Memoirs of Officers of the Royal Navy begin
First use of fruit juice as a preventative for scurvy by James Lancaster
Great English Poor Law Act passed
East India Company founded
Death of Elizabeth I: union of Scottish and English crowns - under King James VI of Scots and I of England (d. 1625)
Episcopacy established in Scotland (against wishes of the Scots)
The London Company chartered to colonise Virginia
Adoption of Union Jack as the flag of
Flight of the Earls - leading Ulster families go into exile
James VI established the Episcopal Church in Scotland- Prebyterians persecuted and many of their records lost
James VI and I created the title of baronet
Authorised (King James) Version of Bible in England
Plantation of Ulster with English and Scottish colonists
Ben Jonson becomes first Poet Laureate
Death of Shakespeare
Register of Sasines (land leases) established in Scotland - record of the transfer of land and property
Manufacture of coke patented by Dud Dudley
D(Dec 16 OS): The Mayflower reaches America - founds Plymouth, New England
Chimneys to be made of brick and be four and a half feet above the roof
First English newspaper appeared
Monopoly Act in England: patents protected
Death of King James VI and I
The size of bricks standardised in England around this time
1625-1649 Carolean Age
Parliament dissolved by King Charles I - did not meet for another 11 years
1630-1750 Baroque Period (Art & Antiques)
1630-1750 Renaissance Period (Art & Antiques)
Letter Office of England & Scotland started
Flintlock invented around this time
Hackney Carriages in use by now in London
Scottish Prayer Book published
Charles regarded protests against the prayerbook as treason - forced Scots to choose between their church and the King - a
Act of Toleration in England established religious toleration
Charles I's policies cause insurrection in Ulster and Civil War in England
Charles I and the English Parliament acknowledge the Prebyterian Church in Scotland
English theatres closed by Puritans (till 1660)
The Civil War interrupted the keeping of parish registers
Charles I raises his standard at Nottingham - First Civil War in England (to 1649)- first engagement at Edgehill - Scottish Covenanters side with the English rebels who take power - the Earl of Montrose sided with King Charles, strife spilled into Scotlan
Solemn League and Covenant signed in Scotland
1644-5 Montrose's Venture (Montrose executed in 1650)
Earliest Presbyterian registers
Earliest Independent (Congregational) registers
Scotland: Each county and burgh ordered to raise and maintain a number of foot soldiers, according to population, to serve as militia - population of Scotland estimated at 420,000
Plague made its last appearance in Scotland
Battle of Philiphaugh in Scotland
Inquisitions Post Mortem end
Royalists sign articles of surrender at Oxford
Earliest Baptist registers survive from this year
Cromwell's Irish campaign starts
1649-1660 Commonwealth Period - Oliver Cromwell
King Charles II proclaimed King of Scots and England in Scotland
King Charles I executed
Commonwealth declared
Coffee brought to England about this time
Royalist Confiscations Acts-Lands and Estates forfeited for Treason, to be sold
Scottish prisoners transported to the English settlements in America
1651-1652 The second English Civil War
Commonwealth changed into Cromwell's Protectorate
Commonwealth registers start
1653-1660 Provincial probate courts abolished - probates granted only in London
Under the Act of Settlement Cromwell's opponents stripped of land (in Ireland?)
A few Jews permitted to settle in England
Post Office established by Act of Parliament [others say 1660]
Death of Oliver Cromwell
1658-1660 Richard Cromwell (son of Oliver) Lord Protector
Feb 6: date of first known cheque to be drawn
1660s Quaker-Scottish colony was established in East New Jersey
1660- Restoration Period
Composition of light discovered by Newton
Provincial Probate Courts re-established
Commonwealth registers ended, Parish Registers resumed
Clarendon code restricts Puritans' religious freedom
Regicides are executed
Honourable East India Company founded by British
First British in Japan
Scotland adopts Gregorian calendar
Restoration of British monarchy - 'Oak Apple Day' - theatres reopened
First actress plays in London (Margaret Hughes as Desdemona)
Board of Trade founded in London
Restoration of Episcopacy in Scotland
Persecution of Non-conformists in England
Corporation Act prevents non-Anglicans from holding municipal office
Hand-struck postage stamps first used
Poor Relief Act
Hearth Tax
Act of Uniformity - About 2,000 vicars and rectors driven from their parishes as nonconformists (Presbyterians and Independents) - Persecution of all non-conformists - Presbyterianism dis-established - Episcopalian Church of England restored
Earliest Roman Catholic registers
Great Plague of London
Act of Parliament - burials to be in woollen
Use of semaphore signalling pioneered by Lord Worcester
1666-1689 Considerable religious unrest on Scotland (The Covenanters) - Covenanters Rising at St John's Town of Dalry
2-6: Great Fire of London, after a drought beginning 27 June
Earliest Lutheran registers survive from this year
Earliest Synagogue registers - Bevis Marks
High Court of Justiciary established in Scotland
