Birthdays

The Sultan of Brunei, 48; Professor Sir James Ball, economist, 61; Dr Jocelyn Bell Burnell, astronomer, 51; Sir Jeffrey Benson, chairman, 600 Group, 72; Sir Harrison Birtwistle, composer, 60; Mr Julian Bream, guitarist, 61; Mr Geoffrey Burgon, composer, 53; Lord Buxton of Alsa, former chairman, Anglia Television, 76; Miss Carmen Callil, founder, Virago Press, 56; Mr Robert Conquest, author, 77; Professor Sir David Cox, Warden of Nuffield College, Oxford, 70; Mr John Denham MP, 41; Sir Alexander Durie, a former vice-president, Automobile Association, 79; Air Marshal the Rev Sir Paterson Fraser, 87; Sir Simon Gourlay, former president, National Farmers' Union, 60; Sir John Graham, former diplomat, 68; Mr Ronald Hadfield, Chief Constable, West Midlands, 55; Mr Ralph Hammond Innes, novelist, 81; Mr Trevor Horn, songwriter, 45; Miss Ann Jellicoe, playwright and theatre director, 67; Mr Charles Kelly, Chief Constable, Staffordshire, 64; Sir Larry Lamb, former Editor, Daily Express, 65; Dame Iris Murdoch, novelist and philosopher, 75; Mrs Juliet Pannett, portrait painter, 83; Mrs Marion Roe MP, 58; Miss Linda Ronstadt, singer, 48; Lord Shackleton, former explorer and government minister, 83; Mr Ron Smith, trade-unionist, 79; Air Chief Marshal Sir Ruthven Wade, 74.