A CHRONOLOGY OF BRITISH HISTORY

The following is a timeline of British history which may be of use to family historians in order to set their family events in their historical context. As far as possible it includes regnal dates for English, Welsh and Scottish monarchs; major battles; the births and deaths of major religious and artistic figures; the founding of major universities, schools etc; the founding of orders of chivalry; the founding of major organisations; sporting, ceremonial and religious events; inventions; and general British history.

PART 2 1500 to 1900 AD

1501 = Palace of Holyroodhouse built

1505 = Incorporation of Barber-Surgeons of Scotland founded in Edinburgh

1509 = Brasenose College,Oxford founded

1509 = John Calvin born

1509 = Establishment of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms by King Henry VIII

21 Apr 1509 = end of reign of Henry VII of England

22 Apr 1509 = Henry VIII King of England

1512 = The Corporation of Trinity House founded

9 Sep 1513 = Battle of Flodden

9 Sep 1513 = end of reign of James IV, of the Iron Belt, of Scotland

10 Sep 1513 = James V King of Scotland

1517 = Corpus Christi College,Oxford founded

1518 = Royal College of Physicians founded by Thomas Linacre with charter from King Henry VIII

1525 = Christ Church College,Oxford founded by Cardinal Wolsey

1528 = Office of Gold Stick-in-Waiting instituted

1531 = King Henry VIII becomes head of the church & establishes the Church of England

1532 = Society of Writers to the Signet, Edinburgh, founded (for solicitors)

1532 = Institution of the Faculty of Advocates in Scotland

1534 = Founding of Cambridge University Press (Grant of Letters Patent by King Henry VIII)

1538 = Introduction of Parish Registers by Thomas Cromwell

1539 = First Criminal Court established at Old Bailey

1539 = Office of Lord Lieutenant of the County instituted by King Henry VIII

1540 = United Company of Barber-Surgeons founded in London

1540 = Office of Secretary of State instituted

1541 = King Henry VIII of England declared King of Ireland

1542 = John Speed (Map Maker) born

14 Dec 1542 = end of reign of James V of Scotland

15 Dec 1542 = Mary Queen of Scots

1543 = Publication of study of human anatomy by Andreas Vesalius

17 Feb 1545 = Battle of Ancrum Moor

28 Jan 1547 = end of reign of Henry VIII of England

29 Jan 1547 = Edward VI King of England

10 Sep 1547 = Battle of Pinkie Cleugh

1549 = Formulation of first Book of Common Prayer by Thomas Cranmer

1550 = Yeoman Warders of the Tower of London formed

6 Jul 1553 = end of reign of Edward VI of England

3 Aug 1553 = Mary I Queen of England

1555 = St.John's College,Oxford founded

1555 = Trinity College,Oxford founded

1555 = Founding of the Muscovy Company

1557 = Thousands die in famine as crops fail for 3rd year1

7 Nov 1558 = end of reign of Mary I of England

15 Jan 1559 = Elizabeth I Queen of England

1561 = Mary Queen of Scots returns to Scotland

1564 = John Calvin died

23 Apr 1564 = William Shakespeare born

1567 = In Scotland an Act passed making profession of the Protestant faith a condition of public office