War with Holland - British Army increased to 10,000 men
First Test Act deprives British Catholics and Non-conformists of Public Office
Beginning of Whig party under Shaftsbury
Building of Royal Greenwich Observatory started
Lee's
Extension of Test Act to peers
Tories first so named
Battle of Bothwell Brig in Scotland
Burial in Woollen more strictly enforced
Habeas Corpus Act becomes law in England - (later repealed from time to time)
1680-1770 Chinoiserie Period (Art & Antiques)
William Dockwra(y) begins his London Penny Post
Oil lighting first used in London streets
Second Test Act (against non-conformists) passed by Westminster Parliament
Pennsylvania founded by William Penn
Ashmolean Museum opened at Oxford - first museum in Britain
Huguenot registers begin in London
Presbyterian settlement in Stuart's Town in South Carolina
James the Second (1685-1689, died 1701) - Monmouth rebellion and battle of Sedgemoor - British Army raised to 20,000 men
Revocation of the Edict of Nantes - drove thousands of Protestants (Huguenots) from France - many settled in England
Earl of Argyll's Invasion of Scotland
Judge Jeffreys and the Bloody Assizes - 320 executed, 800 transported
Release of all prisoners held for their religious beliefs
British Army raised to 40,000
Nov: The Glorious Revolution: James II abdicates - William of Orange lands in England - William of Hanover and Mary, daughter of James II, jointly take the throne - (only William, however, has regal power)
Mutiny Act
Hearth Tax abolished
Bill of Rights limits the powers of the monarchy over parliament
Edward Lloyd's Coffee House - later became Lloyd's of London
Toleration Act for Protestant non-conformists
Battle of Killiecrankie in Scotland
Siege of Londonderry
Earliest Royal Dutch Chapel registers
Deposed James VII and II flees to Ireland - defeated at the Battle of the Boyne (1690)
Great Synagogue founded
Battle of the Boyne
Presbyterianism finally established in Scotland
Earliest date in known German Lutheran registers
French intention to invade England came to naught
The massacre of Glencoe - Clan Campbell side with the King and murder members of Clan McDonald [1691?]
Bank of England founded by William Paterson (a Scot)
National Debt came into effect in England
1694-1699 Scotland: Poll Tax imposed on all over sixteen, except the destitute and insane
Triennial Act
Act of Parliament imposes a fine on all who fail to inform the parish minister of the birth of a child (repealed 1706)
Start of
Freedom of Press in England
Bank of Scotland founded
Window Tax (replaced Hearth Tax; increased in 1747; abolished 1851)
Education Act passed by Scottish Parliament
Act of Parliament establishes Workhouses
Official opening of St Paul's Cathedral
Darien Expedition: a disastrous attempt to establish a Scots settlement in Panama
Invention of steam engine by Capt Thomas Savery
Duties (taxes) on entries in parish registers - repealed after five years
Act of Settlement bars Catholics from the British throne
1702-1714 Queen Anne Period (Art & Antiques)
War of Spanish Succession (1702-1713)
Anne Stuart becomes Queen
First English daily newspaper The Daily Courant (till 1735)
Repeal of Duties on entries in Parish Registers
Penal Code enacted - Catholics barred from voting, education and the military
Battle of Blenheim
First workable steam pumping engine devised by Thomas Newcomen
Last use of veto by a British sovereign
May 1: English and Scottish Parliaments united by an Act of the English Parliament - The Kingdom of Great Britain established
Union with Scotland - Scots agree to send 16 peers and 45 MPs to English Parliament in return for full trading privileges - Scottish Parliament meets for the last time in March
First Jacobite rising in Scotland
Earliest Artillery Muster Rolls
First Copyright Act passed
Tax on Apprentice Indentures
Incorporation of South Sea Company, in London
Last trial for witchcraft in England (Jane Wenham)
Imposition of Soap Tax (abolished 1853)
Patronage Act - patronage of ministers restored
Toleration Act passed - first relief to non-Anglicans
Treaty of Utrecht concludes the War of the Spanish Succession
Quarter Sessions Records from this date often mention Protestant dissenters and Roman Catholic recusants
Chancery Proceedings filed under Six Clerks
Landholders forced to take the Oath of Allegiance and renounce Roman Catholicism
Schism Act
Queen Anne Stuart dies - George I Hanover becomes king (1714-1727)
Riot Act passed
Second Jacobite rebellion in Scotland, under the Old Pretender ('The Fifteen')
The Septennial Act of Britain leads to greater electoral corruption - general elections now to be held once every 7 years instead of every 3
First Masonic Lodge opens in London
Third abortive Jacobite rising
Manufacturing towns start to increase in population - rise of new wealth
South Sea Bubble, a stock-market crash on Exchange Alley
Bailey's Northern Directory
Robert Walpole (Whig) becomes first Prime Minister (to 1742)
Last trial for witchcraft in Scotland
Knatchbull's Act, poor laws
The Workhouse Act or Test - to get relief, a poor person has to enter Workhouse
The Waltham Black Acts add 50 capital offences to the penal code - people could be sentenced to death for theft and poaching
Excise tax levied for coffee, tea, and chocolate
James Warn b. 18 January 1722/23, d. circa 1777
