Summer Time or
the Daylight Saving Act
Chapter nine of British Time, by Donald de Carle, 1947

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WILLIAM WILLETT, born 1857, died 1915, a successful London builder, was, in the early part of this century, of the opinion that sufficient advantage was not taken of the beauty of the early hours of the summer mornings. Willett was a keen horseman and golfer, and it would often occur to him, when riding in the early morning sunshine during the summer months at Petts Wood -his home-and over Chislehurst Common, what the multitude were missing by not taking advantage of this health-giving sunlight. And further, being an enthusiastic golfer, it always seemed to him a pity to have to give up play say at 8o'clock because of the failing light, the children's playing curtailed and the amateur gardener's work stopped because of light; all these things Willett was convinced could be rectified, and to the community's advantage. At first he had in mind to put the clocks forward 1 hour 20 minutes; in other words to add to the morning and take away from the evening, or more en bloc, the whole of the working hours back 1 hour 20 minutes. He had remarked that no difficulty or inconvenience was experienced, when travelling at sea, owing to the clocks and watches being changed each day, so what inconvenience could be experienced by changing on land, forward in the spring and back again in the autumn? His first-suggestion was to alter the time 20 minutes on 4 successive weeks, and although he agreed to the method we now use, i.e. altering one hour at one move, he still maintained that his first suggestion was preferable. He realised that it was not practicable to insist that everybody should rise an hour earlier and in 1907 he formulated his great scheme; this noble-minded man personally bore all the expense of bringing his scheme to fruition, which we understand ran into some thousands of pounds. As a builder, Willett was an advocate of plenty of light and fresh air and we find his buildings fine expressions of this ideal. The business still flourishes today, situated in Sloane Square, London, S.W., and it is well known as a Builders and Decorators, Estate Agents and Antique Furniture Galleries, with branch establishments.

By special permission we are permitted to give here the contents of the pamphlet Wm. Willett circulated to all M.P.'s, Physical Culture Organisations, heads of big business concerns, Town Councils, etc. Once the scheme was evolved and made workable, Wm. Willett worked with great energy to convert his fellow countrymen.

Everyone appreciates the long light evenings. Everyone laments their shrinkage as the days grow shorter, and nearly everyone has given utterance to a regret that the clear bright light of early mornings, during Spring and Summer months, is so seldom seen or used.

Nevertheless, standard time remains so fixed, 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 after the work of the day is over. Under the most favourable circumstances, there then remains only a brief spell of declining daylight in which to spend the short period of leisure at our disposal.

Now, if some of the hours of wasted sunlight could be withdrawn from the beginning and added to the end of the day, how many advantages would be gained by all, and in particular by those who spend in the open air, when light permits them to do so, whatever time they have at their command after the duties of the day have been discharged.

By a simple expedient these advantages can be secured. If we will reduce the length of four Sundays by 20 minutes, a loss of which practically no one would be conscious, we shall have 8o minutes more daylight after 6 p.m. every day during May, June, July and August, and an avenge of 45 minutes more every day during April and September.

I therefore venture to propose that at 2 a.m. on each of four Sunday mornings in April, standard time shall advance20 minutes; and on each of four Sundays in September, shall recede 20 minutes, or in other words that for eight Sundays of 24 hours each, we shall substitute four, each 20 minutes less than 24 hours, and four each 20 minutes more than 24 hours. (Another means of arriving at approximately the same end would be to alter the clock thirty minutes on only two or three Sundays.) This is the whole cost of the scheme. We lose nothing, and gain substantially. Having made up our minds to be satisfied, on four occasions, with a Sunday of 23 hours and 40 minutes, the advantages aimed at follow automatically without any trouble whatever; everything will go on just as it does now, except that as the later hours of the day come round, they will bring more light with them. Those who have travelled by sea east or west, will remember how easily they accommodated themselves to the frequent alterations of time on board ship. They simply adjusted their watches, attended to the engagements of the day in correspondence therewith, and quickly dismissed from their minds all recollection of the alterations which had been made. If this can take place at sea day after day for several weeks without discomfort, may not a similar operation be possible on land?

