1642 First Civil War in England (to 1649)
1649 King Charles I executed
1649-1660 Commonwealth Period - Oliver Cromwell
1651-1652 The second English Civil War
1660 Restoration Period
- Commonwealth
registers ended, Parish Registers resumed
1663 Earliest Roman Catholic registers
1665 Great Plague of London
1666 Great Fire of London
- Act of Parliament - burials to be in woollen
1668 British East India Company obtains control of Bombay
1684 Huguenot registers begin in London
1685 Monmouth rebellion and battle of Sedgemoor
- Revocation of the Edict of Nantes - drove thousands of Protestants
(Huguenots) from France
1688 Nov: James II abdicates - William of Orange lands at Torbay on 5 Nov
- William III and Mary II, daughter of James II, jointly take the throne 1689 Deposed James
II flees to Ireland - defeated at the Battle of the Boyne (1 Jul 1690)
1696 Act of Parliament establishes Workhouses
1698 Duties (taxes) on entries in parish registers - repealed after five years
1700 population in England and Scotland approx 7.5 million
1701-1750
1702 Anne Stuart becomes Queen 1707 Union with
Scotland 1708 First Jacobite
rising in Scotland 1710 Tax on Apprentice
Indentures 1712 Last trial
for witchcraft in England (Jane Wenham) 1714 Queen Anne
Stuart dies - George I Hanover becomes king (1714-1727) 1715 Jacobite
rebellion in Scotland, under the Old Pretender 1719 Third abortive
Jacobite rising 1721 Robert Walpole
(Whig) becomes first Prime Minister (to 1742) 1723 The Workhouse
Act or Test - to get relief, a poor person has to enter Workhouse 1727 George I
dies - George II Hanover becomes king 1729 Methodists
begin at Oxford 1730 Irish famine
1732 Earliest
Cavalry and Infantry Muster Rolls 1733 Law forbidding
the use of Latin in parish registers generally obeyed - some continued in
Latin for a few years 1738 Earliest
Calvinistic Methodist registers 1739 Dick Turpin,
highwayman, hanged at York 1741 Benjamin
Ingham founded the Moravian Methodists or Inghamites - Earliest Moravian registers
1743 Battle of
Dettingen - last time a British sovereign (George II) led troops in battle
1745 Jacobite
rebellion in Scotland ('The Forty-five') 1746 Battle of
Culloden - last battle fought in Britain 1748-1756 Countess
of Huntington's (Calvinistic) Methodist Connexion founded
1751-1800
1751 decision to adopt Gregorian Calendar in 1752: so 1752 started on 1
January and 1751 was a short year. 1752 - 3 Sep:
Julian Calendar dropped and Gregorian Calendar adopted in England and Scotland,
making this 14 Sep 1753 Earliest
Inghamite registers 1754 Hardwicke
Act (1753): Banns to be called, and Printed Marriage Register forms
to be used - Quakers & Jews exempt
- First printed
Annual Army Lists 1755 Publication
of Dictionary of the English Language by Dr Samuel Johnson 1756 The Seven
Years War with France (Pitt's trade war) begins 1760 George II
dies - George III Hanover, his grandson, becomes king
- Beginning of intense Inclosure Acts in England 1762 Earliest
Unitarian registers 1764 Lloyd's Register
of shipping first prepared
- Practice of numbering houses introduced to London 1765 Stamp Act
passed - imposed a tax on publications and legal documents in the American
colonies 1769 Capt James
Cook maps the coast of New Zealand 1770 Capt James
Cook lands in Australia (Botany Bay) formally claims Australia for Britain 1772 First Navy
Lists published 1775 Battle of
Lexington: first action in American War of Independence (1775-1783) 1776 American
Declaration of Independence
- Somerset House
in London becomes the repository of records of population 1780 The Gordon
Riots
- Earliest Wesleyan registers 1781 Lord Cornwallis's
army surrenders to George Washington; ends the American War of Independence
1783 Duty payable
on Parish Register entries (3d per entry - repealed 1794) - led to a fall
in entries 1788 First convicts
