Updated UK history of Summer Time

[Peter Ilieve]

A few months ago now I received email out of the blue from
Joseph Myers <jsm28 at cam.ac.uk>. He had seen the various things
from me in the europe file and asked if I had found any of the
missing old Orders, volunteering to help with this. He has an
incomparable advantage over me in having ready access to
Cambridge University Library and in a matter of days he had
turned up most of the old Orders. A few days later and he had all
the EC directives as well. I then sat on all this for months
as I was too busy to collate it all, but this delay has had
one advantage in that I can now include the Summer Time Order
1997, which came into force on 30 December 1997. Our new legislation
is now on the web and this Order should appear soon at
http://www.hmso.gov.uk/si/si1997/97298201.htm.

If there is still room in the file for all this sort of
commentary, this mail with the list that follows could usefully replace
the emails of mine dated 1994-12-01, 1993-11-18, 1996-05-29, 1993-10-29,
1993-10-28, 1993-10-22, 1993-09-03, 1993-10-18 and 1993-09-03
(what a clearout :-).


		Peter Ilieve		peter at aldie.co.uk

---

The following list attempts to show the complete history of Summer Time
legislation in the United Kingdom, and has quite a bit to say about
the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands as well.

Things that I have not personally seen are marked (???). The problem
with finding old Orders (rather than Acts) is that nobody seems to
keep the actual documents themselves, not even the Government. They
get bound into annual volumes, which are published, but by the time
this happens the Orders are mainly spent as the years they refer
to have come and gone, so they don't get included in the annual
volumes.

Thanks are due to my learned legal friend Lorna Montgomerie, who dug out
the dusty old statutes, to Melanie Allison of the Ministry of Defence,
who provided the wartime regulations and a snippet of Hansard explaining
why double summer time started on a Monday in 1945 (it was Easter),
and to Joseph Myers <jsm28 at cam.ac.uk>, who tracked down the Orders
up to 1945 and the first five EC Directives.

Some definitions:

Great Britain: England, Scotland and Wales
United Kingdom: Great Britain plus Ireland (up to 1922) or Northern
Ireland (since 1922)
SI: Statutory Instrument, the modern name for secondary legislation
SR&O: Statutory Rules and Orders, the older name for secondary legislation

Unless otherwise specified, Acts and secondary legislation are assumed
to apply throughout the United Kingdom, but not to the Isle of Man
or the Channel Islands.

Some of the Acts and Orders I found in various libraries, and I don't
have copies. When I looked at them I was looking for dates and not things
like whether they applied to the Bailiwick of Jersey. I will try to
check these documents again.

---

- The Statutes (Definition of Time) Act, 1880

Defined Greenwich Mean Time to be the standard time in Great Britain
and Dublin Mean Time to be the standard time in Ireland, superseding
various forms of local mean time.

- The Isle of Man (War Legislation) Act, 1914

Gives the power, by Order in Council, to extend wartime legislation
to the Isle of Man.

- The Summer Time Act, 1916

Introduced Summer Time for the first time, in Great Britain and Ireland.
Specified a one hour offset from GMT (DMT in Ireland), dates of
Sunday 21 May and Sunday 1 October and times of 02:00 (GMT/DMT).
Gave a power to make Orders in subsequent years, for the duration
of the then current war.

- The Time (Ireland) Act, 1916

This abolished Dublin Mean Time at 02:00 DMT on Sunday 1 October 1916,
bringing the whole of the United Kingdom onto GMT. As Ireland was behind
GMT/BST at 02:00 DMT on 1 Oct Great Britain have already put the clocks back.
Using DST as Dublin Summer Time the sequence would have been:
Dublin        London
02:34 DST 02:59 BST
02:35 DST 02:00 GMT
02:59 DST 02:24 GMT
02:25 GMT 02:25 GMT
with the transition 03:00 DST -> 02:00 DMT -> 02:25 GMT all at once.

