Historical Timeline (1066 - 1939)
The following Historical Timeline was compiled by Hilary Brookes and submitted to several Rootsweb Genealogy Mailing Lists.
(1066-1216) list of significant dates in English history. It is
subjective and not comprehensive. Please add your own favourite events,
make corrections, or add further information to your own copy; the intention
is to create a draft for you to improve to your own satisfaction.
I know the most interesting dates for most members will probably be from the
1700s on up.
1066 September Battle of Stamford Bridge, Yorks, English vs.
Norwegians
1066 October 14 Battle of Hastings, Sussex, English vs. Norman
French
1066 Christmas Day, coronation of William I
1066-1087 Reign of William of Normandy
1085 Domesday Book Survey
1085 Population of England estimated at about 2
million
1086 Death of William I
1087-1100 Reign of William II (Rufus for red hair)
1096 First Crusade
1100-1135 Reign of Henry I (seizes crown when brother
Rufus is shot while hunting)
1106 Battle of Tenchebrai, France, English vs.
Normans
1110 Marriage of Henry's daughter Matilda to Henry V,
Emperor of Germany
1120 Death of William, heir of Henry I, in wreck of
White Ship
1126 Matilda, now widow, returns to England
1135-1154 Henry dies, Matilda claims crown, so does
Matilda's cousin Stephen
1138-1152 Civil war breaks out
1138 Battle of the Standard, Northallerton, Yorks,
Yorkshiremen vs. David I of Scotland, supporter
and cousin of Matilda. Yorks 1, Scotland 0.
1152 Peace made at Wallingford by Henry, Matilda's
son by Geoffrey Plantaganet, Count of Anjou,
France.
1154-1189 Reign of Henry II after Stephen's death
1159 War in Toulouse
1164-1170 Henry's quarrels with Thomas Beckett (later St.
Thomas the Martyr)
1170 Christmas, Henry's men murder Beckett,
Archbishop of Canterbury
1187 Fall of Jerusalem
1189-1199 Reign of Richard I (Richard the Lionheart)
1190 Richard on Crusade, taken captive (January 1193)
by Henry VI, German Emperor, brother John takes
control. Ransom raised, Richard returns and
forgives John.
1199 Richard killed fighting King Phillip in France
1199-1216 Reign of John I
(1204-1307) list of significant dates in English history.
1204 Loss of Normandy
1205 By this time, most of French possessions lost
1206-1213 John quarrels with English Church and Pope, John
loses
1214-1215 Barons revolt
1215 June 15 Magna Charta ("Carta") signed at Runnymede,
island in Thames
1216 October 18 John dies at Newark Abbey after overeating
1216-1272 Reign of Henry III, aged 9 upon taking the throne
1219 May 14 Death of William Marshall, Earl of Pembroke and
regent for Henry III
1232 Fall of Hubert de Burgh, Earl of Kent and
Justiciar
1234 Fall of the Poitevins
1236 Henry marries Eleanor of Provence
1257-1265 National Rising, caused by Henry's desire to buy
Sicily for one of his sons
1264 May 14 Battle of Lewes Simon de Montfort; Henry and
heir (Edward) captured, Simon rules.
1265 August 4 Edward escapes, kills de Montfort at Evesham,
puts father back on throne
1265 First Parliament convened
1266 Fall of Kenilworth Castle
1267 Statute of Marlborough
1272-1307 Reign of Edward I (riches from wool industry
during this time)
1282 Conquest of Wales, Llewellyn killed, David
executed, union of England and Wales
1286 Death of King Alexander of Scotland, infant
granddaughter is heiress, "Maid of Norway";
Edward proposes marrying her to his eldest son
1290 Death of Maid of Norway; expulsion of the Jews
1294-1307 Attempt to conquer Scotland
1295 Model Parliament
1296 Edward quarrels with Pope Boniface VIII because
the latter forbade clergymen from paying taxes
to any king
1307 Death of Edward I
(1307-1413) list of significant dates in English history.
1307-1327 Reign of Edward II (the poltroon)
1314 Battle of Bannockburn: Scotland 1, England and
Wales 0
1327 Deposing and murder of Edward II, after revolt
fomented by his wife
1327-1377 Reign of Edward III
1338-1455 The Hundred Years' War
1340 Battle of Sluys (at sea), near River Scheldt;
Edward claims French crown (until 1802 English
kings also called themselves King of France)
1346 Battle of Crecy
1346 Battle of Neville Cross (Durham), Scottish king
captured
1347 Calais captured
1348-1349 Black Death, kills 1/3 English population of
about 4 millions, villein class cut by 1/2,
price of labour doubles
1356 Battle of Poitiers, French king captured
1361 Peace of Bretigny, all French land returned,
plus Calais, Edward's heir, Edward the Black
Prince governs Aquitaine
1369-1370 The Spanish War
1369 New French king resumes old war with England
1376 Death of Black Prince
1377 Death of Edward III, Black Prince's son Richard
II, aged 11, is heir, regents are John of Gaunt,
Duke ofLancaster, and Thomas, Duke of
Gloucester; John Wyclif challenges Roman
Church's teachings, laws passed re burning of
heretics, Wyclif survives but many adherents do
not over next 150 years (called "Lollards"
= babblers)
1377-1399 Reign of Richard II
1381 Peasant Revolt over attempt to lower wages of
farm labourers,concept of free labourers now
firmly established
1397 Tired of barons, Richard murders Uncle Thomas
and banishes cousin Henry of Lanaster (son of
John of Gaunt,Edward III's third son)
1399 Henry of Lancaster deposes and murders Richard
1399-1413 Reign of Henry IV
(1400-1525) list of significant dates in English history.
In the meantime, numerous wars and battles are starting to appear.
Someone may find a possible reason for a missing ancestor or a new direction
to search. . .
1400 Death of Chaucer, first great English poet
1403-1406 Barons' rebellion against Henry
1413 Death of Henry
1413-1422 Reign of Henry V
1415 Henry's attack on France, ruled by mad King
Charles VI; Henry responsible for building first
Royal fleet
1415 Battle of Agincourt
1420 Henry enters Paris with Charles, forces him to
sign Treaty of Troyes: Henry to succeed to
French crown and marry French Princess Katherine
1422 Death of Henry, leaving nine-month old heir to
both crowns
1422-61 Reign of Henry VI (eventually founded Eton
school), regent, John, Duke of Bedford
1425 Death of Bedford
1430-1453 Hostilities resume with France, Joan of Arc
helps drive English out, everything lost except
Calais; Henry marries Margaret of Anjou
1450 Insurrection of Jack Cade in Kent, marches to
London, beheads several of King's ministers.
1452-1497 Wars of the Roses, N and W = Lancaster, S and E
= York
1459 William Caxton invents printing press with
movable type, starts printing books in English
and Latin
1461 Henry VI deposed and imprisoned in Tower of
London by Duke of York, who then becomes Edward
IV
1470 Edward IV deposed by Earl of Warwick, Henry
restored to throne
1471-1483 Edward returns, battle ensues, slays Warwick,
Henry's heir, and many Lancaster leaders,
murders own brother, Duke of Clarence
1483 Death of Edward, brother Richard seizes crown,
Edward's young sons (Edward V and Richard, Duke
of York) die in tower, Richard is suspect, but
becomes King
1485 Battle of Bosworth Field, Leics., Henry Tudor,
Earl of Richmond, defeats and kills King
Richard, becomes Henry VII
1487 "Passage of Enclosure Act, fencing of formerly
common lands deprives peasants of livelihood,
causes roaming bands of vagabonds,leads to Poor
Laws."
