bremner, impressionist, comedian and playwright 10 April – Nicky Campbell, broadcaster 11 April – Nigel Pulsford, rock guitarist and musician (Bush) 14 April – Robert Carlyle, Scottish actor 16 April – Linda Ruth Williams, film studies academic 17 April – Bella Freud, British fashion designer and columnist 18 April – Jane Leeves, English-born actress 19 April – Richard Phelps, English pentathlete 20 April – Nicholas Lyndhurst, English actor 28 April – Grenville Davey, English sculptor May–August 2 May Steve James, English snooker player Phil Vickery, celebrity chef 4 May Jay Aston, English pop singer Chris Packham, naturalist and television presenter 7 May – Sue Black, forensic anthropologist 8 May – Janet McTeer, actress 12 May – Billy Duffy, English hard rock guitarist (The Cult) 14 May Ian Blackford, Scottish politician Tim Roth, English actor 15 May – Katrin Cartlidge, actress (died 2002) 20 May – Clive Allen, footballer 28 May – Roland Gift, rock singer (Fine Young Cannibals) 30 May – Harry Enfield, English comedian 3 June – Ed Wynne, psychedelic rock guitarist (Ozric Tentacles) 5 June – Rosie Kane, member of Scottish Parliament 6 June – George Mountbatten, 4th Marquess of Milford Haven, English polo player and businessman 10 June – Maxi Priest, born Max Elliott, reggae singer 12 June – Angie Hobbs, philosopher 13 June – Bob Crow, trade union leader (died 2014) 14 June – Boy George (O'Dowd), English new wave singer-songwriter 15 June Dave McAuley, Northern Irish boxer 17 June – Muslimgauze, ethnic electronica and experimental musician (died 1999) 18 June – Alison Moyet, English new wave singer-songwriter 22 June Stephen Batchelor, English field hockey player and coach Bobby Gillespie, Scottish singer-songwriter 24 June Iain Glen, Scottish actor Curt Smith, pop-rock singer-songwriter-keyboardist 25 June – Ricky Gervais, English comedian 26 June – Margaret McDonagh, Baroness McDonagh, politician (died 2023) 27 June Meera Syal, comic actress and writer Tim Whitnall, English playwright, screenwriter and actor 1 July Diana, Princess of Wales, (died 1997)Diana, princess of Wales https://www.britannica.com/biography/Diana-princess-of-Wales Encyclopedia Britannica 26 June 2020 en Ivan Kaye, English actor 3 July – Suzanne Dando, English Olympic gymnast 5 July – Gareth Jones, Welsh television presenter 8 July – Andy Fletcher, English musician (died 2022) 10 July Carol Anne Davis, Scottish crime writer Ian Mercer, English actor 12 July – Mark McGann, English actor, director, writer and musician 16 July – Andrew Watson, English Anglican bishop (died 2026) 17 July – Jeremy Hardy, English comedian and broadcaster (died 2019) 24 July – Vicki Pepperdine, English comedy actress and writer 26 July – David Heyman, English film producer (Heyday Films) 31 July – Frank Gardner, English journalist 3 August – Nick Harvey, English politician 5 August – Janet McTeer, English actress 7 August Brian Conley, English comedian, television presenter, singer and actor Walter Swinburn, English flat racing jockey and trainer (died 2016) 8 August The Edge (David Howell Evans), rock guitarist Simon Weston, Welsh war hero 12 August – Lawrence (Hayward), alternative rock musician 16 August Saskia Reeves, actress Angela Smith, academic and politician 18 August – Huw Edwards,Former Welsh television journalist and Former news presenter 20 August – Joe Pasquale, English comedian 22 August Iain Coucher, English businessman Roland Orzabal, English singer-songwriter (Tears for Fears) 23 August – Gary Mabbutt, footballer 24 August – Jared Harris, English actor 29 August – Dale Vince, green energy industrialist September–December 7 September – Kevin Kennedy, actor 13 September – Tom Holt, author 20 September – Caroline Flint, English Labour politician 22 September – Liam Fox, Conservative politician, Defence Secretary 24 September – Jack Dee, comedian 25 September – Steve Scott, journalist and presenter 26 September – Will Self, English novelist, reviewer and columnist 29 September – Julia Gillard, Welsh-born Prime Minister of Australia 30 September – Mel Stride, English Conservative politician 9 October – Julian Bailey, Formula 1 driver 10 October – Martin Kemp, actor and musician 11 October – Neil Buchanan, English television presenter 13 October – Rachel De Thame, English gardener and television presenter 14 October – Jim Burns, British science-fiction illustrator 16 October – Paul Vaessen, English footballer (died 2001) 19 October – Jayne-Anne Gadhia, businesswoman 