1886 in the United Kingdom
Encyclopedia
 1886 in the United Kingdom: |
| Other years |
| 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 1885 in the United Kingdom Events from the year 1885 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — William Ewart Gladstone, Liberal , Robert Cecil, Marquess of Salisbury, Conservative-Events:... | 1886 | 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:... | 1888 1888 in the United Kingdom Events from the year 1888 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — Robert Cecil, Marquess of Salisbury, Conservative-Events:* 26 January — The Lawn Tennis Association is founded.... |
| Sport |
| 1886 English cricket season 1886 English cricket season -Events:Somerset did not play any other first-class counties and dropped out of the Championship until 1891.Hampshire ceased to be a first-class county after years of difficult circumstances and poor results. They did play matches against Surrey and Sussex in 1886 but these matches are not... |
 1885–86 in English football |
Events from the year 1886 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 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...
(until 28 January), 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 20 July), Robert Cecil, Marquess of Salisbury, Conservative
Events
- 13 January — After six years of campaigning, the atheist Charles BradlaughCharles BradlaughCharles Bradlaugh was a political activist and one of the most famous English atheists of the 19th century. He founded the National Secular Society in 1866.-Early life:...
is permitted to affirmAffirmation in lawIn law, an affirmation is a solemn declaration allowed to those who conscientiously object to taking an oath. An affirmation has exactly the same legal effect as an oath, but is usually taken to avoid the religious implications of an oath...
rather than take the traditional oath, allowing him to take his seat as a Member of ParliamentMember of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
. - 18 January — British Hockey Association founded.
- 27 January — 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...
loses supports of the Irish Party, and resigns as Prime Minister. - 1 February
- 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...
becomes Prime MinisterPrime 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...
for the third time. - Mersey RailwayMersey RailwayThe Mersey Railway connected Liverpool and Birkenhead, England, via the Mersey Railway Tunnel under the River Mersey. Opened in 1886, it was the second oldest urban underground railway network in the world. The railway contained the first tunnel built under the River Mersey. It was constructed by...
opens, linking BirkenheadBirkenheadBirkenhead is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. It is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite the city of Liverpool...
and LiverpoolLiverpoolLiverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
.
- William Ewart Gladstone
- 7–8 February — Two days of rioting in the West End of LondonWest End of LondonThe West End of London is an area of central London, containing many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buildings, and entertainment . Use of the term began in the early 19th century to describe fashionable areas to the west of Charing Cross...
by the unemployed, coinciding with the coldest winter in thirty years. - March — Linfield F.C.Linfield F.C.Linfield F.C. , is a semi-professional, Northern Irish football club, whose home ground is Windsor Park in Belfast, which is also the home of the Northern Ireland international team....
is formed in BelfastBelfastBelfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
. - 10 March — First CruftsCruftsCrufts is an annual international Championship conformation show for dogs organised and hosted by the Kennel Club, currently held every March at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, England. It is the largest annual dog show in the world, as declared by Guinness World Records, and lasts...
dog show held 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...
. - April — New English Art ClubNew English Art ClubThe New English Art Club was founded in London in 1885 as an alternate venue to the Royal Academy.-History:Young English artists returning from studying art in Paris mounted the first exhibition of the New English Art Club in April 1886...
mounts its first exhibition. - 4 April — Gladstone introduces the First Irish Home Rule BillIrish Government Bill 1886The Government of Ireland Bill 1886, commonly known as the First Home Rule Bill, was the first major attempt made by a British government to enact a law creating home rule for part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
in 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...
. It is defeated on 8 June. - 25 June
- Crofters' Holdings (Scotland) ActCrofters' Holdings (Scotland) Act 1886The Crofters' Holdings Act, 1886 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which created legal definitions of crofting parish and crofter, granted security of tenure to crofters and produced the first Crofters Commission, a land court which ruled on disputes between landlords and crofters...
grants security of tenureTenureTenure commonly refers to life tenure in a job and specifically to a senior academic's contractual right not to have his or her position terminated without just cause.-19th century:...
to crofterCroft (land)A croft is a fenced or enclosed area of land, usually small and arable with a crofter's dwelling thereon. A crofter is one who has tenure and use of the land, typically as a tenant farmer.- Etymology :...
s. - Riot (Damages) Act provides for property owners to recover compensation from local police forces in the event of damage due to riot.
