1808 in the United Kingdom
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 1808 in the United Kingdom: |
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| 1806 1806 in the United Kingdom Events from the year 1806 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.-Incumbents:*Monarch - George III*Prime Minister - William Pitt the Younger, Tory , Lord Grenville coalition-Events:... | 1807 1807 in the United Kingdom Events from the year 1807 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George III*Prime Minister - Lord Grenville coalition , Duke of Portland, Tory-Events:... | 1808 | 1809 1809 in the United Kingdom Events from the year 1809 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - George III of the United Kingdom*Prime Minister - William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland, Tory , Spencer Perceval, Tory-Events:... | 1810 1810 in the United Kingdom Events from the year 1810 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George III*Prime Minister - Spencer Perceval, Tory-Events:... |
Events from the year 1808 in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
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Incumbents
- Monarch - King George IIIGeorge III of the United KingdomGeorge III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...
- Prime Minister - Duke of PortlandWilliam Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of PortlandWilliam Henry Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland, KG, PC was a British Whig and Tory statesman, Chancellor of the University of Oxford and Prime Minister. He was known before 1762 by the courtesy title Marquess of Titchfield. He held a title of every degree of British nobility—Duke,...
, ToryToryToryism is a traditionalist and conservative political philosophy which grew out of the Cavalier faction in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It is a prominent ideology in the politics of the United Kingdom, but also features in parts of The Commonwealth, particularly in Canada...
Events
- 1 January - Sierra LeoneSierra LeoneSierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...
becomes a British Crown Colony. - 18 February - First recorded rescue using the Manby MortarManby MortarThe Manby Mortar was invented by Captain George William Manby, also the inventor of the portable fire extinguisher.The mortar fired a shot with a line attached from the shore to the wrecked ship...
when the crew of the PlymouthPlymouthPlymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
brigBrigA brig is a sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts. During the Age of Sail, brigs were seen as fast and manoeuvrable and were used as both naval warships and merchant vessels. They were especially popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries...
Elizabeth stranded off Great YarmouthGreat YarmouthGreat Yarmouth, often known to locals as Yarmouth, is a coastal town in Norfolk, England. It is at the mouth of the River Yare, east of Norwich.It has been a seaside resort since 1760, and is the gateway from the Norfolk Broads to the sea...
are hauled safely to shore under the direction of Captain ManbyGeorge William ManbyCaptain George William Manby FRS , was an English author and inventor. He designed an apparatus for saving life from shipwrecks and also the first modern form of fire extinguisher.-Life:Manby went to school at Downham Market...
. - 2 May - End of Anglo-Spanish WarAnglo-Spanish War (1796–1808)The Anglo-Spanish War between 1796 and 1802, and again from 1804 to 1808, was a part of the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. The war ended in a alliance....
and beginning of Peninsular WarPeninsular WarThe Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...
as SpainSpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
allies with the United Kingdom and PortugalPortugalPortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
against FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. - 20 July - Henry Crabb RobinsonHenry Crabb RobinsonHenry Crabb Robinson , diarist, was born in Bury St. Edmunds, England.He was articled to an attorney in Colchester. Between 1800 and 1805 he studied at various places in Germany, and became acquainted with nearly all the great men of letters there, including Goethe, Schiller, Johann Gottfried...
makes the first despatch from a specialist war reporter, to The TimesThe TimesThe Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
newspaper. - 1 August - Peninsular War: British expeditionary force lands near Oporto.
- 21 August - Peninsular War: British-Portuguese victory over the French at the Battle of VimeiroBattle of VimeiroIn the Battle of Vimeiro the British under General Arthur Wellesley defeated the French under Major-General Jean-Andoche Junot near the village of Vimeiro , near Lisbon, Portugal during the Peninsular War...
. - 21 October - Nelson's PillarNelson's PillarThe Nelson Pillar , known locally as Nelson's Pillar or simply The Pillar, was a large granite pillar topped by a statue of Horatio Nelson in the middle of O'Connell Street, Dublin...
in Dublin is completed. - 20 December - The original Covent Garden TheatreRoyal Opera HouseThe Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
in LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
is destroyed by a fire along with most of the scenery, costumes and scripts.