It is possible, and has already taken place. For instance, in order to meet the general convenience of Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria, standard time in the last mentioned colony was, in '895, advanced 20 minutes, and for a similar reason in Cape Colony standard time was, in 1892, advanced 16 minutes, and again in 1903, a further 30 minutes. If standard time can be altered for the public convenience in Australia and South Africa, may it not be altered in Great Britain?

To wind up a clock or watch requires more effort than to move the hands once a week, four times in April, and four times in September, yet no more than this is needed in order to secure during nearly five months in the year the equivalent of a whole holiday every week; for 8o minutes a day amount in a week to 9 hours and 20 minutes, which is about the average time that can advantageously be spent in exercise in the open air, on any holiday.

Now every hour so spent makes for health and strength of body and mind. With 9 hours and 20 minutes every week, of additional opportunity, the value of existing opportunities for exercise and recreation will be more than proportionately increased. The brief period of daylight now at our disposal is frequently insufficient for most forms of outdoor recreation, but the daily addition of i hour and zo minutes after 6 p.m. will multiply several times the usefulness of that which we already have. The benefits afforded by parks and open spaces will be doubled, and the nation may some day have cause to be thankful that by this means opportunities for rifle practice will have been created, which under existing conditions cannot be contemplated.

We shall not rob ourselves off sleep. On the contrary, we may sleep better, for 8o minutes more daylight in our waking hours will leave 8o minutes more darkness for our sleeping hours. By those who do not retire to rest until the early hours of the morning, land by those who sleep with open windows, the advantage of not being aroused by the sun so early, as they frequently now are, will mot be unappreciated.

One of the most powerful attractions of this scheme is that with one exception all trains will run in accordance with existing time tables. That is to say -- every train which now starts at 8 a.m. will continue to start at 8 a.m., the 9 a.m. at 9 a.m., and so on; there will be no alteration.

On Sunday at 2 a.m., the hour at which the hands of official clocks will be advanced, very few trains are running. Such as are then running will merely arrive 20 minutes late on four Sunday mornings in April only and this will be known to both passengers and officials before each journey is commenced. For Continental trains only will special time tables be required, one for April, a second for May, June, July and August, and a third for September. For any trouble in which this may involve them, Railway Companies will not only find ample compensation in reduced expenditure on artificial light on stations and in carriages, but as people are more ready to travel before than after sunset, increased passenger traffic, and consequent profit, must also accrue to them.

Nor is this feature of the project confined, to Railway Companies. Everyone,, rich and poor alike, will find their ordinary expenditure on electric light, gas, oil and candles considerably reduced for nearly six months in every year.

This consideration brings into view the National financial aspect of the scheme. Assuming the cost of artificial light, for each unit of the population, averages only, one-tenth of a penny per head, per hour, the figures with which I conclude this paper show that 210 additional available hours of daylight can be gained and at least £2,500,000 a year can be saved to the people of Great Britain and Irelaind. That is to say, by moving the hands of the clock three or four times in Spring and Autumn, we can secure not only great physical advantages, but in addition, a permanent economy equivalent to a reduction of the National Debt by at least one hundred million pounds sterling; to be followed by the honour of bringing similar blessings within easier reach of a great proportion of mankind.

For a year or two some inconvenience from the variation between time in England and other countries may be experienced, but it will be slight, for a loss of convenience in one direction will be balanced by a gain of convenience in another. Any inconvenience that may be found can exist for only half the year and will disappear when the advantages we shall have gained lead other nations to follow our example. Light is one of the great gifts of the Creator. While daylight surrounds us, cheerfulness reigns, anxieties press less heavily, and courage is bred for the struggle of life. Against our ever-besieging enemy, disease, light and fresh air act as guards in our defence, and when the conflict is close, supply us with most effective weapons with which to overcome the invader. Even the blind keenly realise the difference between daylight and darkness. They are always cheered by the former, but depressed by the latter.

