Nineteenth Century British History Timeline
1783 William Pitt Ministry (first)
1785 Bill for Parliamentary reform introduced by Pitt 1786 Commercial treaty with France 1787 First convict settlement in New South Wales 1788 Alliance between Great Britain and Holland 1789 - French Revolution 1792 French Conquest of Belgium 1793 French declaration of war formation of the First Coalition failure of the British campaign in the Netherlands 1794 British naval victory in the Battle of the First of June 1795 Treaties between France and Prussia 1796 Outbreak of war with Spain 1797 Victory off Cape St. Vincent naval victory in Battle of Camperdown 1798 Irish Rebellion Napoleon invades Egypt Nelson's victory at the Battle of the Nile Wordsworth and Coleridge, Lyrical Ballads Dorothy Wordsworth, The Alfoxden Journal 1799 Formation of the Second Coalition failure of the British campaign in Holland 1800 Union of the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland Maria Edgeworth, Castle Rackrent Second Edition of Lyrical Ballads; Wordsworth's Preface 1801 Battle of Copenhagen Battle of Alexandria 1802 Treaty of Amiens 1803 Renewal of war with France 1804 William Pitt Ministry (second) war with Spain 1805 Formation of the Third Coalition Battle of Trafalgar Battle of Ulm and Austerlitz 1806 Grenville and Fox Ministry (after the death of William Pitt) capture of the Cape of Good Hope death of Fox the Berlin Decrees 1807 Portland Ministry Treaty of Tilsit between France and Russia Expedition to the Dardanelles Seizure of the Danish fleet Abolition of the slave trade (but not slavery) 1808 French invasion of the Spanish Peninsula British expedition to Portugal Convention of Cintra 1809 Perceval Ministry Battles of Corunna and Talavera Walcheren expedition 1810 Regency of the Prince of Wales (1810-1820) 1812 Earl of Liverpool Ministry (1812-1827) war with the United States Wellington's victory at Salamanca Napoleon's Moscow campaign 1813 formation of the Fourth Coalition Wellington's victories at Vittoria and the Pyrenees defeat of Napoleon at Leipzig 1814 First abdication of Napoleon Congress of Vienna first Treaty of Paris end of the war with the United States (Treaty of Ghent) Jane Austen, Mansfield Park 1815 Escape of Napoleon from Elba Formation of the Fifth Coalition Battle of Waterloo Second abdication of Napoleon Second Treaty of Paris 1817 Death of Princess Charlotte of Wales Coleridge, Biographia Literaria 1819 "Peterloo Massacre" Birth of Victoria 1820 Accession of George IV (1820-1830) 1823 First Burmese War 1824 Repeal of the Combination Acts 1825 Railway opens from Stockton to Darlington Macaulay, Essay on Milton 1827 Canning (George) Ministry begins (April - August) Battle of Navarino Vicount Goderich Ministry begins (August - January `28) 1828 Duke of Wellington Ministry begins [Tory] Repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts 1829 Catholic Emancipation Act 1830 Earl Grey Ministry begins [Whig] Accession of William IV (died 1837) Lyell, Principles of Geology (1830-1833) 1831 Reform Bill passed in the Commons by a majority of one General Election results in a majority for reform Reform Bill rejected by the Lords 1832 First Reform Act Passed 1833 Act for the Emancipation of the Slaves Factory Act for child workers Tracts for the Times begun The Oxford Movement begins (to 1841) Municipal Reform Act (Scotland) 1834 Poor Law Act (England) Viscount Melbourne Ministry (first, July - November) [Whig] Robert Peel Ministry (first) [Conservative] 1835 Viscount Melbourne Ministry (second, 1835 - 1841) [Whig] Municipal Reform Act (England) 1837 Accession of Queen Victoria (died 1901) Rebellion in Canada 1838 Beginning of the Chartist Movement (1838-1849) Poor Law Act (Ireland) Tithe Commutation Act (Ireland) first Afghan war (1838-1942) 1839 Lord Durham's report on Canada establishment of penny postage 1840 Canadian Act of Union Shelley, A Defence of Poetry Macaulay, Lord Clive 1841 Peel Ministry (second) Macaulay, Warren Hastings 1842 Free Trade Budget 1843 Annexation of Sindh disruption of the Church of Scotland Carlyle, Past and Present Wordsworth Poet Laureate 1845 Irish Famine begins (1845-1849) Poor