1885 in the United Kingdom
Encyclopedia
 1885 in the United Kingdom: |
| Other years |
| 1883 1883 in the United Kingdom Events from the year 1883 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — William Ewart Gladstone, Liberal-Events:* January 1 — Augustus Pitt Rivers takes office as Britain's first Inspector of Ancient Monuments.... | 1884 1884 in the United Kingdom Events 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.... | 1885 | 1886 1886 in the United Kingdom Events from the year 1886 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — Robert Cecil, Marquess of Salisbury, Conservative , William Ewart Gladstone, Liberal , Robert Cecil, Marquess of Salisbury, Conservative-Events:* 13 January — After six years of campaigning, the... | 1887 1887 in the United Kingdom Events from the year 1887 in the United Kingdom. This is the Queen's Golden Jubilee year.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — Robert Cecil, Marquess of Salisbury, Conservative-Events:... |
| Sport |
| 1885 English cricket season 1885 English cricket season The 1885 English cricket season was the third in succession in which Notts was proclaimed the champion county-Playing record :-External sources:* -Annual reviews:* James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual , Lillywhite, 1886... |
 1884–85 in English football |
Events from the year 1885 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 — Queen Victoria
- Prime Minister — 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...
(until 9 June), Robert Cecil, Marquess of SalisburyRobert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of SalisburyRobert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, KG, GCVO, PC , styled Lord Robert Cecil before 1865 and Viscount Cranborne from June 1865 until April 1868, was a British Conservative statesman and thrice Prime Minister, serving for a total of over 13 years...
, 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...
Events
- 17 January — Mahdist WarMahdist WarThe Mahdist War was a colonial war of the late 19th century. It was fought between the Mahdist Sudanese and the Egyptian and later British forces. It has also been called the Anglo-Sudan War or the Sudanese Mahdist Revolt. The British have called their part in the conflict the Sudan Campaign...
: British victory at the Battle of Abu KleaBattle of Abu KleaThe Battle of Abu Klea took place between the dates of 16 and 18 January 1885, at Abu Klea, Sudan, between the British Desert Column and Mahdist forces encamped near Abu Klea...
. - 24 January — Irish terrorists damage Westminster Hall and the Tower of LondonTower of LondonHer Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...
with dynamite. - 26 January — Mahdist War: In SudanSudanSudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
, following the Siege of Khartoum, British and EgyptEgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
ian forces are defeated by the MahdistMahdiIn Islamic eschatology, the Mahdi is the prophesied redeemer of Islam who will stay on Earth for seven, nine or nineteen years- before the Day of Judgment and, alongside Jesus, will rid the world of wrongdoing, injustice and tyranny.In Shia Islam, the belief in the Mahdi is a "central religious...
SudanSudanSudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
ese. The British commander Charles George GordonCharles George GordonMajor-General Charles George Gordon, CB , known as "Chinese" Gordon, Gordon Pasha, and Gordon of Khartoum, was a British army officer and administrator....
is killed. - February — The Berlin ConferenceBerlin ConferenceThe Berlin Conference of 1884–85 regulated European colonization and trade in Africa during the New Imperialism period, and coincided with Germany's sudden emergence as an imperial power...
sees the major European powers including the United Kingdom establish their spheres of influence in the "scramble for AfricaScramble for AfricaThe Scramble for Africa, also known as the Race for Africa or Partition of Africa was a process of invasion, occupation, colonization and annexation of African territory by European powers during the New Imperialism period, between 1881 and World War I in 1914...
". - 23 February — The executioner fails to hangHangingHanging 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...
John 'Babbacombe' LeeJohn 'Babbacombe' LeeJohn Henry George Lee , better known as John "Babbacombe" Lee or "The Man They Couldn't Hang", was a British man famous for surviving three attempts to hang him for murder....
, sentenced for the murder of Emma Keyse. Sentence is commuted to life imprisonmentLife imprisonmentLife imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
. - 14 March — GilbertW. S. GilbertSir William Schwenck Gilbert was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his fourteen comic operas produced in collaboration with the composer Sir Arthur Sullivan, of which the most famous include H.M.S...
and SullivanArthur SullivanSir Arthur Seymour Sullivan MVO was an English composer of Irish and Italian ancestry. He is best known for his series of 14 operatic collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including such enduring works as H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado...
