x Timeline
To help put your researches in context below is a list of some events :
1758 Magdalen Hospital for penitent prostitutes founded.
1759 Wedgwood Pottery Company founded//Arthur Guinness started brewing ales
1760 Accession of George III
1761 Bridgwater Canal Opened
1762 Equitable Life Insurance founded//Barings Bank founded
1763 End of 7 Years War.
1764 Spinning Jenny invented by James Hargreaves
1765 Isle of Man brought under British control.
1765 Iron production begins at Cyfartha
1766 William Pitt the elder appointed Prime Minister
1767 Joseph Priestley invents carbonated water.// Invention of jigsaws
1769 James Watt invents improved steam engine
1770 James Cook claims the eastern coast of Australia for Great Britain
1770 Thomas Gainsborough paints “Blue Boy”
1771 Water powered cotton spinning mill developed by Arkwright in Cromford
1772 Wilkinson Sword founded. (originally making swords)
1773 Goldsmith’s “ She Stoops to Conquer”, first performed in London
1773 Boston Tea Party
1773 Stock Exchange built in Sweetings Alley, London
1775 Sheridan’s “The Rivals” produced at Covent Garden Theatre
1776 Adam Smith’s “Wealth of Nations” published.
1776 July 4th American Declaration of Independence
1777 Bass Brewery founded
1778 Joseph Bramah patented modern water closet
1779 World’s first cast-iron bridge across the Severn in Shropshire.
1780 Inaugural running of Epsom Derby
1781 The Critique of Pure Reason by Kant published.
1782 Gilbert’s Act –(Better relief and employment of the poor)
1783 First manned hot air balloon flight takes place from Paris
1784 Dr (Samuel) Johnson dies aged 75 (essayist,poet, lexicographer)
1785 Power Loom invented by Edmund Cartwright
1786 “Poems, chiefly in the Scottish dialect” by Burns published
1786 Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor- founded in London
1787 Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) founded
1788 First deportees arrive in New South Wales
1789 French Revolution
1790 Oxford Canal opened. (91 miles to Coventry)
1791 Mozart dies aged 35//Thomas Paine writes the Rights of Man
1792 A Vindication of the Rights of Women by Mary Wollstonecraft
1793 Bonhams auctioneers founded.// Aliens Act
1794 Eli Whitney patents the cotton gin
1795 Meteorite falls near Wold Newton Yorkshire.
1796 Edward Jenner creates vaccination for smallpox
1797 French forces land near Fishguard. (last invasion of Britain)
1798 Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge published
1799 Rosetta Stone discovered
1800 Act of Union with Ireland.
1801 Population - Cardiff ( 1,800),Bristol ( 61,000) Birmingham (71,000) Liverpool ( 82,000)
1802 Factory Health and Morals Act.
1803 Wordsworth writes Upon Westminster Bridge
1804 Royal Horticultural Society founded
1805 Battle of Trafalgar
1806 “Elgin” marbles removed from Athens
1807 Abolition of the slave trade
1808 Beethoven’s 5th & 6th symphonies premiered in Vienna//County Asylum Act
1809 Madison succeeds Jefferson as President of USA
1810 Tin Can patented by British merchant Peter Durand
1810 Hindoostane Coffee House Opens- (first Indian Restaurant in London)
1811 George III’s eldest son appointed regent.
1812 Prime minister Spencer Perceval assassinated in House of Commons
1813 Pride and Prejudice published. // Westminster bridge lit by gas.
1814 British troops occupy Washington DC//London Beer flood.
1815 Battle of Waterloo and End of Napoleonic Wars
1816 The Year without a Summer
1817 Typhus epidemic in Glasgow and Edinburgh
1818 Frankenstein by Mary Shelley published
1819 Peterloo Massacre in Manchester
1820 Cato Street Conspiracy//Astronomical Society of London founded.
1821 Constable’s Haywain exhibited at Royal Academy
1822 Charles Babbage begins developing his “Difference Machine” (Computing)
1823 Rugby Football “invented”//Oxford Union founded
1824 Lord Byron dies in Greece aged 36.
1825 Opening of Stephenson’s Stockton and Darlington Railway
1826 Pilkington family establish glass company in St Helens, Lancashire
1827 Canning succeeds Lord Liverpool as PM, but dies a few months afterwards
1828 Duke of Wellington becomes PM
1829 Catholic Emancipation Act
1829 George Stephenson’s Rocket built
1829 Metropolitan Police Act
1830 Beer House Act. (Tom and Jerry shops)// Swing riots
1830 Death of George IV. William IV ascends throne.
1831 Merthyr rising in Wales// 1st outbreak of Asiatic cholera occurs in Sunderland
1831 Michael Faraday demonstrates electromagnetic induction
1832 Great Reform Act- Electoral registers introduced.
1833 Factory Act- banned children from under 9 working in factories
1833 Slavery Abolition Act
1834 Tolpuddle martys sentenced to transportation
1834 Poor Law Amendment Act (New Poor Law)
1835 Municipal Corporations Act-local power to growing middle class
1835 Merchant Shipping Act- Registration of Merchant Seamen required
1835 Cruelty of Animals Act- banned bull/bear baiting
1836 HMS Beagle with Charles Darwin arrives in Sydney// Tithe Act
1837 Queen Victoria ascends to throne. Civil registration introduced in England
1837 Grand National first run at Aintree
1838 Anti Corn Law League formed, People’s Charter Issues (The Chartists)
1838 First voyage of Brunel’s “Great Western” steamboat to New York
1839 Photography commenced with discoveries by both Daguerre and Talbot
1840 Introduction of Penny Post
1841 First Census in England and Wales giving personal details
1842 Mines Act-stopped boys under 10 and all females from working underground
