1844 in the United Kingdom
Encyclopedia
 1844 in the United Kingdom: |
| Other years |
| 1842 1842 in the United Kingdom Events from the year 1842 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:* Monarch—Queen Victoria* Prime Minister—Robert Peel, Conservative-Events:... | 1843 1843 in the United Kingdom Events from the year 1843 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — Robert Peel, Conservative-Events:* 6 January — Antarctic explorer James Clark Ross discovers Snow Hill Island.... | 1844 | 1845 1845 in the United Kingdom Events from the year 1845 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — Robert Peel, Conservative-Events:... | 1846 1846 in the United Kingdom Events from the year 1846 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — Robert Peel, Conservative , Lord John Russell, Liberal-Events:... |
| Sport |
| 1844 English cricket season 1844 English cricket season The 1844 English cricket season saw William Hillyer lead the bowling for the third time in succession-First-class matches:-Events:13 March. Foundation of Cambridgeshire CCC which played first-class cricket 1857 to 1871.28 August... |
Events from the year 1844 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 — Robert PeelRobert PeelSir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet was a British Conservative statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 10 December 1834 to 8 April 1835, and again from 30 August 1841 to 29 June 1846...
, 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
- 28 February — The Grand NationalGrand NationalThe Grand National is a world-famous National Hunt horse race which is held annually at Aintree Racecourse, near Liverpool, England. It is a handicap chase run over a distance of four miles and 856 yards , with horses jumping thirty fences over two circuits of Aintree's National Course...
at AintreeAintreeAintree is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside. It lies between Walton and Maghull on the A59 road, about north of Liverpool city centre, in North West England....
is won by the 5/1 joint favourite Discount. - 11 April — Initiation of the Ragged Schools UnionRagged schoolRagged Schools were charitable schools dedicated to the free education of destitute children in 19th century England. The schools were developed in working class districts of the rapidly expanding industrial towns...
. - 11 May — Major fire at Lyme RegisLyme RegisLyme Regis is a coastal town in West Dorset, England, situated 25 miles west of Dorchester and east of Exeter. The town lies in Lyme Bay, on the English Channel coast at the Dorset-Devon border...
. - 6 June — George WilliamsGeorge Williams (YMCA)Sir George Williams , was the founder of the YMCA.Williams was born on a farm in Dulverton, Somerset, England. As a young man, he described himself as a "careless, thoughtless, godless, swearing young fellow" but eventually became a devout Christian.He went to London and worked in a draper's shop...
founds the Young Men's Christian AssociationYMCAThe Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...
in London. - 15 June — Factory Act imposes a maximum 12-hour working day for women, and a maximum 6-hour day for children aged 6 to 13.
- 19 July — Bank Charter ActBank Charter Act 1844The Bank Charter Act 1844 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, passed under the government of Robert Peel, which restricted the powers of British banks and gave exclusive note-issuing powers to the central Bank of England....
restricts powers of British banks other than the Bank of EnglandBank of EnglandThe Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694, it is the second oldest central bank in the world...
to issue banknotes of the pound sterling. - 9 August — Imprisonment for debt abolished in 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...
. - 28 September — A blackdampBlackdampBlackdamp is an asphyxiant, reducing the available oxygen content of air to a level incapable of sustaining human or animal life. It is not a single gas but a mixture of unbreathable gasses left after oxygen is removed from the air and typically consists of nitrogen, argon, carbon dioxide and...
explosionExplosionAn explosion is a rapid increase in volume and release of energy in an extreme manner, usually with the generation of high temperatures and the release of gases. An explosion creates a shock wave. If the shock wave is a supersonic detonation, then the source of the blast is called a "high explosive"...
at Haswell CollieryHaswell, County DurhamHaswell is a village in County Durham, in England. It is situated between Durham and Peterlee.It is notable as the birthplace of English world champion road racing cyclist Tom Simpson, born 30 November 1937....
in the Durham CoalfieldDurham CoalfieldThe Durham Coalfield is a coalfield in north-east England. It is continuous with the Northumberland Coalfield to its north. It extends from Bishop Auckland in the south to the boundary with the county of Northumberland along the River Tyne in the north, beyond which is the Northumberland...
kills 95, with just four survivors. - 28 October — The Royal ExchangeRoyal Exchange (London)The Royal Exchange in the City of London was founded in 1565 by Sir Thomas Gresham to act as a centre of commerce for the city. The site was provided by the City of London Corporation and the Worshipful Company of Mercers, and is trapezoidal, flanked by the converging streets of Cornhill and...
in London opened by Queen Victoria. - 21 December — The Rochdale PioneersRochdale PioneersThe Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers, founded in 1844, was an early consumer co-operative, and the first to pay a patronage dividend, forming the basis for the modern co-operative movement....