's The MikadoThe MikadoThe Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen operatic collaborations...
opens at the Savoy TheatreSavoy TheatreThe Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre located in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre opened on 10 October 1881 and was built by Richard D'Oyly Carte on the site of the old Savoy Palace as a showcase for the popular series of comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan,...
. - 26 March — 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...
reports that "A lady well-known in literary and scientific circles" (Jeannette C. Pickersgill) has been crematedCremationCremation is the process of reducing bodies to basic chemical compounds such as gasses and bone fragments. This is accomplished through high-temperature burning, vaporization and oxidation....
by the Cremation Society at WokingWokingWoking is a large town and civil parish that shares its name with the surrounding local government district, located in the west of Surrey, UK. It is part of the Greater London Urban Area and the London commuter belt, with frequent trains and a journey time of 24 minutes to Waterloo station....
, SurreySurreySurrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, the first legal cremation in England. - 31 March — The United KingdomUnited KingdomThe 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...
establishes a protectorateProtectorateIn history, the term protectorate has two different meanings. In its earliest inception, which has been adopted by modern international law, it is an autonomous territory that is protected diplomatically or militarily against third parties by a stronger state or entity...
over Bechuanaland. - 29 April — Women permitted to the take the University of OxfordUniversity of OxfordThe University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
entrance examination for the first time. - 5 June — Niger RiverNiger RiverThe Niger River is the principal river of western Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in southeastern Guinea...
basin becomes a British protectorate. - 9 June — 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...
's 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...
government is defeated in a vote of no confidence1885 vote of no confidence against the government of William GladstoneThe 1885 vote of no confidence against the government of William Gladstone occurred when in 1885 Gladstone's budget was defeated. Gladstone resigned from office on 9 June 1885....
following criticism of the fall of Khartoum and violence in IrelandIrelandIreland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. Robert Cecil, Marquess of SalisburyRobert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of SalisburyRobert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, KG, GCVO, PC , styled Lord Robert Cecil before 1865 and Viscount Cranborne from June 1865 until April 1868, was a British Conservative statesman and thrice Prime Minister, serving for a total of over 13 years...
forms a new 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...
government. - 18 June — Clifton Hall CollieryClifton Hall CollieryClifton Hall Colliery was one of two coal mines in Clifton on the Manchester Coalfield, historically within Lancashire which was incorporated into the City of Salford in Greater Manchester, England in 1974....
Disaster: an explosion kills 178 in SalfordCity of SalfordThe City of Salford is a city and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It is named after its largest settlement, Salford, but covers a far larger area which includes the towns of Eccles, Swinton-Pendlebury, Walkden and Irlam which apart from Irlam each have a population of over...
. - 24 June — Lord Randolph ChurchillLord Randolph ChurchillLord Randolph Henry Spencer-Churchill MP was a British statesman. He was the third son of the 7th Duke of Marlborough and his wife Lady Frances Anne Emily Vane , daughter of the 3rd Marquess of Londonderry...
becomes Secretary of State for IndiaSecretary of State for IndiaThe Secretary of State for India, or India Secretary, was the British Cabinet minister responsible for the government of India and the political head of the India Office...
. - 6–9 July — Eliza Armstrong caseEliza Armstrong caseThe Eliza Armstrong case was a major scandal in the United Kingdom involving a child supposedly bought for prostitution for the purpose of exposing the evils of white slavery...
: Campaigning journalist W. T. SteadWilliam Thomas SteadWilliam Thomas Stead was an English journalist and editor who, as one of the early pioneers of investigative journalism, became one of the most controversial figures of the Victorian era. His 'New Journalism' paved the way for today's tabloid press...
publishes a series of articles in the Pall Mall GazettePall Mall GazetteThe Pall Mall Gazette was an evening newspaper founded in London on 7 February 1865 by George Murray Smith; its first editor was Frederick Greenwood...
entitled The Maiden Tribute of Modern Babylon exposing the extent of female child prostitution 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...