Ongoing
- Anglo-Russian War, 1807–1812
- Napoleonic WarsNapoleonic WarsThe Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
, 1803–1815
Undated
- George PonsonbyGeorge PonsonbyGeorge Ponsonby PC , was a British lawyer and Whig politician. He served as Lord Chancellor of Ireland from 1806 to 1807 in the Ministry of All the Talents.-Background and education:...
becomes de facto first (whig) Leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons. - West Africa SquadronWest Africa SquadronThe Royal Navy established the West Africa Squadron at substantial expense in 1808 after Parliament passed the Slave Trade Act of 1807. The squadron's task was to suppress the Atlantic slave trade by patrolling the coast of West Africa...
established to suppress the slave trade along the coast of West AfricaWest AfricaWest Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...
. - Society for Promoting the Lancasterian System for the Education of the Poor formed to develop Joseph LancasterJoseph LancasterJoseph Lancaster was an English Quaker and public education innovator.-Life:Lancaster was born the son of a shopkeeper in Southwark, south London....
's system of elementary schoolElementary schoolAn elementary school or primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America, where the terms grade school and grammar...
s for nonconformistNonconformismNonconformity is the refusal to "conform" to, or follow, the governance and usages of the Church of England by the Protestant Christians of England and Wales.- Origins and use:...
s. In 1814, the Society is renamed the British and Foreign School Society for the Education of the Labouring and Manufacturing Classes of Society of Every Religious PersuasionBritish and Foreign School SocietyThe British and Foreign School Society offers charitable aid to educational projects in the UK and around the world by funding schools, other charities and educational bodies...
. - BariumBariumBarium is a chemical element with the symbol Ba and atomic number 56. It is the fifth element in Group 2, a soft silvery metallic alkaline earth metal. Barium is never found in nature in its pure form due to its reactivity with air. Its oxide is historically known as baryta but it reacts with...
, calciumCalciumCalcium is the chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. It has an atomic mass of 40.078 amu. Calcium is a soft gray alkaline earth metal, and is the fifth-most-abundant element by mass in the Earth's crust...
, magnesiumMagnesiumMagnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg, atomic number 12, and common oxidation number +2. It is an alkaline earth metal and the eighth most abundant element in the Earth's crust and ninth in the known universe as a whole...
and strontiumStrontiumStrontium is a chemical element with the symbol Sr and the atomic number 38. An alkaline earth metal, strontium is a soft silver-white or yellowish metallic element that is highly reactive chemically. The metal turns yellow when exposed to air. It occurs naturally in the minerals celestine and...
isolated by Sir Humphry DavyHumphry DavySir Humphry Davy, 1st Baronet FRS MRIA was a British chemist and inventor. He is probably best remembered today for his discoveries of several alkali and alkaline earth metals, as well as contributions to the discoveries of the elemental nature of chlorine and iodine...
. - John DaltonJohn DaltonJohn Dalton FRS was an English chemist, meteorologist and physicist. He is best known for his pioneering work in the development of modern atomic theory, and his research into colour blindness .-Early life:John Dalton was born into a Quaker family at Eaglesfield, near Cockermouth, Cumberland,...
begins publication of A New System of Chemical Philosophy, explaining his atomic theoryAtomic theoryIn chemistry and physics, atomic theory is a theory of the nature of matter, which states that matter is composed of discrete units called atoms, as opposed to the obsolete notion that matter could be divided into any arbitrarily small quantity...
of chemistryChemistryChemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
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Births
- 20 March - Charles Henry CooperCharles Henry CooperCharles Henry Cooper was an English antiquarian.-Life:Born at Marlow, Buckinghamshire, he was descended from a family formerly of Bray in Berkshire. He was privately educated in Reading. In 1826 he settled in Cambridge, and in 1836 was elected coroner of the borough...
, antiquarian (died 18661866 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1866 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — Lord John Russell, Liberal , Earl of Derby, Conservative-Events:...
) - 22 March - Caroline Norton, campaigner for married women's rights (died 18771877 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1877 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — Benjamin Disraeli, Conservative-Events:...