1725-1726 Treaty of Hanover: France, Prussia, England v. Spain, Austria
First circulating library opened in Edinburgh
Invention of the chronometer by John Harrison
Board of Manufacturers established in Scotland
George I dies - George II Hanover becomes king
Methodists begin at Oxford
1730-1750 Rococo Period (Art & Antiques)
Irish famine
Invention of sextant by John Hadley
Invention of seed drill by Jethro Tull
Earliest Cavalry and Infantry Muster Rolls
Excise crisis: Sir Robert Walpole wanted to add excise tax to tobacco and wine - Pulteney and Bolingbroke oppose the excise tax
Law forbidding the use of Latin in parish registers generally obeyed - some continued in Latin for a few years
Kent's Directory
Earliest Calvinistic Methodist registers
John Wesley has his conversion experience
Wesley and Whitefield commence great Methodist revival
Benjamin Ingham founded the Moravian Methodists or Inghamites - Earliest Moravian registers
Earliest Scotch Church registers
England goes to war with Spain - incited by William Pitt the Elder (Earl of Chatham) for the sake of trade
Battle of Dettingen - last time a British sovereign (George II) led troops in battle
Church of Scotland split over taking of Burgess' Oath - Burghers and Anti-Burghers
First Methodist Conference
Jacobite rebellion in Scotland ('The Forty-five')
Bonnie Prince Charlie (The Young Pretender) lands in the western Highlands - raises support among Episcopalian and Catholic clans - The Pretender's army invades Perth, Edinburgh, and England as far as Derby
Battle of Culloden - last battle fought in Britain - 5,000 Highlanders routed by the Duke of Cumberland and 9,000 loyalists Scots - Young Pretender Charles flees to Continent, ending Jacobite hopes forever - the wearing of the kilt prohibited
Abolition of Heritable Jurisdictions in Scotland
1748-1756 Countess of Huntington's (Calvinistic) Methodist Connexion founded
1750-1770 Gothic Revival Period (Art & Antiques)
1750-1805 Neo-Classical Period (Art & Antiques)
Year standardised to end Dec 31 (previously Mar 24)
Julian Calendar dropped and Gregorian Calendar adopted in England, making this Sep 14 -
Earliest lnghamite registers
Robert Warn b. December 1753, d. 22 June 1816
First British troops not belonging to the East India Company despatched to India
First printed Annual Army Lists
Hardwicke Act (1753): Banns to be called, and Printed Marriage Register forms to be used - Quakers & Jews exempt
Publication of Dictionary of the English Language by Dr Johnson
Period of canal construction began in Britain (till 1827)
The Seven Years War with France (Pitt's trade war) begins
India: The Nawab of Bengal tries to expel the British, but is defeated at the battle of Plassy - the East India Company forces are led by Robert Clive
Black Hole of Calcutta
The foundation laid for the Empire of India
India stops being merely a commercial venture - England begins dominating it politically - The East India Company retains its monopoly although it ceased to trade
Wesley builds 356 Methodist chapels
Mar: First predicted return of Halley's comet
British Museum opens to the public in London
The date conventionally marks the start of the so-called
Carron Iron Works in operation in Scotland
First use of hangman's drop - last nobleman to be executed (Laurence, Earl Ferrers) at Tyburn
George II dies - George III Hanover, his grandson, becomes king
Earliest Unitarian registers
Cigars introduced into Britain from Cuba
France surrenders Canada and Florida
Treaty of Paris - gives back to France everything Pitt fought to obtain - (Newfoundland [fishing], Guadaloupe and Martininque [sugar], Dakar [gum])
Lloyd's Register of shipping first prepared
Stamp Act passed
Newcomen's steam pumping engine perfected by James Watt
First iron railroads built for mines by John Wilkinson
The first edition of the
Arkwright invents water frame (textile production)
Hargreaves's jenny invented (textile production)
Clyde Trust created to convert the River Clyde, then an insignificant river, into a major thoroughfare for maritime communications
James Cook discovers New South Wales
First Navy Lists published
udge Mansfield rules that there is no legal basis for slavery in England
1773-1858 The East India Company governs Hindustan
Boston Tea Party
Battle of Lexington: first action in American War of Independence (1775-1783) - Irish unrest
American Declaration of Independence
Crompton's mule invented (textile production)
First Spinning Mills operational in Scotland
First iron bridge built, over the Severn by John Wilkinson
Earliest Wesleyan registers
Male Servants Tax
The English Reform Movement - until now, only landowners and tenants--freeholders with 40 shillings per year or more--allowed to vote, and in open poll books
First Derby run at Epsom
Jun 2-8: The Gordon Riots - Parliament passes a Roman Catholic relief measure - for days, London is at the mercy of a mob and destruction is widespread
James Watt patents his steam engine
Gilbert's Act establishes outdoor poor relief - the way of life of the poor beginning to alter due to industrialisation - New factories in rapidly expanding towns required a workforce that would adjust to new work patterns
Duty on Parish Register entries (3d per entry - repealed 1794)
Treaty of Versailles (England/U.S.)