Can any words be comprehensive enough to represent the cumulative effect of the 210 additional available hours of daylight (an average of 1 hour and 10 minutes every day for six months), which are within our reach, to be had not only without price, but accompanied by a large saving in current expenditure year after year?

It is futile to say these can be secured by early rising. The exceptional exercise of this virtue usually calls forth more sarcasm than admiration or imitation. Leisure must follow, not precede, work, and compulsory earlier business hours are quite unattainable. If my proposal be adopted the man who now leaves off work at 5 p.m. will take with him the light we now have at 3.40; he who leaves off at 6 o'clock, the light we now have at 4.40 and so on. Most striking is the advantage to be gained on Saturdays. Those whose half-holiday commences at 12, 1 or 2 o'clock will have at their disposal as much daylight as if it now commenced at 10.40, 11.40, or 12.40 respectively. Consider what this yearly gain of 210 hours of daylight means to succeeding generations On reaching the age of 28 (without counting anything for 6 years of childhood), a man will have gained a whole year of daylight. At 50 he will have gained 2 years, at 72, 3 years.

That so many as 210 hours of daylight are to all intents and purposes wasted every year, is a defect in our civilisation. Let England recognise and remedy it. Let us not be so faint-hearted as to hesitate to make the effort when the cost is to trifling and the reward so great. If any better method than that I have suggested can be devised let it be produced, but somehow or other let us secure these 210 hours. To obtain them everyone who wants them must do something. Out of nothing nothing comes. Let every man and woman, and every youth in particular, see to it that every voter who is willing that the scheme should be tried for six months communicates his wish to his Member of Parliament. This may be done by means of a postcard, giving the name, address and qualification of the voter. If postcards are sent in considerable numbers, there ought to be no insuperable difficulty in obtaining an Act for six months' experiment to be made.

According to Whitaker the population of Great Britain and Ireland is 43,660,000. The number of hours during which the cost of artificial light will be saved will be:

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At first Willett's scheme was met with ridicule; the Press-with few exceptions -- was loud in its protestations; such arguments were put forward as "Will the cows give their milk earlier because of Mr. Willett?" "Will the chickens know what time to go to bed?" etc. etc. But with all this adverse criticism Willett still went ahead; daily he found new supporters, meetings were called and wellknown speakers addressed the audiences on the advantages of the scheme. By 1908 the scheme was well known throughout the country and in 1909 a Daylight Saving Bill had been drafted.

Willett had been promised by several Members of Parliament to give their chance in the ballot for Private Members Bills to a bill incorporating his scheme. Mr. (later Sir) Robert Pearce was successful in the ballot of 1908 and he accordingly introduced the first Daylight Saving Bill; subsequently the Bill obtained a second reading and was referred to a Select Committee of the House and was favourably reported on. Nothing further was done until 1909 when Mr. T. W. Dobson re-introduced the Bill and again it was referred to another Select Committee. This committee examined 24 witnesses and a most favourable report was drafted, but it was rejected by a majority of one. In 1911 Sir Robert Pearce again introduced the Bill to Parliament, but from that date until 1916 nothing further was done as regards the House of Commons.

The scheme was now gaining an enthusiastic following; his famous pamphlet "The Waste of Daylight" was translated into French and German; in Germany particularly, great interest was taken and the scheme was adopted by that country during the war of 1914-18 as an economy measure.

