Echesspedia

The British title has been won by 53 different players. The British championship has long been open to any Commonwealth player. The championship was not held in war years. It was also not held in 1919, 1922, 1927, and 1930 as major international events were then being held in England. José Raúl Capablanca won the 12th British Chess Congress at Hastings 1919 and the 15th BCC at London 1922, Alexander Alekhine won the 16th BCC at Portsmouth/Southsea 1923, Aron Nimzowitsch and Savielly Tartakower won at London 1927, and Edgard Colle won at Scarborough 1930.In 1939 the championship was also not held as the British team was in Buenos Aires for the 8th Chess Olympiad. In that time, Max Euwe won an international tournament at Bournemouth 1939, played during the BCC.
The year 2003 may well have marked the last occurrence of this cultural generosity. After Indian players captured the title in 2002 and 2003, the British Chess Federation established new eligibility requirements. The tournament is restricted to British citizens or residents. (source Wikipedia)

The champions were:
1866 Cecil de Vere, 1868 J. Henri Blackburne, 1870 John Wisker, 1872 John Wisker, 1904 William E. Napier, 1905 Henry E. Atkins, 1906 Henry E. Atkins, 1907 Henry E. Atkins, 1908 Henry E. Atkins, 1909 Henry E. Atkins, 1910 Henry E. Atkins, 1911 Henry E. Atkins, 1912 Richard C. Griffith, 1913 Frederick D. Yates, 1914 Frederick D. Yates, 1920 Roland H.V. Scott, 1921 Frederick D. Yates, 1923 Sir George A. Thomas, 1924 Henry E. Atkins, 1925 H.E. Atkins, 1926 Frederick D. Yates, 1928 Frederick D. Yates, 1929 Mir Sultan Khan, 1931 Frederick D. Yates, 1932 Mir Sultan Khan, 1933 Mir Sultan Khan, 1934 Sir G.A. Thomas, 1935 William Winter, 1936 William Winter, 1937  William A. Fairhurst, 1938 C Hugh O’D. Alexander, 1946 Robert F. Combe, 1947 Harry Golombek, 1948 Reginald J. Broadbent, 1949 Harry Golombek, 1950 Reginald J. Broadbent, 1951 Ernst Klein, 1952 Robert Wade, 1953 D. Abraham Yanofsky, 1954 Leonard W. Barden & Allan Phillips, 1955 Harry Golombek, 1956 C Hugh O’D. Alexander, 1957 Dr. Stefan Fazekas, 1958 Jonathan Penrose, 1959 Jonathan Penrose, 1960 Jonathan Penrose, 1961 Jonathan Penrose, 1962 Jonathan Penrose, 1963 Jonathan Penrose, 1964 Michael J. Haygarth, 1965 Peter N. Lee, 1966 Jonathan Penrose, 1967 Jonathan Penrose, 1968 Jonathan Penrose, 1969 Jonathan Penrose, 1970 Robert Wade, 1971 Raymond Keene, 1972 Brian R. Eley, 1973 William Hartston, 1974 George S. Botterill, 1975 William Hartston, 1976 Jonathan Mestel, 1977 George S. Botterill, 1978 John Speelman, 1979 Robert Bellin, 1980 John Nunn, 1981 Paul Littlewood, 1982 Antholy Miles, 1983 Jonathan Mestel, 1984 Nigel Short, 1985 John Speelman, 1986 John Speelman, 1987 N. Short, 1988 Jonathan Mestel, 1989 Michael Adams, 1990 James Plaskett, 1991 Julian Hodgson, 1992 Julian Hodgson, 1993 Michael Hennigan, 1994 William Watson, 1995 Matthew Sadler, 1996 Chris Ward, 1997 Michael Adams & Matthew Sadler, 1998 Nigel Short, 1999 Julian Hodgson, 2000 Julian Hodgson, 2001 Joe Gallagher, 2002 Ramachandran Ramesh, 2003 Abhijit Kunte, 2004 Jonathan Rowson, 2005 Jonathan Rowson, 2006 Jonathan Rowson, 2007 Jacob Aagaard, 2008 Stewart. Conquest, 2009 David Howell, 2010 Michael Adams, 2011 Michael Adams.