1868 in the United Kingdom
Encyclopedia
 1868 in the United Kingdom: |
| Other years |
| 1866 1866 in the United Kingdom Events from the year 1866 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — Lord John Russell, Liberal , Earl of Derby, Conservative-Events:... | 1867 1867 in the United Kingdom Events from the year 1867 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — Earl of Derby, Conservative-Events:* 5 March — Fenian rising in Ireland.... | 1868 | 1869 1869 in the United Kingdom Events 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.... | 1870 1870 in the United Kingdom Events from the year 1870 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — William Ewart Gladstone, Liberal-Events:* 28 January — General Post Office takes over business of private telegraph companies.... |
| Sport |
| 1868 English cricket season 1868 English cricket season -Events:* C A Absolom became the first player to be given out obstructing the field when playing for Cambridge University v. Surrey at The Oval.* A team of Australian Aboriginals was the first overseas side to tour England... |
Events from the year 1868 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 — Earl of DerbyEdward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of DerbyEdward George Geoffrey Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, KG, PC was an English statesman, three times Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and to date the longest serving leader of the Conservative Party. He was known before 1834 as Edward Stanley, and from 1834 to 1851 as Lord Stanley...
, ConservativeConservative Party (UK)The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
(until 27 February), Benjamin Disraeli, Conservative (until 1 December), William Ewart GladstoneWilliam Ewart GladstoneWilliam Ewart Gladstone FRS FSS was a British Liberal statesman. In a career lasting over sixty years, he served as Prime Minister four separate times , more than any other person. Gladstone was also Britain's oldest Prime Minister, 84 years old when he resigned for the last time...
, LiberalLiberal Party (UK)The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
Events
- 2 January — 1868 Expedition to Abyssinia1868 Expedition to AbyssiniaThe British 1868 Expedition to Abyssinia was a punitive expedition carried out by armed forces of the British Empire against the Ethiopian Empire...
: Robert NapierRobert Napier, 1st Baron Napier of MagdalaField Marshal Robert Cornelis Napier, 1st Baron Napier of Magdala, GCB, GCSI, CIE, FRS was a British soldier.-Early life:...
leads an expedition to free captive British officials and missionaries. - 13 February — The War OfficeWar OfficeThe War Office was a department of the British Government, responsible for the administration of the British Army between the 17th century and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the Ministry of Defence...
sanctions the formation of what will become the Army Post Office CorpsPost Office RiflesThe Post Office Rifles was a unit of the British Army, first formed in 1868 from volunteers. The unit evolved several times until 1921, after which the name was lost during one of many reorganisations.-Beginnings:...
. - 27 February — Benjamin DisraeliBenjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of BeaconsfieldBenjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, KG, PC, FRS, was a British Prime Minister, parliamentarian, Conservative statesman and literary figure. Starting from comparatively humble origins, he served in government for three decades, twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom...
succeeds the Earl of DerbyEdward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of DerbyEdward George Geoffrey Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, KG, PC was an English statesman, three times Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and to date the longest serving leader of the Conservative Party. He was known before 1834 as Edward Stanley, and from 1834 to 1851 as Lord Stanley...
as Prime MinisterPrime Minister of the United KingdomThe Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
following Derby's resignation due to ill-health. - 12 March — Britain annexes BasutolandBasutolandBasutoland or officially the Territory of Basutoland, was a British Crown colony established in 1884 after the Cape Colony's inability to control the territory...
. - 9–13 April — Expedition to Abyssinia: At the Battle of MagdalaBattle of MagdalaThe Battle of Magdala was fought in April 1868 between British and Abyssinian forces at Magdala, from the Red Sea coast, which at that time was the capital city of Abyssinia...
, Robert Napier defeats Tewodros II of EthiopiaTewodros II of EthiopiaTewodros II was the Emperor of Ethiopia from 1855 until his death....
. - 26 May — Last public hangingHangingHanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", though it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would remain...
in Britain — Fenian bomber Michael BarrettMichael Barrett (Fenian)Michael Barrett was born in Drumnagreshial in the Ederney area of County Fermanagh. In his adult years he became a member of the Fenians....
outside Newgate PrisonNewgate PrisonNewgate Prison was a prison in London, at the corner of Newgate Street and Old Bailey just inside the City of London. It was originally located at the site of a gate in the Roman London Wall. The gate/prison was rebuilt in the 12th century, and demolished in 1777...
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...
. - 2 June — The first Trades Union CongressTrades Union CongressThe Trades Union Congress is a national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions in the United Kingdom, representing the majority of trade unions...
is held in ManchesterManchesterManchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
. - 29 June — The Press AssociationPress AssociationThe Press Association is the national news agency of the United Kingdom and Ireland, supplying multimedia news content to almost all national and regional newspapers, television and radio news, as well as many websites with text, pictures, video and data content globally...
founded in London. - 5 July — Preacher William BoothWilliam BoothWilliam Booth was a British Methodist preacher who founded The Salvation Army and became its first General...
establishes the Christian Mission, predecessor of the Salvation ArmySalvation ArmyThe Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that currently works in over a hundred countries....