(and free settlers) arrive in New South Wales - the 'First Fleet' 1789 14 Jul: The
French Revolution begins - storming of the Bastille 1791 Establishment
of the Ordnance Survey of Great Britain 1793 England declares
war on France (1793-1802)
- Execution of Louis XVI - Reign of Terror starts in France 1795 Speenhamland
Act proclaims that the Parish is responsible for bringing up the labourer's
wage to subsistence level 1798 The Irish
Rebellion; 100,000 peasants revolt; approximately 25,000 die - Irish Parliament
abolished
- Battle of the Nile (won by Nelson) 1799 'Combination
Laws' in Britain against political associations and combinations 1800 Parliamentary
union of Great Britain and Ireland
- Earliest Bible Christian registers
1801-1850
1801 First census puts the population of England
and Wales at 9,168,000 - population of Britain nearly 11 million (75% rural)
1802 Treaty of
Amiens signed by Britain, France, Spain, and the Netherlands 1803 Peace of
Amiens ends on 12 May - resumption of war with France - The Napoleonic Wars
(1803-18l5) 1805 - 21 Oct: Nelson's
victory at Trafalgar 1806 Earliest
Primitive Methodist registers 1807 Parliament
passes Act prohibiting slavery and the importation of slaves from 1808 - but
does not prohibit colonial slavery 1808 Peninsular
War (1808-1814)
- Beginning of 'Luddite' troubles in England 1810 Bible Christians
denomination formed by schism in Wesleyan Methodists 1811 Prince of
Wales (future George IV) made Regent after George III deemed insane 1812 Prime Minister,
Spencer Perceval, assassinated
- Napoleon retreats from Moscow 1813 Rose's
Act (1812) established a printed format for baptism & burial registers 1814 Napoleon
abdicates and is exiled to Elba 1815 - 1 Mar:
Napoleon escapes Elba; arrives in France
- 18 Jun: The Battle of Waterloo: Napoleon defeated and exiled to St. Helena
1819 Peterloo
Massacre at Manchester 1820 Accession
of George IV, previously Prince Regent 1821 Napoleon
Bonaparte dies on St Helena
- Populations: France 30.4M, German States 26M, Britain 20.8M, Italian
States 18M, Austria 12M, the USA 9.6M 1824 Pitt's Combination
Acts repealed (Trades Unions allowed) 1829 Earliest
Irvingite registers 1830 George IV
dies - his brother, William IV, accedes to the throne
- Agricultural 'Swing' Riots in southern England, repressed with many
transportations
1833 Factory Act
forbids employment of children below age of 9 1834 Slavery abolished
in British possessions
- Poor Law amendment, tightening up relief
- Tolpuddle Martyrs transported (to Australia) for Trades Union activities 1835 Earliest
Universalist registers 1836 First Potato
famine in Ireland 1837 William IV
dies - accession of Queen Victoria (to 1901)
- 1 Jul: Compulsory registration of Births, Marriages & Deaths in England
& Wales - Registration Districts were formed 1840 Last convicts
landed in NSW (some say 1842 or 1849) 1841 6 Jun: First
full census in Britain in which all names were recorded
- Population: Britain 18.5M, USA 17M,
Ireland 8M 1842 Civil Registration
in Channel Islands started
- Illustrated London News published 1844 Outdoor Relief
Prohibition Order - parish relief received only in a workhouse 1848 General revolutionary
movement throughout the Continent ('Year of Revolution')
- Marx and Engels The Communist Manifesto
1851-1900
1851 - 30 Mar: Second full British Census 1852 Tasmania
ceases to be a convict settlement 1854 Allied armies
land in Crimea 1855 Registration
of births, marriages & deaths made compulsory in Scotland 1856 End of Crimean
War 1857 London postal
districts introduced 1857-8 Indian
Mutiny 1858 Proving of
Wills taken out of ecclesiastical jurisdiction 1861 American
Civil War begins
- 7 Apr: Third full British Census
- Prince Albert dies
- Populations: Russia 76M, USA 32M, Italy 25M, Britain 23M 1864 Civil Registration
in Ireland starts
