1863 in the United Kingdom

Events from the year 1863 in the United Kingdom.

Incumbents

8 January — Yorkshire County Cricket Club is founded at the Adelphi Hotel in Sheffield.
10 January — The first section of the London Underground Railway opens to the public (Paddington to Farringdon Street).^[1]
7 February — HMS Orpheus sinks attempting to enter Manukau Harbour in New Zealand with the loss of 189 lives.
25 February — William Thomson enthroned as Archbishop of York.^[2]
10 March — Marriage of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (later Edward VII) to Princess Alexandra of Denmark (later Queen Alexandra) at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.^[3]
27 May — Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum at Crowthorne receives its first patients.
4 June — The Eton Boating Song is first performed.
15 August–17 August — Bombardment of Kagoshima: Royal Navy bombards the town of Kagoshima in Japan in retribution after the Namamugi Incident of 1862.
26 October — The Football Association is founded at the Freemasons' Tavern in Long Acre, London.^[1]
19 December — Linoleum patented.^[1]
8 December — The Football Association laws are agreed.^[4]
19 December — The first game is played under the new Football Association rules at Mortlake between Ebenezer Morley's Barnes Club and Richmond F.C., ending in a goalless draw.^[4]

Before 30 March — The government rejects the Greek Assembly's choice of The Prince Alfred as the successor to the deposed Otto of Greece.^[1]
Richard Owen publishes the first description of a fossilised bird, Archaeopteryx.^[1]
A scarlet fever epidemic causes over 30,000 deaths.^[1]
Beginning of Second Anglo-Ashanti war.

Charles Kingsley's children's novel The Water Babies (complete in book form).^[5]
Henry Walter Bates's work The Naturalist on the River Amazons.^[1]
Charles Lyell's work Geological Evidences of the Antiquity of Man, endorsing the views of Charles Darwin.^[1]
Mrs Oliphant’s novel Salem Chapel, first of The Chronicles of Carlingford (in book form).
Ouida's novel Held in Bondage.^[6]

17 January — David Lloyd George, Prime Minister (died 1945)
11 March — Andrew Stoddart, cricketer (died 1915)
27 March — Henry Royce, automobile pioneer (died 1933)
15 May — Frank Hornby, inventor, businessman and politician (died 1936)
17 May — C. R. Ashbee, designer (died 1942)
29 May — Arthur Mold, cricketer (died 1921)
13 June — Lady Lucy Duff Gordon, fashion designer (died 1942)
6 July — Reginald McKenna, Chancellor of the Exchequer 1915–1916 (died 1943)
21 July — C. Aubrey Smith, actor (died 1948)
13 September — Arthur Henderson, politician, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (died 1935)
16 October — Austen Chamberlain, statesman, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (died 1937)

↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Everett, Jason M., ed. (2006). "1863". The People's Chronology. Thomson Gale.
↑ Carlyle, E. I. (2004). "Thomson, William (1819–1890)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 2010-11-19.
↑ Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 2006. ISBN 0-14-102715-0.
↑ 4.0 4.1 Bragg, Melvyn (2006). 12 books that changed the world. London: Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 0-340-83980-5.
↑ Palmer, Alan; Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History. London: Century Ltd. pp. 283–284. ISBN 0-7126-5616-2.
↑ Leavis, Q.D. (1965). Fiction and the Reading Public (2nd ed.). London: Chatto & Windus.

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 2013 2014 2015