1807 in the United Kingdom
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Events from the year 1807 in the United Kingdom.
Incumbents
- Monarch – George III
- Prime Minister – William Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville (Coalition) (until 31 March); William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland (Tory) (starting 31 March)
- Parliament – 3rd (until 29 April), 4th (starting 22 June)
Events
- 1 January – the island of Curaçao is captured by Admiral Charles Brisbane.[1]
- 28 January – Pall Mall, London becomes the first street with gas lighting[2] in a demonstration by Frederick Albert Winsor.
- 3 February – Napoleonic Wars and Anglo-Spanish War – Battle of Montevideo: the British Army captures Montevideo from the Spanish Empire as part of the British invasions of the Río de la Plata.
- 18 February – the Royal Navy gun-brig Snipe runs aground 60 yards (55 m) off Great Yarmouth in a storm, with around 200 people drowned, inspiring Captain Manby to invent the Manby Mortar.[3]
- 23 February – around forty people are killed in a crush attending a public hanging in London.[4]
- 25 March
- The Slave Trade Act becomes law abolishing the slave trade in most of the British Empire[5] with effect from 1 March 1808.
- The Swansea and Mumbles Railway, at this time known as the Oystermouth Railway, becomes the first passenger carrying railway in the world.
- 31 March – Duke of Portland asked to form a government following the collapse of the Ministry of all the Talents.
- 18 April – Harwich ferry disaster: 60 to 90 soldiers and their families drown when a boat capsizes off Landguard Fort.
- 4 May – 9 June – the Duke of Portland wins the general election.
- 31 May – Primitive Methodism originates in an All Day of Prayer at Mow Cop in North Staffordshire.[6]
- June – first Ascot Gold Cup held.[7]
- 22 June – Chesapeake-Leopard Affair: Royal Navy warship HMS Leopard attacks and boards the United States Navy frigate USS Chesapeake off Norfolk, Virginia, seeking deserters.
- 5 July – disastrous attack on Buenos Aires.
- 7–9 July – Peace of Tilsit between France, Prussia and Russia. Napoleon and Emperor Alexander I of Russia ally together against the British.
- 13 July – with the death at Frascati of Cardinal Henry Benedict Stuart, the last Stuart claimant to the throne, the movement of Jacobitism comes to an effective end.
- 2–7 September – Battle of Copenhagen: The Royal Navy bombards Copenhagen with fire bombs and phosphorus rockets to prevent the Dano-Norwegian navy from surrendering to Napoleon. One third of the city is destroyed and two thousand citizens killed.
- 2 September – Anglo-Russian War (1807–1812): Russia declares war on the United Kingdom.
- 13 November – Geological Society founded in London.
- 20 November – sinking of the Rochdale and the Prince of Wales: The British troopships Rochdale (brig) and Prince of Wales (packet ship) sink in a storm in Dublin Bay with around 400 drowned.[8]
- 22 December – the U.S. Congress passes the Embargo Act in response to the Orders in Council.
- 29 December – the Royal Navy ship of the line HMS Anson runs aground on Loe Bar, Cornwall, with around sixty people drowned, inspiring Henry Trengrouse to invent a rocket apparatus for saving life from shipwrecks.[9]
- Undated – Potassium and sodium isolated by Sir Humphry Davy.
Ongoing
- Anglo-Spanish War, 1796–1808
- Napoleonic Wars, 1803–1815
Publications
- Charles and Mary Lamb's children's book Tales from Shakespeare.[10]
- Benjamin Tabart's version of the fairy tale The History of Jack and the Bean-Stalk.
- William Wordsworth's Poems in Two Volumes, including "Resolution and Independence", "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud", "Ode: Intimations of Immortality" and "Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802".
Births
- 8 February – Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, sculptor and natural history artist (died 1894)
- 3 April
- Mary Carpenter, educational and social reformer (died 1877)
- Jane Digby, aristocratic adventuress (died 1881 in Syria)
- 31 August – Thomas Miller, "ploughboy poet" and novelist (died 1874)
- 8 October – Harriet Taylor, philosophical writer (died 1858)
- 19 October – Edward Bigge, Archdeacon of Lindisfarne (died 1844)
- 30 October – Christopher Wordsworth, Anglican bishop and Biblical commentator (died 1885)
- 30 November – William Farr, epidemiologist (died 1883)
Deaths
- 5 January – Isaac Reed, Shakespearean editor (born 1742)
- 15 April – Durham Ox, shorthorn bull (born 1796)
- 18 May – John Douglas, Anglican bishop (born 1721)
- 13 July – Henry Benedict Stuart, claimant to the throne of the United Kingdom (born 1725)
- 18 July – Thomas Jones, mathematician (born 1756)
- 14 September – George Townshend, 1st Marquess Townshend, field marshal (born 1724)
- 21 December – John Newton, cleric and hymnist (born 1725)
See also
References
- Munsell, Joel (1858). The Every Day Book of History and Chronology. D. Appleton & Co.
- Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 2006. ISBN 0-14-102715-0.
- Walthew, Kenneth (1971). From Rock and Tempest – The Life of Captain George William Manby. London: Bles. ISBN 0-7138-0287-1.
- "Dreadful Catastrophe". The Times (6980). London. 24 February 1807. p. 3.
- "Abolition of the Slave Trade 1807". BBC. Archived from the original on 11 October 2007. Retrieved 11 September 2007.
- Farndale, W. E. (1950). The Secret of Mow Cop: a new appraisal of the origins of Primitive Methodism. London: Epworth Press.
- Palmer, Alan; Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History. London: Century Ltd. pp. 242–243. ISBN 0-7126-5616-2.
- "Historical Coastal Walking Tour" (PDF). Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 February 2012. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
- Gilly, W. (1864). Narratives of Shipwrecks of the Royal Navy. p. 125.
- "Icons, a portrait of England 1800–1820". Archived from the original on 17 October 2007. Retrieved 11 September 2007.
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