In 1911 Mr. Winston Churchill addressed a large and enthusiastic meeting at the Guildhall in support of the Bill. Meetings were also taking place in opposition, particularly by the watch and clock industry; it was argued that the setting of clocks forward and especially backwards was most injurious when applied to some systems of striking clocks and also chiming clocks; this is perfectly correct and the safest procedure is to stop the clock altogether, unless you are advised by your clockmaker that it is safe to turn the hands backwards. An objection such as this of setting the clocks forwards or backwards was the signal for the electric clock manufacturers to bring forward the virtues of electric clocks, especially the master clock and impulse dial systems; it is quite a simple operation to set hundreds of impulse dials forwards or backwards by one single operation; so we find electric clockmakers fully in favour of the Daylight Saving scheme, and as we know today the fears of the ordinary clockmakers were unfounded. The most powerful antagonism, however, was from the agricultural interests.

On the outbreak of war in 1914 the whole matter was allowed to drop, but in 1916 the Government passed the Daylight Saving Bill as a wartime measure of economy. Upon perusal of Willett's pamphlet we see he had in mind economy, but this was not its chief attribute from his point of view; however, his idea bore fruit, but unfortunately Willett had died the previous year at the age of 8 years; he did not live to see his scheme mature. Willett received no honours from the country, but his name will always be associated with Summer Time. The residents of Petts Wood and Orpington have erected a monument to his memory. This takes an unusual form and is a sundial showing Summer Time, i.e. i hour in advance of the time as shown by an ordinary sundial. The expenses of this memorial were defrayed by public subscription and the monument was erected in 1927.

In 1925 the Bill was made law. We find in 1922 the Act reads:

• 3-(1) For the purposes of this Act, the period of Summer Time shall be taken to be the period beginning at two o'clock Greenwich mean time, in the morning of the day next following the third Saturday in April, or if that day is Easter Day, the day next following the second Saturday in April, and ending at two o'clock, Greenwich mean time, in the morning of the day next following the third Saturday in September.
• (2) This Act may be cited as the Summer Time Act, 1922.
• (3) This Act shall continue in force until the thirty-first day of December, nineteen hundred and twenty-three, and no longer, unless Parliament otherwise determines, and nothing in this Act shall affect the operation of the Summer Time Act, 1916, or any Order in Council made under that Act.

And in 1925:

• 1-(1) The Summer Time Act, 1922, shall become a permanent Act, and Sub-section (3) of section three of that Act is hereby repealed. (2) Sub-section (1) of section three of the Summer Time Act, 1922 (which defines the period of Summer Time for the purpose of that Act) shall, as from the commencement of this Act, have effect as though the first Saturday in October were therein substituted for the third Saturday in September.
• 2- This Act may be cited as the Summer Time Act, 1925, and shall be construed as one with the Summer Time Act, 1922, and that Act and this Act may be cited together as the Summer Time Acts, 1922 to 1925.
  

The dates when Summer Times shall start and end are altered to suit requirements.

In 1939, under the Emergency Powers (Defence Act) 1939, the period was extended to the third Saturday in November. On the 24th of October 1940, it was decreed that "Summer time act to apply throughout the year," the one hour the clocks were set forward was not removed that year and in April 1941 the Act was

amended to read "during the period beginning at one o'clock, Greenwich mean time, in the morning of the day next following the first Saturday in May and ending at one o'clock, Greenwich mean time, in the morning of the day next following the second Saturday in August, be two hours in advance of Greenwich mean time..." Here we have the first introduction of double Summer Time started in April instead of May and in 1944 the period was extended to the third Saturday in September instead of August, i.e. Double Summer Time lasted that year until 1 a.m. (G.M.T.) on Sunday the 17th September. The fixing of Summer Time is at the discretion of the authorities; in this year of 1947, due to the emergency of the fuel crisis, Summer Time starts on March 16th and ends on November 2nd with "Double Summer Time" from April 13th to August 10th.

Summer Time is now observed in many parts of the world including: France, Belgium, Luxemburg, Eire, Northern Ireland, Channel Islands, Corsica, Morocco, Netherlands, Portugal, Gold Coast, U.S.S.R., U.S.A. (some parts), Canada, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, British Honduras, Argentine, Uruguay, French Guiana, Falkland Islands, Sarawak and New Zealand.

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