1839 in the United Kingdom
Encyclopedia
 1839 in the United Kingdom: |
| Other years |
| 1837 1837 in the United Kingdom Events from the year 1837 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — King William IV , Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — Lord Melbourne, Whig-Events:... | 1838 1838 in the United Kingdom Events from the year 1838 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — Lord Melbourne, Whig-Events:* 10 January — A fire destroys Lloyd's Coffee House and the Royal Exchange in London.... | 1839 | 1840 1840 in the United Kingdom Events from the year 1840 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — Viscount Melbourne, Whig-Events:* 10 January — Uniform Penny Post introduced.* 22 January — British colonists reach New Zealand... | 1841 1841 in the United Kingdom Events from the year 1841 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — Lord Melbourne, Whig , Robert Peel, Conservative-Events:... |
| Sport |
| 1839 English cricket season 1839 English cricket season -First-class matches:-Events:1 March. Formation of Sussex CCC out of the Sussex Cricket Fund organisation that had been set up in 1836.Sussex CCC played its initial first-class match v... |
Events from the year 1839 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...
.
Incumbents
- Monarch — Queen Victoria
- Prime Minister — Lord MelbourneWilliam Lamb, 2nd Viscount MelbourneWilliam Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, PC, FRS was a British Whig statesman who served as Home Secretary and Prime Minister . He is best known for his intense and successful mentoring of Queen Victoria, at ages 18-21, in the ways of politics...
, WhigBritish Whig PartyThe Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...
Events
- January — The first parallaxParallaxParallax is a displacement or difference in the apparent position of an object viewed along two different lines of sight, and is measured by the angle or semi-angle of inclination between those two lines. The term is derived from the Greek παράλλαξις , meaning "alteration"...
measurement of the distance to Alpha CentauriAlpha CentauriAlpha Centauri is the brightest star in the southern constellation of Centaurus...
is published by Thomas HendersonThomas James HendersonThomas James Alan Henderson was a Scottish astronomer noted for being the first person to measure the distance to Alpha Centauri, the major component of the nearest stellar system to Earth, and for being the first Astronomer Royal for Scotland.-Early life:Born in Dundee, Scotland, he was educated...
. - 19 January — British East India CompanyBritish East India CompanyThe East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
captures AdenAdenAden is a seaport city in Yemen, located by the eastern approach to the Red Sea , some 170 kilometres east of Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000. Aden's ancient, natural harbour lies in the crater of an extinct volcano which now forms a peninsula, joined to the mainland by a...
. - February — Report on the Affairs of British North AmericaReport on the Affairs of British North America (1839)The Report on the Affairs of British North America, commonly known as The Durham Report, is an important document in the history of Quebec, Ontario, Canada and the British Empire....
published. - 26 February — First nationally recognised Grand NationalGrand NationalThe Grand National is a world-famous National Hunt horse race which is held annually at Aintree Racecourse, near Liverpool, England. It is a handicap chase run over a distance of four miles and 856 yards , with horses jumping thirty fences over two circuits of Aintree's National Course...
run, at AintreeAintree RacecourseAintree Racecourse is a racecourse in Aintree, Merseyside, England.It was served by Aintree Racecourse railway station until the station closed in the 1960s....
. It is won by Jem MasonJem MasonJames "Jem" Mason was a champion English jockey. On February 26, 1839 he won the Grand National in Liverpool on a brown-bay racehorse called Lottery....
riding Lottery. - 9 March — Anti-Corn Law LeagueAnti-Corn Law LeagueThe Anti-Corn Law League was in effect the resumption of the Anti-Corn Law Association, which had been created in London in 1836 but did not obtain widespread popularity. The Anti-Corn Law League was founded in Manchester in 1838...
is organised. - 26 March — The first Henley Royal RegattaHenley Royal RegattaHenley Royal Regatta is a rowing event held every year on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. The Royal Regatta is sometimes referred to as Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage...
is held. - 9 April — The world's first commercial electric telegraphTelegraphyTelegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages via some form of signalling technology. Telegraphy requires messages to be converted to a code which is known to both sender and receiver...