24 Jul 1567 = Mary Queen of Scots forced to abdicate

25 Jul 1567 = James VI King of Scotland

Jul 1570 = Elizabeth I excommunicated by Pope Pius V

1571 = Jesus College,Oxford founded

1571 = Royal Exchange founded

1571 = Harrow School founded by John Lyon

1571 = Opening of the Royal Exchange in London

1572 = Tyco Brahe produces first star catalogue

1581 = Foumding of the Levant Company

1583 = Edinburgh University established

1585 = Oxford University Press founded

1585 = Sir Richard Grenville establishes first colony in Virginia

17 Oct 1586 = Sir Philip Sidney died

8 Feb 1587 = Mary Queen of Scots beheaded

1588 = First Welsh Bible published

19 Jul 1588 = Spanish Armada sighted off the Lizard

1590 = Invention of compound microscope by Z Janssen

1590 = Law of falling bodies postulated by Galileo

Jul 1597 = Witch-hunt hysteria grips Scotland

1598 = Establishment of the Bodleian Library at Oxford Univrsity

1599 = Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow founded

1600 = Founding of the East India Company

24 Mar 1603 = end of reign of Elizabeth I of England

25 Mar 1603 = Union of the Crowns

1603 = Union Jack designed

May 1603 = James VI of Scotland crowned James I of England

Dec 1603 = Bubonic plague kills a quarter of London's population

6 Nov 1605 = Guy Fawkes discovered plotting to blow up Parliament

Feb 1607 = More English settlers arrive in Virginia

1608 = Plantation of Ulster by Presbyterian Scots farmers

1608 = Invention of the telescope by H Lippershey

1609 = Establishment of first Baptist Church in Amsterdam

1611 = King James version of the Bible published

22 May 1611 = Establishment by Letters Patent of Order of Baronets by King James I (VI)

1612 = St.Andrew's University library

1612 = Wadham College,Oxford founded

1614 = John Napier discovers logarithms

1615 = Invention of clinical thermometer by S Santorio

23 Apr 1616 = William Shakespeare died

1618 = George Villiers appointed first Lord High Admiral by King James II

1620 = Founding of the Plymouth Colony at Cape Cod by emigrants on the Mayflower

1624 = Statute of Monopolies makes monopolies illegal in England

1624 = Pembroke College,Oxford founded

1624 = George Fox (Founder of the Quaker movement) born in Leicestershire

1625 = Bubonic plague decimates London's population

27 Mar 1625 = end of reign of James VI of Scotland (& I of England)

28 Mar 1625 = Charles I King of Great Britain

1626 = Nicholas Lanier appointed first Master of the King's Music

1629 = John Speed (Map Maker) died

1631 = John Dryden born

1632 = Invention of slide rule by W. Oughtred

1635 = Royal postal sevice first made available to the public by King Charles I

27 Feb 1638 = Scots sign first National Covenant

1639 = Production of first commercial steam engine

28 Aug 1640 = Battle of Newburn Ford

1641 = Impressing of crews for the Royal Navy made illegal

9 Dec 1641 = Sir Anthony Van Dyck died

30 Dec 1641 = First clash between Roundheads and Cavaliers

23 Oct 1642 = Start of English Civil War

23 Oct 1642 = Battle of Edge Hill

1643 = Excise Duty introduced by Parliament to finance the Cilvil War

19 Jan 1643 = Battle of Bradock Down

16 May 1643 = Battle of Stratton

5 Jul 1643 = Battle of Lansdown Hill

13 Jul 1643 = Battle of Roundway Down

21 Mar 1644 = Battle of Newark

29 Jun 1644 = Battle of Cropredy Bridge

2 Jul 1644 = Battle of Marston Moor

2 Sep 1644 = Battle of Lostwithiel

28 Oct 1644 = Battle of Newbury

9 May 1645 = Battle of Auldearn

14 Jun 1645 = Battle of Naseby

2 Jul 1645 = Battle of Alford

13 Sep 1645 = Battle of Philiphaugh

17 Aug 1648 = Battle of Preston

30 Jan 1649 = Charles I beheaded

31 Jan 1649 = Charles II King of Great Britain

1650 = The name Quaker applied to George Fox

3 Sep 1650 = Battle of Dunbar

3 Sep 1651 = Charles II flees to France

3 Sep 1651 = Battle of Worcester

1653 = The Compleat Angler by Izaak Walton published

16 Dec 1653 = Oliver Cromwell declared Lord Protector

1656 = Invention of pendulum clock by C Huygens

1657 = General Post Office (GPO) founded

1657 = First Jewish Synagogue opened in London

29 May 1660 = Charles II restored to the throne

28 Nov 1660 = Inaugural meeting of the Royal Society at Gresham College, London

1661 = The Corporation Act introduced (restricting offices of state to members of the Church of England)

1662 = Act of Uniformity re-establishment of episcopy under King Charles II

1662 = Punch & Judy Show first known to have been performed

1664 = The Conventicle Act outlawed Nonconformist worship in gatherings of more than 5 people

1664 = Duke of York and Albany's Maritime Regiment of Foot formed (Origin of Royal Marines)

1665 = Five Mile Act barred Nonconformist ministers from major towns

1665 = London Gazette founded

Dec 1665 = Plague kills 20% of London's population

2 Sep 1666 = Great Fire of London

1669 = First importation of tea from India by East India Company

1670 = John Dryden appointed first Poet Laureate

1670 = Formation of the Hudson's Bay Company

1673 = First Test Act (requiring all holders of offices to repudiate Catholicism and Dissent)

1675 = Quaker Monthly Meeting for Sufferings established

1675 = Greenwich Observatory founded by King Charles II

1675 = Appointment of John Flamsteed as first Astronomer Royal

1676 = First publication of the Oxford Amanack giving information about the University

1676 = Robert Barclay's Apology (an explanation of Quaker theology) published

1676 = Royal Company of Archers founded (Sovereign's Bodyguard in Scotland since 1822)

1678 = Second Test Act (barring all Catholics from parliament)

16 Aug 1678 = Andrew Marvell died

13 May 1679 = Archbishop Sharp murdered near St Andrews

1680 = Penny Post started in London

1681 = Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh founded

1682 = National Library of Scotland founded

1682 = William Penn left England and founded Pennsylvania

1682 = Foundation of the Royal Hospital,Chelsea by King Chatles II for veteran soldiers

1683 = Rye House Plot to kill King Charles II and the future King James II

1683 = Establishment of the Asmolean Museum in Oxford based on the collection of Elias Ashmole

6 Feb 1685 = end of reign of Charles II

7 Feb 1685 = James II (VII) King of Great Britain

Jun 1685 = Duke of Monmouth lands at Lyme Regis - Monmouth Rebellion

6 Jul 1685 = Battle of Sedgemoor

1687 = Order of the Thistle reinstituted by King James II (VII)

1687 = Sir Isaac Newton publishes law of gravitation

1688 = John Dryden dismissed as Poet Laureate for his adherence to Catholicism

9 Nov 1688 = William of Orange invades England

11 Dec 1688 = James II (VII) flees the country

1689 = Toleration Act re-introduced a level of toleration of Nonconformists(excl. Catholics & Unitarians)

1689 = Bill of Rights passed to protect Members of Parliament from court action

28 Jan 1689 = end of reign of James II (VII)

14 Feb 1689 = William III and Mary II King & Queen of Great Britain

27 Jul 1689 = Battle of Killiecrankie

1690 = Introduction of Stamp Duty

1 Jul 1690 = Battle of The Boyne

1691 = George Fox (Quaker leader) died

13 Feb 1692 = MacDonalds massacred at Glencoe

1693 = White's (Club) opened in London

1694 = Foundation of Bank of England

1696 = Lloyd's News first published by Edward Lloyd

1698 = St.James' Palace became main royal residence in London

1698 = Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK) founded by Thomas Bray

1700 = John Dryden died

1 Apr 1700 = Scottish colony on Darien fails

1701 = Act of Settlement barred Catholics from the throne

8 Mar 1702 = end of reign of William III and Mary II

9 Mar 1702 = Anne Queen of Great Britain

1703 = Restoration of the Order of the Thistle by Queen Anne

1703 = John Wesley born

1704 = Establishment of Queen Anne's Bounty to augment stipends of poor clergy

1705 = Her Majesty's Theatre opened in London

1705 = Edmund Halley discovers Halley's comet

1706 = Dick Turpin born at Hempstead, Essex

1707 = Charles Wesley born

1707 = Act of Union

1709 = The Tatler (Magazine) founded

1709 = Abraham Darby invents coke smelting process

1709 = Invention of piano (hammerklavier)

1710 = William Boyce (Composer) born

1711 = The Spectator (Newspaper) founded

1712 = Publication of The History of John Bull by Arbuthnot introduced the character of John Bull

1714 = Worcester College,Oxford founded

1714 = Howell Harris born (Religious leader)