, usually considered the first successful cooperativeCooperativeA cooperative is a business organization owned and operated by a group of individuals for their mutual benefit...
enterprise, open their store in RochdaleRochdaleRochdale is a large market town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the foothills of the Pennines on the River Roch, north-northwest of Oldham, and north-northeast of the city of Manchester. Rochdale is surrounded by several smaller settlements which together form the Metropolitan...
, forming the basis for the modern cooperative movementHistory of the cooperative movementThe history of the cooperative movement concerns the origins and history of cooperatives. Although cooperative arrangements, such as mutual insurance, and principles of cooperation existed long before, the cooperative movement began with the application of cooperative principles to business...
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Undated
- Henry Hardinge, 1st Viscount HardingeHenry Hardinge, 1st Viscount HardingeField Marshal Henry Hardinge, 1st Viscount Hardinge, GCB, PC was a British field marshal and Governor-general of India.-Army career:...
appointed as Governor-General of IndiaGovernor-General of IndiaThe Governor-General of India was the head of the British administration in India, and later, after Indian independence, the representative of the monarch and de facto head of state. The office was created in 1773, with the title of Governor-General of the Presidency of Fort William...
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Publications
- Robert Chambers' anonymous Vestiges of the Natural History of CreationVestiges of the Natural History of CreationVestiges of the Natural History of Creation is a unique work of speculative natural history published anonymously in England in 1844. It brought together various ideas of stellar evolution with the progressive transmutation of species in an accessible narrative which tied together numerous...
, which paves the way for acceptance of DarwinCharles DarwinCharles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
's The Origin of SpeciesThe Origin of SpeciesCharles Darwin's On the Origin of Species, published on 24 November 1859, is a work of scientific literature which is considered to be the foundation of evolutionary biology. Its full title was On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the...
. - Charles DickensCharles DickensCharles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
' novel Martin ChuzzlewitMartin ChuzzlewitThe Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit is a novel by Charles Dickens, considered the last of his picaresque novels. It was originally serialized between 1843-1844. Dickens himself proclaimed Martin Chuzzlewit to be his best work, but it was one of his least popular novels...
(complete in book form) and his Christmas novella The ChimesThe ChimesThe Chimes: A Goblin Story of Some Bells that Rang an Old Year Out and a New Year In, a short novel by Charles Dickens, was written and published in 1844, one year after A Christmas Carol and one year before The Cricket on the Hearth...
. - Benjamin Disraeli's novel ConingsbyConingsby (novel)Coningsby, or The New Generation, is an English political novel by Benjamin Disraeli published in 1844.-Background:The book is set against a background of the real political events of the 1830s in England that followed the enactment of the Reform Bill of 1832...
. - William Makepeace ThackerayWilliam Makepeace ThackerayWilliam Makepeace Thackeray was an English novelist of the 19th century. He was famous for his satirical works, particularly Vanity Fair, a panoramic portrait of English society.-Biography:...
's novel The Luck of Barry LyndonThe Luck of Barry LyndonThe Luck of Barry Lyndon is a picaresque novel by William Makepeace Thackeray, first published in serial form in 1844, about a member of the Irish gentry trying to become a member of the English aristocracy...
(serialisation).
Births
- 3 May — Richard D'Oyly CarteRichard D'Oyly CarteRichard D'Oyly Carte was an English talent agent, theatrical impresario, composer and hotelier during the latter half of the Victorian era...
, theatrical impresario (died 19011901 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1901 in the United Kingdom. This year marks the transition from the Victorian to the Edwardian era.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria , King Edward VII...