- Civil Registration of marriages in Isle of Man starts 1865 End of American
Civil War - slavery abolished in USA 1867 Dominion
of Canada founded 1868 Last British
election for which Poll Books available
- Last convicts landed in (Western) Australia 1871 - 2 Apr:
Fourth full British census
- Trades Unions legalised in Britain, but picketing made illegal
- Commissions in British armed forces no longer to be purchased 1872 Secret Ballot
introduced in Britain (no further Poll Books produced)
- Penalties introduced for failing to register births, marriages & deaths
(Eng. & Wales) 1874 Disraeli
and the Tories come to power in Britain - pass 11 major Acts of social reform
in next 2 years
- First Trades Union MP is elected
- Factory Act introduces 56-hour week 1876 Victoria
proclaimed Empress of India 1879 Zulu war 1880 Greenwich
Mean Time adopted throughout UK 1881 - 3 Apr:
Fifth full British Census
- First Boer War - Transvaal independence recognised
- Flogging abolished in Army and Royal Navy 1883 Married Women's
Property Act of 1882 becomes law 1887 Queen Victoria's
Golden Jubilee 1891 5 Apr: Sixth
full British Census 1893 Keir Hardy
founds Independent Labour Party 1897 Queen Victoria's
Diamond Jubilee 1899-1902 Second
Boer War 1900 Relief of
Ladysmith
- Relief of Mafeking
1901-1960
1901 Commonwealth of Australia founded
- Queen Victoria dies - Edward VII king
- 31 Mar: Seventh full British Census 1902 Second Boer
War ends 1906 Labour Party
formed 1907 New Zealand
becomes a Dominion 1909 Old Age Pensions
Act came into force 1910 Union of
South Africa formed - Botha first Prime Minister
- Edward VII dies - George V king 1911 - 2
Apr Census: Pop. Eng.&Wales 36M, Scot. 4.6M, North.Ire. 1.25M 1912 The Titanic
sinks on maiden voyage - loss of 1,513 lives
- Captain Scott's last expedition - he and his team die on way back from
the south pole 1913 Suffragette
demonstrations in London 1914 -1918 First
World War (The Great War) 1914 - 28 Jun:
Archduke Ferdinand assassinated in Sarajevo
- 4 Aug: Britain declares war on Germany
- Oct-Nov: Battle of Ypres - beginning of trench warfare on western front
- First Zeppelin air raid on England 1915 - Apr-May:
Second Battle of Ypres - poison gas used for first time
- 25 Apr: Gallipoli campaign starts
- 7 May: RMS Lusitania sunk by German submarine off coast of Ireland - 1,198
died
- Coalition Government formed in Britain under Asquith 1916 - Feb-Dec:
Battle of Verdun - appalling losses on both sides
- 24 Apr: Easter Rising in Ireland
- 31 May-1 Jun: Battle of Jutland - only major naval battle between the British
and German fleets
- 1 Jul: Battle of the Somme starts - first use of tanks by Britain
- Compulsory military service introduced in Britain 1917 - February
revolution in Russia; Tsar Nicholas abdicates
- USA declares war
on Germany
- 16 Apr: Lenin returns to Russia after exile
- Jul-Nov: Battle of Passchendaele
- October Revolution in Russia - Bolsheviks overthrow provisional government;
Lenin becomes Chief Commissar 1918 - Jul-Aug:
Second Battle of the Marne: last major German offensive
- 11 Nov: Armistice signed
- War of Independence in Ireland
- World-wide 'flu epidemic 1919 Treaty of
Versailles 1920 First meeting
of the League of Nations 1921 - 19
Jun: Census: Pop. Eng. & Wales 37.9M, Scot. 4.9M, North. Ire. 1.25M
- Irish Free State and Northern Ireland formed 1922 Fall of Lloyd-George
coalition
- Law of Property Act - the manorial system effectively ended 1923 Mussolini
becomes dictator of Italy
- Canberra made Federal Capital of Australia 1924 First Labour
government, headed by Ramsay MacDonald
- Death of Lenin; succeeded by Stalin 1925 Adolf Hitler
writes Mein Kampf 1926 - 26 Apr:
General Strike begins, till 12 May (mine workers for 6 months more)
- Adoption of children is legalised in Britain 1928 Women over
21 get vote in Britain - same qualification for both sexes 1929 Abolition
