1900 in the United Kingdom

1900 in the United Kingdom:

Other years

1898 | 1899 | 1900 | 1901 | 1902

Sport

1900 English cricket season

Football England | Scotland

Events from the year 1900 in the United Kingdom.

Contents 1 Incumbents 2 Events 2.1 Undated 3 Publications 4 Births 5 Deaths 6 References 7 See also

Incumbents

• Monarch — Queen Victoria
• Prime Minister — Robert Cecil, Marquess of Salisbury, Conservative

Events

• 3 January — Royal Yacht Victoria and Albert almost capsizes while being floated out of dry dock at Pembroke Dock on completion of her construction.^[1]
• 9 January — Influenza outbreak in London.
• 24 January — Second Boer War: Boers repel British troops under General Sir Redvers Buller at the Battle of Spion Kop.^[2]
• 31 January — The Gramophone Company copyrights the His Master's Voice illustration.^[3]
• 5 February — The UK and the United States sign a treaty for the building of a Central American shipping canal through Nicaragua.
• 6 February — The House of Commons vote of censure over the government's handling of the Second Boer War is defeated by a majority of 213.
• 7 February — The Labour Party is formed.
• 8 February — British troops are defeated by Boers at Ladysmith, South Africa.
• 14 February — Second Boer War: In South Africa, 20,000 British troops invade the Orange Free State.

• 27 February
  • Boer War: In South Africa, British military leaders receive an unconditional notice of surrender from Boer General Piet Cronje.
  • Ramsay MacDonald appointed secretary of newly formed Labour Party.^[4]
• 28 February — Second Boer War: The 118-day Siege of Ladysmith is lifted.^[4]
• March–September — War of the Golden Stool fought against the Ashanti Empire.
• 1 April — Irish Guards formed by Queen Victoria.
• 4 April — Anarchist shoots at the Prince of Wales during his visit to Belgium in the birthday celebrations of the King of Belgium.
• 24 April — The Daily Express newspaper published for the first time.^[4]
• 14 May–28 October — Great Britain and Ireland compete at the Olympics in Paris and win 15 gold, 6 silver and 9 bronze medals.
• 17 May — Second Boer War: Siege of Mafeking ends.^[4]
• 18 May — The UK proclaims a protectorate over Tonga.
• 22 May — Mines Act prohibits children under the age of thirteen from working in mines.^[2]
• 5 June — Boer War: British soldiers take Pretoria, South Africa.
• 30 July — The Duke of Albany becomes Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha as Carl Eduard following the death of his uncle, Duke Alfred.
• 8 August — Great Britain loses to the United States in the first Davis Cup tennis competition.^[4]
• 14 August — An international contingent of troops, under British command, invades Peking and frees the Europeans taken hostage.
• 27 August — British defeat Boer commandos at Bergendal.
• 3 October — Edward Elgar’s oratorio The Dream of Gerontius receives its first performance in Birmingham Town Hall.
• 25 October — Second Boer War: United Kingdom annexes Transvaal.^[4]
• 22–14 November 1903 — Strike of Welsh slate workers at Penrhyn Quarry.^[5]
• 3 December — The Conservative Party under Lord Salisbury wins the 'Khaki' general election. Winston Churchill is elected Member of Parliament for Oldham; and two Labour candidates are successful: Keir Hardie in Merthyr Tydfil and Richard Bell in Derby.^[6]
• 28 December — The Liverpool barque Primrose Hill is wrecked on South Stack off Holyhead, with the loss of 33 lives.^[7]
• 31 December — A storm causes a stone and a lintel to fall at Stonehenge; they are restored in 1958.^[4]

Undated

• Beer Scare: beer drinkers in North West England suffer poisoning from arsenic in brewing sugars: 6,000 people affected and 70 killed.^[8]
• William Harbutt of Bathampton begins commercial production of Plasticine modelling clay.
• Diamond Jubilee wins the English Triple Crown by finishing first in the Epsom Derby, 2,000 Guineas and St Leger.

Publications

• Joseph Conrad's novel Lord Jim.
• Maurice Hewlett's historical novel The Life and Death of Richard Yea-and-Nay.^[9]
• Gertrude Jekyll's book Home and Garden: notes and thoughts, practical and critical, of a worker in both.
• Arthur Quiller-Couch's anthology The Oxford Book of English Verse 1250–1900.
• H. G. Wells' novel Love and Mr Lewisham.

Births

• 31 March — Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester (died 1974)
• 6 June — Arthur Askey, comedian (died 1982)
• 25 June — Lord Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten, naval officer and statesman (assassinated 1979 in Ireland)
• 4 August — Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, queen consort of King George VI (died 2002)
• 9 September — James Hilton, novelist (died 1954)
• 1 October — Tom Goddard, English cricketer (died 1966)
• 6 October — Stan Nichols, English cricketer (died 1961)
• 9 October — Alastair Sim, actor (died 1976)

Deaths

• 20 January — John Ruskin, writer and social critic (born 1819)
• 22 January — David E. Hughes, musician and professor of music (born 1831)
• 31 January — John Sholto Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry, nobleman and boxer (born 1844)
• 24 April — George Douglas Campbell, 8th Duke of Argyll, politician (born 1823)
• 30 July — Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, second eldest son of Queen Victoria (born 1844)
• 9 November — Dorothea Beale, proponent of women's education (born 1831)
• 22 November — Arthur Sullivan, composer (born 1842)
• 30 November — Oscar Wilde, playwright, writer and poet (born 1854)

References

See also

Years in the United Kingdom Years in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 1801 1802 1803 1804 1805 1806 1807 1808 1809 1810 1811 1812 1813 1814 1815 1816 1817 1818 1819 1820 1821 1822 1823 1824 1825 1826 1827 1828 1829 1830 1831 1832 1833 1834 1835 1836 1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 Years in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012