1 Aug 1714 = end of reign of Queen Anne

2 Aug 1714 = George I King of Great Britain

1715 = Institution of Doggett's Coat and Badge Race (Rowing) on the River Thames by Thomas Doggett

13 Nov 1715 = Battle of Sheriffmuir

13 Nov 1715 = Battle of Preston 2

1716 = Lancelot "Capability" Brown born

1717 = David Garrick (Actor-Manager) born

1717 = Freemasons Grand Lodge of England founded

1718 = Machine gun invented by James Puckle

1719 = John Flamsteed, Astronomer Royal, died

10 Jun 1719 = Battle of Glen Shiel

1720 = The Haymarket (Theatre) opened in London

1720 = Edmund Halley appointed Astronomer Royal

Sep 1720 = Collapse of the "South Sea Bubble"

1721 = Sir Robert Walpole effectively the first Prime Minister

1721 = Captain James Cook born

3 Apr 1721 = Robert Walpole appointed first Prime Minister

3 Aug 1721 = Grinling Gibbons died

16 Jun 1722 = Duke of Marlborough died

1723 = Sir Joshua Reynolds born

1724 = First use of Portland cement

1725 = Freemasons Grand Lodge of Ireland founded

1725 = Creation of Order of the Bath by King George I

1725 = Invention of mine pump steam engine by Newcomen

25 Jun 1725 = Troops fire on tax rioters in Glasgow

1726 = Lloyd's List first published (replacing Lloyd's News)

1726 = Rob Roy MacGregor sent to Newgate prison

28 Oct 1726 = Jonathan Swift publishes "Gulliver's Travels"

1727 = Repeal of the Corporation Act

22 Jun 1727 = end of reign of George I

23 Jun 1727 = George II King of Great Britain

26 Apr 1730 = Daniel Defoe died

ABT 1730 = Scarborough, Yorkshire becomes the first seaside resort, offering sea bathing

1732 = 10 Downing Street,London presented by King George II to Sir Robert Walpole as residence for the First Lord of the Treasury (Prime Minister)

22 Feb 1732 = George Washington born

1733 = Flying shuttle loom invented by John Kay

1736 = Freemasons Grand Lodge of Scotland founded

7 Sep 1736 = Capt. Porteous lynched at the Tollbooth in Edinburgh

1738 = General Wade completes military road building in the Highlands

1739 = Building of the Mansion House in London started

10 Apr 1739 = Dick Turpin hanged for murder

1740 = Hertford College,Oxford founded

1740 = Calvanistic Methodists split from Wesleyan Methodists

1741 = Foundling Hospital built at Hatton Garden by Captain Thomas Coram

1741 = 13% of Ireland's population die in famine

14 Jan 1742 = Sir Edmund Halley died

1744 = War between Britain and France

1744 = First National conference of Methodist ministers

1745 = God Save the King first performed

1745 = Surgeon's Company splits from the Barber-Surgeons Company

1745 = Henry Holland (Architect) born

1745 = Jacquard draw-loom invented

18 Mar 1745 = Sir Robert Walpole died

19 Aug 1745 = Stuart standard raised at Glenfinnan

19 Aug 1745 = Start of Jacobite rebellion (the '45)

21 Sep 1745 = Battle of Prestonpans

19 Oct 1745 = Jonathon Swift died

18 Dec 1745 = Battle of Clifton Moor

17 Jan 1746 = Battle of Falkirk

16 Apr 1746 = Battle of Culloden - last true battle on British soil

17 Apr 1747 = Parliament prohibits wearing of tartan

1749 = Bow Street Runners formed

1750 = Jockey Club formed to regulate horse racing

1752 = London Mansion House completed

1752 = Howell Harris established religious community at Trevecca

1752 = John Nash (Architect) born

2 Sep 1752 = UK adopts Gregorian calendar - next day is 14 September

1753 = Formation of the British Museum Library (Now part of the British Library)

1753 = Sir Hans Sloane died

1754 = Royal and Ancient golf club founded

15 Apr 1755 = Dr Johnson publishes dictionary

1756 = Start of Seven Years' War

20 Jun 1756 = 123 Britons die in the Black Hole of Calcutta

1757 = Thomas Telford (Engineer) born

23 Jun 1757 = Clive defeats Bengalis at Battle of Plassey - start of Empire in India

29 Jun 1757 = William Pitt becomes Prime Minister

1759 = William Wilberforce born

1759 = Princess Augusta started the botanic gardens at Kew

13 Sep 1759 = General Wolfe died

1760 = Hamley's Toyshop opened as "Noah's Ark"

1760 = Board of Deputies of British Jews established

1760 = Foundation of the Hambledon Club (Cricket) - first cricket club

1760 = Turnpikes improve travelling by road

25 Oct 1760 = end of reign of George II

26 Oct 1760 = George III King of Great Britain

1761 = John Rennie (Engineer) born

1761 = Link between tobacco and cancer established

1763 = End of Seven Years' War

1764 = Invention of the spinning jenny by J Hargreaves

26 Oct 1764 = Hogarth died

1765 = The Isle of Man reverts from the Earls of Derby to the British Crown

1767 = Construction of Edinburgh's New Town begins

1768 = Royal Academy of Arts founded

1768 = Office of Secretary of State for the American Colonies instituted

1769 = First Sunday school started by Hannah Ball, Methodist

1769 = Arkwright's Waterframe invented

1770 = Tax on distillation of spirits introduced

1770 = William Wordsworth born at Cockermouth,Cumbs.

