1852 in the United Kingdom
 1852 in the United Kingdom:
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Events from the year 1852 in the United Kingdom.
Incumbents
- Monarch – Victoria
- Prime Minister –
- until 23 February: The Earl Russell (Liberal)
- 23 February-19 December: The Earl of Derby (Conservative)
- starting 19 December: The Earl of Aberdeen (Peelite)
Events
- 17 January — United Kingdom recognises the independence of the Transvaal.
- 5 February — Holmfirth Flood caused by collapse of the embankment at Bilberry reservoir in the West Riding of Yorkshire: 81 killed.[1]
- 11 February — The first British public toilet for women opens in Bedford Street, London.
- 14 February — Great Ormond Street Hospital in London admits its first patient.[2]
- 21 February — Earl Russell resigns as Prime Minister after his Militia Bill is amended.[3]
- 23 February — The Earl of Derby forms a minority Protectionist Conservative government.[3]
- 27 February — Lord Derby appoints Benjamin Disraeli as Chancellor of the Exchequer.
- 1 March — Archibald William Montgomerie, 13th Earl of Eglinton is appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.
- 1 April — Start of the Second Burmese War.
- April — Samuel Orchart Beeton begins publication of The Englishwoman's Domestic Magazine, the first for women.[4]
- May — The Museum of Manufactures, predecessor of the Victoria and Albert Museum, is opened in London, initially at Marlborough House.[5]
- 21 June — Trial of Cardinal John Henry Newman for the defamation of Giacinto Achilli opens in London. Newman is convicted on 25 June.[6]
- 29 June — Protestant-Catholic riots in Stockport.[7]
- 30 June — Colony of New Zealand granted its first representative government.[3]
- 7–31 July — General election: Lord Derby retains power.
- 2 September — The public library in Campfield, Manchester, is the first to offer free lending[8] under the Public Libraries Act 1850.
- 1 October — Patent Law Amendment Act comes into effect, merging the English, Scottish and Irish patent systems.
- 14 October — Great Northern Railway opens London King's Cross station,[9] the largest in Europe at this time.[3]
- 19 October — The last fatal duel on English soil takes place on Priest Hill, between Englefield Green and Old Windsor, between two French political exiles Emmanuel Barthélemy and Frederic Cournet.[10] Cournet was killed. Barthélemy is tried for murder but only convicted of manslaughter and served a few months in prison. He is hanged two years later after another killing.
- 11 November — New Palace of Westminster opens in London.
- 1 to 30 November – The second-wettest month in the EWP series (wettest until 1903) with an average of 202.5 millimetres (7.97 in).[11] It beat November 1772 with 200.8 millimetres (7.91 in)
- 17 December — Earl of Derby resigns as Prime Minister, following the defeat of his budget.[3]
- 28 December — Earl of Aberdeen becomes Prime Minister, leading a Whig-Peelite coalition.[3]
Undated
- End of the Great Famine (Ireland).[12] In the period it has lasted since 1845, one million people have emigrated from Ireland. The Irish now make up a quarter of the population of Liverpool, and the same is true of cities on the east coast of North America.
- First Synod of the newly created Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Westminster is held at St Mary's College, Oscott, Birmingham.
- The House of Mercy Anglican sisterhood (which becomes the Community of St John Baptist) is established at Clewer, near Windsor, to minister to reformed prostitutes and other marginalised women.[13]
- New Model Union the Amalgamated Society of Engineers, Machinists, Smiths, Millwrights and Patternmakers involved in a lockout.
- Nailmakers' Strike in the West Midlands.[14]
Publications
- Serialisation of Charles Dickens' novel Bleak House.
- Roget's Thesaurus (1st edition).[15]
- William Makepeace Thackeray's novel The History of Henry Esmond.
Births
- 4 May — Alice Liddell, inspiration for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (died 1934)
- 18 April — George Clausen, artist (died 1944)
- 23 August — Arnold Toynbee, economic historian (died 1883)
- 12 September — Herbert Henry Asquith, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (died 1928)
- 28 September — John French, World War I field marshal (died 1925)
- 2 October — William Ramsay, chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1916)
- Kate Vaughan, born Catherine Alice Candelin or Candelon, dancer and actress (died 1903)
Deaths
- 10 February — Samuel Prout, painter (born 1783)
- 4 September — William MacGillivray, naturalist and ornithologist (born 1796)
- 14 September
- Augustus Pugin, architect (born 1812)
- Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, general and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1769)
- 21 November — Mary Berry, writer (born 1763)
- 27 November — Ada Lovelace, early computer pioneer and the daughter of Lord Byron (born 1815)
References
- ^ "Holmfirth — Is there more to it than Last of the Summer Wine?". BBC.
- ^ Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 2006. ISBN 0-14-102715-0.
- ^ a b c d e f Palmer, Alan; Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History. London: Century Ltd. pp. 272–273. ISBN 0-7126-5616-2.
- ^ Beetham, Margaret (2004). "Beeton, Samuel Orchart (1831–1877)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 4 October 2010.
- ^ Physick, John (1982). The Victoria and Albert Museum: the History of its Building. Oxford: Phaidon. p. 16.
- ^ Ward, W. (1912). "10: The Achilli Trial". Life of John Henry Cardinal Newman. London: Longmans, Green and Co. p. 291.
- ^ "Lord Derby looses bigotry on the streets". The Manchester Guardian. 3 July 1852. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
- ^ "Anniversary of first public library". BBC News. 5 September 2002. Retrieved 14 April 2010.
- ^ Jackson, Alan A. (1985). London's Termini. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-8634-4.
- ^ "The common is steeped in history". Keep Englefield Green — The Heritage. Keepenglefieldgreen.org. Retrieved 30 May 2010.
- ^ Hadley Center Ranked EWP.
- ^ Kinealy, Christine (1994). This Great Calamity: The Irish Famine 1845–1852. Dublin: Gill & Macmillan. pp. xvi–ii. ISBN 0-7171-4011-3.
- ^ Mumm, Susan (1999). Stolen Daughters, Virgin Mothers: Anglican Sisterhoods in Victorian Britain. Leicester University Press. p. 8. ISBN 0-7185-0151-9.
- ^ Fletcher, M.H.W. (1969). Netherton: Edward I to Edward VIII. Dudley Public Libraries. ISBN 0-900911-05-0.
- ^ "Icons, a portrait of England 1840–1860". Retrieved 13 September 2007.