1485-1509 Reign of Henry VII, relative peace
1509-1547 Reign of Henry VIII, son of Henry VII
1513 Henry makes war with France which starts war
with Scotland, Battle of Flodden Field, English
victorious
1517 Henry forbids reading of Martin Luther's books,
doesn't work; by 1527 some scholars attacking
Church, call themselves Protestants, are
considered heretics
1516 Henry's daughter Mary born
1525 Introduction of potato from South America
Events are beginning to be much more interesting, as England enters its "Golden
Age" with Elizabeth I.
1500s early Pop. of London about 75,000
1527 Henry seeks divorce on grounds that Katherine of
Aragon was late brother's wife; in addition Anne
Boleyn (1507-1536) now Henry's fancy; Pope
Clement VII refuses
1529-1536 Parliament convenes to devise laws against
Church, Church now dependent on Crown (not the
reverse), monarch becomes Head of Church in
England, King granted divorce by his new
Archbishop of Canterbury
(Cranmer), marries Boleyn, Elizabeth born,
declared heir to throne, Mary set aside;
monasteries dissolved; Pope excommunicates Henry
and Cranmer
1530 November Wolsey arrested, dies at Leicester Abbey on way
to London
1534 Act of Supremacy legitimises Henry's position as
Head of Church of England
1535 Heretics still being burned; this year 25
Anabaptists burned in one day; John Fisher,
Bishop of Rochester, and Sir Thomas More
beheaded under new Treasons Act
1535 Publication of first authorised translation of
Bible (the "Coverdale Bible")
1536 Pilgrimage of Grace, rising in Lincolnshire and
the North, action for restoration of
monasteries
1537-1564 Boleyn beheaded for adultery; Henry marries Jane
Seymour (1509-1537), Seymour dies giving birth
to future Edward VI; Henry marries Anne of
Cleves (1515-1557), divorces her; Henry marries
Catherine Howard, beheads her (1542); Henry
marries Catherine Parr, she outlives him
1539 Remaining monasteries dissolved; wealth taken
and used for Oxford and Cambridge, among other
things; result almost 1/4 of land in England
given to new owners, creates buyer's market
1544 Henry orders English translation of Bible placed
in every parish church; Litany said in English
for first time; Pope declares Henry deposed,
supported by all Catholic princes, particularly
France and Scotland; Henry builds 70-ship navy,
arms people, fortifies coast
1547 Henry outlaws vagabondage; 9/10 of pop.
estimated to be rural, average Tudor town
= about 3,000 people; debasement of coinage
leads to 25% inflation, further debasement by
Somerset leads to prices almost double within
two years, average person hardly affected but
export woollen cloth trade doubles
1547 28 January Death of Henry VIII
1547-1553 Reign of Edward VI, inherits crown at age 10;
nobles created by dissolution of monasteries
jostle for primacy: Seymours, Dudleys, Russells,
Herberts, Greys, more; regent is uncle Edward
Seymour, Duke of Somerset
1548 More trouble with Scotland, England wins Battle
of Pinkie, Scots driven even further into French
camp, Mary Queen of Scots escapes to France,
marries King's son
1548 Enclosure Commission convened
1549 Parliament imprisons Somerset, Smith and Cecil;
Warwick and Wriothesley now in power; Enclosure
Commission lapses
1550 Increased cost of producing woollen cloth and
saturation of export market causes downturn;
coinage devalued 50%; sales fall from 132,000 in
1550 to 85,000 in 1552; Parliament passes laws
regulating industry, imposing 7-year
apprenticeships, but depression gets worse
1550-1553 John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland brings in
many foreign Protestants for positions in
English Church; bullies Princess Mary(Catholic),
imprisons leading Catholics and gives remaining
Church lands to friends
1551 Thomas Gresham appointed King's Merchant (royal
agent) in Antwerp, becomes nation's financial
wizard
1552 22 January Somerset executed
1553 July Death of Edward. As the boy is dying, Dudley
persuades him to leave the crown to Lady Jane
Grey, Dudley's daughter-in-law; nation rejects,
supports Mary; Lady Jane, plotters, imprisoned
and executed
1553-1558 Reign of Mary I (Bloody Mary), more Spanish than
English, devout Catholic; determined to restore
Pope to head England's Church,imprisons all new
Church leaders, re-establishes Catholic services
everywhere; Mary marries Prince Philip of Spain,
sparks failed Kent rebellion led by Sir Thomas
Wyatt
1554 Laws against burning "heretics" repealed
1555-1558 More than 300 people burned at stake, almost all
in SE England; north and west still heavily
Catholic
1558 Philip drags England into war with France,
Calais is lost; Mary dies of dropsy, leaving no
heir; sister Elizabeth inherits the throne
1558-1603 Reign of Elizabeth I (Gloriana, the Virgin
Queen), begins November 17
1558-1563 William Cecil (later Lord Burghley), the Queen's
closest advisor, assists Elizabeth in passing
laws making monarch head of Church, making
English prayer book only one, and generally
laying foundations of Church as known today
1559 Tobacco introduced from North America; John Knox
returns to Scotland aflame with Calvinism
1561 Mary Queen of Scots, now widowed, returns to
Scotland, finds new Church of Scotland is
Presbyterian, not Catholic, not well received
by Covenanters
1562 October Elizabeth survives smallpox
1562-1563 John Hawkins emulates Spanish ferrying slaves
from West Africa to West Indies, is attacked by
Spanish at San Juan de Ulua; Sir Francis Drake
joins with Hawkins in raids on Spanish shipping,
they return with great plunder
1563 Statute of Artificers: planned recruitment and
control of labour and wages
1564 Birth of Shakespeare
1565 Mary marries Lord Darnley, gives birth to son
(later James I of England, VI of Scotland)
1567 Darnley is murdered; Mary marries his murderer,
Earl of Bothwell; people furious, depose her,
crown her baby son (bring him up as Protestant)
1568 Mary escapes from prison, flees to England
1568-1587 Mary imprisoned (partly in Sheffield Castle),
constantly plots overthrow of Elizabeth
1569 Short-lived northern insurrection in favour of
Mary
1575-1585 English trade booms
1576-1578 Frobisher and Locke search unsuccessfully for
North-West Passage
1578 Hawkins appointed Treasurer of Navy
1577-1580 Sir Francis Drake circumnavigates globe,
plunders Spanish shipping
1583 Munster, Ireland colonised
1585 Elizabeth sends troops to Holland to help Dutch
Protestants against Spain
1587 Mary tried for treason, condemned, beheaded at
Fotheringay Castle; leaves will making Philip of
Spain heir to both her crowns and imploring him
to avenge her; Royal Navy now completely rebuilt
1588 June Spanish Armada - 60,000 troops, 30,000 sailors,
77,000 tons of shipping - sails against England,
battle lasts one week, decimated by English then
by gales
1592 Plague in London and provincial towns
1595 Ulster Rebellion, Philip of Spain sends 100
ships, 10,000 men in aid, decimated by gales
1596 Hawkins dies in Puerto Rico, Drake on a march at
Nombre de Dios
1597 Poor Law Act passed, prompted by three
successive poor arvests resulting in
demonstrations by starving peasants; codifies
previous measures, differentiates between able-
bodied and weak unemployed; town councils began
to tax citizens to pay for alms
1600 Founding of English East India Company
1600 Pop. of London about 200,000
1602 Plague in London and provincial towns
1602 Founding of Dutch East India Company
1603 Plague in London and provincial
towns
1603 24 March Death of Elizabeth at Richmond, aged 70, after
45-year reign
The new king (son of Mary Queen of Scots) is legitimate heir to the thrones of
both England and Scotland, colonies are founded, the Pilgrim Fathers leave,
the English Civil War breaks out, a king is executed, and England is governed
by a military dictatorship.