line comes into operation alongside the Great Western RailwayGreat Western RailwayThe Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
line from Paddington stationPaddington stationPaddington railway station, also known as London Paddington, is a central London railway terminus and London Underground complex.The site is a historic one, having served as the London terminus of the Great Western Railway and its successors since 1838. Much of the current mainline station dates...
to West DraytonWest DraytonWest Drayton is a suburban area in the London Borough of Hillingdon in the far west of London, England. Formerly part of the Yiewsley and West Drayton Urban District of Middlesex, the district became part of Greater London in 1965....
. - 19 April — The Treaty of London establishes BelgiumBelgiumBelgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
as a kingdomMonarchyA monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...
. - May
- J. M. W. TurnerJ. M. W. TurnerJoseph Mallord William Turner RA was an English Romantic landscape painter, watercolourist and printmaker. Turner was considered a controversial figure in his day, but is now regarded as the artist who elevated landscape painting to an eminence rivalling history painting...
completes his painting The Fighting TemeraireThe Fighting TemeraireThe Fighting Temeraire tugged to her last Berth to be broken up, 1838 is an oil painting executed in 1839 by the English artist J. M. W. Turner...
. - Cambridge Camden SocietyCambridge Camden SocietyThe Cambridge Camden Society, later known as the Ecclesiological Society from 1845 when it moved to London, was a learned architectural society founded in 1839 by undergraduates at Cambridge University to promote "the study of Gothic Architecture, and of Ecclesiastical Antiques." Its activities...
established by John Mason NealeJohn Mason NealeJohn Mason Neale was an Anglican priest, scholar and hymn-writer.-Life:Neale was born in London, his parents being the Revd Cornelius Neale and Susanna Neale, daughter of John Mason Good...
, Alexander Hope and Benjamin Webb to promote Gothic architecture.
- J. M. W. Turner
- 1 May — Start of Eyre's expeditionsEyre's 1839 expeditionsEdward John Eyre's two expeditions of 1839 to the interior of South Australia were his first expeditions as an explorer, if one discounts the two earlier trips he made down the Murray River to Adelaide, herding cattle and then sheep.-North:...
to the interior of South AustraliaSouth AustraliaSouth Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
. - 7–11 May — Bedchamber CrisisBedchamber CrisisThe Bedchamber crisis occurred in May 1839 after Whig politician Lord Melbourne had resigned as Prime Minister. Queen Victoria invited Tory politician Robert Peel to form a new government...
: Robert PeelRobert PeelSir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet was a British Conservative statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 10 December 1834 to 8 April 1835, and again from 30 August 1841 to 29 June 1846...
asks that Queen Victoria dismiss her Ladies of the BedchamberLady of the BedchamberThis is an incomplete list of those who have served as Lady of the Bedchamber in the British Royal Household...
as a condition for forming a government. Victoria refuses to accept the condition, and Peel resigns. - 13 May — First Rebecca RiotsRebecca RiotsThe Rebecca Riots took place between 1839 and 1843 in South and Mid Wales. They were a series of protests undertaken by local farmers and agricultural workers in response to perceived unfair taxation. The rioters, often men dressed as women, took their actions against toll-gates, as they were...
targeted against Welsh turnpikesTurnpike trustTurnpike trusts in the United Kingdom were bodies set up by individual Acts of Parliament, with powers to collect road tolls for maintaining the principal highways in Britain from the 17th but especially during the 18th and 19th centuries...
, at Efailwen in CarmarthenshireCarmarthenshireCarmarthenshire is a unitary authority in the south west of Wales and one of thirteen historic counties. It is the 3rd largest in Wales. Its three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford...
. - 4 July — ChartistsChartismChartism was a movement for political and social reform in the United Kingdom during the mid-19th century, between 1838 and 1859. It takes its name from the People's Charter of 1838. Chartism was possibly the first mass working class labour movement in the world...
riot in Birmingham. - 23 July — British forces under Sir John Keane capture the fortress city of GhazniGhazniFor the Province of Ghazni see Ghazni ProvinceGhazni is a city in central-east Afghanistan with a population of about 141,000 people...
, AfghanistanAfghanistanAfghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
in the Battle of GhazniBattle of GhazniThe Battle of Ghazni took place in city of Ghazni in central Afghanistan on July 23, 1839 during the First Anglo-Afghan War.-Prelude:...
during the First Anglo-Afghan WarFirst Anglo-Afghan WarThe First Anglo-Afghan War was fought between British India and Afghanistan from 1839 to 1842. It was one of the first major conflicts during the Great Game, the 19th century competition for power and influence in Central Asia between the United Kingdom and Russia, and also marked one of the worst...
. - 23 August — British forces seize Hong KongHong KongHong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
as a base, as it prepares to wage war against Qing ChinaQing DynastyThe Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
. The ensuing 3-year conflict will become known as the First Opium WarFirst Opium WarThe First Anglo-Chinese War , known popularly as the First Opium War or simply the Opium War, was fought between the United Kingdom and the Qing Dynasty of China over their conflicting viewpoints on diplomatic relations, trade, and the administration of justice...
. - 30 August — The Eglinton TournamentEglinton Tournament of 1839The Eglinton Tournament of 1839 was a re-enactment of a medieval joust and revel held in Scotland on Friday 30 August.It was funded and organized by Archibald Montgomerie, 13th Earl of Eglinton, and took place at Eglinton Castle, near Kilwinning in Scotland...
, a recreation of a medieval tourney, takes place at Eglinton CastleEglinton CastleEglinton Castle was a large Gothic castellated mansion in Kilwinning, North Ayrshire, Scotland.-The castle :The ancient seat of the Earls of Eglinton, it is located just south of the town of Kilwinning...
, North AyrshireNorth AyrshireNorth Ayrshire is one of 32 council areas in Scotland with a population of roughly 136,000 people. It is located in the south-west region of Scotland, and borders the areas of Inverclyde to the north, Renfrewshire to the north-east and East Ayrshire and South Ayrshire to the East and South...
, ScotlandScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. - 5 October — James Clark RossJames Clark RossSir James Clark Ross , was a British naval officer and explorer. He explored the Arctic with his uncle Sir John Ross and Sir William Parry, and later led his own expedition to Antarctica.-Arctic explorer:...
sets out on the AntarcticAntarcticThe Antarctic is the region around the Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica and the ice shelves, waters and island territories in the Southern Ocean situated south of the Antarctic Convergence...
expedition of the HMS ErebusHMS Erebus (1826)HMS Erebus was a Hecla-class bomb vessel designed by Sir Henry Peake and constructed by the Royal Navy in Pembroke dockyard, Wales in 1826. The vessel was named after the dark region in Hades of Greek mythology called Erebus...
and HMS TerrorHMS Terror (1813)HMS Terror was a bomb vessel designed by Sir Henry Peake and constructed by the Royal Navy in the Davy shipyard in Topsham, Devon. The ship, variously listed as being of either 326 or 340 tons, carried two mortars, one and one .-War service:...
which will chart much of the coastline of the continent. - 4 November — Newport RisingNewport RisingThe Newport Rising was the last large-scale armed rebellion against authority in mainland Britain, when on 4 November 1839, somewhere between 1,000 and 5,000 Chartist sympathisers, including many coal-miners, most with home-made arms, led by John Frost, marched on the town of Newport,...
: several thousand coal miners march on Newport, MonmouthshireNewportNewport is a city and unitary authority area in Wales. Standing on the banks of the River Usk, it is located about east of Cardiff and is the largest urban area within the historic county boundaries of Monmouthshire and the preserved county of Gwent...