Pitt's India Act - the Crown (as opposed to officers of the East India Company) has power to guide Indian politics
Invention of threshing machine by Andrew Meikle
First golf club founded at St Andrews
First edition of The Times (called The Daily Universal Register for 3 years)
Wesley breaks with the Church of England
First mail coaches in England (4pm Bristol/8am London)
Sunday School Society founded to educate poor children (by 1851, enrols more than 2 million)
John Warn b. 9 October 1786, d. 1 October 1838
Earliest known Swedenborgian (Church of the New Jerusalem or Jerusalemite) registers
First steamboat demonstrated in Scotland [but see 1802]
King George III's mental illness occasions the Regency Crisis - Edmund Burke and Charles James Fox attack ministry of William Pitt - trying to obtain full regal powers for the Prince of Wales
First slave carrying act, the Dolben Act of 1788, regulates the slave trade - stipulates more humane conditions on slave ships
Law passed requiring that chimney sweepers be a minimum of 8 years old (not enforced)
First convicts (and free settlers) arrive in New South Wales
Publication of Gilbert White's 'Natural History of Selborne'
The French Revolution begins - storming of the Bastille
Forth and Clyde Canal opened in Scotland
Late 18th c. Hindustan (SH), Mysore (India)
Sugar prices rise steeply
John Bell, printer, abandons the
Establishment of the Ordnance Survey of Great Britain
First publication of The Observer - oldest Sunday newspaper
Coal-gas lighting invented by William Murdock, an Ayrshire Scot
Repression in Britain (restrictions on freedom of the press) - Fox gets Libel Act through Parliament, requiring a jury and not a judge to determine libel
Boyle's Street Directory published
Introduction of Money Orders in Britain
King's Proclamation drawing out the British militia
Execution of Louis XVI
England declares war on France (1793-1802)
£5 notes first issued by the Bank of England
Abolition of Parish Register duties
Battle of Glorious First of June
The prosecutor for Britain, Lord Justice Eyre, charges reformers with High Treason - he argued that, since reform of parliament would lead to revolution and revolution to executing the King, the desire for reform endangered the King's life and was therefo
Speenhamland Act proclaims that the Parish is responsible for bringing up the labourer's wage to subsistence level - towards the end of the eighteenth century, the number of poor and unemployed increased dramatically - price increases during the Napoleoni
Pitt and Grenville introduce
England declares war on Holland (who had sided with France)
Spain declares war on England
1795-96 West Indies Campaign
Consumption of lime juice made compulsory in Royal Navy
Foundation of the Orange Order
The Famine Year
Holden's Triennial Directory published
Pitt's
Cape St Vincent (Portugal), Camperdown ( Holland )
England in Crisis, Bank of England suspends cash payments
Tax on newspapers (including cheap, topical journals) increased to repress radical publications
First £1 note issued by Bank of England
Apr-Jun: Mutinies in the British Navy at Spithead and Nore
Nile (Egypt)
Irish Rebellion Vinegar Hill (Ireland),
1798- 1802 First war with Napoleon
First planned human experiment with vaccination, to test theories of Edward Jenner
Feb-Oct: The Irish Rebellion; 100,000 peasants revolt; approximately 25,000 die - Irish Parliament abolished
Post Office New Annual Directory
Foundation of the Royal Institution of Great Britain
Foundation of Royal Military College Sandhurst by the Duke of York
Siege of Acre
Seringapatam (India)
Egmont-op-Zee Netherlands
War with Tippu Sahib (Fourth Mysore War)
Pitt brings in 10% income tax
Repressive legislation in Britain against political associations and combinations
Royal College of Surgeons founded
Union of Great Britain and Ireland
Earliest Bible Christian registers
Electric light first produced by Sir Humphrey Davy
Use of high pressure steam pioneered by Richard Trevithick
Parliamentary union of Great Britain and Ireland
Union Jack official British flag
Alexandria (Egypt), Copenhagen
First census puts the population of England and Wales at 9,168,000 - population of Britain nearly 11 million (75 per cent rural)
Charlotte Dundas on Clyde, first practical steamship, built by William Symington