1844 Naturalisation Act//Railways Regulation Act
1844 Factories Act-limited working hours for women and children
1844 Companies Act-reqd companies to be registered & publish a balance sheet
1845 Condition of the English Working Class ( Karl Marx) published
1846 Repeal of Corn Laws// Irish Potato Famine continues (1845-9)
1847 10 Hour Act- cut factory workday for women and children to 10 hours
1847 Jane Eyre published
1847 Education Act-improved teachers pay; provided money for non conformist schools
1848 Public Health Act
1849 Punjab annexed by UK// Safety pin patented
1850 David Copperfield published.
1850 Tennyson appointed Poet Laureate after death of Wordsworth.
1851 Great Exhibition at Crystal Palace// Verdi’s Rigoletto first performed
1853 Start of Crimea War
1854 Charge of the Light Brigade
1855 Snowball riot in Trafalgar Square against Crimean War
1856 End of Crimea War
1857 Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope published
1857 Matrimonial Causes Act
1857 Start of the Indian Rebellion//Matrimonial Causes Act-(start of modern divorce)
1858 The Great Stink in London// Court of Probate established
1858 India Bill- transferred admin of India from East India Co to the Crown (Raj)
1859 Darwin’s Origin of Species published.
1860 Single Bottle Act- wine can be bought in single bottles
1861 Prince Albert died.//Garibaldi biscuits first manufactured by Peak Freen
1861 Start of four year “Cotton Famine” due to blockade of American Ports
1863 First section of London underground opened
1863 The Water Babies by Rev. Charles Kingsley published.
1864 Clifton Suspension Bridge opened.
1865 End of American Civil War//Salvation Army founded
1866 Age at death entered onto death certificates
1867 Second Reform Act-enfranchised the urban male working class.
1868 Last convicts sent to Australia
1868 The Moonstone (Wilkie Collins) published . (Detective Novel)
1868 Gladstone Prime minister for first time.// TUC established
1869 Suez Canal Opened
1870 60 years after tin can invented, American W. Lions invents can opener
1870 Naturalisation Act
1871 The Irish Church Act of 1869 came into force. (Disestablishment)
1872 Wigan’s First Rugby club founded
1873 Ascott martyrs and rioting in Chipping Norton
1873 The Panic of 1873 and start of the Long Depression. (Economic Crisis)
1874 Disraeli PM for second time.
1875 Climbing Boys Act-prohibited use of children as chimney sweeps
1875 Public Health Act- introduced to combat filthy urban living conditions
1876 Prototype telephone invented by Alexander Graham Bell
1877 Phonograph invented by Thomas Edison
1878 Matrimonial Causes Act
1879 First telephone exchanges opened in London and Manchester
1880 Education Act- schooling compulsory for 5-10 year olds.
1881 Natural History Museum opens// Tsar Alexander II assassinated.
1882 Married Women’s Property Act//Royal Courts of Justice opened
1882 Manet’s “ A Bar at the Folies-Bergere” completed and exhibited
1883 Victoria Hall disaster in Sunderland-183 children crushed to death
1883 Horlicks invented in America//
1884 Gilbert and Sullivan’s Princess Ida is premiered at the Savoy
1884 Derby County and Leicester City Football Clubs are formed
1884 Earthquake in Colchester
1884 3rd Reform Act- widens franchise to approx. 60% of male adults
1885 General Gordon killed in Khartoum
1886 “Bubbles” by Millais first exhibited
1887 A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle introduces Sherlock Holmes
1888 London Matchgirls strike. ( phossy jaw)
1889 Eiffel Tower opens// Van Gogh paints Starry Night
1890 Partnership Act. (company law)// Cardinal Newman dies (RC)
1891 Hardy’s “Tess of the D’Urbervilles” published
1892 The Nutcracker premiered in St Petersburg// Ellis Island opens in USA
1893 Liverpool Overhead Railway opened // St Hilda’s College Oxford founded
1894 Blackpool Tower Opens//Manchester Ship Canal and Docks opens
1895 Trial and Imprisonment of Oscar Wilde
1896 The electron is discovered
1897 Marcus Samuel founds the Shell Transport and Trading Company
1898 Harrods debuted England’s “first moving staircase” (escalator)
1899 London premiere of Elgar’s Enigma Variations
1900 School leaving age raised to 14.//Coco Cola first sold in Britain
1901 Queen Victoria dies. Edward VII ascends throne.
1901 Royal Navy’s first submarine – Holland 1 built in Barrow
1901 Taff Vale Case
1902 Anna of the Five Towns by Arnold Bennett published (set in the Potteries)
1902 End of second Anglo/Boer War
1903 Women’s Social and Political Union formed at Pankhurst family home.
1904 Stage Play “ Peter Pan” premieres in London.
1905 Einstein’s Theory of Relativity published.
1906 Landslide Liberal win at General Election-PM Campbell Bannerman
1907 Marconi’s transatlantic radio communication
1907 Baden Powell leads first scout camp-(Brownsea Island)
1908 Children and Young Persons Act (Children’s Charter)// Pensions for over 70’s
1909 Louis Bleriot crosses the English Channel by plane
1909 Labour Exchanges set up to help people find work
1910 Edward VII dies, succeeded by George V// Dr Crippen arrested /executed
1911 National Insurance Act
1911 Parliament Act-removed powers to vote against money bills from the Lords
1911 Mother’s maiden name shown on birth indexes
1912 Foundation of the Royal Flying Corps// Titanic Sinks
1913 Emily Davison threw herself to death in front of King’s horse in the Derby
1914 Outbreak of Great War- The lamps are going out all over Europe
1914 Alien Registration Act/British Nationality Act