, to liberate ChartistChartismChartism was a movement for political and social reform in the United Kingdom during the mid-19th century, between 1838 and 1859. It takes its name from the People's Charter of 1838. Chartism was possibly the first mass working class labour movement in the world...
prisoners; 24 killed. - 5 December — Uniform Fourpenny PostUniform Fourpenny PostThe Uniform Fourpenny Post was a short-lived uniform pre-paid letter rate in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland that lasted for only 36 days from 5 December 1839 until 9 January 1840...
introduced, a major postal reform, whereby 4d is levied for pre-paid letters up to half an ounce in weight instead of postage being calculated by distance and number of sheets of paper. - 24 December — An enormous landslideLandslideA landslide or landslip is a geological phenomenon which includes a wide range of ground movement, such as rockfalls, deep failure of slopes and shallow debris flows, which can occur in offshore, coastal and onshore environments...
occurs at AxmouthAxmouthAxmouth is a village and civil parish in the East Devon district of Devon, England, near the mouth of the River Axe. The village itself is about 1 km inland, although the parish extends to the sea. The village is near Seaton and Beer...
, DevonDevonDevon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
. A report by geologists William Daniel ConybeareWilliam Daniel ConybeareWilliam Daniel Conybeare FRS , dean of Llandaff, was an English geologist, palaeontologist and clergyman. He is probably best known for his ground-breaking work on marine reptile fossils in the 1820s, including important papers for the Geological Society of London on ichthyosaur anatomy and the...
and William BucklandWilliam BucklandThe Very Rev. Dr William Buckland DD FRS was an English geologist, palaeontologist and Dean of Westminster, who wrote the first full account of a fossil dinosaur, which he named Megalosaurus...
is one of the earliest scientific descriptions of such an event.
Undated
- New Committee of Council on education sets up a national system of Inspectors of SchoolsHer Majesty's Inspector of SchoolsHer Majesty's Inspector of Schools can refer to:* Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education, Scotland* Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools In England...
. - County Police ActCounty Police Act 1839The County Police Act 1839 was an Act of Parliament passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The act enabled Justices of the Peace in England and Wales to establish police forces in their counties...
enables the appointment of policePoliceThe police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
in rural areas. - Sisters of MercySisters of MercyThe Religious Order of the Sisters of Mercy is an order of Catholic women founded by Catherine McAuley in Dublin, Ireland, in 1831. , the order has about 10,000 members worldwide, organized into a number of independent congregations....
establish the first Roman Catholic conventConventA convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion...
in England since the ReformationReformation- Movements :* Protestant Reformation, an attempt by Martin Luther to reform the Roman Catholic Church that resulted in a schism, and grew into a wider movement...
, at BermondseyBermondseyBermondsey is an area in London on the south bank of the river Thames, and is part of the London Borough of Southwark. To the west lies Southwark, to the east Rotherhithe, and to the south, Walworth and Peckham.-Toponomy:...
in London. - Michael FaradayMichael FaradayMichael Faraday, FRS was an English chemist and physicist who contributed to the fields of electromagnetism and electrochemistry....
publishes Experimental Researches in Electricity clarifying the true nature of electricityElectricityElectricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...
. - Claimed invention of the rear-wheel driven bicycle by Kirkpatrick MacmillanKirkpatrick MacmillanKirkpatrick Macmillan was a Scottish blacksmith generally credited with inventing the rear-wheel driven bicycle.-Invention of pedal driven bicycle?:...
in ScotlandScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
.
Publications
- George BradshawGeorge BradshawGeorge Bradshaw was an English cartographer, printer and publisher. He is best known for developing the most successful and longest published series of combined railway timetables.-Biography:...
's first national railway timetable, Bradshaw's Railway Companion. - 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...
's Journal of Researches into the Geology and Natural History of the Various Countries Visited by H.M.S. Beagle under the Command of Captain FitzRoy, R.N., from 1832 to 1839The Voyage of the BeagleThe Voyage of the Beagle is a title commonly given to the book written by Charles Darwin and published in 1839 as his Journal and Remarks, bringing him considerable fame and respect...
. - Mrs William Ellis's conduct book The Women of England: their social duties and domestic habits.
Births
- 7 January — OuidaOuidaOuida was the pseudonym of the English novelist Maria Louise Ramé .-Biography:...