Law Act (Scotland) Engels, The Condition of the Working Class in England first Sikh War (1845-1846) 1846 Corn Laws Repealed Lord John Russell Ministry (first) George Eliot's translation of Strauss, Das Leben Jesu 1847 Marx and Engels, The Communist Manifesto Chambers, Vestiges of Creation 1848 Chartist Rising Irish Rebellion second Sikh War The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood 1849 Annexation of the Punjab 1850 Tennyson, In Memoriam Tennyson Poet Laureate 1851 Discovery of Gold in Australia 1852 Lord Derby Ministry (first) Lord Aberdeen Ministry second Burmese War Newman, The Idea of a University Livingstone's journeys in Central Africa (1852-1873) 1854 The Crimean War (1854-1856) George Eliot's translation of Feuerbach, The Essence of Christianity Dickens, Hard Times 1855 Lord Palmerston Ministry (first) 1857 The Indian Mutiny (1857-1858) 1858 Lord Derby Ministry (second) Assumption of the government of India by the Crown admission of Jews to Parliament the Fenian Association 1859 Darwin, Origin of Species Lord Palmerston Ministry (second) the Volunteer Movement 1861 the American Civil War (1861-1865) establishment of the kingdom of Italy the Trentt case 1862 the Alabama case Colenso, A Critical Examination of the Pentateuch 1864 Arnold, The Function of Criticism at the Present Time 1865 General Election: Liberal Majority Death of Palmerston Lord John Russell Ministry (second) [Liberal] Transatlantic cables 1866 Resignation of Liberal government over franchise reform Lord Derby Ministry (third) [Conservative] 1867 The Second Reform Act (England, household suffrage in boroughs) Karl Marx, Das Kapital 1868 Second Reform Act (Scotland) Disraeli Ministry (first) [Conservative] General election: Liberal Majority Gladstone Ministry (first) [Liberal] Abyssinian War 1869 Disestablishment of the Church of Ireland Opening of the Seuz Canal Culture and Anarchy Girton College, Cambridge, admits women 1870 First Irish Land Act: fixed tenure, fair rents, free trade Elementary Education Act (England): principle of elementary education for all Franco-Prussian War Russian repudiation of Black Sea clause of Treaty of Paris (1856) 1871 Establishment of the German Empire Trades Union Act: legal status of unions regularized Darwin, Descent of Man 1872 Ballot Act: secret voting Elementary Education Act (Scotland) Disraeli's Crystal Palace and Manchester speeches on Conservatism Alabama settlement with USA 1873 Liberal government defeated on Irish Universities question Pater, Studies in the Renaissance 1874 General election: Conservative majority Disraeli Ministry begins (second, 1874-1880) [Conservative] 1875 Public Health Act: consolidation of sanitary legislation Artisans' Dwelling Act: government aid for housing Trade Union Act: legalizes peaceful picketing Purchase of Khedive of Egypt's Suez Canal shares Hopkins, The Wreck of the Deutschland 1876 Victoria becomes Empress of India Turkish massacres in Bulgaria Telephone invented by Alexander Graham Bell Conference in Constantinople on the Near East question (1876-1877) 1877 Annexation of the Transvaal Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878) 1878 Treaty of San Stefano between Russian and Turkey Berlin Congress to settle Near Eastern crisis - Treaty of Berlin second Afghan War (1878-1880) Zulu War (1878-1979) 1879 Onset of agricultural depression - evictions in Ireland The Irish National Land League formed Edison's electric light: first electric tram cars 1880 General Election: Liberal Majority: Gladstone Ministry (second, 1880-1885) Revolt of Transvaal Afrikaners Huxley, Science and Culture 1881 Second Irish Land Act Recognition of the independence of the Transvaal under British suzerainty 1882 The Phoenix Park murders expedition to Egypt Arnold, Literature and Science 1883 Establishment of British control in Egypt loss of the Sudan and death of General Gordon (1883-1885) 1884 The Third Reform Act (1884-1885) 1885 Lord Salisbury Ministry (first) third Burmese War discovery of gold in the Transvaal 1886 Gladstone Ministry (third) defeat of the Home Rule Bill Salisbury Ministry (second) [Conservative, with Liberal Unionist support 