, in the East End of 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...
. - 13 August — First non-public hangingHangingHanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", though it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would remain...
in Britain — Thomas Wells inside Maidstone Prison. - 20 August — Abergele train disasterAbergele train disasterThe Abergele rail disaster, which took place near the town of Abergele, on the north coast of Wales in 1868, was, at the time, the worst railway disaster yet in Britain, and also the most alarming. The Railway News said of it...
kills 32 passengers and a fireman. - 15–24 November — General electionUnited Kingdom general election, 1868The 1868 United Kingdom general election was the first after passage of the Reform Act 1867, which enfranchised many male householders, thus greatly increasing the number of men who could vote in elections in the United Kingdom...
: Liberal PartyLiberal Party (UK)The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
victorious. - 24 November — The Smithfield Meat Market opens in London.
- 3 December — William Ewart GladstoneWilliam Ewart GladstoneWilliam Ewart Gladstone FRS FSS was a British Liberal statesman. In a career lasting over sixty years, he served as Prime Minister four separate times , more than any other person. Gladstone was also Britain's oldest Prime Minister, 84 years old when he resigned for the last time...
becomes Prime Minister. - 10 December
- Whitaker's AlmanackWhitaker's AlmanackWhitaker's Almanack is a reference book, published annually in the United Kingdom. The book was originally published by J Whitaker & Sons from 1868 to 1997, then by The Stationery Office, from 2003 to 2010 by A & C Black and from 2011 by .-Content:...
first published. - The world's first traffic lightTraffic lightTraffic lights, which may also be known as stoplights, traffic lamps, traffic signals, signal lights, robots or semaphore, are signalling devices positioned at road intersections, pedestrian crossings and other locations to control competing flows of traffic...
s are installed in Parliament SquareParliament SquareParliament Square is a square outside the northwest end of the Palace of Westminster in London. It features a large open green area in the middle, with a group of trees to its west. It contains statues of famous statesmen and is the scene of rallies and protests, as well as being a tourist...
in London.
- Whitaker's Almanack
Undated
- Cardwell ReformsCardwell ReformsThe Cardwell Reforms refer to a series of reforms of the British Army undertaken by Secretary of State for War Edward Cardwell between 1868 and 1874.-Background:...
abolish flogging in the peacetime British ArmyBritish ArmyThe British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
. - Church RateChurch RateThe Church Rate was a tax formerly levied in each parish in England and Ireland for the benefit of the parish church. Out of these rates were defrayed the expenses of carrying on divine service, repairing the fabric of the church, and paying the salaries of the officials connected with it...
ceases to be compulsory. - Joseph Norman LockyerJoseph Norman LockyerSir Joseph Norman Lockyer, FRS , known simply as Norman Lockyer, was an English scientist and astronomer. Along with the French scientist Pierre Janssen he is credited with discovering the gas helium...
discovers the chemical element heliumHeliumHelium is the chemical element with atomic number 2 and an atomic weight of 4.002602, which is represented by the symbol He. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas that heads the noble gas group in the periodic table...
. - Thomas Henry Huxley discovers what he thinks is a primordial matter and names it bathybius haeckliiBathybiusBathybius haeckelii was a substance that British biologist Thomas Henry Huxley discovered and initially believed to be a form of primordial matter, a source of all organic life. He later admitted his mistake when it proved to be just the product of a chemical process .In 1868 Huxley studied an...
(he admits his mistake in 18711871 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1871 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — William Ewart Gladstone, Liberal-Events:...
) - Archibald Campbell TaitArchibald Campbell TaitArchibald Campbell Tait was a priest in the Church of England and an Archbishop of Canterbury.-Life:Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, Tait was educated at the Royal High School and at the Edinburgh Academy, where he was twice elected dux. His parents were Presbyterian but he early turned towards the...
enthroned as Archbishop of CanterburyArchbishop of CanterburyThe Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
.
Births
- 22 March — Alfred FowlerAlfred FowlerAlfred Fowler, FRS was an English astronomer. Not to be confused with American astrophysicist William Alfred Fowler....
, astronomer (died 19401940 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1940 in the United Kingdom. This year is dominated by World War II.- Incumbents :* Monarch - King George VI* Prime Minister - Neville Chamberlain, national coalition , Winston Churchill, coalition- Events :...
) - 25 March — William LockwoodWilliam LockwoodWilliam 'Bill' Lockwood William 'Bill' Lockwood William 'Bill' Lockwood (William Henry Lockwood; born 25 March 1868, Radford, Nottingham; died 26 April 1932, Radford, Nottingham was a fast bowler and the unpredictable, occasionally devastating counterpart to the amazingly hard-working Tom...
, cricketer (died 19321932 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1932 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George V*Prime Minister - Ramsay MacDonald, national coalition-Events:* 8 January - The Archbishop of Canterbury forbids church remarriage of divorcees....