6 May 1770 = Capt. Cook discovers Botany Bay

1771 = Richard Trevithick born in Cornwall

1771 = Lloyd's founded as Marine Insurance Company

1772 = Slavery declared illegal in Britain

1772 = Samuel Taylor Coleridge born

1773 = Howell Harris died (Religious leader)

1774 = First Unitarian church opened at Essex Chapel, London

1774 = Robert Southey born

1774 = First Journal of the House of Commons (Hansard) printed by Luke Hansard

1774 = Isolation of oxygen by J Priestley

22 Nov 1774 = Lord Clive (Clive of India) died

1775 = J M W Turner born

Sep 1776 = Establishment of the St.Leger (Horse Race) by Col. Barry St.Leger at Doncaster

1778 = Catholic Relief Act

1778 = Sir Humphrey Davy born

24 Apr 1778 = John Paul Jones captures the Drake at Carrickfergus

11 May 1778 = Earl of Chatham (William Pitt) died

1779 = William Boyce (Composer) died

1779 = Captain James Cook died

1779 = David Garrick (Actor-Manager) died

1779 = First Iron Bridge in the World built near Colebrookdale, Shropshire

1779 = Invention of spinning mule by Samuel Crompton

1780 = Elizabeth Fry born (Quaker prison reformer)

1780 = First running of the Derby (Horse Race) at Epsom Downs,Surrey

2 Jul 1780 = "Gordon" riots in London

1781 = George Stephenson born

1781 = Sir Walter Scott born

1 Jan 1781 = World's first iron bridge completed over the River Severn

1782 = The Home Office established

1782 = Foundation of the Foreign Office

1782 = Invention of modern steam engine by James Watt

1783 = Tyburn last used as a place of execution

1783 = Lancelot "Capability" Brown died

1783 = Foundation of the Glasgow Herald (Newspaper) by John Mennons

1783 = First steam powered ship built by d'Abbans

1783 = First flight of hot-air balloon by Montgolfier brothers

4 Feb 1783 = Parliament proclaims an end to hostilities in America

3 Sep 1783 = UK, France, Spain, the Netherlands and the US sign the Treaty of Paris

1784 = Cort invent Iron puddling and rolling process

2 Aug 1784 = First mail coach runs from Bristol to London

1785 = The Times founded

1785 = First insubmersible boat designed by Lionel Lukin of London

1785 = First power-driven loom invented by E Cartwright

1786 = Church of England Sunday School Society started

1786 = HMSO founded

1786 = Robert Burns publishes "Poems, chiefly in the Scottish dialect"

1787 = Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) founded

1787 = Irish Police force established

1787 = Edmund Kean (Actor-Manager) born

1787 = Foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC)

1787 = Transportation of criminals to Botany Bay begins

1788 = Charles Wesley died

1788 = Lord Byron born

1788 = Linnaean Society founded

26 Jan 1788 = Foundation Day - Australia

1789 = First Modern National Eisteddfod held at Corwen

28 Apr 1789 = Mutiny aboard HMS Bounty

17 Jul 1790 = Adam Smith died

2 Mar 1791 = John Wesley died

1791 = Michael Faraday born

1791 = Royal Veterinary College established

1791 = Society of United Irishmen founded by Wolfe Tone

1791 = General Stud Book (Horse Racing) published by the Jocket Club

1791 = The Ordnance Survey of Great Britain is founded

1792 = John Keble born

1792 = Percy B Shelley born

1792 = Sir Joshua Reynolds died

1793 = William Macready (Actor-Manager) born

1793 = Invention of cotton gin by Eli Whitney

1 Feb 1793 = France declares war on Britain and the Netherlands

1794 = Office of Secretary of State for War and the Colonies instituted

16 Jan 1794 = Edward Gibbon died

1795 = Battle of the Diamond - violent confontation between Catholics and Protestants in Co.Armagh

1795 = Formation of the Orange Society in Ireland as a result of Battle of the Diamond

1795 = Methodists secede from Church of England

1795 = John Keats born

1795 = Thomas Carlyle born

1795 = Congregational Union of Scotland formed by James and Robert Haldane

1795 = Poor Law devised

1796 = Discovery of Smallpox vaccine by E Jenner

21 Jul 1796 = Robert Burns died

1797 = Methodist New Connexion founded

1797 = Hatchard's Bookshop opened in London by John Hatchard

21 Feb 1797 = French landing in Wales repulsed at Fishguard

15 Apr 1797 = First naval mutiny at Spithead

30 Jun 1797 = Second naval mutiny at the Nore

1798 = Battle of the Nile

1798 = Irish Rebellion

1798 = Typhus epidemic kills thousands

1799 = Combination Acts described trade unions as criminal conspiracies

1799 = Royal Institution founded by Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford

1799 = Foundation of the Church Missionary Society

9 Jan 1799 = Parliament passes the first income tax

14 Dec 1799 = George Washington died

1800 = Royal College of Surgeons of London founded by charter

1801 = First National Census held

1801 = Surrey Iron Railway, first public railway in the world to carry general freight, opened

1801 = Battle of Copenhagen

1801 = General Enclosure Act

1801 = Irish Parliament abolished. Ireland incorporated in the UK

1801 = Electric arc lamp invented by Sir Humphrey Davy

1802 = First Stock Exchange opened on present site at Capel Court, London

1802 = First publication of Debrett's Peerage by John Debrett

1803 = Sunday School Union set up as an interdenominational society

1804 = Foundation of the Royal Horticultural Society by John Wedgewood

13 Feb 1804 = Inaugural run of Trevithick's locomotive on Penydarren Tramroad

21 Oct 1805 = Nelson dies victorious at Trafalgar

1806 = Isambard Kingdom Brunel born

1806 = Henry Holland (Architect) died

1807 = Slavery abolished in the British Empire

1808 = First publication of Debrett's Baronetcies

21 Aug 1808 = Sir Arthur Wellesley leads campaign in Peninsular War

1809 = Establishment of the Two Thousand Guinea Stakes (Horse Race) at Newmarket

28 Jul 1809 = French driven from Portugal

1810 = First organized Steeplechase run at Bedford

1811 = Primitive Methodists founded

1811 = First ordination of ministers of the Presbyterian Church of Wales

1811 = William Makepeace Thackeray born

1811 = Regent's Park designed by John Nash

1811 = Luddites attack textile machinery

Feb 1811 = Prince of Wales becomes Prince Regent due to King's insanity

1812 = French retreat from Moscow

12 Aug 1812 = Wellington takes Madrid

1813 = First Pier built at Ryde,Isle of Wight

1813 = David Livingstone born

1814 = Lords Cricket Ground established on present site

1814 = Establishment of the One Thousand Guinea Stakes (Horse Race) at Newmarket

1815 = Buiding of the Royal Pavilion, Brighton, commenced (designed by John Nash)