1886-1892] Haggard, King Solomon's Mines 1887 First Jubilee of Queen Victoria (Golden Jubilee) Mediterranean Agreements with Italy and Austria 1888 Local Government Act (England): County Councils established Kipling, Plain Tales from the Hills 1889 County Councils Act (Scotland) Naval Defence Act in response to French and Russian Pressure Dunlop pneumatic rubber tyre opens way for bicycle and automobile London Docks Strike 1890 Fall of Parnell Cession of Heligoland to Germany 1891 Elementary education made free Liberal party adopts 'Newcastle Programme" 1892 General Election: Liberal-Irish majority - Gladstone (W. E.) Ministry (fourth, 1892-1894) Death of Tennyson 1893 Second Irish Home Rule Bill rejected by the Lords Independent Labour Party founded Franco-Russian alliance 1894 Lord Rosebery (Liberal: 1894-1895) Ministry after the resignation of Gladstone Harcourt budget: new principle of redistributive taxation Parish Councils Act Petrol-driven automobile 1895 General Election: Unionist majority - Salisbury Ministry (Third: 1895-1902) begins Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest, performed Wilde arrested Marconi invents wireless telegraphy beginnings of cinematography 1896 the Jameson Raid on Johannesburg 1897 Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria Workmen's Compensation Act 1898 Kitchener's victory at the Battle of Omdurman and reconquest of the Sudan First German Navy Law Fashoda crisis between France and Britain 1899 Boer War (1899-1902) 1900 Annexation of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State Australian Commonwealth Act Guerrilla warfare in South Africa (1900-1902) Labour Representation Committee formed General election: Unionist majority Second German Navy Law: bid to compete with Britain for naval primacy 1901 Death of Victoria Accession of Edward VII Hay-Pauncefote Treaty: British acknowledgment of rising power of USA 1902 Balfour Ministry (Unionist, 1902-1905) begins after the resignation of Salisbury Education Act (England): Provided for state secondary education alliance between Great Britain and Japan Taft Vale case: trade unions can be held libel for damages. Conrad, Heart of Darkness 1904 Entente Cordiale with France Russo-Japanese war (1904-1905) 1905 Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman Ministry (Liberal, 1905-1908) begins after the resignation of Balfour first Morocco Crisis between Germany and France Treaty of Bjorko 1906 General Election: Liberal landslide Trades Disputes Act grant of responsible government to the Transvaal launching of Dreadnought 1907 Grant of responsible government to the Orange Free State Anglo-Russian Entente Expeditionary Army and Territorial Army formed 1908 Eight Hour Act for coal mines Asquith (Liberal, 1908-1915) Ministry begins after Campbell-Bannerman resignation Old Age Pensions Act Austrian annexation of Bosnia and Hercegovina 1909 Lloyd George budget: principle of redistributive taxation extended Rejection of the Budget by the House of Lords Anglo-German naval scare 1910 General election (January): reduced Liberal majority, government now dependent on Labour and Irish Constitutional Conference over crisis caused by Lords veto Death of Edward VII accession of George V General Election (December): situation unchanged 1911 Parliament Act: limits Lords veto power National Insurance Act: sickness and unemployment insurance for certain trades second Morocco Crisis between Britain and Germany Balfour resigns as Unionist leader: Bonar Law Ministry begins Industrial unrest: transport, railway, docks and coal strikes (1911-1914) 1912 Third Irish Home Rule Bill passed for the first time by the Commons under the Parliament Act Welsh Disestablishment Bill Militant 'suffragette' campaign Wars in the Balkins (1912-1913) 1913 Irish Home Rule Bill twice passed by the Commons and twice rejected by the Lords Threat of civil war in Ireland 1914 The Ulster Crisis Passing of the Irish Home Rule and Welsh Disestablishment Acts, but suspended for duration of the war War declared on Germany (Aug. 4) Mons, Marne, Aisne and Flanders campaigns, stalemate on the western front Back to the topic home page |