. - 22 July — Caister LifeboatCaister LifeboatCaister is the home to only one of three offshore lifeboats in the UK that is independent of the RNLI. A lifeboat at Caister was first documented in 1791, being used by the Caister Beach Company to salvage ships wrecked on the sand banks offshore from Caister. Between 1856 and 1969 lifeboats at...
capsizes: 8 of 15 crew are killed. - 7 August — Criminal Law Amendment ActCriminal Law Amendment Act 1885The Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885 , or "An Act to make further provision for the Protection of Women and Girls, the suppression of brothels, and other purposes", was the latest in a 25-year series of legislation in the United Kingdom beginning with the Offences against the Person Act 1861 that...
passes through ParliamentParliament of the United KingdomThe Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
raising the age of consentAge of consentWhile the phrase age of consent typically does not appear in legal statutes, when used in relation to sexual activity, the age of consent is the minimum age at which a person is considered to be legally competent to consent to sexual acts. The European Union calls it the legal age for sexual...
from 13 to 16, and thereby outlawing child prostitution. The Labouchere AmendmentLabouchere AmendmentThe Labouchere Amendment, also known as Section 11 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885 made gross indecency a crime in the United Kingdom. The amendment gave no definition of "gross indecency," as Victorian morality demurred from precise descriptions of activity held to be immoral...
to the Act outlaws "gross indecency" between males. - 20 July — Professional footballFootball (soccer)Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
is legalised. - 12 September — Bury FC play at Gigg LaneGigg LaneGigg Lane is an all-seater football stadium in Bury, Greater Manchester, England. Historically within Lancashire, it was built for Bury F.C. in 1885, and has been their home ever since.-History:...
for the first time, beating Wigan FCWiganWigan is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It stands on the River Douglas, south-west of Bolton, north of Warrington and west-northwest of Manchester. Wigan is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its administrative centre. The town of Wigan had a total...
4–3. - 29 September — Opening of the Blackpool tramwayBlackpool tramwayThe Blackpool tramway runs from Blackpool to Fleetwood on the Fylde Coast in Lancashire, England, and is the only surviving first-generation tramway in the United Kingdom. The tramway dates back to 1885 and is one of the oldest electric tramways in the world. It is run by Blackpool Transport as...
, the first to be electrically powered. - 30 September — A British force abolishes the BoerBoerBoer is the Dutch and Afrikaans word for farmer, which came to denote the descendants of the Dutch-speaking settlers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 18th century, as well as those who left the Cape Colony during the 19th century to settle in the Orange Free State,...
republic of StellalandStellalandStellaland, officially known as the Republic of Stellaland from 1882–1883 and, after unification with the neighbouring State of Goshen, as the United States of Stellaland from 1883–1885, was a Boer republic located in an area of Bechuanaland, west of the Transvaal.During its short history,...
and adds it to British Bechuanaland. - October — Third Burmese War begins.
- 23 November — General electionUnited Kingdom general election, 1885-Seats summary:-See also:*List of MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1885*Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885–1918*Representation of the People Act 1884*Redistribution of Seats Act 1885-References:...
. Liberals under Gladstone hold the largest number of seats, but Salisbury remains Prime Minister with the support of the Irish Party. - 28 November — British occupy MandalayMandalayMandalay is the second-largest city and the last royal capital of Burma. Located north of Yangon on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, the city has a population of one million, and is the capital of Mandalay Region ....
; BurmaMyanmarBurma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....
annexed to British IndiaBritish RajBritish Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
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Undated
- early — John Kemp StarleyJohn Kemp StarleyJohn Kemp Starley was an English inventor and industrialist who is widely considered the inventor of the modern bicycle, and also originator of the name Rover....
of CoventryCoventryCoventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...
demonstrates the first RoverRover (car)The Rover Company is a former British car manufacturing company founded as Starley & Sutton Co. of Coventry in 1878. After developing the template for the modern bicycle with its Rover Safety Bicycle of 1885, the company moved into the automotive industry...
safety bicycleSafety bicycleA safety bicycle is a type of bicycle that became very popular beginning in the late 1880s as an alternative to the penny-farthing or ordinary and is now the most common type of bicycle. Early bicycles of this style were known as safety bicycles because they were noted for, and marketed as, being...
, the first practical example of the modern bicycle. - The first modern pedestal flush toiletFlush toiletA flush toilet is a toilet that disposes of human waste by using water to flush it through a drainpipe to another location. Flushing mechanisms are found more often on western toilets , but many squat toilets also are made for automated flushing...
is demonstrated by Frederick Humpherson of the Beaufort Works, ChelseaChelsea, LondonChelsea is an area of West London, England, bounded to the south by the River Thames, where its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along the Chelsea Embankment, Cheyne Walk, Lots Road and Chelsea Harbour. Its eastern boundary was once defined by the River Westbourne, which is now in a pipe above...
