Early 20th Century Nottingham (1900 – 1949)

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1900

The three circular wards of the Jubilee Wing at the General Hospital were opened

19 May 1900

Mafeking celebrations took place in Nottingham

24 May 1900

Victoria Station opened in the centre of Nottingham on the new Great Central Railway

17 December 1900

Forest House was opened as the new Children’s Hospital by the Duchess of Portland

1 January 1901

The first electric tram route ran between Sherwood and the Market Place

1 January 1901

Lady Bay Bridge was opened

22 January 1901

Queen Victoria died at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight

25 January 1901

King Edward VII proclaimed by the Mayor

11 July 1901

Vernon Park was opened

23 July 1901

Electric trams replaced horse trams on the recently extended tramline to Bulwell

25 July 1901

The Victoria Embankment opened

21 October 1901

Electric trams replaced horse trams on the Trent Bridge tram route

21 February 1902

Electric trams started running on the new Market Place to St Ann’s Well Road route

13 May 1902

The new Market Place to Mapperley tramline opened

30 June 1902

A Coronation bonfire was held on Mapperley Plains at 10pm; a nationally agreed time

7 July 1902

Public service commenced on the new Nottingham Road tramline

30 September 1902

Public service commenced on the new Lenton tramline via Castle Boulevard, Lenton Boulevard and Radford Boulevard

8 November 1902

The new Wilford Road tramline started public service

22 January 1903

John Philip Sousa and his band visited Nottingham

18 March 1903

The official opening of the Bagthorpe Workhouse and Infirmary

28 May 1903

The Midlands Industrial Exhibition opened at Trent Bridge

17 January 1904

Nottingham’s new Midland Station opened on Carrington Street

4 July 1904

The Midland Counties Industrial Exhibition was destroyed by fire

28 July 1905

Queen Victoria’s statue was unveiled in the Market Place by the Duke of Portland

5 August 1905

Whitehall’s tenement factory, on Wollaton Street, was destroyed by fire

6 November 1905

General William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, was made a Freeman of the City

22 April 1906

The first Albert Hall was destroyed by fire

30 May 1906

The Bath and West Show was held at Wollaton Park

12 September 1906

The Suspension Bridge over the River Trent at Nottingham opened

15 September 1906

King Edward VII made a private visit to Lord Middleton at Wollaton Hall

27 February 1907

Nottingham artist Dudley Dexter Watkins was born; he illustrated classics, but is best known for memorable cartoon characters in D. C. Thompson’s comics such as Lord Snooty, Biffo the Bear and Desperate Dan

14 March 1907

The new tram service commenced between the Market Place and Colwick Road

20 August 1907

Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club won the County Cricket Championship

1908

The first public phone box was installed in Theatre Square

1908

Nottingham Castle gatehouse and parapets were restored and given new dressings and slate roofs

1908

Bartons began their Nottingham to Long Eaton bus service

4 February 1908

Nottingham YMCA set up the country’s first ever Scout troop; 1st Nottingham YMCA Scouts, following a visit from the Scouting movement founder Robert Baden-Powell

17 February 1908

The first motor taxi appeared in Nottingham

16 October 1908

The Suffragettes held a demonstration in Nottingham

3 November 1908

The two foresters with longbows supporting the shield on the Nottingham Coat of Arms were considered unsatisfactory and were changed to two stags

1 January 1909

The first payment of Government Old Age Pension was made

17 March 1909

The new Albert Hall was opened

9 November 1909

Jesse Boot was knighted

1 February 1910

The Nottingham Labour Exchange opened

24 March 1910

Nottingham’s first purpose built cinema, the Victoria Electric Palace, opened on Milton Street

3 May 1910

Bulwell municipal golf course opened

3 September 1910

Notts County’s Meadow Lane ground was opened

30 September 1910

Paul de Lesseps landed the first aeroplane to visit Nottingham at Colwick

30 September 1910

The world’s first aerial press photograph was taken over Nottingham

29 October 1910

The inaugural recital took place on the City Organ at the Albert Hall, donated by Sir Jesse Boot

7 November 1910

Major R S Baden Powell came to a Boy Scout demonstration in the city

3/4 December 1910

There were great floods in Nottingham and district, the highest levels since 1875