- SR&O 1916, No 382

An Order made under the the Isle of Man (War Legislation) Act, 1914
extending the the Summer Time Act, 1916 to the Isle of Man. Dated
23 May 1916, two days after the start of Summer Time, but it says that
the Act is deemed to have taken effect in the Isle of Man at the same
time as it took effect in the United Kingdom.

- SR&O 1917, No 362

An Order made under the the Summer Time Act, 1916 giving dates
for Summer Time in 1917 of Sunday 8 April to Monday 17 September,
both at 02:00 GMT. Note that Summer Time ends on a Monday.

- SR&O 1917, No 358

An Order made under the the Summer Time (Isle of Man) Act, 1916
(the thing created by SR&O 1916, No 382) specifying the same
dates of 8 April to 17 September, at 02:00 GMT for the Isle of Man.

- SR&O 1918, No 274

An Order made under the the Summer Time Act, 1916 giving dates
for Summer Time in 1918 of Sunday 24 March to Monday 30 September,
both at 02:00 GMT.

- SR&O 1918, No 429

The matching Isle of Man Order for 1918 with the same dates and times.

- SR&O 1919, No 297

An Order made under the the Summer Time Act, 1916 giving dates
for Summer Time in 1919 of Sunday 30 March to Monday 29 September,
both at 02:00 GMT.

- SR&O 1919, No 366

The matching Isle of Man Order for 1919 with the same dates and times.

- SR&O 1920, No 458

An Order made under the the Summer Time Act, 1916 giving dates
for Summer Time in 1920 of Sunday 28 March to Monday 27 September,
both at 02:00 GMT.

- SR&O 1920, No 573

The matching Isle of Man Order for 1920 with the same dates and times.

- SR&O 1920, No 1844

An Order modifying both SR&O 1920, No 458 and SR&O 1920, No 573 to
change the end date for Summer Time from Monday 27 September to
Monday 25 October (the time remaining 02:00 GMT). The 1989 Green
Paper (Cm 722) says this was done because of a coal strike.

- The War Emergency Laws (Continuance) Act, 1920 (???)

This extends the power to make Orders under the the Summer Time Act, 1916
for a period of 12 months after the termination of the war.
I haven't seen this one so I don't know when it came into force, or
when the law deemed the termination of the war to have been.

- SR&O 1921, No 363

An Order made under the the Summer Time Act, 1916 and the War
Emergency Laws (Continuance) Act, 1920 giving dates for Summer Time
in 1921 of Sunday 3 April to Monday 3 October, both at 02:00 GMT.

- SR&O 1921, No 364

The matching Isle of Man Order for 1921 with the same dates and times.

- SR&O 1922, No 264 (???)

This probably defines Summer Time for 1922 as the Summer Time Act, 1922
was passed after the start date.

- SR&O 1922, No 290 (???)

This is probably the matching Isle of Man Order.

- The Summer Time Act, 1922

This specifies an offset of 1 hour and dates of the day after the third
Saturday in April, unless that be Easter, in which case it is the day after
the second Saturday, and the day after the third Saturday in September.
The time is 02:00 GMT. It applied in 1922 and 1923, and longer if Parliament
so approved. It applied to the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands as well.
Came into Force on 20 July 1920. Note the reversion to ending on a Sunday.

- SR&O 1922, No 1205

An Order made under the The War Emergency Laws (Continuance) Act, 1920
dated 13 October 1922. It revokes (among other things) the Order extending
the Summer Time Act, 1916 to the Isle of Man.

- The Summer Time Act, 1925

This makes the 1922 Act permanent, with a change to the end date to the
day after the first Saturday in October. Came into force on 7 August 1925.
As the 1922 Act expired on 31 December 1923 unless Parliament did something
about it, there are presumably some missing Orders for 1924 and 1925.

- The Emergency Powers (Defence) Act, 1939 (???)

I haven't seen this one. It presumably gave the Government powers to
do all manner of things during the newly started war.

- The Defence (Summer Time) Regulations, 1939, SR&O 1939, No 1379

These were made under the Emergency Powers (Defence) Act, 1939.
They change the end date to be the day after the third Saturday in November.