. - Soldiers' and Sailors' Families AssociationSSAFA Forces HelpSSAFA Forces Help is a British based charitable organization set up to help former and serving members of the United Kingdom British Armed Forces and their families or dependents...
established to provide charitable assistance. - Soap manufacturer Lever BrothersLever BrothersLever Brothers was a British manufacturer founded in 1885 by William Hesketh Lever and his brother, James Darcy Lever . The brothers had invested in and promoted a new soap making process invented by chemist William Hough Watson, it was a huge success...
founded. - Completion of Sway Tower in HampshireHampshireHampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
, EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, designed by Andrew PetersonAndrew Thomas Turton PetersonAndrew Thomas Turton Peterson was an Anglo-Indian barrister, spiritualist, socialist and amateur architect.After three years at school, Peterson ran away to sea, working at a salt works in India. Returning to England, he trained as a lawyer and married Charlotte Myers St Clair, daughter of a...
using concrete made with Portland cementPortland cementPortland cement is the most common type of cement in general use around the world because it is a basic ingredient of concrete, mortar, stucco and most non-specialty grout...
. It remains the world's tallest non-reinforced concrete structure. - John Everett MillaisJohn Everett MillaisSir John Everett Millais, 1st Baronet, PRA was an English painter and illustrator and one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.-Early life:...
granted a baronetcy, the first artist to be honoured with a hereditary titleHereditary TitleHereditary titles, in a general sense, are titles, positions or styles that are hereditary and thus tend or are bound to remain in particular families....
. - "Glasgow Boys" painters first exhibit collectively, at the Glasgow Institute of the Fine ArtsRoyal Glasgow Institute of the Fine ArtsThe Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts is an independent organisation in Glasgow, founded in 1861, which promotes contemporary art and artists in Scotland. It is the third largest organization of its kind in the United Kingdom...
. - Stanhope ForbesStanhope ForbesStanhope Alexander Forbes R.A., , was an artist and member of the influential Newlyn school of painters...
' Newlyn SchoolNewlyn SchoolThe Newlyn School is a term used to describe an art colony of artists based in or near to Newlyn, a fishing village adjacent to Penzance, Cornwall, from the 1880s until the early 20th century. The establishment of the Newlyn School was reminiscent of the Barbizon School in France, where artists...
painting A Fish Sale on a Cornish Beach. - Bury FC are formed in a meeting between the Bury Wesleyans and Bury Unitarians Football Clubs.
Publications
- Dictionary of National BiographyDictionary of National BiographyThe Dictionary of National Biography is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published from 1885...
begins publication. - A. V. DiceyA. V. Dicey- References :...
's text An Introduction to the Study of the Law of the Constitution. - H. Rider Haggard's novel King Solomon's MinesKing Solomon's MinesKing Solomon's Mines is a popular novel by the Victorian adventure writer and fabulist Sir H. Rider Haggard. It tells of a search of an unexplored region of Africa by a group of adventurers led by Allan Quatermain for the missing brother of one of the party...
. - George MeredithGeorge MeredithGeorge Meredith, OM was an English novelist and poet of the Victorian era.- Life :Meredith was born in Portsmouth, England, a son and grandson of naval outfitters. His mother died when he was five. At the age of 14 he was sent to a Moravian School in Neuwied, Germany, where he remained for two...
's novel Diana of the CrosswaysDiana of the CrosswaysDiana of the Crossways is a novel by George Meredith which was published in 1885. It is an account of an intelligent and forceful woman trapped in a miserable marriage and was prompted by Meredith's friendship with society beauty and author Caroline Norton.The heroine Diana Warwick says: "we women...
. - Walter PaterWalter PaterWalter Horatio Pater was an English essayist, critic of art and literature, and writer of fiction.-Early life:...
's novel Marius the EpicureanMarius the EpicureanMarius the Epicurean: his sensations and ideas is an historical and philosophical novel by Walter Pater , written between 1881 and 1884, published in 1885 and set in A.D. 161-177, in the Rome of the Antonines...
. - Old TestamentOld TestamentThe Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
in the Revised VersionRevised VersionThe Revised Version of the Bible is a late 19th-century British revision of the King James Version of 1611. It was the first and remains the only officially authorized and recognized revision of the King James Bible. The work was entrusted to over 50 scholars from various denominations in Britain...
of The BibleBibleThe Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
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Births
- 15 February — Princess Alice of BattenbergPrincess Alice of BattenbergPrincess Alice of Battenberg, later Princess Andrew of Greece and Denmark was the mother of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and mother-in-law of Elizabeth II....