1815 = Humphry Davy invents mining safety lamp

18 Jun 1815 = Napoleon defeated at Waterloo

1816 = Income Tax abolished

1816 = Foundation of FitzWilliam Museum, Cambridge

1816 = Invention of phosphorous match by F Derosne

1816 = Invention of bicycle by K D von Sauerbronn

7 Jul 1816 = Rchard B Sheridan died

1817 = Potato famine kills thousands in Ireland

1818 = Order of St.Michael and St.George instituted

1818 = Leander Rowing Club formed

1818 = Mary Shelley publishes "Frankenstein"

22 Aug 1818 = Warren Hastings died

1819 = Charles (Karl) Halle born in Westphalia,Germany

1819 = John Ruskin (Art Critic) born

1819 = MacAdam revolutionises road building

1819 = Invention of stethoscope by R Laennec

24 May 1819 = Queen Victoria born.

ABT 1820 = Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes (Buffs) formed

29 Jan 1820 = end of reign of George III

30 Jan 1820 = George IV King of Great Britain

1821 = The Manchester Guardian (Newspaper) founded

1821 = John Keats died

1821 = John Rennie (Engineer) died

1822 = Percy B Shelley died

1822 = Royal Academy of Music founded

1822 = Royal Irish Constablary formed by charter (disbanded 1922)

1822 = Invention of electric motor by Michael Faraday

1823 = First Burmese War

1824 = Repeal of Combination Acts against trade unions

1824 = National Gallery founded

1824 = Lord Byron died

1824 = Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) founded by Sir William Hillary

1824 = Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) founded

1824 = The Athenaeum (Club) opened in London

27 Sep 1825 = First passenger train service from Stockton to Darlington

1826 = Presbyterian Church of Wales fully constituted

1826 = Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, Edinburgh, founded

1826 = First Publication of Burke's Peerage

1826 = First Royal Yacht Club Cowes Regatta on Isle of Wight

30 Jan 1826 = Telford's Menai suspension bridge completed

1827 = William Holman Hunt born

1827 = G S Ohm postulates Ohm's Law

1828 = Nonconformists allowed into Public Office

1828 = Dante Gabriel Rosetti born

1828 = Thomas Arnold becomes headmaster of Rugby School

22 Jan 1828 = Wellington becomes Prime Minister

1829 = Metropolitan Police formed

1829 = John Everett Millais born

1829 = Sir Humphrey Davy died

1829 = 'D'ye ken John Peel' written about John Peel of Cumberland

1829 = First UK horse drawn omnibus service introduced by George Shillibeer in London

1829 = Catholic Emancipation

1829 = George Stephenson builds first steam locomotive

28 Jan 1829 = William Burke hanged for murder in Edinburgh

26 Sep 1829 = First proper police force established in London

1830 = Geographical Society of London founded (origin of Royal Geographical Society)

1830 = Royal Navy Training School, Portsmouth opened

1830 = Formation of the Conservative Party from the Tory Party

26 Jun 1830 = end of reign of George IV

27 Jun 1830 = Wlliam IV King of Greta Britain

15 Sep 1830 = Liverpool to Manchester railway opens

1831 = The Law Society founded

1831 = The Garrick Club opened in London

1831 = Congregational Union of England and Wales formed (Congregational Church)

1831 = First Church of the Plymouth Bretheren founded in Plymouth

1831 = Invention of the friction match by C Sauria

1832 = Sir Walter Scott died

1832 = Great Reform Act - The Representation of the People Act

1832 = Formation of the Liberal Party from the Whigs

1832 = The Reform Club opened in London

1832 = The Carlton Club opened in London

1832 = Foundation of the Provincial Medical & Surgical Association (BMA)

1832 = First publication of Dod's Parliamentary Companion

1832 = M Faraday invents electric dynamo

Jun 1832 = Cholera epidemic strikes Britain

7 Jun 1832 = Parliament passes Reform Act

1833 = Friendly Society of Agricultural Labourers founded at Tolpuddle, Dorest

1833 = Edward Burne-Jones born

1833 = Richard Trevithick died

1833 = Brunel appointed Chief Engineer of Great Western Railway

15 May 1833 = Edmund Kean (Actor-Manager) died

1833 = William Wilberforce died

1833 = Judicial Committee of the Privy Council established

1833 = Crown Agents for the Colonies formed

14 Jul 1833 = John Keble launched the Oxford Movement by a sermon on "National Apostasy"

29 Jul 1833 = Slavery abolished throughout British Empire

1834 = Royal Observatory, Edinburgh founded

1834 = Thomas Henderson appointed first Astronomer Royal for Scotland

1834 = Samuel Taylor Coleridge died

1834 = William Morris (Artist) born

1834 = Establishment of the Central Criminal Court (Old Bailey)

Mar 1834 = Tolpuddle Martyrs sentenced to transportation

1835 = Wesleyan Methodist Association founded

1835 = John Nash (Architect) died

1835 = Bull baiting made illegal

1835 = Thomas Telford (Engineer) died

1835 = Samuel Colt invents the revolver

1836 = Tolpuddle Martyrs pardoned

1836 = Marriage in deissenting chapels legalised

1836 = Founding of the Paymaster General's Office

1836 = General Register Office established

1836 = Sir W S Gilbert (Composer) born

1836 = First running of the Grand National Steeplechase (Horse Race)

1836 = Formation of the London Working Men's Association

1836 = Establishment of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners

1836 = Charles Darwin returns from South America

1836 = Invention of screw propeller by F P Smith

1837 = Invention of telegraph by S F B Morse

20 Jun 1837 = end of reign of William IV

21 Jun 1837 = Victoria Queen of Great Britain

1838 = Public Record Office (PRO) established by statute

1838 = Sir Henry Irving (Actor-Manager) born

1838 = The People's Charter published (origins of the Chartist Movement)

Apr 1838 = First steam crossing of the Atlantic

Sep 1838 = Grace Darling rescues survivors of the "Forfarshire"