Treaty of Amiens (England and France)
First British Factory Act
Treaty of Amiens signed by Britain, France, Spain, and the Netherlands - the
First public railway opens (Wandsworth to Croydon)
1803-05 War with Mahrattas
First publication of Debrett's Peerage by John Debrett
Early locomotive constructed by Richard Trevithick
Commissioners for Highland Roads and Bridges created in Scotland
Semaphore signalling perfected by Admiral Popham
1803-05 Second war with Napoleon Trafalgar (Spain)
Assaye, Laswari (India)
Invention of paper-making machine (Foudrinier)
Peace of Amiens ends on 12 May - resumption of war with France - The Napoleonic Wars (1803-18l5)
William Cobbett began unofficial publication of Parliamentary reports (taken over by Hansard report in 1811)
Spain declares war on Britain
Bhurtporer (India)
Admiral Nelson's defeats French fleet at Trafalgar
Earliest Primitive Methodist registers
1500
1510
1520
1530
1540
1550
1560
1570
1580
1590
1600
1610
1620
1630
1640
1650
1660
1670
1680
1690
1700
1710
1720
1730
1740
1750
1760
1770
1780
1790
1800
1810
1820
1830
1840
1850
1860
1870
1880
1890
1900
1910
1920
1930
1940
1950
1960
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010
Gas lighting in London streets
Parliament passes Act prohibiting slavery and the importation of slaves from 1808 - but does not prohibit colonial slavery
Rolica, Vimiera (Vimeiro) (Portugal), Sahagun (Spain)
Peninsular War (1808-1814)
1808-1814 Peninsular War (England, Spain and Portugal v. France
1808-09First Campaign ;
1809-14 Second Campaign
Walcheren Expedition
Corunna (Spain), Douro (Portugal), Talavera (Spain)
Bible Christians denomination formed by schism in Wesleyan Methodists
Bussaco (Portugal)
Nov: Luddite uprisings (machine breaking) in the Midlands against weaving frames started - went on until 1815 - groups of workmen rebelled against the increased mechanisation of textile production by destroying the new machinery - government fears revolut
Fuentes d’Onor (Fuentes de Onoro) (Spain/Portugal, Albur[h]era (Spain)
Prince of Wales (future George IV) made Regent after George III deemed insane
1812-14 War of 1812 (with America)
Prime Minister Perceval assassinated
Comet' steamship launched in Scotland
Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajoz, Salamanca (Spain), Niagara (Canada)
Start of American
Oct-Dec: Napoleon retreats from Moscow with catastrophic losses
Ireland: First recorded
'Policy for the Improvement of the Highlands' approved by British Parliament
Rose's Act (1812) established a printed format for baptism & burial registers
Pamplona (Spain), Nive (France)
Vit[t]oria (Spain) Pyrenees (France/Spain), San Sebastian (Spain), Leipzig (Saxony)
Congress of Vienna
First Pigot's Commercial Directory printed
Act of Burial in Woollen repealed
First Treaty of Paris (England, France, Russia, Austria, Prussia)
Sugar prices reach record heights
Orthez. Toulouse (France)
Abdication of Napoleon
Invasion of France by Allies
Napoleon abdicates and is exiled to Elba
Quatre Bras. Ligny, Waterloo (Netherlands)
Corn Bill passed with enormous benefit to landlords
Holy Alliance (Emperors of Russia and Austria and Kings of Prussia, France and Spain )
Second Treaty of Paris
The Battle of Waterloo: Napoleon defeated and exiled to St. Helena
Economic depression
Income tax abolished
Bombardment of Algiers
Johnstone's London Directory printed
First steamship (Savannah) to cross Atlantic (26 days)
Peterloo Massacre at Manchester - a large, orderly group of 60,000 meets at St. Peter's Fields, Manchester - demand Parliamentary Reform - mounted troops charge on the meeting, killing and maiming many people
Six Acts passed against radical political Unions - prohibits assemblies similar to St. Peter's Fields and imposes press censorship
Cato Street Conspiracy
1820 – 1830 GEORGE IV
Accession of George IV, previously Prince Regent
Trial of Queen Caroline to prove her infidelities so George IV can divorce her - George tries to secure a Bill of Pains and Penalties against her - Caroline is virtually acquitted because bill passed by such a small majority of Lords
1821-27 Greek War of Independenee (to free Greece from Turkish rule)
1821-31 First Ashanti War (W. Africa)
Caledonian canal opened
New laws concerning marriage by licence
Scottish testaments prior to 1823 transferred to S.R.O.