(died 19691969 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1969 in the United Kingdom. The year is dominated by the beginnings of The Troubles in Northern Ireland.-Incumbents:* Monarch - Elizabeth II* Prime Minister - Harold Wilson, Labour Party-Events:...
) - 7 March — John Tovey, admiral of the fleet (died 19711971 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1971 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:* Monarch - Elizabeth II* Prime Minister - Edward Heath, Conservative Party-January - March:...
) - 11 March — Malcolm CampbellMalcolm CampbellSir Malcolm Campbell was an English racing motorist and motoring journalist. He gained the world speed record on land and on water at various times during the 1920s and 1930s using vehicles called Blue Bird...
, land and water racer (died 19481948 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1948 in the United Kingdom. The Olympics are held in London and some of the government's key social legislation takes effect.-Incumbents:* Monarch – King George VI* Prime Minister – Clement Attlee, Labour-Events:...
) - 9 June — John Edensor LittlewoodJohn Edensor LittlewoodJohn Edensor Littlewood was a British mathematician, best known for the results achieved in collaboration with G. H. Hardy.-Life:...
, mathematician (died 19771977 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1977 in the United Kingdom. This is the Queen's Silver Jubilee Year.-Incumbents:*Monarch - Elizabeth II*Prime Minister - James Callaghan, Labour-Events:...
) - 18 August — A. E. J. CollinsA. E. J. CollinsArthur Edward Jeune "James" Collins , typically now known by his initials A. E. J. Collins, was an English cricketer and soldier. He is most famous for achieving the highest-ever recorded score in cricket: as a 13-year-old schoolboy, he scored 628 not out over four afternoons in June 1899...
, cricketer and soldier (died 19141914 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1914 in the United Kingdom. This year sees the start of World War I.-Incumbents:* Monarch - King George V* Prime Minister - H. H...
) - 11 September — D. H. LawrenceD. H. LawrenceDavid Herbert Richards Lawrence was an English novelist, poet, playwright, essayist, literary critic and painter who published as D. H. Lawrence. His collected works represent an extended reflection upon the dehumanising effects of modernity and industrialisation...
, English author (died 19301930 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1930 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:* Monarch - King George V* Prime Minister - Ramsay MacDonald, Labour-Events:* 1 February - The Times publishes its first crossword....
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Deaths
- 26 January — Charles "Chinese" GordonCharles George GordonMajor-General Charles George Gordon, CB , known as "Chinese" Gordon, Gordon Pasha, and Gordon of Khartoum, was a British army officer and administrator....
, general (killed in battle) (born 18331833 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1833 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King William IV*Prime Minister - Earl Grey, Whig-Events:* 3 January - British forces re-establish British rule on the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic....
) - 8 April — Susanna MoodieSusanna MoodieSusanna Moodie, born Strickland , was an English-born Canadian author who wrote about her experiences as a settler in Canada, which was a British colony at the time.-Biography:...
, author (born 18031803 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1803 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George III*Prime Minister - Henry Addington, Tory-Events:...
) - 8 August — Charles Wood, 1st Viscount HalifaxCharles Wood, 1st Viscount HalifaxCharles Wood, 1st Viscount Halifax GCB PC , known as Sir Charles Wood, 3rd Bt between 1846 and 1866, was a British Whig politician and Member of Parliament. He served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1846 to 1852....
, politician (born 18001800 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1800 in Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George III*Prime Minister - William Pitt the Younger, Tory-Events:* 8 January - First soup kitchens open in London.* 17 March - catches fire with the loss of 700 lives....
) - 1 October — Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of ShaftesburyAnthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of ShaftesburyAnthony Ashley Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury KG , styled Lord Ashley from 1811 to 1851, was an English politician and philanthropist, one of the best-known of the Victorian era and one of the main proponents of Christian Zionism.-Youth:He was born in London and known informally as Lord Ashley...
, politician and philanthorpist (born 18011801 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1801 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George III*Prime Minister - William Pitt the Younger, Tory , Henry Addington, Tory-Events:...
) - 26 November — Thomas AndrewsThomas Andrews (scientist)Thomas Andrews FRS was an Irish chemist and physicist who did important work on phase transitions between gases and liquids.-Life:Andrews was born in Belfast, Ireland where his father was a linen merchant...
, chemist (born 18131813 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1813 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George III*Prime Minister - Lord Liverpool, Tory-Events:* 1 June - War of 1812: HMS Shannon captures the USS Chesapeake....
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