1839 = William Robinson (Gardener) born

1839 = Henley Royal Regatta founded

1839 = Rubber vulcanisation developed by C Goodyear

1840 = Reform of the postal service by Rowland Hill. First Postage Stamps issued

1840 = First screw propellor driven Royal Navy ship

1840 = Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra founded

ABT 1840 = Development of photography

6 May 1840 = Penny Post introduced

2 Jun 1840 = Britain annexes New Zealand

1841 = Punch (Magazine) first published

1841 = The Botanic Gardens at Kew given to the Nation

1841 = London Library founded by Thomas Carlyle

6 Jul 1841 = First national census taken

Sep 1841 = Robert Peel becomes Prime Minister

9 Nov 1841 = King Edward VII born

1842 = Afghan revolt

1842 = Income Tax reintroduced

1842 = The Illustrated London News founded

1842 = Royal Commission on Children's Employment

1842 = Sir Arthur Sullivan (Composer) born

1842 = Establishment of a detective department of the Metropolitan Police (origin of CID)

1842 = First use of ether as anesthetic by CW Long

1843 = The News of the World (Newspaper) founded

1843 = William Wordsworth appointed Poet Laureate

1843 = Royal College of Surgeons of England formed from Royal College of Surgeons of London

1843 = Guy's Hospital Rugby Club formed (first rugby club)

1843 = Foundation of The Economist (Newspaper) by James Wilson

1843 = Robert Southey died

1843 = Christmas cards invented by Sir Henry Cole

1843 = Formation of the Free Church of Scotland

31 Dec 1843 = Charles Dickens publishes "A Christmas Carol"

1844 = Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) founded

1844 = the Rochdale Pioneers set up the first Co-operative retail shop

Jun 1844 = Mines Act prohibits use of women and boys in mines

1 Dec 1844 = Queen Alexandra born

1845 = First use of The Oval at Kennington,London for Cricket

1845 = Elizabeth Fry died (Quaker prison reformer)

1845 = Royal College of Science founded

1845 = Invention of pneumatic tyre by R W Thompson

Jul 1846 = Potato famine hits Ireland and Scotland

Apr 1847 = Thousands emigrate from Ireland on "Coffin" ships

1848 = Board of Health formed

1848 = Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood formed

1848 = George Stephenson died

1848 = Rising in Ireland by the Youth of Ireland movement

1849 = Wesleyan Reform Union founded

1849 = Harrods founded

28 May 1849 = Anne Bronte died

Nov 1849 = Cholera epidemic takes 2000 lives a week

1850 = Alfred, Lord Tennyson appointed Poet Laureate

1850 = Queen's University of Iteland founded with colleges at Belfast,Cork and Galway

1850 = Royal Meteorological Society founded (as British Meteorological Society)

1850 = William Wordsworth died

1850 = Invention of refrigerator by Twining / Harrison

1851 = Amagamated Society of Engineers the first union to represent a single trade Nationally

1851 = J M W Turner died

1851 = Great Exhibition

1851 = First Fortnum & Mason hampers supplied to visitors to the Great Exhibition

1851 = Royal School of Mines founded

31 Mar 1851 = 1851 national census taken

1 May 1851 = Great Exhibition opened in Hyde Park

1852 = Victoria & Albert Museum (V & A) opened at Marlborough House

1852 = The Patent Office set up by Act of Parliament

1852 = Second Burmese War

1853 = Cheltenham Ladies College founded

1853 = Appointment of first Charity Commissioners

1853 = Smallpox vaccination becomes compulsory

ABT 1853 = Transportation of criminals to Australia ends

1854 = Meteorological Office established

1854 = Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh, founded

26 Mar 1854 = Britain and France declare war on Russia (Crimean War)

Sep 1854 = Battle of Alma

Oct 1854 = Allies lay seige to Sebastopol

25 Oct 1854 = Battle of Balaclava

25 Oct 1854 = Charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava

7 Nov 1854 = Battle of Inkerman

1855 = First use of Field Telegraph in War in the Crimea

1855 = Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) founded

1855 = The Scotsman (Newspaper) founded

1855 = Appointment of the first Civil Service Commissioners

1855 = Invention of the safety match by J E Lundstrom

1855 = First use of Field Telegraph in War in the Crimea

May 1855 = Florence Nightingale arrived in the Crimea

1856 = Coastguard Service Act establishes H M Coastguard as a reserve body of the Royal Navy to save lives at sea

29 Jan 1856 = Victoria Cross instituted by Queen Victoria

30 Mar 1856 = End of Crimean War

1857 = Victoria & Albert Museum moved to present site

1857 = Old Trafford, Manchester first used as a cricket ground by Manchester Cricket Club

1857 = United Methodist Free Churches founded

1857 = Sir Edward Elgar born

1857 = The Savage Club opened in London

1857 = Halle Orchestra founded at Free Trade Hall,Manchester by Charles Halle

1857 = Establishment by Parliament of the Court of Probate

10 May 1857 = Sepoy mutiny at Meerut in India

26 Jun 1857 = Surrender of Cawnpore to Indian mutineers

30 Jun 1857 = Seige of Lucknow by Indian mutineers started

14 Sep 1857 = British storm Delhi

25 Sep 1857 = British fight their way to Lucknow

17 Nov 1857 = Alambagh garrisoned by British troops

17 Nov 1857 = Relief of Lucknow by Lord Clyde

1858 = Medical Act - Royal Colleges of Physicians and of Surgeons start to offer diplomas

1858 = Office of Secretary of State for India instituted

1858 = Fenian Society formed in Ireland by James Stephens

1858 = Establihment of the General Medical Council & Registration of Medical Pactitioners

1858 = First Publication of Crockford's Clerical Directory by Edward William Cox

Jun 1858 = Fall of Jhansi to British (end of Indian Mutiny)

1 Nov 1858 = East India Company wound up - India transferred to control of British Crown

1859 = The Sporting Life (Newspaper) founded (as Penny Bell's Life)