1603 At end of Elizabeth's reign, English population
estimated at 4 million, 4/5 living in rural
areas
1603-1625 Reign of James I of England, VI of Scotland
(House of Stuart), ascends throne at age 35
(old for the time), unites two
countries; accession celebrations cut short by
outbreak of Black Death (plague) which kills
30,000 in London alone
1605 The Gunpowder Plot, led by Guy Fawkes; Catholic
plot to blow up King, heir (Prince Charles) and
Houses of Parliament (Bonfire Night, 5
November, still celebrated)
1606 Virginia colony subscribed in London, is
thriving by 1620
1607 First permanent English settlement in New World
(Jamestown, Virginia); Ulster colonised
1612 English factory built at Surat (India);
deforestation of England for charcoal to make
iron already a problem, substitutes sought
1612, 1615 Fighting with Dutch over Spice Islands
1616 Death of Shakespeare
1618-48 Thirty Years War in Germany, Catholics vs.
Protestants; James refuses to send troops,
English men volunteer and fight for Protestant
cause
1620 Strict band of Puritans object to using Prayer
Book, set sail to the New World, are known as
"Pilgrim Fathers", settle in Plymouth
(Massachusetts); other North American colonies
are settled; Madras settled
1622 Commission to enquire into decline of woollen
trade
1623 Dutch massacre English Company servants,
"Massacre of Amboyna"
1625 Death of James I
1628 William Harvey (1578-1657) publishes De Motu
Cordis (Circulation of Blood)
1625-1649 Reign of Charles I (the Martyr King)
1625-1659 Charles quarrels with three Parliaments,
wouldn't give him money
1629-1640 Charles refuses to call Parliament into
session, people are furious
1629 Colony of Massachusetts Bay founded
1630 Boston founded
1633 Connecticut settled; Maryland founded by Lord
Blatimore
1636 Mild outbreak of Black Death
1637 Charles quarrels with Scotland re religion;
tries to force English Prayer Book on Scots
1638 Covenant signed in Scotland, signers bound to
preserve Presbyterianism
1640, May "The Short Parliament" is convened; instead of
discussing Scottish problem, discusses taxes,
customs, ship-money, bishops, popery, corrupt
judges--everything but Scottish problem
1640 November 3 "The Long Parliament" is convened; insists on
power of Parliament over Crown as it was before
Wars of Roses; Earl of Stafford beheaded,
Archbishop Laud to Tower, corruption cleaned
up; also decides Parliament will meet at least
every three years
1641 Rebellion of dispossessed Irish Catholic
landowners, scares Parliament, bishops
abolished; command of army transferred from
Crown to Parliament; seeing revolution, Charles
prepares for civil war. his supporters dubbed
"Cavaliers," Parliament's supporters
"Roundheads" (note: King's foot soldiers
mostly Cornish or Welsh)
1642 Autumn Battle of Edgehill, Warwickshire
1643 Charles sets HQ at Oxford; tries 3-pronged
attack on Roundheads,lasts a year, finally John
Pym recruits Scots to fight for Parliament,
Scots demand their Covenant and Presbyterianism
be enforced on all three kingdoms as price of
participation; Connecticut, New Haven, Plymouth
and Massachusetts Bay unite in common defence
1644 Battle of Marston Moor near York, Scots help
rout Charles; Oliver Cromwell gains fame as
leader of cavalry
1645 New Parliamentary army raised under Fairfax and
Cromwell
1645 Battle of Naseby, decisive victory for
Roundheads
1646 Charles flees to Scotland, Royalist army
surrenders at Oxford; Charles refuses to sign
Covenant, Scots sell him to Roundheads for
400,000 pounds
1647-1648 Parliament tries unsuccessfully to treat with
Charles, who is trying to secure help from
France, Scotland or Ireland; Parliamentarians
try unsuccessfully to fulfill their agreement
with Scots
1648 Charles rallies Scots to his defence, Battle of
Preston, Scots lose, army returns to London
resolving to execute Charles
1649 January 30 Execution of Charles I
1649 Long Parliament ("Rump" Parliament) confiscates
land from King's Commonwealth established;
House of Lords abolished; Charles II,
meanwhile in exile on Continent, travels to
Scotland, signs Covenant, Scots support him
1650 Cromwell crushes Irish rebellion, then Scots at
Battle of Dunbar; Dutch traders recognised as
most dangerous rivals
Charles II is still causing problems; Cromwell refuses kingship but agrees to
become Lord Protector of England. The Commonwealth ends shortly after
Cromwell's death, Charles is restored to throne. There are wars, plagues,
immigrants, new colonies, and medical and scientific discoveries.
1651 Battle of Worcester, Scots vanquished again,
Charles flees again to Continent; Navigation
Act passes, forbids exportation of goods
except in all-English ships, foreign merchants
and goods prohibited in England and colonies,
strengthened in 1660
1652 First Anglo-Dutch War
1653 Dissolution of Rump of Long Parliament
1653-1658 Cromwell, Lord Protector of England, Scotland
and Ireland (1599-1658); victorious in battles
against Spain, and aids France against Spain
with his Roundheads; England becomes leading
naval power and important military power;
restores legal rights to Jews
1654 Peace with Dutch
1655 Cromwell dissolves First Protectorate
Parliament; failure of assault on Hispaniola,
seizure of Jamaica
1656 Second Protectorate Parliament
1658 Battle of the Dunes, Spanish defeated by Anglo-
French army; acquisition of Dunkirk
1658 Death of Cromwell
1658-1659 Oliver succeeded by son, Richard ("Lazy Dick",
"Tumbledown Dick"), dictatorship crumbles
almost immediately; 18 months of anarchy
1660 May 29 Charles II, aged 30, rides into London, people
go mad with joy
1660-1685 Reign of Charles II ("Restoration"), two houses
of Parliament and Church of England restored,
land returned to rightful owners; "Dissenters"
born (Quakers, Baptists, Congregationalists,
etc.)
1661-1665 Parliament passes laws against Dissenters, now
excluded from government office and Parliament;
laws permitting burning of heretics repealed
1662 Royal Society founded in London
1664-1672 War with Dutch; result England gets New
Amsterdam, now known as New York
1665 Black Death arrives once more, not worst but
last full-scale epidemic, kills 1/5 London
pop; Great Fire of London (burns five days)
one year later, destroys most of city, 89
churches destroyed, founding of Wren's St.
Paul's; city rebuilt in brick, wider streets,
more difficult for plague to prosper and spread
to provinces;
London pop. estimated at just under half million
1670-1690 80,000 Huguenots come to England, majority are
silk workers, by 1689 40,000 families make
living by silk
1671 Game Laws, prevent majority of citizens from
hunting, even on their own land
1678 John Bunyan (1628-1688) publishes Pilgrim's
Progress
1680-1681 Move to remove Charles II's brother James from
succession (because he married an Italian and
converted to Catholicism) and replace with
Charles's illegitimate son, also Charles;civil
war between Tories and Whigs narrowly averted
1680 Pennsylvania founded by William Penn for
oppressed Quakers
1681 College of Physicians founded in Glasgow
1685 Death of Charles II
1685-1688 Reign of James II, stirs up trouble by
replacing important people with Catholic
friends, turns out to be a tyrant
1687 Isacc Newton publishes Principia Mathematica
1688 Birth of son to King James; envoys immediately
sent to Dutch Protestant Prince William
(grandson of Charles I and married to James's
daughter Mary); William sets sail for England,
James flees to France, William enters London
just before Christmas
1688 Gregory King's Tables (from Charles Davenant's
Works, 1771), estimates over one million people
(nearly 20% of pop.) in occasional receipt of
alms, mostly in form of public relief from
parish
1689 James deposed, William anMary declared King and
Queen of England and Ireland, then Scotland;
James raises army in Ireland, tries to take
Ulster, fails
1689 James beseiges Londonderry for over three months
1689-1694 Reign of William III and Mary II ("William of
Orange")
1689-1697 War with France, English allies are Holland and
Germany, ends in truce
1690 Battle of the Boyne, Ireland, James defeated,
flees into exile; English found Calcutta
1693 Richest counties: Middlesex (w/London),
Surrey, Herts, Beds,Bucks, Berks, Oxfordhsire,
Northants; Poorest Counties: Cheshire, Derbys,
Yorks, Lancs, Northumberland, Durham,Cumberland
1694-1702 Reign of William III alone
1690 John Locke's Essay Concerning Human
Understanding
1692, 1693 Battles of Steinkirk and Lande (against
France), both defeats for England
1692-1710 Retribution against Catholics who helped James,
lands confiscated, given to Protestants; harsh
laws passed against Catholic religion and trade
1700 Pop. England and Wales est. 5.5 million
The English colonies in America continue to flourish, William III dies, more
wars erupt, workhouses are created, inventions abound, and art develops.