- SR&O 1940, No 1883

An Order in Council amending the The Defence (Summer Time) Regulations, 1939.
This continues summer time throughout the year after it starts in 1940.
There was another Order (SR&O 1940, No 172) that I assume had merely
changed the dates, and was then superseded by this one. I haven't seen
No 172.

- SR&O 1941, No 476

Another Order amending the The Defence (Summer Time) Regulations, 1939.
This introduces double summer time, starting at 01:00 GMT on the day after
the first Saturday in May and ending at 01:00 GMT on the day after the
second Saturday in August, offset another hour from normal summer time,
which continues throughout the rest of the year.

- SR&O 1942, No 506

Another Order amending the The Defence (Summer Time) Regulations, 1939.
This changes the start date of double summer time to the day after the first
Saturday in April, bringing it forward from May.

- SR&O 1944, No 932

This changed the end date of double summer time to 17 September 1944.
(I don't have the text of this, just a note of what it did, the text almost
certainly had the `day after the nth Saturday' form.)

- SR&O 1945, No 312 (???)

Probably defines the dates of Double Summer Time in 1945.
I do have this quote from Hansard (the official record of the UK Parliament),
Oral Answers, 1 March 1945, cols 1559--60:

 `58. Major Sir Goronwy Owen asked the Secretary of State for the Home
  Department if he is now able to state the Government's proposals
  regarding double summer time.
 
  [two other similar questions omitted]
 
  Mr. H. Morrison: The Government, in reviewing the matter, have
  considered, [...] the conclusion has been reached that the adoption of
  double summer time from the beginning of April is essential to the
  maintenance of the war effort. [...] As 1st April is Easter Sunday,
  when very early services are held in many churches, it is proposed that
  double summer time shall start not in the night preceding Easter
  Sunday, but in the night of Sunday- Monday so that it will operate from
  Monday, 2nd April.'

- SR&O 1945, No 1208

An Order under the Emergency Powers (Defence) Acts, 1939 and 1940 revoking
a long list of things, including the Defence (Summer Time) Regulations, 1939.
This meant that Summer Time reverted to being set by the 1922 and 1925 Acts.

- The Summer Time Act, 1947

Came into force on 11 March 1947. Amended the Summer Time Acts, 1922 and
1925 to change the dates of Summer Time and to introduce Double Summer Time
(although it doesn't give this, or any, name for this period of 2 hour
offset from GMT). Dates are given for 1947 only and are: 02:00 GMT Sunday
16 March, 01:00 GMT Sunday 13 April, 01:00 GMT Sunday 10 August, and 02:00
Sunday 2 November. It gave a power to make Orders for subsequent years,
both to vary the dates and to continue Double Summer Time. It applied
to the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.

- Summer Time Order, 1948 (SI 1948/495) (???)
- Summer Time Order, 1949 (SI 1949/373) (???)
- Summer Time Order, 1950 (SI 1950/518) (???)
- Summer Time Order, 1951 (SI 1951/430) (???)
- Summer Time Order, 1952 (SI 1952/451) (???)

These presumably give the dates of Summer Time for the relevent years.
There was no Double Summer Time. The dates given in the 1989 Green Paper
for these years are:
  1948: 14 March to 31 October
  1949: 3 April to 30 October
  1950: 16 April to 22 October
  1951: 15 April to 21 October
  1952: 20 April to 26 October
After 1952 things revert back to the 1922 and 1925 Acts.

- The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland), 1954 (???)

I presume that section 39 of this Act is similar to section 9 of the
Interpretation Act, 1978 (listed below) in specifying GMT as the
legal time in Northern Ireland, replacing the Time (Ireland) Act, 1916.

- Summer Time Order, 1961 (SI 1961/71)

Specified dates of 26 March and 29 October (02:00 GMT) for 1961

- Summer Time (1962) Order, 1961 (SI 1961/2465)

Specified dates of 25 March to 28 October (02:00 GMT) for 1962.