) - 27 April - William Cavendish, 7th Duke of DevonshireWilliam Cavendish, 7th Duke of DevonshireWilliam Cavendish, 7th Duke of Devonshire KG, PC , styled as Lord Cavendish of Keighley between 1831 and 1834 and known as The Earl of Burlington between 1834 and 1858, was a British landowner, benefactor and politician.-Background and education:Cavendish was the son of William Cavendish, eldest...
, politician (died 18911891 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1891 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — Robert Cecil, Marquess of Salisbury, Conservative-Events:...
) - 2 May - Emma DarwinEmma DarwinEmma Darwin was the wife and first cousin of Charles Darwin, the English naturalist, scientist and author of On the Origin of Species...
, wife of Charles DarwinCharles DarwinCharles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
(died 18961896 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1896 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — Robert Cecil, Marquess of Salisbury, Conservative-Events:...
) - 12 May - Edwin Abbott, educator (died 18821882 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1882 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — William Ewart Gladstone, Liberal-Events:* 25 January — London Chamber of Commerce founded....
) - 30 May - Caroline ChisholmCaroline ChisholmCaroline Chisholm was a progressive 19th-century English humanitarian known mostly for her involvement with female immigrant welfare in Australia. She is commemorated on 16 May in the Calendar of saints of the Church of England...
, humanitarian (died 1877) - 12 June - George Wilshere, 1st Baron BramwellGeorge Wilshere, 1st Baron BramwellGeorge William Wilshere Bramwell, 1st Baron Bramwell , was an English judge.-Early years:Bramwell was born in London, the eldest son of George Bramwell, of the banking firm of Dorrien, Magens, Dorrien & Mello. He was educated privately, and at the age of sixteen he entered Dorrien's bank...
, judge (died 18921892 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1892 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — Robert Cecil, Marquess of Salisbury, Conservative , William Ewart Gladstone, Liberal-Events:...
) - 11 June - James BallantineJames BallantineJames Ballantine was an artist and author.Born in Edinburgh, he began life as a house painter. He studied art and became one of the first to revive the art of glass-painting, on which subject he wrote a treatise...
, artist and author (died 18771877 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1877 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — Benjamin Disraeli, Conservative-Events:...
) - 19 June - Montagu Bertie, 6th Earl of AbingdonMontagu Bertie, 6th Earl of AbingdonMontagu Bertie, 6th Earl of Abingdon was a British peer and politician. He was styled Lord Norreys from birth until acceding in 1854.-Background:...
, politician (died 18841884 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1884 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — William Ewart Gladstone, Liberal-Events:* 4 January — The Fabian Society is founded in London....
) - 1 July - Henry DoubledayHenry Doubleday (1808-1875)Henry Doubleday was an English entomologist and ornithologist.Henry Doubleday was the eldest son of Quaker and grocer Benjamin Doubleday and his wife Mary of Epping, Essex. He and his brother Edward Doubleday spent their childhood collecting natural history specimens in Epping Forest...
, entomologist and ornithologist (died 18751875 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1875 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — Benjamin Disraeli, Conservative-Events:...
) - 15 July - Henry ColeHenry ColeSir Henry Cole was an English civil servant and inventor who facilitated many innovations in commerce and education in 19th century Britain...
, civil servant (died 18821882 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1882 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — William Ewart Gladstone, Liberal-Events:* 25 January — London Chamber of Commerce founded....
) - 30 July - Frederick Nicholls CrouchFrederick Nicholls CrouchFrederick Nicholls Crouch was an English composer and cellist.Crouch was born in Marylebone in London. He emigrated to the United States in 1849 and settled in Richmond, Virginia...
, composer and cellist (died 18961896 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1896 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — Robert Cecil, Marquess of Salisbury, Conservative-Events:...
) - 19 August - James NasmythJames NasmythJames Hall Nasmyth was a Scottish engineer and inventor famous for his development of the steam hammer. He was the co-founder of Nasmyth, Gaskell and Company manufacturers of machine tools...
, engineer (died 18901890 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1890 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — Robert Cecil, Marquess of Salisbury, Conservative-Events:...
) - 24 August - William Lindsay AlexanderWilliam Lindsay AlexanderWilliam Lindsay Alexander was a Scottish church leader.He was born at Leith, and was educated at the universities of St Andrews and Edinburgh, where he gained a lasting reputation for classical scholarship...