1700 Pop. of English colonies in America,
200,000
1701 Death of James II in exile,King Louis of France
recognises James's son as King James III
1702 Death of William III
1702-1713 War of Spanish Succession, England tries to
prevent grandson of Louis of France from taking
Spanish throne; John Churchill, Duke of
Marlborough, instrumental in uniting England,
Holland, Austria and Germany against France
1702-1714 Reign of Queen Anne (Mary's sister); freehold
yeomen = 1/8 of pop., substantial tenant
farmers = a little less; coffee houses become
popular
1703 Birth of John Wesley, Epworth, Lincs, by 1784,
356 Methodist chapels built in places lacking
church
1704 Battle of Blenheim, England victorious
1706 Battle of Ramillies, England victorious
1708 Union of England and Scotland; Battle of
Maplaquet, Britain victorious
1709 Quaker Abraham Darby discovers coal-smelting
technique for producing pig-iron, replaces
charcoal method
1710 Tories win power in Parliament; wooden paneling
replaces tapestry as wall covering
1712 Savery & Newcomen's steam engine perfected,
solves flooding in coal mines
1713 Treaty of Utrecht, peace with France, but
Marlborough has already been dismissed on
trumped up charges of prolonging the war;
Gibraltar and Minorca (Mediterranean) are among
prizes; also Nova Scotia and Newfoundland from
French Canada
1714 Death of Anne; Quaker John Belles urges
founding of hospitals as training grounds for
medical students; Board of Longitude created,
20,000-pound competition for accurate maritime
charts and maps
1714-1715 Rioting by Tory and Jaboite mobs commonplace in
London (unemployed soldiers, craftsmen),
passage of Riot Act, giving increased power to
Justice of Peace
1714-1727 Reign of George I (Elector of Hanover)
1714-1742 No big increase from pop. of about 5.5 million
but distribution changes: East Anglia loses;
West Country, South and East Midlands, East
Riding and North (except Tyneside) fairly
static; West Riding and South Lancashire
increase; West Midlands, Surrey and Middlesex
grow rapidly with London (London 500,000,
Bristol 50,000; Manchester, Liverpool,
Sheffield, Leeds, Halifax, Birmingham and
Coventry, no longer sprawling villages, but
still under 50,000); cause = immigration from
cities and (in NW) from Ireland
1715 Scottish rising on behalf of James (would-be
III) put down
1716 Septennial Act: Parliament to meet every seven
years instead of every three; John Lombe steals
plans for silk manufacture from Italy, he and
brother Thomas build vast factory on island at
Derby
1717 England allies with French and Dutch against
Spanish, Spanish brought to heel in 1718
1720 Dr. Richard Mead publishes Short Discourse
Concerning Pestilential Contagion, advocates
quarantine, proposes establishment of
government Council of Health; inoculation
against smallpox introduced from Constantinople
by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu; South Seas bubble
bursts, many investors lose shirts, numerous
government members involved, Walpole untouched,
becomes Chancellor of Exchequer and First Lord
of the Treasury
1720-1745 Hospitals founded in London: Guy's, St.
George's, London & Middlesex
1721-1742 Sir Robert Walpole serves as Prime Minister
1723 Legislation allowing parishes to create
"unions" or workhouses, to prevent escape of
children they could be manacled; Excise Act,
restrictions removed on exports, duty removed
on imports of raw materials; Londond builds
bonded warhouse for tea, coffee and chocolate
1723-1792 Birth-death of Sir Joshua Reynolds, arguably
finest English landscape and portrait painter,
career 1750-1780
1724 Duke of Newcastle develops passion for
electioneering politics, becomes Secretary of
State, controls government patronage for nearly
40 years
1725 Treaty of Vienna: Austria and Spain resolve
differences
1726 English peers number 179, about 130 of whom are
active
1727 Death of George I after fairly uneventful
reign; death of Sir Isaac Newton; Rev. Stephen
Hales publishes Vegetable Staticks, important
contributions to chemistry and botany;
provincial newspapers increase from 8 in 1700
to 25 in 1727
1727-1760 Reign of George II
1727-1728 Thomas Gainsborough, influenced by Reynolds
1730 Famine in Ireland
1730-1740 Death rate in England is 35.8/1000
1730-1760 In early part of 1700s, death rate had
surpassed birth rate; begins to reverse; after
1780 death-rate plummets - due to replacement
of gin-drinking with beer-drinking after taxes
increased and retail sales curtailed on former
in 1750; medical care improves, as does
agriculture, more food available
1730s and beyond William Hogarth (1697-1764), bitter satirical
artist of great genius, chronicling social
evils of the times
1731 Second Treaty of Vienna, Austria and Spain
smooth out remaining differences
1733 Further cementing of relations between Austria
and Spain ; John Kay, Lancashire clockmaker,
invents fly-shuttle
1734 Walpole returned to power with smaller
majority, power weakened
1735 Bristol Hospital founded
1736 Duke of Newscastle now controls clerical
(religious) patronage
1737 Porteous Riots in Scotland; Spain begins to
attack British trade in America; Franco-Spanish
alliance
1738 Third Treaty of Vienna setlles Polish question,
gives Lorraine to France
1739, 1740 War with Spain, War with France; Britain uses
German and Dutch mercenaries
1740 For stealing a handkerchief from the person a
child could be hanged by the neck until dead;
publication of first novel, Samuel Richardson's
Pamela
1740s early Quaker Benjamin Huntsman discovers method of
making high-quality cast steel
1741 Further famine in Ireland, pop. about 4 million
1742 Walpole resigns after criticism for advocating
mercenaries; Carteret succeeds him
1743 Battle of Dettingen (Germany), King George is
victorious
1744 Carteret resigns after similar badgering
1745 Walpole dies; Battle of Fontenoy
(Flanders/Belgium), George's son, Duke of
Cumberland, leads Britain's defeat
1745 Summer Prince Charles Edward, son of James III (Bonnie
Prince Charlie), lands in Western Highlands of
Scotland
1745 Winter Scots reach Derby; Charles Stuart is
inexplicably persuaded to turn back, loses
initiative
1746 Battle of Culloden (Invernesshire), Scots
defeated by Cumberland; fails to capture
Charles who, after five months, escapes to
France; Pitt enters government
1739 First "lying-in" hospital for women
1740-1748 War in America against the French
1740-1748 War in India against the French, Major Stringer
Lawrence and Robert Clive win for Britain
1748 Peace, Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, ineffective
1749-1758 Deaths among women 1/41, children 1/15
1750 Royal Infirmaries founded in Edinburgh,
Glasgow, Aberdeen; tea-drinking begins to rival
alcohol-drinking; pop. England and Wales est.