Combination Acts repealed (Trades Unions allowed)
1824-26First Burma War
Horse-drawn buses in London [but see 1829]
Stockton to Darlington Railway opens
Hobhouse makes amendments to Acts to protect Child Labour in cotton factories
White's first Commercial Directory - Hull
Scotland's first commercial railway was opened, Edinburgh to Dalkeith
Navariao (Greece)
Treaty of London (England, France and Russia – to secure peace between Greece and Turkey)
Treaty of Adrianople (Greek independence)
Repeal of Test and Corporation Acts - had kept non-Anglicans (Catholics and Dissenters) from holding public office and deprived them of other rights
Earliest Irvingite registers
First two omnibuses (pulled by three horses) introduced by George Schillibeer
Lucifer matches first manufactured
George Stephenson's Rocket
London Metropolitan police force formed
Catholic Emancipation Act restores civil liberties to Roman Catholics
Agricultural 'Swing' Riots in southern England, repressed with many transportations
First mail carried by rail between Liverpool & Manchester
Second French Revolution (Duke of Orleans supersedes Charles X; reigns as Louis Philippe)
1830-1880 Eclectic Period (Art & Antiques)
1830–1837 WILLIAM IV
George IV dies - his brother, William IV, accedes to the throne
British Association founded
Faraday discovers electro-magnetic induction
First Reform Bill introduced by Lord George Russell
A list of all parish registers dating prior to 1813 compiled
Electric telegraph invented by Morse
Electoral Registers introduced
Reform Bill passed - Representation of the People Act - dramatic effects for grossly underrepresented places like Scotland (the number of Scottish people allowed to vote increased from 4,000 to 65,000 out of 2.5 million people) - changed voting from an ar
Factory Act forbids employment of children below age of 9
'Tolpuddle Martyrs' transported for Trades Union activities
Slavery abolished in British possessions
Poor Law amendment, tightening up relief
Hansom Cab patented by Joseph Hansom
William Warn b. 1835, d. 2 April 1909
Municipal Corporations Act
Earliest Universalist registers
First surviving photograph taken by William Fox Talbot
Word 'socialism' first used
Christmas becomes a national holiday
Newspaper tax reduced from 4 pence to one penny
First Potato famine in Ireland
Economic downturn that lasts until 1842
1837–1901 VICTORIA
Canadian Insurrection
Wheatstone & Cooke send first British telegraph message
William IV dies - accession of Queen Victoria (to 1901)
Compulsory registration of Births, Marriages & Deaths in England & Wales
Euston Railway station opens - first in London
First Ocean Steamers to the U.S.
Chartism, a working-class movement for the extension of the franchise, comes into existence - 6-point charter: universal suffrage, secret ballot, annual elections, payment of Members, no property qualification for MPs, equal electoral districts
1838-1849 The Chartist Movement
Chartist riots
1839-43 First Afghan War
1839-42First China War (Opium War)
Ghuznee (Afghanistan)
Bicycle invented
Population Act relating to taking of censuses in Britain
Last convicts landed in NSW (some say 1842 or 1849)
Acre taken (3H)
Uniform Penny Postage introduced nationally
FPenny Red replaces Penny Black postage stamp
First full census in Britain in which all names were recorded
Government report 'The Sanitary Condition of the Labouring Population'
Civil Registration in Channel Islands started
Treaty of Nanking (Britain and China)
Cabool (Kabul, Afghanistan)
Laws outlawing women and children in the mines
Mail steamship to India
Meanee
Sind Campaign
Factory safety regulations enacted
Punnlar (Paniar)
Maharajpore
Gwalior Campaign (v. Mahrattas). (16L),) (9L)
Disruption of the Church of Scotland - 474 ministers signed the Deed of Demission and formed the Free Church of Scotland (the
First Christmas card in England
Brunel's 'Great Britain' launched
Outdoor Relief Prohibition Order - parish relief received only in a workhouse
First voyage of 'Great Britain' - to America
Tarmac laid for first time (in Nottingham)
Royal Naval Biographical Dictionary published
1845-47 First Sikh War
Ferozeshah (India)
Moodkee (Mudki)
Kelly's Directories
Excise tax on glass production repealed
Potato famine in Ireland (to 1848) - temporary repeal of the Corn Laws
An anaesthetic used for the first time in England
Free Church of Scotland formed
1846-47 Actions v. tribesmen: Souih Africa
Aliwal, Sobraon {India)
United Succession becomes the United Presbyterian Church