) - 22 July — William Archibald SpoonerWilliam Archibald SpoonerWilliam Archibald Spooner was a famous Oxford don whose name is given to the linguistic phenomenon of spoonerism.-Biography:...
, scholar and Anglican priest (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....
) - 28 July — Gerard Manley HopkinsGerard Manley HopkinsGerard Manley Hopkins, S.J. was an English poet, Roman Catholic convert, and Jesuit priest, whose posthumous 20th-century fame established him among the leading Victorian poets...
, English poet (died 18891889 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1889 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — Robert Cecil, Marquess of Salisbury, Conservative-Events:...
) - 6 August — Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and GothaAlfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and GothaAlfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was the third Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and reigned from 1893 to 1900. He was also a member of the British Royal Family, the second son and fourth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha...
, member of the Royal Family (died 19001900 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1900 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — Robert Cecil, Marquess of Salisbury, Conservative-Events:...
) - 29 August — Edward CarpenterEdward CarpenterEdward Carpenter was an English socialist poet, socialist philosopher, anthologist, and early gay activist....
, Socialist poet (died 19291929 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1929 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George V*Prime Minister - Stanley Baldwin, Conservative , Ramsay MacDonald, Labour-Events:...
) - 23 October — Robert BridgesRobert BridgesRobert Seymour Bridges, OM, was a British poet, and poet laureate from 1913 to 1930.-Personal and professional life:...
, English poet (died 1930) - 25 October — Arthur William à BeckettArthur William a BeckettArthur William à Beckett was an English journalist and man of letters.-Biography:He was a younger son of Gilbert Abbott à Beckett, brother of Gilbert Arthur à Beckett and educated at Felsted School...
, journalist (died 19091909 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1909 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King Edward VII*Prime Minister - H. H. Asquith, Liberal-Events:* 1 January - National old age pension scheme comes into force....
) - 1 December — Alexandra of DenmarkAlexandra of DenmarkAlexandra of Denmark was the wife of Edward VII of the United Kingdom...
, queen of Edward VII of England (died 19251925 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1925 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George V*Prime Minister - Stanley Baldwin, Conservative-Events:...
)
Deaths
- 23 January — Francis Burdett, politician (born 17701770 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1770 in Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George III*Prime Minister - Duke of Grafton, Whig , Lord North, Tory-Events:...
) - 15 February — Henry Addington, 1st Viscount SidmouthHenry Addington, 1st Viscount SidmouthHenry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth, PC was a British statesman, and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1804....
, Prime Minister of the United KingdomPrime 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...
(born 17571757 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1757 in Great Britain.- Events :* 2 January - Robert Clive captures Calcutta, India.* 14 March - Seven Years' War: Admiral Sir John Byng is executed by firing squad aboard for breach of the Articles of War....
) - 27 July — John DaltonJohn DaltonJohn Dalton FRS was an English chemist, meteorologist and physicist. He is best known for his pioneering work in the development of modern atomic theory, and his research into colour blindness .-Early life:John Dalton was born into a Quaker family at Eaglesfield, near Cockermouth, Cumberland,...
, chemist and physicist (born 17661766 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1766 in Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George III*Prime Minister - Marquess of Rockingham, Whig , William Pitt the Elder, Whig-Events:...
) - 2 November — Augustus Wall CallcottAugustus Wall CallcottSir Augustus Wall Callcott was an English landscape painter-Life and work:Callcott was born in Kensington gravel pits, London. His first study was music and he sang for several years in the choir of Westminster Abbey...
, landscape painter (born 17791779 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1779 in Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George III*Prime Minister - Lord North, Tory-Events:* 9 January - First Anglo-Maratha War: British troops surrender to the Marathas in Wadgaon, India, and are forced to return all terrorities acquired since 1773.* 11 February -...
) - 23 November — Thomas James HendersonThomas James HendersonThomas James Alan Henderson was a Scottish astronomer noted for being the first person to measure the distance to Alpha Centauri, the major component of the nearest stellar system to Earth, and for being the first Astronomer Royal for Scotland.-Early life:Born in Dundee, Scotland, he was educated...
, astronomer (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....
)