1859 = National Gallery of Scotland founded

1859 = National Portrait Gallery established

1859 = Royal Geographical Society incorporated by Royal Charter

1859 = First oil well sunk by E L Drake in Pennsylvania

15 Sep 1859 = Isambard .Kingdom Brunel died

24 Nov 1859 = Charles Darwin publishes "The Origin of Species"

1860 = First "Pleasure" pier built at Southport,Lancs

ABT 1860 = First Royal Garden Party

1860 = First Royal Navy Ironclad Battleships launched

1860 = First Open Golf Championship held at Prestwick, Scotland

1861 = Star of India (Order of Chivalry) instituted by Queen Victoria

1861 = First UK horse drawn tram service introduced from America by George Train

1861 = Founding of Morris & Co. (Arts & Crafts Movement)

1861 = Gatling gun invented by R J Gatling

8 Apr 1861 = 1861 national census taken

1862 = National Working Men's Cluband Institute Union created

1862 = Source of the River Nile discovered by John Hanning Speke

1862 = Purchase of Sandringham, Norfolk by the Prince of Wales (King Edward VII)

10 Feb 1862 = Royal Victoria and Albert (decoration) instituted

1863 = David Lloyd George born

1863 = William Makepeace Thackeray died

1863 = Formation of the Football Association

1863 = Lillywhite's store opened

1863 = Metropolitan Line opened as first tube train service

10 Jan 1863 = London Underground opens

24 Dec 1863 = Thackeray died

1864 = The Statesman's Year Book first published

1864 = Wisden Cricketer's Almanack first published

1864 = John Hanning Speke died

1864 = Albert Memorial erected

1864 = First County Cricket Championship held

1865 = Lancashire County Cricket Club first paly at Old Trafford, Manchester

1865 = Roedean (girl's public school) founded

1865 = Salvation Army founded by William & Catherine Booth in Whitechapel, London

3 Jun 1865 = King George V born

18 Oct 1865 = Viscount Palmerston died

1866 = John Keble died

1866 = National Hunt Committee formed

1866 = Institution of the Albert Medal for gallantry in the saving of life

ABT 1866 = Invention of the breech-loading rifle

Sep 1866 = Cholera sweeps London

25 Aug 1867 = Michael Faraday died

1867 = Fenian rising in Ireland

1867 = First Croquet Championships played at Evesham, Worcestershire

1867 = Invention of the typewriter by Sholes and Glidden

1867 = Alfred Nobel invents dynamite

1867 = Joseph Lister pioneers antiseptic techniques

1868 = Trades Union Congress (TUC) formed

1868 = Welsh National Anthem written

1868 = Last public hanging in Britain

1868 = Robert Falcon Scott born

1868 = Royal National Institute for the Blind founded (as the British and Foreign Blind Association)

1868 = ounding of Exchange and Mart (Newspaper) by Edward William Cox

1868 = The Savile Club opened in London

Feb 1868 = Disraeli becomes Prime Minister

1869 = Whittaker's Almanack first published

1869 = Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts started

1869 = Edwin Lutyens born

1869 = Sainsbury's started as a dairy in Drury Lane,London

1869 = Founding of the All-England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club

1869 = Disestablishment of the Church of Ireland

1869 = D Mendeleev constructs Periodic Table of elements

1870 = Elementary Education Act set up state elementary schools

1870 = Marie Lloyd (Music Hall Entertainer) born

1870 = One of the first point-to-point meetings held by Atherstone Hunt

1870 = Irish Home Rule Association formed by Isaac Butt to promote self government for the Irish

1870 = Electric incandescent lamp invented by T A Edison

9 Jun 1870 = Charles Dickens died

1871 = Trade Union Act legaised trade unions

1871 = First Rugby International match between England and Scotland

1871 = First Durham Miners' Gala

1871 = Formation of the Rugby Football Union

1871 = Bank Holidays Act establishes Bank Holidays

3 Apr 1871 = 1871 national census taken

16 Mar 1872 = First Football Cup Final at Kennington Oval, London between Wanderers and Royal Engineers

May 1872 = Gladstone becomes Prime Minister

Dec 1872 = "Marie Celeste" discovered abandoned

1873 = Supreme Court of Judicature established

1873 = David Livingstone died

1873 = Royal Navy Training School, Greenwich opened

1873 = William Macready (Actor-Manager) died

1873 = Formation of the Scottish Football Association

1873 = Irish Republican Brotherhood formed

1873 = Establishment of the Kennel Club of Great Britain

1873 = Invention of pianoforte by J Broadwood

1874 = Institution of the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal (CGM)

25 Jan 1874 = W Somerset Maugham born

30 Nov 1874 = Sir Winston Churchill born

1875 = Snooker invented at Kabul by Colonel Sir Neville Chamberlain

1875 = Captain Webb first person recorded to have swum the English Channel

1875 = Establishment of the High Court of Justice

1875 = Liberty's opened by Arthur Liberty as "East India House"

1876 = Foundation of Cardiff Rugby Football Club

1876 = Invention of the telephone by A G Bell

11 Sep 1876 = First recorded Greyhound Race at Hendon,London

1877 = St.John Ambulance Association and Brigade founded

1877 = Order of the Indian Empire instituted

1877 = First Wimbledon Championships (Tennis) held

1877 = Phonograph invented by Thomas Edison

1877 = Invention of reinforced concrete by J Monier

Mar 1877 = First cricket test match between Australia and England at Melbourne

1878 = Lady Margaret Hall,Oxford founded for ladies

1878 = Salvation Army adopts uniforms and military style hierarchy

1878 = Charles Stewart Parnell replaces Isaac Butt as leader of the Home Rule Association

1878 = Establishment of Criminal Investigation Department (CID)

1879 = Somerville College,Oxford founded for ladies

1879 = Green College,Oxford founded

1879 = Queen's University of Ireland suppressed at instigation of Catholic Bishops

1879 = Royal University of Ireland founded to replace Queen's University

1879 = Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) founded

1879 = Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon opened

1879 = Hamilton Harty (Composer) born

1879 = Creation of the office of Director of Public Prosecutions

4 Jan 1879 = Augustus John born

29 Apr 1879 = Sir Thomas Beecham born

27 Aug 1879 = Sir Rowland Hill died

28 Dec 1879 = Tay Bridge disaster

1880 = Manchester University founded

1880 = Royal Tournament first held

1880 = Founding of the Amateur Athletics Association (AAA)