6.5 million
In the last half of the 18th century, there are significant medical and
scientific discoveries, battles in India, improvements in transportation
(trade and consumer), the rise of Napoleon, the madness of George III, and the
rebellion of English colonials in North America
1750-1780 English countryside takes on today's familiar
apearance as accelerated enclosure produces
small fields surrounded by hedges, fences and
walls
1752 Sir John Pringle (1707-1782), Scottish Army
physician, publishes Observations on Diseases
of the Army, institutes rules for camp hygiene,
clothing and diet, shows how dysentery and
malaria spread, identifies hospital/camp/gaol
(jail)/ship fever as typhus
1753 James Lind (1716-1794) Scottish Navy physician,
publishes Treatise on Scurvy; Sir Gilbert
Blane, Scottish Naval surgeon, enforces strict
rules regarding cleanliness, improves health,
lifespan of sailors
1754 First royal troops disembark in India; Takes
4.5 days to travel London to Manchester
1756-1763 Seven Years' War against France
1756 Prince Surajah Dowlah (India) takes Calcutta;
English prisoners suffocate in "Black Hole";
Clive brings 2000 sepoys (Indian soldiers)
from Madras to avenge, retakes Calcutta
1757 Clive wins Plassy for Britain, extends power of
East India Company into Bengal
1757-1761 William Pitt serves as War Minister
1758-1760 General Wolfe wins Quebec for Britain, Montreal
taken 1760
1759 Battles of Quiberon (Brest fleet) and Lagos
(Toulon fleet), Admirals Sir Edward Hawke and
Boscawen, respectively, victorious for Britain;
Dakar captured
1760 New France conquered by British (Quebec 1759,
Montreal 1760)
1760 Death of George II
1760-1820 Reign of George III, ascends throne at age 22
1761 Hanway and Porter begin campaign on behalf of
child chimney sweeps, achieve protective
legislation in 1788
1761 Pondicherry, India, captured, French power
destroyed; Pitt resigns over King and advisors
not permitting further conflict with France and
ally Spain; river power reaches saturation
point, Duke of Bridgewater cuts Worsley Canal,
thereby halving price of coal in Manchester
1761-1765 Various municipalities secure Private Acts by
which money can be raised ("rates") to pay for
public improvements, such as paving and lighting
1762 Spain declares war on Britain; Britain gains
West Indian islands from French, Cuba and
Manila from Spanish
1763 Treaty of Paris returns Cuba and Manila to
Spain, keeps Florida, recovers Minorca; returns
West Indian islands and trading stations in
India to French, keeps Canada
1766 Priestley discovers Law of Inverse Squares
(electricity), Louis XV convulses with laughter
when line of monks leap into air as electric
shock is administered
1767 John Wilkinson, ironmaster, produces railroads
for mines; Manchester and Liverpool joined by
canal
1768 General election, reformer Wilkes elected as
member for Middlesex amid scenes of jubilation;
Royal Academy (painting) founded
1769 Inventions: Watt's steam engine, Arkwright's
water-powered spinning-frame, Hargreaves' jenny
(1770), help revolutionise production of yarn
1771 First edition of Encyclopaedia Brittanica
published
1772 Lord Mansfield makes slavery illegal
1772-1773 James Burgh publishes Political Disquisitions,
advocates universal male suffrage
1774 Priestley isolates oxygen
1774-1776 Captain Cook discovers Australia and New Zealand
1775-1782 Rebellion of the American colonies - and I'm
not writing any more than that; y'all look it up
1776 Wilkes introduces bill for universal male
suffrage; Inquiry into the Wealth of Nations
published by Adam Smith, Common Sense by Tom
Paine
1776-1788 Gibbon authors Decline and Fall of Roman Empire
1778-1783 Naval war with France, Spain and Holland ally
with France
1779 Wilkinson builds first iron bridge in world
over Severn; Crompton invents his mule,
significant progress in spinning/weaving
industry
1780 Gordon Riots in London, city at mercy of
violent mobs for days, expression of deep
discontent of working-class
1780-1815 Country banks rise in number from less than 300
to over 700
1781 Boulton and Watt produce improved engine with
rotary motion, significant impact - means that
manufacturers are no longer restricted to site
with natural power (i.e., water, wood for
charcoal)
1782 Lord North's government collapses
1783 William Pitt the Younger becomes Prime
Minister, simplifies taxes and customs duties,
tries to pacify Ireland, abolish slave-trading
and laws preventing Catholics holding office;
treaty acknowledges independence of United
States, returns Florida and Minorca to Spain
and Senegal to France; Act of Renunciation
gives Ireland rights in legislation and
judication
1784 Introduction of mail coach
1785-1818 Glasgow triples in size, has 54 cotton mills
in full work
1787 In Windsor Great Park King George III alights
from carriage and addresses oak tree as King of
Prussia, but eventually recovers from this
attack of dementia; first colonies in
Australia, first iron boat launched
1788 Time to travel from London to Manchester
reduced from 4.5 days to 28 hours
1788-1824 Birth-Death of Lord Byron
1789 French Revolution, Louis XVI, many aristocrats
and others guillotined, France declares war on
European monarchies
1790 Lower-class radicalism increases, Habeas Corpus
Act temporarily suspended
1792 Cartwright invents steam-powered weaving loom
1793, 1 February France declares war on Britain
1793 Board of Agriculture formed to popularise new
methods and machinery
1793-1815 British naval power eventually crushes commerce
and takes colonies of any power unwilling to
fight against France, Britain becomes foremost
world trader
1794, 1 June Howe defeats French fleet at Ushant
1794 More lower-class radicalism, Habeas Corpus
suspended again, instigators charged with
treason, in Scotland found guilty and
transported
1794-1796 Total of 40,000 British troops die in West
Indies in war with France
1795 Near-civil war between Protestants and
Catholics in Ireland, erupts in 1798, takes
nearly a year to suppress; "Speenhamland"
system introduced in Berks puts premium on
pauperism; new Treason and Sedition Act passed
1796 General Napoleon Bonaparte appears on scene,
attacks Austrian armies in Italy; Jenner
discovers smallpox vaccine; British conquer
Ceylon
1797 All Europe makes peace with France save
Britain, sea battle off Cape St. Vincent (off
Spanish coast), Jervis and Nelson (then
Captain) utterly defeat big French and Spanish
fleet; Royal Navy sailors at Spithead and the
Nore mutiny over deplorable conditions
1798 Battle of the Nile, Napoleon's Mediterranean
fleet smashed; Malthus publishes Essay on the
Principles of Population; Catholic uprising in
Ireland, French help thwarted, Irish cut to
pieces at Vinegar Hill; Wordsworth and
Coleridge publish Lyrical Ballads
1799 Napoleon becomes President of France;
amendments to Treason and Sedition Act
1799-1800 Deaths among women 1/913, children 1/115; for
the first time London birth rate passes death
rate, continues until introduction of water
closet deposits effluence in Thames (source of
potable water) and typhoid returns
1800 Battle of Copenhagen, Napoleon's Danish fleet
decimated; after Catholic rebellion in Ireland
Pitt proposes one Parliament for both
countries, but King George refuses, Pitt
resigns; Sir Joseph Banks introduces voltaic
battery
In the first half of the 19th century, there are the first of many important
discoveries in all fields, especially those affecting industry, such as
railway transportation. Napoleon is still a problem but Nelson and Wellington
win the day, Britain builds an empire, the colonies expand, public health and
safety become concerns, especially as famine and riots take place.
