1871 in the United Kingdom
 1871 in the United Kingdom: |
| Other years |
| 1869 | 1870 | 1871 | 1872 | 1873 |
| Individual countries of the United Kingdom |
| England | Ireland | Scotland | Wales |
| Sport |
Events from the year 1871 in the United Kingdom.
Incumbents
- Monarch — Victoria
- Prime Minister — William Ewart Gladstone (Liberal)
Events
- 1 January — Disestablishment of the Church of Ireland by the Irish Church Act 1869 comes into effect.[1]
- 26 January — Rugby Football Union established in London.[2]
- 10 February — Great Gale in the North Sea: 28 ships wrecked and total fatalities are estimated at over fifty, including six crew of Bridlington life-boat Harbinger.
- 7 March — The first rugby international results in a 4–1 win by Scotland over England.[1]
- 13 March — Britain, Russia, France, Austria, Turkey and Italy agree to abrogate the 1856 Treaty of Paris ending Black Sea neutrality
- 21 March — Marriage of Princess Louise to John Campbell, Marquess of Lorne, whose father, the 8th Duke of Argyll, is the serving Secretary of State for India.
- 29 March — The Royal Albert Hall is opened by Queen Victoria.[2]
- 2 April — Census in the United Kingdom, the first to record economic and mental status.
- 24 April — Murder of servant girl Jane Clouson in Eltham.
- 11 May — The first trial in the Tichborne case begins in the Court of Common Pleas (England).
- 26 May — Parliament passes the Bank Holidays Act creating four annual bank holidays (five in Scotland).[2]
- 29 May — First bank holiday held on Whit Monday.[2]
- 6 June — Smith v Hughes, a landmark case in English contract law, is decided in the Court of Queen's Bench, allowing an objective approach to interpretation of the parties' conduct when entering into a contract.
- 18 June — The Universities Tests Act removes restrictions limiting access to Oxford, Cambridge and Durham universities to members of the Church of England.
- 29 June — Trade unions legalised by act of parliament.[2]
- 20 July — C. W. Alcock proposes that 'a Challenge Cup should be established in connection with the Association', giving birth to the FA Cup.[2]
- 17 August — Regulation of the Forces Act centralises and regularises control of the British Army as part of the Cardwell Reforms, creating a structure of regional Brigade (Regimental) Districts.[1]
- 21 August — Pedlars Act requires pedlars to be licenced.
- 1 November — Sale of commissions in the British Army abolished as part of the Cardwell Reforms.[3]
- 7 November — The London—Australia telegraph cable is brought ashore at Darwin.[4]
- 10 November — Welsh-born journalist Henry Morton Stanley locates missing Scottish explorer and missionary, Dr. David Livingstone in Ujiji, near Lake Tanganyika,[2] and allegedly greets him saying "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?"
- 17 November — George Biddell Airy presents his discovery that astronomical aberration is independent of the local medium.
- 25 November — First performance of The Bells starring Henry Irving at the Lyceum Theatre, London.[5]
Undated
- Reading Football Club formed.
- Neath RFC founded.
- Streatham-Croydon RFC founded.
- The native-bred Red Kite becomes extinct in England.[6]
Publications
- William Alexander's realist novel Johnny Gibb of Gushetneuk (serialised in Aberdeen Free Press 1869-70).[7]
- William Black's novel A Daughter of Heth.[8]
- Henry Ramsden Bramley and John Stainer's hymnal Christmas Carols, Old and New, 2nd series
- Edward Bulwer-Lytton's (anonymous) novel The Coming Race.
- Lewis Carroll's children's novel Through the Looking-Glass.[1]
- George Tomkyns Chesney's story The Battle of Dorking.
- Charles Darwin's work The Descent of Man.[1]
- George Eliot's novel Middlemarch (begins serialisation).
- Anthony Trollope's novel The Eustace Diamonds (serialisation).
- Edward Burnett Tylor's anthropological study Primitive Culture.
Births
- 18 February — Harry Brearley, inventor (died 1948)
- 19 March — Schofield Haigh, cricketer (died 1921)
- 28 March — Silyn Roberts, Socialist and pacifist writer (died 1930)
- 3 July — W. H. Davies, poet (died 1940)
- 24 September — Lottie Dod, athlete (died 1960)
Deaths
- 4 May - Pablo Fanque, black circus owner, popularized by The Beatles in song (born 1796)
- 11 May — John Herschel, astronomer (born 1792)
- 1 September — James Pennethorne, architect (born 1801)
- 18 October — Charles Babbage, mathematician and inventor (born 1791)
- 22 October — Roderick Murchison, geologist (born 1792)
- 14 December — George Hudson, railway financier (born 1800)
- 28 December — John Henry Pratt, clergyman and mathematician (born 1809)
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Palmer, Alan; Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History. London: Century Ltd. pp. 293–294. ISBN 0-7126-5616-2.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 2006. ISBN 0-14-102715-0.
- ↑ Bruce, Anthony P. C. (1980). The Purchase System in the British Army, 1660–1871. London: Royal Historical Society.
- ↑ "1871 Java - Port Darwin Cable". History of the Atlantic Cable & Undersea Communications. 2014-11-05. Archived from the original on 2015-01-06. Retrieved 2015-01-03.
- ↑ Rowell, George, ed. (1953). Nineteenth Century Plays. World's Classics. Oxford University Press.
- ↑ "Red kite – Population trends". RSPB. Retrieved 2011-08-29.
- ↑ Donaldson, William (2004). "Alexander, William (1826–1894)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/39241. Retrieved 2013-08-19. (subscription or UK public library membership required)
- ↑ Leavis, Q. D. (1965). Fiction and the Reading Public (2nd ed.). London: Chatto & Windus.