, church leader (died 18841884 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1884 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — William Ewart Gladstone, Liberal-Events:* 4 January — The Fabian Society is founded in London....
) - 5 September - Arthur William BullerArthur William BullerSir Arthur William Buller was a British Liberal Party Member of Parliament, who in his early career served as head of a commission of inquiry into education reform in Lower Canada....
, Member of Parliament (died 18691869 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1869 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — William Ewart Gladstone, Liberal-Events:* 6 March — The first international cycle race is held at Crystal Palace, London....
) - 15 September - John Hutton BalfourJohn Hutton BalfourJohn Hutton Balfour was a Scottish botanist. Balfour became a Professor of Botany, first at the University of Glasgow in 1841, moving to Edinburgh University and also becoming Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and Her Majesty's Botanist in Scotland in 1845...
, botanist (died 18841884 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1884 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — William Ewart Gladstone, Liberal-Events:* 4 January — The Fabian Society is founded in London....
) - 6 November - Thomas Legh ClaughtonThomas Legh ClaughtonThomas Legh Claughton was a British academic, poet and clergyman. He was professor of poetry at Oxford University from 1852 to 1857; Bishop of Rochester; and the first Bishop of St Albans.-Biography:...
, academic, poet and clergyman (died 18921892 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1892 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — Robert Cecil, Marquess of Salisbury, Conservative , William Ewart Gladstone, Liberal-Events:...
) - 22 November - Thomas CookThomas CookThomas Cook of Melbourne, Derbyshire, England founded the travel agency that is now Thomas Cook Group.- Early days :...
, travel entrepreneur (died 18921892 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1892 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — Robert Cecil, Marquess of Salisbury, Conservative , William Ewart Gladstone, Liberal-Events:...
) - 15 December - Henry Fothergill ChorleyHenry Fothergill ChorleyHenry Fothergill Chorley was an English literary, art and music critic and editor. He was also an author of novels, drama, poetry and lyrics....
, critic (died 18721872 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1872 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — William Ewart Gladstone, Liberal-Events:* 1 January — C. P...
) - Undated - William CuretonWilliam Cureton-Life:He was born in Westbury, Shropshire. After being educated at the Adams' Grammar School in Newport, Shropshire and at Christ Church, Oxford, he took orders in 1832, became chaplain of Christ Church, sublibrarian of the Bodleian, and, in 1837, assistant keeper of manuscripts in the British Museum...
, Orientalist (died 18641864 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1864 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — Viscount Palmerston, Liberal-Events:* 11 January — Charing Cross railway station in London opens....
)
Deaths
- 28 May - Richard Hurd, bishop and writer (born 17201720 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1720 in Great Britain.-Events:* 17 February - Treaty of Den Haag signed between Britain, France, Austria, the Dutch Republic and Spain ending the War of the Quadruple Alliance....
) - 5 September - John HomeJohn HomeJohn Home was a Scottish poet and dramatist.-Biography:He was born at Leith, near Edinburgh, where his father, Alexander Home, a distant relation of the earls of Home, was town clerk. John was educated at the Leith Grammar School, and at the University of Edinburgh, where he graduated MA, in 1742...
, writer (born 17221722 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1722 in Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - George I of Great Britain*Prime Minister - Robert Walpole, Whig-Events:...
) - 10 November - Guy Carleton, 1st Baron DorchesterGuy Carleton, 1st Baron DorchesterGuy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester, KB , known between 1776 and 1786 as Sir Guy Carleton, was an Irish-British soldier and administrator...
, soldier and governor of Quebec (born 17241724 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1724 in Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - George I of Great Britain*Prime Minister - Robert Walpole, Whig-Events:...
) - Theophilus LindseyTheophilus LindseyTheophilus Lindsey was an English theologian and clergyman who founded the first avowedly Unitarian congregation in the country, at Essex Street Chapel.-Life:...
, theologian (born 17231723 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1723 in Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - George I of Great Britain*Prime Minister - Robert Walpole, Whig-Events:* 8 March - The Chelsea Waterworks Company receives a Royal Charter....
)