1800 Robert Owen buys mills at New Lanark, turns
into successful humane model
1800-1801 Over 20 miles of railway tracks laid
1800-1810 30 acres of new docks built in London, becomes
greatest port in world
1801 Pop. of England and Wales now 10 million (first
census), Great Britain est. 11 million, biggest
increases in North and West Midlands, London
now 1 million plus, Manchester 137,201, Glasgow
and Edinburgh 100,000 plus, England has 8 towns
larger than 50,000, 6 of them in the North;
Lord Dundas travels on Scottish canal in small
steamboat - beginning of steamboat travel
1802 Ineffective Treaty of Amiens signed with French
1803-1805 Threat of French invasion causes flood of
volunteers, army of half a million fielded
1804 Napoleon crowned Emperor of France; John Dalton
establishes atomic theory
1805 21 October Battle of Trafalgar, Admiral Horatio Lord
Nelson trounces French and Spanish fleets for
Britain, is mortally wounded; John Wilkinson
expires, buried in iron coffin
1806 23 January Death of Pitt the Younger; Cape Colony passes
under British control
1806 Trading in slaves made illegal in England by
work of Wilberforce; Sir Humphry Davy discovers
sodium, magnesium, potassium, many other
metals, and chlorine
1807 Slave trade abolished within British Empire
1808 The Peninsular War, Battle of Vimeiro
(Portugal), British victory; British casualties
less than 40,000 dead
1809-1812 Grain famine each of these years
1811-1831 Birth rate falls all over England
1812 Napoleon attacks Russia, defeated
1813 British victory at Battle of Vittorio (Portugal)
1814 Napoleon abdicates, exiled to Isle of Elba
1810-1821 Death rate in England and Wales 21.1/1000
1811-1812 Ned Ludd leads rioters who smash machinery,
burn factories, followers known as Luddites
1812 Cylinder Printing press invented and adopted by
The Times (London)
1813 2300 power looms in use, by 1833 - 100,000
1815 March Napoleon escapes from Elba, leads French in war
once more
1815 18 June Duke of Wellington trounces French at Waterloo
(Belgium) with timely help of Blucher (Prussia)
1815 Passage of Corn Law prohibits import of corn
until certain price is reached, keeps corn
prices high, disastrous, poor people denied
farm products via high prices; George
Stephenson patents first steam engine; Davy
invents miners' safety lamp, refuses to
patent; now 2600 miles of canals, 500 in
Scotland and Ireland; China clippers take 109
days to sail 15000 miles from Canton to English
Channel; Britain's pop. est. 13 million;
Britain imports 82 million pounds of raw
cotton, by 1860 1000 million pounds; coal
output 16 million tons (30 miillion by 1835, 50
million by 1848)
1815-1830 Five new states founded along Mississippi
Valley, mostly due to people fleeing
Depression; more go to Canada, as many as
20,000 some years, frequently Scots
1816 Violation of game laws can result in seven
years transportation
1818 Britain defeats Maratha, now effective ruler of
India
1819 60,000 people assemble in Manchester to hear
radical orator Hunt, mounted yeomanry go to
arrest Hunt, kill 11 people, injure 400
(100 women) = "Massacre of Peterloo"; Singapore
founded as free trade port
1820 Death of George III, blind and insane, Prince
Regent ascends throne as George IV; London's
pop. est. at 1,274,000; government finances
scheme to send out 6,000 settlers to Cape in
South Africa
1821 Faraday invents electric motor and generator
1822 Famine in Ireland prompts migration to US and
Canada
1825 First passenger steam railway, Stockton-
Darlington; trades unions legalised
1825-1850 Settlement of Canada, Australia and New Zealand
begins in earnest
1827 Printing press can now print 4-5000
copies/hour, 11.5 million copies of newspapers
pour over Britain
1829 Sir Robert Peel founds police force in London,
constables become known as "bobbies"
1830 Death of George IV, succeeded by William IV
("Salty Bill"); starving field labourers in
southern counties riot for higher wages, 19
hanged, 481 deported to Australia; opening of
Manchester and Liverpool Railway; Royal
Commission finds that mail coach average speed
is 9 miles per hour; free immigrants to
Australia = 1500, by 1841 = 32,000
1830-1832 Cholera epidemic
1831 Pop. of England and Wales now 14 million
1832 Reform Act, extends franchise; Cholera Act;
house-breaking, sheep-stealing and forgery
removed from list of capital crimes; commission
created to look into inhumanity of transporting
prisoners to Australia, another in 1837,
transportation to New South Wales finally stops
in 1840
1832-1867 Age of Coal and Iron or The Railway Age, dooms
canals and stage coaches. Leaders are mostly
Quakers of Midlands and North: Peases,
Croppers, Sturges; fetsst railway timetable
published by Quaker Bradshaw in 1839
1833 Lord Althorp's Factory Act, first regulation of
industrial working conditions, ste working
hours of women and children, enforced by
inspectors, sparks Ten Hours Bill
1834 New Poor Law Act, object to make life in the
poorhouse far worse than in fields and
factories (see Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens)
1835 Municipal Reform Act, sets up democratic local
government in boroughs
1836 William Lovett founds London Working Men's
Association, beginning of Chartism
1836-1840 Boers leave British South Africa in search of
independence on Great Trek
1837 Death of William IV
1837-1901 Reign of Victoria I ("Victoria the Great"),
niece of William, ascends throne at age 18
1838 First electric telegraph
1839-1842 The Opium Wars, Britain forces China to take
European goods
1840 Rowland Hill produces first postage stamp,
"Penny Black"; New Zealand annexed
1840-1853 Convicts still sent to Tasmania at rate of
about 4,000/year
1842 Lord Shaftesbury's Mines Act forbids
underground work for women and children under
10; Hong Kong annexed
1843 About 2000 miles of railway lines now laid
1844-1847 Ten Hours Bill, limited hours of women and
youths in textile business to 10 hours/day,
passes thanks to Lord Shaftesbury
1844 Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Children founded; Chartist and Owenite workers
of Rochdale open Rochdale Pioneers Store
(cooperative) in Toad (T'owd) Lane
1845 Dreadful Irish famine, many deaths; General
Enclosure Act, further enclosure prohibited
1845-1849 Conquest of Punjab and Kashmir
1846 Corn laws repealed, Britain moves towards
complete free trade; Electric Telegraph Company
formed, 17 offices by 1854
1848 5000 miles of railway tracks now laid, 2000 of
which were equipped with telegraph wires;
Britain now produces about half of world's pig
iron, trebles output within 30 years; Public
Health Act; Queen's College for Women founded;
Marx (1818-1883) and Engels (1820-1895) publish
Communist manifesto
1850 Mines Inspectorate created, helps protect adult
male mine workers
Britain is well into the Victorian Age and scientific wonders are the delight
of the day. Australia and New Zealand grow by leaps and bounds, nursing and
police services gain respectability, the American Civil War erupts, social
improvements continue, education takes on increased importance, there are
economic downturns and upturns, socialism gathers momentum, "red-brick"
universities are founded, women begin to gain a little more freedom, and
emigration continues.
1851 Great Exhibition in London; window tax
abolished; Census shows 10,736,000 females,
8,155,000 of whom were aged 10 and older,
largest occupational group domestic service
workers, 905,000, 145,000 washerwomen, 55,000
charwomen (cleaners), 272,000 in cotton
industry, 113,000 in woolen industry, 140,000
in lace, hosiery and linen; first cable, Dover
to Calais; Reuters opens in London
1851-1861 Population of Australia rises from 405,000 in
1851 to 1,168,000 in 1861
1851 Australian gold fever - in September. 19,000
immigrants land at Melbourne, for the whole
year 94,664, seven times as many as 1851
1851 Livingstone's explorations begin; associations
of accountants begun in Scotland, later
Chartered Accountants by examination, England
follows suit by 1870
1854-1856 Crimean War, Florence Nightingale achieves
respectability for nurses, beginning of
competent medical care for soldiers
1856 Every county and borough required to employ
police force
1856-1878 Population of New Zealand rises from less than
60,000 to 350,000
1856 Marriage and Divorce Act permits any man to
divorce his wife on grounds of adultery,
permits woman same but has to also show cruelty
or desertion; prior, a special Act of
Parliament required for divorce
1856 Darwin publishes Origin of Species; Britons
panicked by false rumours of Napoleon III's
designs on Britain; John Stuart Mill publishes
Liberty
1856 Great novels: Dickens, Dumas, Flaubert,
Turgenev,Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy
1861-1865 American Civil War
1861 Women first given vote (Australia)
1863 First underground railway (London)
1864 Chimney-sweeper's Act, due in part to Charles
Kinglsey's Water Babies
1864 Great Battle of Berkhamstead Common saves
common land, Epping Forest also saved
1864 Reform Bill, working men given franchise;
Dominion of Canada established; judge declares
trades unions illegal
1869 Women obtain municipal franchise
1870 Volume of Britain's external trade equals
France, Germany and Italy combined, 3-4 times
greater than US; agricultural wages reach
height not surpassed for many years; Franco-
Prussian War; Education Act makes primary
school compulsory (but poor children still roam
streets after school), means labourers, spouses
and children of succeeding generations can read
and write; women permitted to sit on school
boards
1870 Religious tests abolished for academic posts,
patronage abolished for all public offices,
competitive exams introduced for Civil Service;