16 December 1910

The new Carlton Road tramline started public service

28 January 1911

John Philip Sousa’s band played at the Albert Hall

22 June 1911

Coronation celebrations for King George V and Queen Mary took place in Nottingham

6 December 1911

International rugby was played at Meadow Lane; England 5 points Australasians 3 points

13 March 1912

The Eye Infirmary opened on the Ropewalk

16 November 1912

New City Scout’s headquarters were opened by Lieutenant General Sir R. S. Baden Powell

1913

Nottingham had seven cinemas

11 January 1913

The great blizzard; trade, traffic and sport was abandoned

12 Februay 1913

Windows were smashed and pillar boxes attacked by Suffragists in Nottingham

12 May 1913

Nottingham Boat Club premises were burnt down by Suffragettes

7 June 1913

Nottingham Britannia Rowing Club’s new boat house was opened

10 July 1913

A Davis Cup Lawn Tennis Tournament took place in the Park

28 July 1913

There was wild disorder at a Suffragist meeting in the Market Place

11 August 1913

The Reform Club opened in the city

11 November 1913

Commander Evans, of Scott’s Antarctic Expedition, lectured in the city

1914

Nottingham was now a city of a quarter of a million people

15 January 1914

The Nottingham to Ripley tram route opened

20 February 1914

The Amateur Billiard Championship final was held in Nottingham

14 June 1914

The Carlton Road tram route was extended through to Carlton

24 June 1914

King George V and Queen Mary visited the city

28 June 1914

The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria lead to the start of the First World War

10 August 1914

The ‘Robin Hoods’ regiment left from Nottingham Midland Station for war service

25 September 1914

The Derby Road tram route was completed and public service commenced

5 October 1914

The first contingent of wounded soldiers arrived at Nottingham General Hospital

1 January 1915

Public service started on the Arnold extension of the Sherwood tram route

12 July 1915

The Booth Memorial Hall was opened on King Edward Street

19 August 1915

The first sod was cut for the National Projectile Factory (ROF) in the Meadows

October 1915

The first female tram conductresses was employed

27 May 1916

The first 6 inch shells were produced by the National Projectile Factory (later the R.O.F. – Royal Ordnance Factory) in the Meadows

23 September 1916

There was a Zeppelin air raid on Nottingham; three people were killed and a number of buildings, including the Walter Fountain, were damaged

16 December 1916

King George V made a wartime visit to local munitions factories

19 February 1917

Freedom of the City was given to Flight Commander Albert Ball

7 May 1917

First World War pilot Captain Albert Ball was killed in action over France

8 June 1917

The Victoria Cross was awarded posthumously to Captain Albert Ball

23 January 1918

The Annual Conference of the Labour Party was held in Nottingham’s Albert Hall

11 November 1918

Germany agreed to a cease fire bringing an end to the First World War

1919

Raleigh was the largest cycle works in the world, producing about 100,000 cycles a year

1919

The Nottingham City Police force recruited its first female constable

1919

Brough Superior began making motorcycles in its factory on Haydn Road

1919

Harry and Alfred Wheatcroft established the Nottingham horticultural firm of Wheatcroft Brothers

1919

The Women’s Hospital moved from Castle Gate to new purpose-built premises on Peel Street

5 May 1919

The City Council agreed to buy sites at Sherwood and Stockhill for housing

19 July 1919

The Sherwood Foresters and the ‘Robin Hoods’ returned to Nottingham

12 February 1920

A Borough Extension enquiry was opened by the Ministry of Health

22 August 1921

The Elite Cinema, Upper Parliament Street, was opened by the Mayor

14 June 1922

The foundation stone of East Midlands University was laid

5 August 1922

Valley Road was opened

1923

Highfields Park was partly opened to the public

4 April 1924

A H Whipple was appointed the city’s first Director of Education

1 September 1924

Nottingham City Council purchased Wollaton Hall and Park for £200,000

16 September 1924

Nottingham Broadcasting Relay Station was opened; one of the country’s first local radio stations, Radio 5 NG, broadcast from Bridlesmith Gate in Nottingham