- Crofters' Holdings (Scotland) Act
- 30 June — Royal Holloway CollegeRoyal Holloway, University of LondonRoyal Holloway, University of London is a constituent college of the University of London. The college has three faculties, 18 academic departments, and about 8,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students from over 130 different countries...
opened by Queen Victoria in 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...
. - 27 July — General electionUnited Kingdom general election, 1886-Seats summary:-See also:*MPs elected in the UK general election, 1886*The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987**...
won by the Conservative PartyConservative 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...
under 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...
. - 1 September — The Severn TunnelSevern TunnelThe Severn Tunnel is a railway tunnel in the United Kingdom, linking South Gloucestershire in the west of England to Monmouthshire in south Wales under the estuary of the River Severn....
opens. - 11 October — Memorial statue to Sister DoraSister DoraSister Dora was a 19th century Church of England nun and a nurse in Walsall, Staffordshire.-Life:...
unveiled in WalsallWalsallWalsall is a large industrial town in the West Midlands of England. It is located northwest of Birmingham and east of Wolverhampton. Historically a part of Staffordshire, Walsall is a component area of the West Midlands conurbation and part of the Black Country.Walsall is the administrative...
. - 9 December
- Southport and St Anne's lifeboats disasterSouthport and St Anne's lifeboats disasterOn the 9 December 1886 the Mexico, a Hamburg-registered barque bound for Guayaquil from Liverpool went aground near Southport, in a full west north westerly gale....
. - BeatificationBeatificationBeatification is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a dead person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in his or her name . Beatification is the third of the four steps in the canonization process...
of Edmund CampionEdmund CampionSaint Edmund Campion, S.J. was an English Roman Catholic martyr and Jesuit priest. While conducting an underground ministry in officially Protestant England, Campion was arrested by priest hunters. Convicted of high treason by a kangaroo court, he was hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn...
by Pope Leo XIIIPope Leo XIIIPope Leo XIII , born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci to an Italian comital family, was the 256th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, reigning from 1878 to 1903...
.
- Southport and St Anne's lifeboats disaster
- 25 December — Great snow storm in London.
Undated
- Edinburgh School of Medicine for WomenEdinburgh School of Medicine for WomenThe Edinburgh School of Medicine for Women was founded by Dr Sophia Jex-Blake in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1886, with support from the National Association for Promoting the Medical Education of Women....
founded by Dr Sophia Jex-BlakeSophia Jex-BlakeSophia Louisa Jex-Blake was an English physician, teacher and feminist. She was one of the first female doctors in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, a leading campaigner for medical education for women and was involved in founding two medical schools for women, in London and in...
. - Arsenal F.C.Arsenal F.C.Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
is founded. - Plymouth Argyle F.C.Plymouth Argyle F.C.Plymouth Argyle Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Plymouth, Devon, that plays in Football League Two.Since becoming professional in 1903, the club has won five Football League titles, five Southern League titles and one Western League title. The 2009–10 season was the...
is founded. - The Hockey Association codifies the rules for hockeyField hockeyField Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...
. - Ormonde wins the English Triple CrownTriple Crown of Thoroughbred RacingThe Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing consists of three races for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses. Winning all three of these Thoroughbred horse races is considered the greatest accomplishment of a Thoroughbred racehorse...
by finishing first in the Epsom DerbyEpsom DerbyThe Derby Stakes, popularly known as The Derby, internationally as the Epsom Derby, and under its present sponsor as the Investec Derby, is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies...
, 2,000 Guineas and St LegerSt. Leger StakesThe St. Leger Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain which is open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Doncaster over a distance of 1 mile, 6 furlongs and 132 yards , and it is scheduled to take place each year in September.Established in 1776, the St. Leger...