of Poor Law system in Britain
- Minimum age for a marriage in Britain (which had been 14 for a boy
and 12 for a girl) now 16 for both sexes, with parental consent (or a
licence) needed for anyone under 21 1930 First Nazis
elected to the German Reichstag
- R101 airship disaster - British abandons airship construction 1931 - 26
Apr Census: Pop. Eng.&Wales 40M, Scot. 4.8M, North.Ire. 1.24M (but
details destroyed by fire during WW2)
- Statute of Westminster: British Dominions become independent sovereign
states
1933 Hitler becomes
German Chancellor 1934 Hitler becomes
Fuehrer of Germany
- Mao Tse-tung's 'Long March' starts in China 1935 Italy invades
Abyssinia 1936 - 20 Jan:
George V dies; Edward VIII king
- 18 Jul: Spanish Civil War starts
- 5 Dec: Edward VIII abdicates Duke of York becomes George VI 1937 Chamberlain
becomes Prime Minister in Britain
- German planes bomb Guernica in Spain
- Japanese forces invade China 1938 Germany invades
and annexes Austria
- Chamberlain visits Hitler in Munich - promises 'peace in our time' 1939 Germany annexes
Czechoslovakia
- 1 Sep: Germany invades Poland
- 3 Sep: Britain and France declare war on Germany at 5pm
- 6 Sep: First air-raid on Britain
- 11 Sep: British Expeditionary Force sent to France
- 14 Oct: HMS Royal Oak sunk in Scapa Flow with loss of 810 lives 1940 - 11 May:
National Government formed under Churchill
- 24 May: Germany invades France
- 27 May-4 Jun: Evacuation of British Army at Dunkirk
- 25 Jun: Fall of France
- 7 Sep: Germany launches bombing blitz on Britain
- 15 Sep: Battle of Britain in the air ends with British victory
- Trotsky assassinated on Stalin's orders 1941 No census
- total British population estimated at 48.2M
- 22 June: Germany invades Russia
- 7 Dec: Japan attacks US fleet at Pearl Harbour
- Britain introduces severe rationing 1942 - 30 May:
Over 1,000 bombers raid Cologne
- 4 Jun: Battle of Midway
- 19 Aug: Abortive raid on Dieppe, largely by Canadian troops
- 6 Sep: Germans defeated at Stalingrad
- 23 Oct-4 Nov: Battle of El Alamein - Montgomery defeats Rommel 1943 - May: 'Dam
Buster' raids on Ruhr dams by RAF
- 24 Jul: Allies invade Italy - Benito Mussolini resigns as Italian Dictator 1944 - 4 Jun:
Allies enter Rome
- 6 Jun: D-Day invasion of Normandy
-12 Jun: First V1 flying bombs hit London
- 8 Sep: First V2 rocket bombs hit London
- 11 Sep: Allies enter Germany
- 16 Dec: Battle of the Bulge: German counter-offensive 1945 Yalta Conference
between Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin
- 25 Apr: Berlin surrounded by Russian troops
- 30 Apr: Hitler commits suicide
- 8 May: Victory in Europe Day
- 6 Aug: Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima
- 9 Aug: Atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki
- 15 Aug: Victory in Japan Day
- 2 Sep: Japanese surrender 1946 First session
of new United Nations Organisation 1947 India gains
independence: sub-continent partitioned to form India and Pakistan 1948 Gandhi assassinated
- Apartheid starts in South Africa
- Berlin airlift starts
- National Health Service begins in Britain 1949 Russians
lift the Berlin blockade
- 1950 Points rationing ends in Britain
- Petrol rationing ends in Britain
- Korean War starts (to 27 Jul 1953)
- Soap rationing ends in Britain 1951 Census:
Pop. Eng.& Wales 43.7M, Scot. 5M. North.Ire. 1.37M 1952 George VI
dies
- End of tea rationing in Britain 1953 Sweet rationing
ends in Britain
- Everest conquered by Hillary and Tensing
- Coronation of Elizabeth II
- Sugar rationing ends in Britain (after nearly 14 years)
- Death of Stalin: Malenkov becomes Premier of USSR
- End of the Korean War 1954 Food rationing
officially ends in Britain 1956 Britain and
France invade Suez 1957 Sputnik I
launched by Soviet Union - first artificial satellite 1959 Postcodes
introduced in Britain 1960 Sharpeville
Massacre in South Africa