Ten Hours Act shortens factory work day to ten hours for women and children
Rotary press first introduced
Public Health Act
1848-49 Second Sikh War
Orange Free State War (S. Africa)
Third French Revolution (Louis Philippe driven from his throne)
General revolutionary movement throughout the Continent
Civil Registration of Births in Isle of Man started
Chillianwallah, Goojerat (India)
Telegraph cable Dover to Calais [others say 1851]
Photography is popularised by introduction of
1851-53 Actions v. tribesmen: South Africa
French Coup d’Etat (Prince Louis Napoleon overthrows Republic; later becomes Emperor Napoleon III)
Gold discovered in Australia
Second full British Census - improvements in data compared with the first
Great exhibition of the works of industry of all nations (
First voyage of 'Great Britain' to Australia
1852-53 Second Burma War
Oltenitza (Wallachia)
Turkey declares war on Russia (who had invaded Turkish provinces)
Russian Fleet destroys entire Turkish Fleet at Sinope (Black Sea)
Cigarettes introduced into Britain
British and French naval Squadrons enter the black sea
British and French Expeditionary Force to Gallipoli Peninsular-Turkey ( Lord Raglan + Marshal de saint-Arnaud)
Britain and France join Turkey in declaring war on Russia
1854-56 Crimean War (Britain, France, Turkey, Piedmoat-Sardinia v. Russia) l854: Alma, Balaclava, Inkerman
Admiral Sir Charles Napier's naval sortie easily beaten off by Russians nr Hango - Bomersund (Baltic)
Austrian Treaty with Prussia - to secure withdrawal of Russia from the Principalities et al
Russians under Paskevitch push across Danube to beseige Silistria ( Held by Omar Pasha)
Russians withdraw unsuccesful from Silestria in fear of Austrian involvement
Allied troops suffer heavy casualties from Cholera and other endemic fevers at Varna
Allies leave Gallipoli for Varna to be closer to Silistria
All Russians troops back on home soil
Britain, France and Austria agree on 'Four Points' required for peace with Russia
Thomas Chenery (London Times) reveals deplorable state of Medical services at Scutari
Allied (British 30000 and French ) armies land in Crimea 9 days march from Sevastopol
Menshikov sets up defensive position on the River Alma
Battle of the Heights of Alma
Marshal de saint-Arnaud dies of cancer - General Canrobert takes over
Allies under Lord Raglan occupy port of Balaclava and move to set up seige of Sevastopol
Menshikov attacks British holding Balaclava
Charge of the Light Brigade'- 247 casualties from 673 cavalry in attacking Russian guns-finally thrown back by Russian cavalry
Russians reinforced and up to allied strength
Russia agrees on 'Four Points' to keep Austria out of the War
Russians attack allies on 'Heights of Inkerman' - unsuccesful with heavy casualties on both sides
Hurricane disorganises allied troops on sea and land
1854-55: Seige of Sevastopol
British down to 15000 fighting troops and look for support elsewhere
Piedmontese expeditionary force of 17500 land in Crimea (financed by Britain) -kept in Reserve
Registration of births, marriages & deaths made compulsory in Scotland
Sweaborg (Baltic)
House of commons select Committee on preparedness of the Army before Sebastopol
Palmerston appointed PM after Aberdeen resigns
Preliminary peace conference opens in Vienna - presided over by Boul
General Pelissier now in charge of French Army of 120000 men
5600 troops of 'British, German and Swiss Legions' join the allies.
Russian forces in Crimea ( in defence of Sevastopol etc ) reach 300000 men +100000 animals
Admiralty starts to supply adequate ships for support to the Crimean Campaign
Nicholas I of Russia dies - succeeded by Alexander II
55000 Turks under Omar Pasha join the allies in the Crimea
Austria mobilises four army corps in Galicia
Russians break off peace conference over proposed limits to their sovereignty
Malakhov Fort captured - Sevastopol blown up and evacuated by Russians
Russians guns set up on northern shore - stalemate!-peace the only solution
First London pillar boxes
Cellulose nitrate, first synthetic plastic material, invented by Alexander Parkes
Third Treaty of Paris
and Jan 15 - Russian Imperial Council convinced war cannot be won
to mar - in Crimea-troops suffer enormous losses to Cholera
1856-57 Persian War
1856-60 Second China War
Congress' of Paris starts to find ways to peace
Armistice concluded in the field in Crimea
'Secret' alliance between Britain, Austria and France to preserve 'the balance of power' Black Sea to be kept open.
