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