1881 = Revised version of the Bible punlished jointly by Oxford & Cambridge Presses

1881 = Thomas Carlyle died

1881 = Opening of the British Museum (Natural History

1881 = Foundation of the Welsh Rugby Football Union (WRFU)

3 Apr 1881 = 1881 national census taken

1882 = First Polytechnic opened in Regent Street,London by Quintin Hogg

1882 = Dante Gabriel Rosetti died

1882 = Foundation of the Church Army by Rev.Prebendary Wison Carlile

1882 = Isolation of tuberculosis bacteria by R Koch

18 Jan 1882 = A A Milne born

19 Apr 1882 = Benjamin Disraeli (Lord Beaconsfield) died

6 Dec 1882 = Anthony Trollope died

1883 = John Maynard Keynes born

1883 = Primrose League founded by Lord Randolph Churchill

1883 = Royal College of Music (RCM) founded

1883 = Royal Red Cross (Nursing decoration) instituted

1883 = Irish Special Branch formed (origin of Special Branch)

1883 = Foundation of the Boys Brigade by Sir Wlliam Alexander Smith in Glasgow

1883 = Cholera bacteria isolated by Robert Koch

26 Aug 1883 = Krakatoa erupts

8 Nov 1883 = Sir Arnold Bax born

BEF 1884 = Treorchy Male Choir started

1884 = Toynbee Hall founded in Whitechapel, London

1884 = First Volume of Oxford English Dictionary published

1884 = National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) set up

1884 = Royal Commission on the Housing of the Working Classes

1884 = Foundation of the Fabian Society

1884 = Foundation of the Gaelic Athletic Association (Gaelic Football)

1884 = City & Guilds College founded

1884 = Fountain pen invented by L E Waterman

13 Mar 1884 = Sir Hugh Walpole died

1885 = Tower Bridge approved

1885 = First British Amateur Golf Championship

1885 = Vaccine against rabies discovered by Louis Pasteur

1885 = First internal combustion carriage built by K. Benz

26 Jan 1885 = General Gordon killed at Khartoum

1886 = First Crufts Dog Show held at Islington, Middx. by Charles Cruft

1886 = Institution of the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) for officers of the Army, RN, RAF and Merchant Marine

1887 = First British submarine tested

1887 = First All Ireland Gaelic Football Championship

1887 = Sherlock Holmes created by Arthur Conan Doyle

17 Nov 1887 = General Montgomery born

1888 = Lawn Tennis Association formed

1888 = Invention of the pneumatic tyre by John Dunlop

1888 = Invention of hand-held camera by George Eastman

Oct 1888 = Jack the Ripper terrorises London's East End

1889 = Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) founded in Manchester

1889 = Invention of the bolt-action rifle by P von Mauser

8 Apr 1889 = Sir Adrian Boult born

14 Nov 1889 = Completion of the Forth Bridge - first large steel structure

1890 = First steam powered lifeboat entered service

1890 = Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, Glasgow, founded

1890 = First Rugby County Championship held

1890 = The Cavalry & Guards Club opened in London

1890 = Discovery of diphtheria vaccine by E von Behring

1891 = Invention of the zip fastener by W L Judson

1 Apr 1891 = 1891 national census taken

1892 = Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London founded (previously Royal Italian Opera House)

1892 = Smallholdings Act to enable Local Authorities to buy farmland to let as smallholdings

6 Oct 1892 = Alfred Lord Tennyson died

1893 = Harold Laski born

1893 = Camanachd Association formed to regulate Shinty (Scottish game)

1893 = Alexander Korda (Film Producer) born

1893 = The Imperial Institute founded

1893 = Thomas Edison invents motion pictures

15 Jan 1893 = Fanny Kemble died

1894 = Albion Colliery disaster, Cilfynydd, Pontypridd, Glam.

1894 = J B Priestley born

1894 = General Council of the Bar (Bar Council) founded

1894 = Tower Bridge opens in London

14 May 1894 = Blackpool Tower opened

23 Jun 1894 = King Edward VIII (Duke of Windsor) born

8 Dec 1894 = James Thurber born

29 Dec 1894 = Christina Rossetti died

1895 = National Trust founded

1895 = The Proms (The Henry Wood Promenade Concerts) established

1895 = Northern Rugby Football Union formed (origin of Rugby League)

1895 = Birt Acres invents the cine camera and projector

1895 = London School of Economics founded by Sidney and Beatrice Webb

1895 = Charles Halle died

1895 = Discovery of x-rays by W K Roentgen

1895 = Wireless telegraphy invented by G Marconi

29 Apr 1895 = Sir Malcolm Sargent born

14 Dec 1895 = King George VI born

1896 = Who's Who first published

1896 = The Daily Mail (Newspaper) founded

1896 = Royal National Homing Union of Great Britain (Pidgeon racing) formed

1896 = John Everett Millais died

1896 = Wycombe Abbey School (girl's public school) founded

1896 = William Morris (Artist) died

1896 = Discovery of radioactivity by Henri Becquerel

21 Apr 1896 = Royal Victorian Order instituted

22 Apr 1896 = George du Maurier died

19 May 1896 = Sir Michael Balcon born

10 Dec 1896 = Alfred Nobel died

1897 = Tate Gallery opened

1897 = Women's Institute started in Canada

1897 = Royal Automobile Club (RAC) founded as the Automobile Club of Great Britain & Ireland

1897 = Foundation of Country Life Magazine

22 Jun 1897 = Victoria celebrates her Diamond Jubilee

1898 = Edward Burne-Jones died

1898 = Scottish National Orchestra founded in Glasgow

29 Nov 1898 = C S Lewis born

1899 to 1902 = British National Antarctic Expedition led by Robert Falcon Scott

1899 = Ruskin College founded at Oxford as a working man's college

1899 = Alfred Hitchcock (Film Producer) born

1899 = Sir John Barbirolli born

1899 = Invention of first tape recorder by V Poulsen

1899 = Introduction of aspirin by Felix Hoffman

1899 = Start of the Boer War