- Summer Time Order, 1963 (SI 1963/81)

Specified dates of 31 March to 27 October (02:00 GMT) for 1963.

- Summer Time (1964) Order, 1963 (SI 1963/2101)

Specified dates of 22 March to 25 October (02:00 GMT) for 1964.

- Summer Time Order, 1964 (SI 1964/1201)

Specified dates for three years (all 02:00 GMT):
  1965: 21 March to 24 October
  1966: 20 March to 23 October
  1967: 19 March to 29 October

- Summer Time Order, 1967 (SI 1967/1148)
- Summer Time Order, 1968 (SI 1968/117)

The first of these specifies dates for 1968 of 18 February for the United
Kingdom but 7 April for the Isle of Man, both ending on 27 October,
all at 02:00 GMT. The second Order changes the Isle of Man start date
to 18 February to match the UK.

- The British Standard Time Act, 1968

This came into force on 27 October 1968 and continued summer time throughout
the year. It expired at 02:00 GMT on 31 October 1971, as specified in the
Act, as Parliament did not move to make this experment permanent.
It applied to the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.

Interestingly, it says baldly `This Act shall come into force on
27 October 1968', without giving a time. As S1 of the Act merely
stated that `The time for general purposes in the United Kingdom
(to be known as British standard time) shall be one hour in
advance of Greenwich mean time throughout the year; ...' you could
possibly argue that the start time of BStandardT was 00:00 1968-10-27,
especially as the Act repealed the Summer Time Acts 1916--1947 in toto,
thereby destroying the authority of the Summer Time Order specifying
summer time in 1968.

- The Manx Time Act, 1968

This is an Act of Tynwald (the Isle of Man Parliament) that said that
henceforth Manx time would be the same as the time in Great Britain.

- The Summer Time Act, 1972

This specified a reversion to normal Summer Time behaviour with a start
date of the day after the third Saturday in March, unless that is Easter,
when it is the day after the second Saturday, and an end date of the day
after the fourth Saturday in October. Times are at 02:00 GMT, offset is
1 hour. It gives the power to make Orders to vary these dates and
times. This Act is still in force and is the legal authority for
implementing the EC Directives in the UK.

- The Interpretation Act, 1978

Section 9 of this Act replaces section 1 of the Statutes (Definition of
Time) Act, 1880 with very similar wording maintaining GMT as the legal
time in Great Britain. This does not apply in Northern Ireland (it
has its own Interpretation Act listed above).

- Council Directive of 22 July 1980 on summertime arrangements (80/737/EEC)

The first of the European Directives on Summer Time. It specified start
dates for 1981 and 1982. No agreement had been reached on end dates.
Only dates were given, there was no rule like `last Sunday in March'.
The main change for the United Kingdom was a move to a 01:00 GMT change
time. The dates:
  1981: 29 March
  1982: 28 March

- Summer Time Order, 1980 (SI 1980/1089)

Specified dates for 1981 and 1982, with the start dates as in the
EC Directive:
  1981: 29 March to 25 October
  1982: 28 March to 24 October

- Second Council Directive of 10 June 1982 on summertime arrangements
  (82/399/EEC)

The next European Directive. Specified dates for three years, 1983 to 1985.
Agreement still hadn't been reached on a common end date, and wouldn't
be until 1994 with the appeareance of the seventh Directive with a common
date for 1996 and beyond, but this time the Directive gave two sets of
end dates. The start date was specified by rule: the last Sunday in March.
All times were 01:00 GMT. The end dates were given without rule, as:
  1983: 25 September or 23 October
  1984: 30 September or 28 october
  1985: 29 September or 27 October

- Summer Time Order, 1982 (SI 1982/1673)

Implemented the second EC Directive, using the October end dates.
  1983: 27 March to 23 October
  1984: 25 March to 28 october
  1985: 31 March to 27 October

- Third Council Directive of 12 December 1984 on summertime arrangements
  (84/634/EEC)