24 April 1925

The Nottingham Palais de Dance opened

17 September 1925

The first section of Wilford Power Station opened

5 October 1925

The City Council decided to buy the Lenton Abbey estate for £20,000

2 April 1926

A widened portion of Trent Bridge was opened, making the bridge 80ft wide

12 April 1926

A farewell dinner was held as Nottingham City Council met for the last time in the old Exchange

4 May 1926

The General Strike began

22 May 1926

Wollaton Park was opened to the public

7 June 1926

The Woodborough Road tram route was extended from the city boundary to Westdale Lane

15 June 1926

Demolition began of the old Exchange in the Market Place

1926

Highfields Park was fully opened to the public

1926

Local artist Arthur Spooner painted his well known canvas of Nottingham’s Goose Fair

28 October 1926

Wollaton Hall Museum was opened by the Mayor

22 January 1927

A telephone service opened between Nottingham and the United States of America

17 March 1927

The foundation stone of the new Exchange (Council House) was laid

10 April 1927

The first trolley bus ran on the Nottingham Road route to Basford

16 April 1927

The Derby Road tram route was extended from Gregory Street to Wollaton Park Gates

30 April 1927

The new Player Wing of Nottingham’s Children’s Hospital was opened by Princess Mary

6-8 October 1927

The last Goose Fair was held in the Old Market Square before moving to the Forest

11 November 1927

The War Memorial Arch was opened on Victoria Embankment

4 March 1928

The author Alan Sillitoe was born in Nottingham

6 March 1928

Watson Fothergill, an architect in Nottingham from 1870 to 1912, died and was buried in the Church Cemetery on Mansfield Road. Christened Fothergill Watson, he changed his name to Watson Fothergill by deed poll in 1892. Watson designed over 100 unique buildings in Nottingham, in a characteristic Victorian Gothic revival style

2 April 1928

The new layout of the Market Place was approved

10 April 1928

The last execution in Nottingham took place

10 July 1928

King George V and Queen Mary opened the new University College buildings at Highfields

30 July 1928

King George V made the Chief City Magistrate Lord Mayor instead of Mayor

31 October 1928

Nottingham’s radio station, 5NG, closed down

21 November 1928

The new Central ‘Covered’ Market was opened

28 February 1929

Sir Jesse Boot was elevated to a peerage

4 March 1929

Tollerton municipal aerodrome scheme was adopted by Nottingham City Council

22 May 1929

Nottingham’s new Exchange (the Council House) was opened by the Duke of Windsor, then Prince of Wales

24 June 1929

The first ‘talkies’ in Nottingham were shown at the Elite Cinema

1 July 1929

Nottingham City Council met for the first time in the new Council House

27 July 1929

Tollerton municipal aerodrome was opened

31 July 1929

Nuthall Temple was demolished

3 September 1929

Nottinghamshire won the County Cricket Championship

6 November 1929

The Women’s Hospital on Peel Street was opened

6 June 1930

Professor Albert Einstein lectured at Nottingham’s University College (now the University of Nottingham)

9 July 1930

The National Rose Show opened in the Arboretum

6 October 1930

The city accepted Sir Julien Cahn’s gift of Newstead Abbey

1931

A Nottingham company started to produce the award winning pork pies that went on to be known nationally as Pork Farms pork pies

16 July 1931

Newstead Abbey was handed over to the city by the Prime Minister of Greece

17 October 1931

Mahatma Gandhi made a brief visit to lecture in Nottingham

9 November 1931

The first woman elected to hold the office of Sheriff of Nottingham was Councillor Mrs C M Harper

1932

The first radio message was sent from a police car in Nottingham

1932

Nottingham City Police force was the first in the country to introduce walkie-talkie radios

1932

Parliament Street and Huntingdon Street in the city centre were widened to ease traffic congestion

1932

The Nottingham City Police force opened the first forensic science laboratory in a provincial police force

16 May 1932

Nottingham was hit by the worst floods for forty years, traffic at Midland Station was suspended

21 November 1932

Western Boulevard opened, costing £250,000

1933

The Ritz Cinema on Angel Row was completed

6 February 1933

Comedian and television entertainer Leslie Crowther was born in West Bridgford, Nottingham

27 April 1933

Nottingham’s Jessop & Son department store was taken over by the John Lewis Partnership to become its first store outside of London