20 October – Ian Rush, Welsh footballer and football manager 25 October – Pat Sharp, English radio DJ November – Sarah Holland, romantic novelist, actress and singer 3 November – David Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon, chairman of Christie's U.K. auction house 4 November – Nigel Worthington, Northern Irish footballer and football manager 9 November Jill Dando, television newsreader (murdered 1999)Jill Dando Jill Dando murder https://www.theguardian.com/news/1999/apr/27/guardianobituaries.jilldando The Guardian 27 April 2021 Jackie Kay, Scottish poet and novelist 16 November – Frank Bruno, British boxer 18 November – Steven Moffat, Scottish screenwriter 20 November – Dave Watson, English footballer 22 November – Stephen Hough, classical pianist 25 November – Simon Fisher-Becker, actor 26 November Karan Bilimoria, Baron Bilimoria, British Asian entrepreneur and university chancellor Helen Browning, farmer 28 November – Martin Clunes, actor 4 December – Gerard Woodward, British novelist and poet 5 December – Laura Flanders, British-born American journalist 11 December – Marco Pierre White, chef and restaurateur 12 December Philip Parkin, Welsh golfer Sarah Sutton, British actress 19 December – Matthew Waterhouse, British actor 20 December – Keith Brown, Scottish politician 23 December – Carol Smillie, Scottish television presenter 24 December – Simon Woolley, Baron Woolley of Woodford, political activist and life peer 28 December – Helen Newlove, Baroness Newlove, community activist and life peer (died 2025) 29 December – Jim Reid, Scottish alternative rock singer-songwriter 31 December Sharon Gibson, English javelin thrower Jeremy Heywood, Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Home Civil Service (died 2018) Unknown dates Sexton Ming, British artist, poet and musician Winsome Pinnock, black British playwright Deaths 26 January – Stan Nichols, English cricketer (born 1900) 30 January – John Duncan Fergusson, Scottish Colourist painter (born 1874) 4 February – Sir Philip Game, British Army officer, colonial governor and police officer (born 1876) 6 February – Lawrence Dundas, 2nd Marquess of Zetland, English politician (born 1876) 6 March – George Formby, Lancashire comic singer and performer (born 1904) 8 March – Sir Thomas Beecham, English orchestral conductor (born 1879) 12 March Victor d'Arcy, English sprinter (born 1887) Belinda Lee, English screen actress, killed in automobile accident in the United States (born 1935) 18 March – E. Arnot Robertson, English novelist (born 1903) 7 April – Vanessa Bell, English artist and interior designer, member of the Bloomsbury Group (born 1879) 9 April – Oliver Onions (George Oliver), English novelist and ghost story writer (born 1873) 10 April – Sir John Hope Simpson, English public servant and politician (born 1868)Roger T. Stearn Simpson, Sir John Hope (1868–1961) Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Oxford University Press 2004 online, January 2012 http://www.oxforddnb.com/index/77/101077017/ 12 June 2017 https://web.archive.org/web/20160914084611/http://www.oxforddnb.com/index/77/101077017/ 14 September 2016 dead dmy-all 13 April – Dickie Dale, English motorcycle road racer, died as result of racing accident in Germany (born 1927) 22 April – Joanna Cannan, English pony book writer and detective novelist (born 1896) 4 June – William Astbury, English physicist and molecular biologist (born 1898) 28 June – Huw Menai, Welsh poet (born 1886) 3 September – Richard Mason, English explorer, killed in Brazil (born 1935) 27 September – Bentley Purchase, London coroner (born 1890) 1 October – Sir William Reid Dick, Scottish sculptor (born 1879) 13 October Augustus John, Welsh painter (born 1878) John MacCormick, Scottish lawyer (born 1904) 14 October – Harriet Shaw Weaver, English political activist (born 1876) 3 November – Thomas Flynn, English Roman Catholic bishop of Lancaster (born 1880) 25 November – Adelina de Lara, English classical pianist and composer (born 1872) 2 December – Herbert Pitman, English merchant seaman, third officer on Titanic (born 1877) 24 December – Charles Hamilton, prolific English children's story writer (born 1876) See also 1961 in British music 1961 in British television List of British films of 1961 1961 United Kingdom local elections References 30em 1961 Category:Years of the 20th century in the United Kingdom Category:1961 by country Category:1960s in the United Kingdom Category:1961 in Europe