photography proclaimed greatest boon conferred
on poorer classes in later years; Gladstone's
Act restores legality to unions, Disraeli's
1875 Act legalizes picketing; Britain's pop.
est. at 26 million
1872-1873 First agricultural unions formed
1872-1896 Period with three slumps and two recoveries,
said to be due to imported foodstuffs from US
depressing Britain's agricultural business
1873-1896 The Great Depression
1875 Collapse of British agriculture due to cheap
grain from US, wheat acreage falls by nearly a
million acres; Disraeli buys Suez Canal Company
shares to ensure British control of sea route
to India; Bell invents telephone; women
permitted to be Poor Law Guardians
1877 Victoria proclaimed Empress of India
1879 Second Afghan War gives Britain control of
Afghanistan
1880 British forests now decimated except for bits
of the New Forest and the Forest of Dean.
1880 Number of agricultural labourers reduced by
about 100,000 in last 10 years
1882 Revolt in Egypt leading to British occupation
1884 Agricultural labourers given franchise; Fabian
Society forms, rejects Marxian theory, embraces
Ricardian theory (socialist)
1884 One-third of world's shipping is British,
including 4/5 of world's steamships
1884 Britain annexes Upper Burma; with Germany
partitions East Africa; excess of births over
deaths in England is 13.3, in Germany 10.8, and
France 1.4.
1886-1927 3,992,880 immigrants leave UK for US, 2,235,671
leave UK for British North America
1887, 1888 These two Queen's Jubilees were celebrated
amidst gentler manners, safer streets, more
humane living and working conditions, improved
sanitation and better working-class housing,
however, unemployment, sickness and old age
still hold terror for the workman
1886 Local Government Act establishes County
Councils as administrative organs of country
life, replace Justices of Peace who are
preserved as magistrates, creates London County
Council (does not cover City); women are
included with men in electorate of newly-
established County Councils; Rhodes
acquires control over diamond industry by
floating De Beers Consolidated Mines; South
African gold rush begins
1886 British South Africa Company, formed by
Yorkshireman Cecil Rhodes, colonization of
Rhodesia begins; Great Dock Strike of London
dockers, led by John Burns and Tom Mann
1890s Women's clothing becomes less voluminous, lawn
tennis takes place of croquet as means of
meeting opposite sex, bicycle becomes
fashionable
1891-1899 Agricultural depression as cheaper frozen meat
from Australia, New Zealand and South America
floods into Britain, cheaper grain comes in
from North America
1891 University of Wales founded; Act permits women
to enter medical or other faculty on same
terms as men
1896 Marconi invents wireless radio, first signal
transmitted December 1901 from Cornwall to
Newfoundland (2000 miles)
1896 Items considered luxuries in 1837 are now
common comforts,food, clothing, bedding,
furniture, all far more abundant; gas
and oil lighting being replaced by electricity;
seaside holidays no longer rare
1899-1902 Boer War, sparked when Englishman dies in Boer
police custody. Scandalous British camps cause
many deaths of woman and children; education
now compulsory to age 12, 1 of 8 receives
education after age 14
1896 Howard publishes Garden Cities of Tomorrow,
forerunner of modern city planning; Seebohm
Rowntree (of chocolate fame)studies poor in
York, determines poverty due to inadequate
wages, not shiftlessness
1800s, end Approx. 1 million people emigrate from Britain
during the 1800s, 50,000 of whom are prisoners
transported to Maryland or Botany Bay
1900 Birmingham University founded
Here follows the last segment of significant dates in English/British
history. The prudishness of the Victorian Age is ended by Victoria's death
and replaced by the gaiety and spontaneity of the Edwardian Age.
There are more scientific discoveries, all social services continue to
improve, workingmen and women fight for their rights, Ireland is partitioned,
a General Strike lasts six months for coalminers, the Labour Party is formed,
the United States restricts immigration, Britain finds itself in the middle of
the Jewish-Arabic Civil War in Palestine--and there is a devastating World War
with casualties on a level never before imagined. The timeline ends with the
outbreak of World War II.
1901 22 January Death of Victoria, aged 81, over 63 years as
Queen
1901-1910 Reign of Edward VII, son of Victoria
1899 Unification of Australia as Commonwealth;
judges again declare unions illegal
1902 Balfour's Education Act provides for secondary
education
1903 Irish land purchase bill, Wyndham's Act,
permits Irish to buy land from landlords with
150 million pounds worth of loans included;
Liverpool University founded
1903 Leeds University founded; Balfour's Licensing
Act, reduces number of houses selling alcohol;
trade depression - unemployment results; Act
sets up local committees to find employment,
voluntary contributions give small stipend to
unemployed
1903 Einstein publishes theory of relativity;
Sheffield University founded
1903 Act of Parliament secures highly privileged
immunity for trades unions; Labour Party
formed; free school meals for poor children
1907 School medical system instituted
1903 Children's Act, deals with cruelty to children,
prohibits imprisonment of children under 14; 72
British ships have Marconi's radio, 1912 - 450,
1914 - 879, beginning of Old Age Pension scheme
1903 Bristol University founded; Bleriot flies
Channel; trade depression - unemployment
results; William Beveridge publishes
Unemployment, a Problem of Industry, which
prompts creation of Labour Exchanges
1910 Formation of Union of South Africa
1910-1912 Infant mortality now 110 per 1000 live births,
declines steadily to 24.4 in 1956; emigration
reaches about 464,000/year; divorces average
823/year, go to 3,619/year in 1920-1922,
7,955/year in 1939 (latter rise because willful
desertion, cruelty and incurable insanity
added to causes in 1937)
1910 Death of Edward VII
1910-1936 Reign of George V
1910 There are 146,000 female clerical workers, up
from 22,000 in 1891, 7,000 in 1881, and 19 in
1851; population: England/Wales 36,070,
Scotland - 4,761, N. Ireland - 1,251;
contributory National Insurance Scheme
introduced by David Lloyd George, provides
medical care, maternity benefits and sick pay;
Parliament Act reduces House of Lords' veto to
delaying power; House of Commons begins to pay
members a stipend
1910-1912 Strikes of seaman, dock and transport workers,
general railway strike for higher wages
1914 Britain proclaims protectorate over Egypt
1914-1918 World War I, declared 4 August, because Germany
violates a treaty to respect neutrality of
Belgium; Turkey enters war on Germany's side
1914 Stunning British casualty figures come from
Loos -60,000; in on the Somme, 60,000 in one
day; total for 5-month offensive - 400,000;
Germans use poison gas at Ypres
1914 EasterMonday Irish rebellion, Irish Volunteers (later Irish
Republican Army)proclaim Irish Republic; German
submarine lands Sir Roger Casement who is
arrested, German ship with rifles intercepted
off Irish coast, Casement executed; Sinn Fein
and Ulster cannot agree on partition
1914 Passchendaele, British advance of 5 miles costs
400,000 casualties; Balfour Declaration
promises Jews home in Palestine; first use of
massed tanks (Battle of Cambrai); King George
adopts Windsor as Royal Family's English
surname in place of family's German name
1917 April America enters the war
1918 Summer Great Influenza Epidemic begins, reaches height
end of year, new outbreak first quarter of
1919: England and Wales lose 150,000 (15,000
in London alone)
1918 Kaiser abdicates 9 November, peace signed 11
November, Treaty of Versailles
1918 Final casualties for World War I - almost 1
million British Empire men killed, about 3
million maimed (744,000 killed are from UK);
Women over 30 given the vote (complete voting
equality with men comes in 1928), all men over
21 (except peers, lunatics and felons) given
