Daylight Saving Time Introduced...1916

Summer Time

Daylight Saving Time, or Summer Time as it is known in Britain, was invented by  William Willett (1857 - 1915), who was a London builder living in Petts Wood in Kent. In 1907 he circulated a pamphlet to many Members of Parliament, town councils, businesses and other organisations, he outlined that for nearly half the year the sun shines upon the land for several hours each day while we are asleep, and is rapidly nearing the horizon, having already passed its western limit, when we reach home from work before it is over.

His proposal was to improve health and happiness by advancing the clocks twenty minutes on each of four Sundays in April, and by reversing this idea by the same amount on four Sundays in September. He reckoned that it would not only improve health and Happiness but it would save the country £2 1/2 million pounds, that was also taking into account the loss of earnings to the producers of artificial light.

Though the scheme was ridiculed and met with considerable opposition a Daylight Saving Bill was introduced in 1909, though it met with no success before war broke out.

In April, 1916, Daylight Saving Time was introduced as a wartime measure of economy, not only in Britain but, within a week or so, in nearly all countries, both allied and enemy. Sadly, William had died the previous year so never saw his idea put into effect.

Most countries abandoned Daylight Saving Time after the war had finished , most reintroduced it eventually, and some even began to keep it throughout the year.

In 1968 to 1971 Britain tried the experiment of keeping BST - to be called British Standard Time - throughout the year, largely for commercial reasons because Britain would then conform to the time kept by other European Countries. This was not good for the school children of Scotland as it meant they had to always go to School in the dark. The experiment was eventually abandoned in 1972, Britain has kept GMT in winter and BST in summer.