. - Scotch whiskyScotch whiskyScotch whisky is whisky made in Scotland.Scotch whisky is divided into five distinct categories: Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Single Grain Scotch Whisky, Blended Malt Scotch Whisky , Blended Grain Scotch Whisky, and Blended Scotch Whisky.All Scotch whisky must be aged in oak barrels for at least three...
distiller William Grant & SonsWilliam Grant & SonsWilliam Grant & Sons Ltd. is an independent, family-owned Scottish company which distills Scotch whisky and other selected categories of spirits. It was established in 1887 by William Grant, and is now run by the descendants of the founder. It is the largest of the handful of Scotch whisky...
is founded.
Publications
- Marie CorelliMarie CorelliMarie Corelli was a British novelist. She enjoyed a period of great literary success from the publication of her first novel in 1886 until World War I. Corelli's novels sold more copies than the combined sales of popular contemporaries, including Arthur Conan Doyle, H. G...
's first novel A Romance of Two WorldsRomance of Two Worlds-Synopsis:A Romance of Two Worlds starts with a young heroine, in first person, telling her story of a debilitating illnesses that includes depression and thoughts of suicide. Her doctor is unable to help her and sends her off on a holiday where she meets a mystical character by the name of...
. - H. Rider HaggardH. Rider HaggardSir Henry Rider Haggard, KBE was an English writer of adventure novels set in exotic locations, predominantly Africa, and a founder of the Lost World literary genre. He was also involved in agricultural reform around the British Empire...
'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...
. - Thomas HardyThomas HardyThomas Hardy, OM was an English novelist and poet. While his works typically belong to the Naturalism movement, several poems display elements of the previous Romantic and Enlightenment periods of literature, such as his fascination with the supernatural.While he regarded himself primarily as a...
's novel The Mayor of CasterbridgeThe Mayor of CasterbridgeThe Mayor of Casterbridge , subtitled "The Life and Death of a Man of Character", is a tragic novel by British author Thomas Hardy. It is set in the fictional town of Casterbridge . The book is one of Hardy's Wessex novels, all set in a fictional rustic England...
. - Henry JamesHenry JamesHenry James, OM was an American-born writer, regarded as one of the key figures of 19th-century literary realism. He was the son of Henry James, Sr., a clergyman, and the brother of philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice James....
' novel The BostoniansThe BostoniansThe Bostonians is a novel by Henry James, first published as a serial in The Century Magazine in 1885–1886 and then as a book in 1886. This bittersweet tragicomedy centers on an odd triangle of characters: Basil Ransom, a political conservative from Mississippi; Olive Chancellor, Ransom's cousin...
. - Robert Louis StevensonRobert Louis StevensonRobert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer. His best-known books include Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde....
's novels Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and KidnappedKidnapped (novel)Kidnapped is a historical fiction adventure novel by the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. Written as a "boys' novel" and first published in the magazine Young Folks from May to July 1886, the novel has attracted the praise and admiration of writers as diverse as Henry James, Jorge Luis...
.
Births
- 10 May — Olaf StapledonOlaf StapledonWilliam Olaf Stapledon was a British philosopher and author of several influential works of science fiction.-Life:...
, author and philosopher (died 19501950 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1950 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — King George VI*Prime Minister — Clement Attlee, Labour Party-Events:* 16 January — The BBC Light Programme first broadcasts the daily children's radio feature Listen with Mother....
) - 20 May — John Jacob Astor, 1st Baron Astor of HeverJohn Jacob Astor, 1st Baron Astor of HeverLieutenant-Colonel John Jacob Astor, 1st Baron Astor of Hever DL was a British military officer, statesman, a newspaper proprietor, and a member of the prominent Astor family...
, businessman (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:...
) - 18 June — George MalloryGeorge MalloryGeorge Herbert Leigh Mallory was an English mountaineer who took part in the first three British expeditions to Mount Everest in the early 1920s....
