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 1846 in the United Kingdom: |
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Events from the year 1846 in the United Kingdom.
Contents |
Incumbents
- Monarch - Victoria of the United Kingdom
- Prime Minister - Robert Peel, Conservative (until 29 June), John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, Liberal
Events
- 5 January - The United States House of Representatives votes to stop sharing the Oregon Territory with the United Kingdom.
- 10 February - First Anglo-Sikh War: British victory at the Battle of Sobraon.[1]
- 9 March - The conclusion of the First Anglo-Sikh War with the signing of the Treaty of Lahore.[2] Kashmir is ceded to the British East India Company and the Koh-i-Noor diamond is surrendered to Queen Victoria.
- 13 March - Ballinglass Incident: eviction of 300 tenants at the village of Ballinglass in Ireland during the Irish Potato famine.
- 16 May - Under the leadership of Prime Minister Robert Peel, Parliament repeals the Corn Laws, replacing the old Colonial mercantile trade system with Free Trade.[3]
- 15 June - Treaty of Washington establishes the 49th Parallel as the border between Oregon and British Canada.[1]
- 29 June - Peel resigns, and is succeeded by John Russell, 1st Earl Russell.
- 26 August - Felix Mendelssohn's oratorio Elijah first performed at the Birmingham Festival.[2]
- 10 October - William Lassell discovers Triton, one of the moons of Neptune.
- 21 December - Surgeon Robert Liston carries out the first operation under anaesthesia in Britain.[2]
Undated
- Electric Telegraph Company founded.
- Railway Mania reaches its zenith, with 272 railway construction bills being passed in this year.[1]
- The discovery of Neptune is disputed between the British astronomer John Couch Adams and the French astronomer Urbain Le Verrier.
Ongoing events
- Irish Potato Famine (1845–1849)
Publications
- Charles Dickens' novel The Battle of Life and the serialisation of Dombey and Son.
- Edward Lear's A Book of Nonsense.[1]
Births
- 18 February - Wilson Barrett, actor (died 1904)
- 17 March - Kate Greenaway, children's book illustrator and writer (died 1901)
- 25 May - Princess Helena of the United Kingdom (died 1923)
- 27 June - Charles Stewart Parnell, Irish political leader (died 1891)
- 16 September - Anna Kingsford, physician, advocate of women's rights, anti-vivisection and vegetarianism (died 1888)
Deaths
- 22 June - Benjamin Haydon, painter and writer (born 1786)
- 5 September - Charles Metcalfe, 1st Baron Metcalfe, colonial administartor (born 1785)
- 23 September - John Ainsworth Horrocks, English-born explorer of South Australia (born 1818)
References
- ^ a b c d Palmer, Alan & Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History. London: Century Ltd, 268-269. ISBN 0-7126-5616-2.
- ^ a b c (2006) Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. ISBN 0-141-02715-0.
- ^ "Icons, a portrait of England 1840-1860". Retrieved on 2007-09-13.
See also