1 April 1933

The city boundary was extended to include Bilborough and Wollaton, parts of the parishes of Bestwood Park and Colwick, and part Beeston. The population of the city increased by more than 8,000

10 April 1933

10,000 people welcomed Harold Larwood home from the Australian cricket tour

27 July 1933

Boots new factory was opened by Lady Trent

12 July 1934

Freedom of the City was given to J. D. and W. G. Player

13 October 1934

Gigli, the world famous tenor, appeared at the Albert Hall

22 November 1934

Nottingham Police laboratories were placed on a national base

1935

Boots expanded into beauty products and launched its No 7 range of cosmetics

9 February 1935

Thomas Hammond, Nottingham lace designer and artist, died and was buried at Wilford Church. Thomas won several awards for his lace work and in his spare time he sketched the rapidly changing landscape of Nottingham. Nottingham City Council owns one of the largest collections of his work

22 February 1935

Paul Robeson sang at Nottingham’s Albert Hall

27 February 1935

A phone was presented to the Lord Mayor to mark the one millionth installation in the North Midlands

6 May 1935

King George V Silver Jubilee celebrations took place in Nottingham

6 September 1936

The last journey was made by the old Nottingham trams; Daybrook Square to Carter Gate depot

5 October 1936

Tollerton Airport extension was approved; an extra 486 acres

14 December 1936

King George VI was proclaimed in Nottingham’s Market Square

30 April 1937

Amalgamation took place of six Nottingham pits (Babbington, Bestwood, Bulwell, Cinderhill, Gedling and New London)

13 May 1937

King Geoge VI Coronation celebrations took place; they had been postponed from 12 May due to rain

29 July 1937

Swimming pools were opened at Bulwell and Carrington

2 August 1937

The Metropole Cinema opened in Sherwood

4 August 1937

Tom Blower swam the English Channel in 13 hours 29 minutes and 24.1 seconds

18 August 1937

A Civic welcome was held for the English Channel swimmer, Tom Blower

9 September 1937

Nottingham’s Children’s Library opened

2 November 1937

The new Labour Exchange was formally opened on Castle Boulevard

24 November 1937

The Sir J. M. Barrie memorial tablet was placed on the old Nottingham Journal office, Victoria Street

16 June 1938

The new Wholesale Market opened in Sneinton

14 November 1938

The first mud wrestling was held in Nottingham

10 April 1939

Nottingham Ice Stadium was officially opened

1 September 1939

Germany invaded Poland, leading to declarations of war on Germany by the United Kingdom and France

16 October 1939

The Carlton Cinema (ABC) was opened on Chapel Bar

1 February 1940

The City Council agreed to allow cinemas to open on Sundays

8/9 May 1941

Nottingham’s only major air raid in World War II took place

3 March 1943

King George VI and Queen Elizabeth made their one and only visit to the city

1944

The Ritz Cinema on Angel Row was renamed the Odeon

1945

Nottingham and District Technical College was founded, later to become part of Nottingham Trent University

2 September 1945

The formal surrender of Japan finally brought the Second World War to an end

1946

The Nottingham Co-op brought a chapel on George Street, where it founded the Co-operative Arts Theatre

June 1946

The first Information Bureau office opened in the city

18 July 1946

Freedom of Entry (the corporate equivalent of Freedom of the City) was conferred on the Sherwood Foresters and the South Nottinghamshire Hussars

22 November 1946

The Nottingham Panthers professional ice hockey club played their first competitive game

20 August 1948

The University of Nottingham received its Royal Charter

November 1948

Nottingham Playhouse, one of the country’s leading producing theatres, was founded in an old cinema on Goldsmith Street

26 June 1949

The start of Nottingham’s Quincentenary Week, celebrating the Charter of 1449

28 June 1949

The Quincentenary visit of Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh took place

7 November 1949

Su Pollard, the actor, was born in Radford, Nottingham

Continue to Late 20th Century Nottingham (1950 – 1999)

 

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If you want to know more about Nottingham’s past there is further information in ‘Events and dates in Nottingham’s history’ and through these websites:

The Nottinghamshire Heritage Gateway

The Thoroton Society of Nottinghamshire

Nottingham Local Studies Library