Specified start dates of the last Sunday in March and two sets of end
dates, last Sunday in September and fourth Sunday in October, all at
01:00 GMT. The end dates were also specified as dates:
  1986: 28 September or 26 October
  1987: 27 September or 25 October
  1988: 25 September or 23 October

- Summer Time Order, 1986 (SI 1986/223)

Implemented the third EC Directive, using the October end dates.
  1986: 30 Match to 26 October
  1987: 29 March to 25 October
  1988: 27 March to 23 October

- Council Directive of 20 December 1985 amending Directive 84/634/EEC
  on summertime arrangements (85/582/EEC)

This was to do with the accession of Spain and Portugal to the EEC.
The previous directve had used wording like `Member States belonging
to the zero (Greenwich) time zone' when refering to the different
sets of end dates. Portugal was in that time zone but was not going
to follow the UK and Ireland dates, so the text was reworded without
any change to the dates themselves.

- Fourth Council Directive of 22 December 1987 on summertime arrangements
  (88/14/EEC)

This Directive covered only a single year: 1989. My guess is that
this was because 1989 was one of the years when the historic UK end date
of the Sunday after the fourth Saturday in October differed from the
rule in the previous Directive of the fourth Sunday in October.
All times are 01:00 GMT. No rule was specified, specific dates were given:
  1989: 26 March to 24 September or 29 October

- Summer Time Order, 1988 (SI 1988/931)

Implemented the dates of 26 March to 29 October for 1989.

- Fifth Council Directive of 21 December 1988 on summertime arrangements
  (89/47/EEC)

Covered the three years 1990 to 1992. All times are 01:00 GMT. Gave both
rules (last Sunday in March, last Sunday in September or fourth Sunday
in October) and specific dates:
  1990: 25 March to 30 September or 28 October
  1991: 31 March to 29 September or 27 October
  1992: 29 March to 27 September or 25 October

- Summer Time Order, 1989 (SI 1989/985)

Implemented the fifth Directive using the October end dates.

- Sixth Council Directive 92/20/EEC of 26 March 1992 on summertime
  arrangements

Covered the two years 1993 and 1994. All times are 01:00 GMT. Specified
both rules (same as the fifth Directive) and specific dates:
  1993: 28 March to 26 September or 24 October
  1994: 27 March to 25 September or 23 October

- Summer Time Order, 1992 (SI 1992/1729)

Implemented the sixth Directive using the October end dates.

- Seventh Directive 94/21/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council
  of 30 May 1994 on summer-time arrangements

Covered the three years 1995 to 1997. Agreement had finally been reached
on a common end date, to start in 1996. Both rules and dates were given.
The rules were the same last Sunday in March to last Sunday in September
or fourth Sunday in October for 1995, with the end rule changing to the
last Sunday in October for 1996 and 1997. The year 1995 was another of
the tricky ones where the EC and traditional UK rules differed but this
time the UK changed on the fourth Sunday, 22 October, earlier than usual.
All times are 01:00 GMT. Specific dates were also given:
  1995: 26 March to 24 September or 22 October
  1996: 31 March to 27 October
  1997: 30 March to 26 October

- Summer Time Order 1994 (SI 1994/2798)

Implements the seventh Directive using the October end date in 1995.
Applies also to the Bailiwick of Guernsey but not to the Bailiwick of
Jersey or the Isle of Man, which have their own (unspecified) legislation
on the subject.

- Eighth Directive 97/44/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council
  of 22 July 1997 on summer-time arrangements

Covers four years: 1998 to 2001. All times are 01:00 GMT. Specifies both
rules, last Sunday in March and ast Sunday in October, and specific dates:
  1998: 29 March to 25 October
  1999: 28 March to 31 October
  2000: 26 March to 29 October
  2001: 25 March to 28 October

- Summer Time Order 1997 (SI 1997/2982)

Implements the eighth Directive. Has the same text about the Isle of Man,
Guernsey and Jersey as the 1994 Order.