Birthdays

Mr Douglas Adams, author, 41; Mr Terence Alexander, actor, 70; Miss Agatha Barbara, former president of Malta, 70; Sir John Batten, former physician to the Queen, 69; Dr Alan Betts, emeritus professor, Royal Veterinary College, 66; Miss Louise Brough, tennis champion, 70; Mr Michael Carttiss MP, 55; Sir Kenneth Dover, chancellor, St Andrews University, 73; Mr Dennis Enright, author, poet and critic, 73; Mr Peter Eyre, actor, 51; Mr David Gentleman, designer and painter, 63; Mr Jonathan Gestetner, chairman, Marlborough Rare Books, 53; Professor Thomas Gray, anaesthetist, 80; Miss Margaret Herbison, former government minister, 86; Viscount Hood, former chairman of Petrofina UK, 79; Mr Raymond Jackson (Jak), cartoonist, 66; Lord Lawson of Blaby, former Chancellor of the Exchequer, 61; Sir Fitzroy Maclean Bt, diplomat, soldier and politician, 82; Sir Henry Marking, former deputy chairman and managing director, British Airways, 73; Mr Timothy Mason, chief executive, London Arts Board, 48; Sir James Miskin QC, former Recorder of London, 68; Air Marshal Sir Alec Morris, engineering consultant, 67; Lord Mowbray, Seagrave and Stourton, former Deputy Chief Opposition Whip in the House of Lords, 70; Mr Rupert Murdoch, newspaper proprietor, 62; Miss Erica O'Donnell, founder, Centre for the History of the Fine and Decorative Arts, 73; Sir Malcolm Pill, High Court judge, 55; Sir Keith Speed MP, 59; Sir Iain Tennant, Lord-Lieutenant of Morayshire, 74; Miss Patricia Tindale, architect, 67; Mr Ron Todd, former general secretary, TGWU, 66; Sir Peter Walters, chairman, Midland Bank, 62; Lord Wilberforce, former Lord of Appeal in Ordinary, 86; Lord Wilson of Rievaulx, former prime minister, 77; Mr Tony Wright MP, 45.