, climber (died 19241924 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1924 in the United Kingdom. This is a General Election year.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George V*Prime Minister - Stanley Baldwin, Conservative , Ramsay MacDonald, Labour , Stanley Baldwin, Conservative-Events:* 1 January - Meteorological Office issues its first broadcast...
) - 24 June — George ShielsGeorge ShielsGeorge Shiels was an Irish dramatist whose plays were a success both in his native Ulster and at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. His most famous plays are The Rugged Path, The Passing Day, and The New Gossoon....
, dramatist (died 19491949 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1949 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George VI*Prime Minister - Clement Attlee, Labour-Events:* January - A national sex survey is carried out into the sexual behaviour of 4,000 Britons...
) - 26 August — Ronald Niel StuartRonald Niel StuartRonald Niel Stuart VC DSO RD RNR was a British Merchant Navy commodore and Royal Navy captain who was highly commended following extensive and distinguished service at sea over a period of more than thirty-five years...
, Royal Navt Captain (died 19541954 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1954 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:* Monarch – Elizabeth II* Prime Minister – Winston Churchill -Events:...
) - 27 August — Rebecca Helferich ClarkeRebecca Helferich ClarkeRebecca Clarke was an English classical composer and violist best known for her chamber music featuring the viola. She was born in Harrow and studied at the Royal Academy of Music and Royal College of Music in London, later becoming one of the first female professional orchestral players...
, composer and violist (died 19791979 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1979 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:* Monarch - Elizabeth II* Prime Minister - James Callaghan, Labour , Margaret Thatcher, Conservative-Events:...
) - 27 August — Eric CoatesEric CoatesEric Coates was an English composer of light music and a viola player.-Life:Eric was born in Hucknall in Nottinghamshire to William Harrison Coates , a surgeon, and his wife, Mary Jane Gwynne, hailing from Usk in Monmouthshire...
, composer (died 19571957 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1957 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:* Monarch – Elizabeth II* Prime Minister – Anthony Eden and Harold Macmillan, Conservative Party-Events:* 9 January – Resignation of Anthony Eden as Prime Minister due to ill-health....
) - 13 September — Robert Robinson, chemist, Nobel PrizeNobel Prize in ChemistryThe Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of chemistry. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outstanding contributions in chemistry, physics, literature,...
laureate (died 19751975 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1975 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - Elizabeth II*Prime Minister - Harold Wilson, Labour Party-Events:* 6 January - Brian Clough, former manager of Derby County and more recently Leeds United, is appointed manager of Football League Second Division strugglers...
) - 20 September — Charles WilliamsCharles Williams (UK writer)Charles Walter Stansby Williams was a British poet, novelist, theologian, literary critic, and member of the Inklings.- Biography :...
, author (died 19451945 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1945 in the United Kingdom. This year sees the end of World War II and a landslide General Election victory for the Labour Party.-Incumbents:*Monarch – King George VI...
) - 26 September — Archibald Vivian Hill, physiologist, Nobel PrizeNobel Prize in Physiology or MedicineThe Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine administered by the Nobel Foundation, is awarded once a year for outstanding discoveries in the field of life science and medicine. It is one of five Nobel Prizes established in 1895 by Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, in his will...
laureate (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:...
)
Deaths
- 16 April — Andrew NichollAndrew NichollAndrew Nicholl R.H.A was an Irish painter. He was a founder member of the Belfast Association of Artists and in 1847 was elected as an associate member to the Royal Hibernian Academy, becoming a full member in 1860....
, painter (born 18041804 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1804 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George III*Prime Minister - Henry Addington, Tory , William Pitt the Younger, Tory-Events:...
) - 9 August — Samuel FergusonSamuel FergusonSir Samuel Ferguson was an Irish poet, barrister, antiquarian, artist and public servant. Perhaps the most important Ulster-Scot poet of the 19th century, because of his interest in Irish mythology and early Irish history he can be seen as a forerunner of William Butler Yeats and the other poets...
, poet and artist (born 18101810 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1810 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George III*Prime Minister - Spencer Perceval, Tory-Events:...
)