vote; consumer purchasing power now about 1/3
of what it was in 1914; Bolshevik Revolution in
Russia
1918-1919 Police strikes each year
1919 Irish Republican Army begins terrorist campaign
against police ("Black and Tans") and their
families; first woman in House of Commons,
Viscountess Astor; Alcock and Brown fly
Atlantic; strikes and riots in Glasgow for 40-
hour week; National Industrial Conference
convenes, trades union representatives resign
in disgust; worldwide influenza epidemic
1919 June Sir Ernest Rutherford publishes account of
splitting atom
1919-1920 Runaway inflation; Coal Mines Act (1919) and
Mining Industry Act (1920) create 7-hour day
for miners plus minor reforms
1920 Easter Irish Republican Army begins Civil War in
Ireland, with raids on police barracks and
income tax offices all over Ireland
1919 Regular cross-Channel air service commences;
post-war boom collapses, unemployment problem,
1920 Act provides small payment under National
Insurance Scheme; most war-time rationing ends;
one-week railway strike; Emergency Powers
Act passed to give government war-time powers
to deal with threats from "Triple Alliance" of
miners, railwaymen and dockers, re high prices,
shortage of housing
1920 December New Government of Ireland Act, proposes
partition of Ireland into Ulster (north) and
Irish Free State (south), each to have
its own government
1920-1921 Communist Party of Great Britain founded;
affiliation with Labour Party rebuffed = schism
between communism and socialism
1920 Population: England/Wales - 37,887, Scotland -
4,882, N.Ireland - 1,258, economic slump,
2,170,000 unemployed; serious clashes between
Jews and Arabs in Palestine (Palestine under
British administration); US restricts
immigration
1920 Southern Irish parliament passes Government of
Ireland Act, civil war effectively ends (until
1968); Lloyd George sells honours in return for
party contributions, partly responsible for
downfall of Coalition government; Britain
recognizes Egyptian independence; British
Broadcasting Company (BBC) begins transmission
of speech over air to public
1922 November Tomb of Tun-ankh-amen discovered at Thebes
1920 Benito Mussolini becomes fascist dictator of
Italy; first football cup final at Wembley,
greyhound racing becomes popular, radio and
cinema begin growth (by 1929, 3,000 cinemas
in Britain); convictions for drunkenness fall
from 189,000 in 1913 to 53,000 in 1930; French
develop tuberculosis vaccine
1924 First Labour government headed by Ramsay
MacDonald; Housing Act to produce 2.5 million
houses by 1939 becomes law in August
1924 October Government falls due to purported link with
Communists in Russia, known as "Red Letter"
scare, entire government resigns on 4 November;
Baldwin forms new government
1925 Infants' Custody Act, women finally secure same
rights as men with regard to custody of children
1926 General Strike begins 26 April with coal miners
after mine owners announce cut in wages and
government mediation fails, transport,
building, heavy industry, printing trades, gas
and electricity workers follow suit on 3 May
(total 2 million strikers), ends 12 May, miners
continue another six months, gain nothing;
Imperial Conference sets stage for colonies and
dominions to become Commonwealth of Nations
1927 Trade Disputes and Trade Union Act makes
sympathetic striking illegal and prohibits
political use of Union funds; Baldwin
resigns 4 June, Ramsay MacDonald forms another
Labour government, includes first female
Cabinet Minister, Margaret Bondfield, Minister
of Labour
1928-1929 Long, critical illness of George V; economic
upturn both years
1929 Further serious clashes between Jews and Arabs
in Palestine
1920s Population of Great Britain has grown by 5 per
cent, emigration overseas declines from 256,000
in 1923 (post-war peak) to 92,000 in 1930 and
many return to offset those leaving; British
population gravitates to south and away from
depressed areas of South Wales and northern
England, Greater London is now over 8 million
1928 Sir Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin,
leads to use as antibiotic after 1940
1929-1932 Wall Street Crash precipitates worldwide Great
Depression, British segment hits worst in 1931,
when unemployment surges quickly to more than
3.25 million in 1931, then more slowly to
a high of 3.75 million in September 1932
1930 Sir Oswald Mosely, former Conservative MP and
now Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster,
resigns and forms New Party (Fascist); Housing
Act passes, provides subsidies for slum
clearance
1931 24 August Resignation of Labour government accepted by
King, asks Ramsay MacDonald to form National
Government ) Coalition) to deal with economic
crisis
1931 21 October General Election, vote for National Government
overwhelming, more votes for Conservatives,
Liberal party in disarray
1931 Census shows British professional workers now
number .75 million (8 per cent); up from 80,000
in 1921 Census: population: England/Wales -
39,952, Scotland - 4,842, N. Ireland - 1,243;
Agricultural Marketing Act passed, regulates
quality of produce
1932 De Valera succeeds Cosgrave as Prime Minister
of Irish Free State, ousts British Governor-
General, abolishes senate, alters law re
citizenship to distinguish Irish nationality
from British, but still claims Commonwealth
membership
1932 September 6-7 million living on "dole", worse in Tyne and
Tees and Welsh valleys
1932-1935 Unemployment falls from 3 million to below 2
million in July 1935; production rises, but
imports steady, exports decline; new industries
booming - chemicals, rayon, cars, radio, cost
of living falls
1933 February Oxford Union Society passes its famous motion,
"This House will in no circumstances fight for
its King and Country",peace societies become
popular
1933 Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany
1933 Special Areas Act passes, designed to encourage
workers to move to more prosperous Midlands or
expanding light industries of South, not very
effective; Communist and Fascist disorders,
especially in London's East End, cause
Incitement to Disaffection (1934) and Public
Order Acts (1936), extending police powers,
suppressing wearing of political uniforms and
limiting holding of provocative processions
1936 20 January Death of King George V
1936 Edward VIII ascends throne; first public
television transmission; Arabs attack Jews and
British troops and police,riots, strikes,
outbursts of great violence, Jews attack Arabs
and British, disorder continues through
beginning of World War II; jet engine first
tested
1936 16 November Prime Minister Baldwin learns Edward wants to
marry twice-divorced Mrs.Simpson and will
abdicate if necessary, public storm breaks on 2-
3 December, King abdicates on 5 December,
announces 10 December, Abdication Act rushes
through 11 December; Duke of York (father of
Queen Elizabeth II) becomes George VI
1936-1939 Hitler and Mussolini make "Rome-Berlin Axis",
agreement for conduct aggression together,
followed by German agreement with Japan which
Italy signs later; Spanish Civil War breaks out
with Germany and Italy helping rebels against
government, Soviet Union aids government, as do
International Brigade with volunteers from
European countries and US
1937 12 May Coronation of George VI
1937 27 May Joseph Chamberlain becomes Prime Minister
1937 July Japan suddenly attacks China, by end of year
Japanese have captured Shanghai and Nanking
1937 May Irish Free State becomes republic of Eire,
Northern Ireland remains part of United Kingdom
1938 12 March Hitler annexes Austria; Chamberlain decides not
to help Czechoslovakia or French, who have
treaty obligations to Czechs, Hitler tells
Chamberlain if he can have Czechoslovakia
he will not annex other countries, Chamberlain
falls for it
1939 September War declared on Germany (1941- Population: No
census, total pop, = 48,216 est., 1951:
England/Wales - 43,758, Scotland - 5,096, N.
Ireland - 1,371, 1961: England/Wales 46,072,
Scotland - 5,178, N. Ireland - 1,423)