) - 10 April — George ArlissGeorge ArlissGeorge Arliss was an English actor, author and filmmaker who found success in the United States. He was the first British actor to win an Academy Award.-Life and career:...
, actor (died 19461946 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1946 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George V*Prime Minister - Clement Attlee, Labour-Events:* 1 January** The first international flight from London Heathrow Airport, to Buenos Aires....
) - 28 April — Lucy BoothLucy BoothCommissioner Lucy Milward Booth was the eighth and youngest child of Catherine and William Booth, the Founder of The Salvation Army....
, the fifth daughter of WilliamWilliam BoothWilliam Booth was a British Methodist preacher who founded The Salvation Army and became its first General...
and Catherine BoothCatherine BoothCatherine Booth was the wife of the founder of The Salvation Army, William Booth. Because of her influence in the formation of The Salvation Army she was known as the 'Army Mother'....
(died 19531953 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1953 in the United Kingdom. This is the year of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and the North Sea flood.-Incumbents:*Monarch – Elizabeth II*Prime Minister – Winston Churchill, Conservative Party-Events:...
) - 6 June — Robert Falcon ScottRobert Falcon ScottCaptain Robert Falcon Scott, CVO was a Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the Discovery Expedition, 1901–04, and the ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition, 1910–13...
, explorer (died 19121912 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1912 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George V*Prime Minister - H. H. Asquith, Liberal-Events:* 1 January - Post Office takes over National Telephone Company....
) - 7 June — Charles Rennie MackintoshCharles Rennie MackintoshCharles Rennie Mackintosh was a Scottish architect, designer, watercolourist and artist. He was a designer in the Arts and Crafts movement and also the main representative of Art Nouveau in the United Kingdom. He had a considerable influence on European design...
, architect (died 19281928 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1928 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George V*Prime Minister - Stanley Baldwin, Conservative-Events:...
) - 6 July — Princess Victoria Alexandra of the United KingdomPrincess Victoria Alexandra of the United Kingdom-Titles and styles:*6 July 1868 – 22 January 1901: Her Royal Highness Princess Victoria of Wales*22 January 1901 – 3 December 1935: Her Royal Highness The Princess Victoria-Honours:*Imperial Order of the Crown of India, 6 August 1887...
, (died 19351935 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1935 in the United Kingdom. This royal Silver Jubilee year sees a General Election and changes in the leadership of both the Conservative and Labour parties.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George V...
) - 14 July — Gertrude BellGertrude BellGertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell, CBE was an English writer, traveller, political officer, administrator, and archaeologist who explored, mapped, and became highly influential to British imperial policy-making due to her extensive travels in Greater Syria, Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, and Arabia. Along...
, archaeologist, writer, spy and administrator (died 19261926 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1926 in the United Kingdom. The year is dominated by the General Strike.-Incumbents:*Monarch – King George V*Prime Minister – Stanley Baldwin, Conservative-Events:...
)
Deaths
- 10 February — David BrewsterDavid BrewsterSir David Brewster KH PRSE FRS FSA FSSA MICE was a Scottish physicist, mathematician, astronomer, inventor, writer and university principal.-Early life:...
, scientist, inventor and writer (born 17811781 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1781 in the Kingdom of Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George III*Prime Minister - Lord North, Tory-Events:* 1 January - Industrial Revolution: The Iron Bridge opens across the River Severn....
) - 28 March — James Thomas Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan, military leader (born 17971797 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1797 in Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George III*Prime Minister - William Pitt the Younger, Tory-Events:* 3 January - Three of the stones making up Stonehenge fall due to heavy frosts....
) - 7 May — Henry Peter Brougham, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain (born 17781778 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1778 in Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George III*Prime Minister - Lord North, Tory-Events:* 18 January - Third Pacific expedition of James Cook, with ships HMS Resolution and HMS Discovery, first view O'ahu then Kaua'i in the Hawaiian Islands, which he names the...
) - 17 August — Duncan Forbes, linguist (born 17981798 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1798 in Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George III*Prime Minister - William Pitt the Younger, Tory-Events:* May–September - Irish Rebellion: Irish rebels stage an uprising against British rule....
) - 24 September — Henry Hart MilmanHenry Hart MilmanThe Very Reverend Henry Hart Milman was an English historian and ecclesiastic.He was born in London, the third son of Sir Francis Milman, 1st Baronet, physician to King George III . Educated at Eton and at Brasenose College, Oxford, his university career was brilliant...
, historian and ecclesiastic (born 17911791 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1791 in the Kingdom of Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George III*Prime Minister - William Pitt the Younger, Tory-Events:...
) - 27 October — Charles Thomas LongleyCharles Thomas LongleyCharles Thomas Longley was a bishop in the Church of England. He served as Bishop of Ripon, Bishop of Durham, Archbishop of York and Archbishop of Canterbury from 1862 until his death.-Life:...
, Archbishop of CanterburyArchbishop of CanterburyThe Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
(born 17941794 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1794 in the Kingdom of Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George III*Prime Minister - William Pitt the Younger, Tory-Events:* 23 March - British troops capture Martinique from the French....
)