, novelist (died 19081908 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1908 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King Edward VII*Prime Minister - Henry Campbell-Bannerman, Liberal , H. H...
) - 16 March — John Butler YeatsJohn Butler YeatsJohn Butler Yeats was an Irish artist and the father of William Butler Yeats, Lily Yeats, Lollie Yeats and Jack B. Yeats. He is probably best known for his portrait of the young William Butler Yeats which is one of a number of his portraits of Irishmen and women in the Yeats museum in the National...
, artist (died 19221922 in the United KingdomThe social and political problems of most prominence in the United Kingdom in 1922 showed a further departure from those that chiefly occupied public attention during World War I, and the country had by then almost returned to its normal condition...
) - 17 June — Arthur ToothArthur ToothArthur Tooth SSC was a Ritualist priest in the Church of England and a member of the Society of the Holy Cross . Tooth is best known for having been prosecuted in 1876 under the Public Worship Regulation Act 1874 for using proscribed liturgical practices...
, Anglican clergyman prosecuted for Ritualist practices in the 1870s1870sThe 1870s continued the trends of the previous decade, as new empires, imperialism and militarism rose in Europe and Asia. America was recovering from the Civil War. Germany declared independence in 1871 and began its Second Reich. Labor unions and strikes occurred worldwide in the later part of...
(died 19311931 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1931 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George V*Prime Minister - Ramsay MacDonald, Labour and national coalition-Events:* 6 January - Sadler's Wells Theatre opens in London....
) - 19 September — George CadburyGeorge CadburyGeorge Cadbury was the third son of John Cadbury, a Quaker who founded Cadbury's cocoa and chocolate company.-Background:...
, businessman (died 19221922 in the United KingdomThe social and political problems of most prominence in the United Kingdom in 1922 showed a further departure from those that chiefly occupied public attention during World War I, and the country had by then almost returned to its normal condition...
)
Deaths
- 16 January — Edmund LodgeEdmund LodgeSir Edmund Lodge, KH , herald, was a long-serving English officer of arms, a writer on heraldic subjects, and a painstaking supplier of short, accurate biographies.-Life and career:...
, writer (born 17561756 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1756 in Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - George II of the United Kingdom*Prime Minister - Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Whig , William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire, Whig...
) - 28 January — William BeecheyWilliam BeecheySir Henry William Beechey , English portrait-painter, was born at Burford, the son of William Beechey and Hannah Read ....
, portrait-painter (born 17531753 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1753 in Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George II*Prime Minister - Henry Pelham, Whig-Events:* 29 January - After a month's absence, Elizabeth Canning returns to her mother's home in London and claims that she was abducted...
) - 11 April — John Galt, novelist (born 17791779 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1779 in Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George III*Prime Minister - Lord North, Tory-Events:* 9 January - First Anglo-Maratha War: British troops surrender to the Marathas in Wadgaon, India, and are forced to return all terrorities acquired since 1773.* 11 February -...
) - 17 May — Archibald AlisonArchibald Alison (Scottish author)Archibald Alison FRS FRSE was a Scottish episcopalian priest and essayist.-Early life:He was born at Edinburgh on 13 November, 1757, to Patrick Alison, the provost of the Diocese of Edinburgh, himself a younger son of an Alison of Newhall, near Coupar Angus.After studying at the University of...
, author (born 17571757 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1757 in Great Britain.- Events :* 2 January - Robert Clive captures Calcutta, India.* 14 March - Seven Years' War: Admiral Sir John Byng is executed by firing squad aboard for breach of the Articles of War....
) - 24 December — James SmithJames and Horace SmithJames Smith and Horace Smith , authors of the Rejected Addresses, sons of a solicitor, were both born in London....
, author (born 17751775 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1775 in Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George III*Prime Minister - Lord North, Tory-Events:* 17 January - First performance of Richard Brinsley Sheridan's play The Rivals at the Covent Garden Theatre in London.* 9 February - American Revolution: British Parliament...
)