Transatlantic cable laid
1857–58 Indian Mutiny: Central India
Delhi,Lucknow Cawnpore,(India)
London postal districts introduced
1858-68 Basuto Wars of Orange Free State (S. Africa)
East India Company dissolved
Legally proved Wills start to be entered into an index (Eng & W) - taken out of ecclesiastical jurisdiction
'Great Eastern' liner by Brunel launched
Darwin publishes Origin of Species
Volunteer Movement commences
1859-6I Italian War of Independence
l859-60 Taku Forts (China)
Pekin (China)
Treaty of Tientsin (terminating China War)
American Civil War begins
1861-65 American Civil War
Third full British Census
Mary C. Warn b. circa November 1861, d. 1951
Prince Albert dies
Football Association founded
London's first Underground Railway opens
Civil Registration in Ireland starts
Civil Registration of marriages in Isle of Man starts
William Booth founds Salvation Army
End of American Civil War - slavery abolished in USA
The Second Reform Bill - vote given to town householders
Fanny Adams murdered in Alton
Dominion of Canada founded
Last convicts landed in Australia (Western Australia)
Abyssinian Expedition
Last British election for which Poll Books available
Cutty Sark launched
Ballbearings, celluloid, margarine, washing machine all invented
Suez Canal opens
Dr. Thomas Barnardo opens his first home for destitute children
Board Schools start attempting to impose consistent spelling
1870-1900 Art & Crafts Period (Art & Antiques)
1870-71 Franco-Prussian War
GPO takes over the privately-owned Telegraph Companies
First British postcard - halfpenny post
Fourth full British census
Trades Unions legalised in Britain
Penalties introduced for failing to register births, marriages & deaths (Eng & Wales)
Licensing hours introduced
Secret Ballot introduced in Britain (no further Poll Books produced)
1873-74 Second Ashanti War (W. Africa)
Factory Act introduces 56-hour week
Submarine invented
Artisan's Dwellings Act
Climbing Boys Act passed
Captain Webb swims channel
London's main sewage system completed
Annual centralised list of Scottish Wills from now (and most from 1823 also)
Victoria proclaimed Empress of India
Civil Registration of deaths in Isle of Man started
Bell invents telephone
Charles E. Warn b. 31 October 1876, d. 9 August 1961
First tennis championships at Wimbledon
1877-78 Russo-Turkish War
Edison invents microphone and phonograph
1878-80 Second Afghan War
Edison & Swan invent electric lamp
Charasiah. Kabul (Afghanistan)
Zulu War: South Africa
Tay Bridge Disaster - bridge collapsed in storm taking train with it - enquiry revealed corners had been cut during construction to reduce costs
First telephone exchanges opened in London & Manchester
Kandahar (Afghanistan)
1880-81 South African Gun War
Education Act: schooling compulsory for 5-10 year olds
Postal Orders introduced
Fifth full British Census
Alexandria. Tel-el-Kebir
1882-98 Egypt-Sudan Campaign: Egypt, 1882; Egypt, l884 ; Nile, 1884-85
Arabi Pasha’s Insurrection (against the Khedive of Egypt)
Parcel post starts in Britain
Revolt of the Mahdi in Sudan
1884-1918 Art Noveau Period (Art & Antiques)
The Third Reform Bill - vote given to agricultural workers
Secretary for Scotland appointed
Abu Klea , Suakin (Sudan)
Eastman makes first coated photographic paper
Carl Benz builds single-cylinder motor car
Crofters Act
Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee
County Councils set up in Britain
Dock Strike - docker's won their
Celluloid film produced
London's first electric Underground
Forth railway bridge opens - took six years to build
Primary education made free and compulsory
First telephone link between London & Paris
Sixth full British Census
Shop Hours Act - limit 74 hours per week for under-18s
Married Women's Property Act
Electric oven invented
Last broad-gauge train leaves Paddington for Plymouth
Zip fastener invented
1893–94 Third Ashanti War (W. Africa)
Henry Ford's first car
Keir Hardy founds Independent Labour Party
Local Government Act passed (start of civil parish councils, etc)
Picture postcard introduced in Britain
Manchester Ship Canal opens
Tower Bridge opens
Gugliemo Marconi invents wireless telegraphy - message over a mile
Röntgen discovers x-rays
Safety razor invented by King C Gillette
The National Trust founded in England
First public showing of film on screen in Paris by Lumières
First recorded motor journey of any length (56 miles) in Britain
First people in Britain to be charged with motor offences - John Henry Knight and James Pullinger of Farnham, Surrey
Fourth Ashanti War
Jameson Raid (S. Africa)
Opening of the Underground Railway (the
Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee
The Curies discover Radium
Omdurman. Khartoum (Sudan)
Zeppelin builds airship
First photograph using artificial light
1899-1902 Boer War
Valdemar Poulsen invents tape recorder
1899-1902 South African War (Boer War)
Aspirin invented
Start of Boer War
Commonwealth of Australia founded
Britain's first submarine launched
Queen Victoria dies - Edward VII king
Seventh full British Census (available for inspection Jan 2002)
First successful radio transmission across the Atlantic, by Marconi
Balfour's Education Act provides for secondary education
Eric E. Warn b. 1 July 1904, d. 22 January 1984
Einstein publishes theory of relativity
Free school meals for poor children
Labour Party formed
School medical system begins
Beveridge Report prompts creation of labour Exchanges
Bleriot flies across the Channel
Old Age Pensions Act came into force
Philip M. Warn b. 2 August 1945
