1823 in the United Kingdom
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 1823 in the United Kingdom: |
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| 1821 1821 in the United Kingdom Events from the year 1821 in the United Kingdom. This is a Census year.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George IV*Prime Minister - Earl of Liverpool, Tory-Events:... | 1822 1822 in the United Kingdom Events from the year 1822 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George IV*Prime Minister - Lord Liverpool, Tory-Events:... | 1823 | 1824 1824 in the United Kingdom Events from the year 1824 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George V*Prime Minister - Earl of Liverpool, Tory-Events:... | 1825 1825 in the United Kingdom Events from the year 1825 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George IV*Prime Minister - Earl of Liverpool, Tory-Events:* 23 April - Royal Charter granted to the Geological Society of London.... |
Events from the year 1823 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 - King George IVGeorge IV of the United KingdomGeorge IV was the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and also of Hanover from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...
- Prime Minister - Lord LiverpoolRobert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of LiverpoolRobert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool KG PC was a British politician and the longest-serving Prime Minister of the United Kingdom since the Union with Ireland in 1801. He was 42 years old when he became premier in 1812 which made him younger than all of his successors to date...
, ToryToryToryism is a traditionalist and conservative political philosophy which grew out of the Cavalier faction in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It is a prominent ideology in the politics of the United Kingdom, but also features in parts of The Commonwealth, particularly in Canada...
Events
- January - In Paviland Cave on the Gower PeninsulaGower PeninsulaGower or the Gower Peninsula is a peninsula in south Wales, jutting from the coast into the Bristol Channel, and administratively part of the City and County of Swansea. Locally it is known as "Gower"...
, William BucklandWilliam BucklandThe Very Rev. Dr William Buckland DD FRS was an English geologist, palaeontologist and Dean of Westminster, who wrote the first full account of a fossil dinosaur, which he named Megalosaurus...
discovers the "Red Lady of PavilandRed Lady of PavilandThe Red Lady of Paviland is a fairly complete Upper Paleolithic-era human male skeleton dyed in red ochre. It was the first human fossil to have been found anywhere in the world and is also the oldest ceremonial burial anywhere in Western Europe so far discovered. The bones were discovered between...
", the first identification of a prehistoric (male) human burial. - 20 February - Explorer James WeddellJames WeddellJames Weddell was a British sailor, navigator and seal hunter who in the early Spring of 1823 sailed to latitude of 74°15' S and into a region of the Southern Ocean that later became known as the Weddell Sea.-Early life:He entered the merchant service very...
's expedition to Antarctica reaches latitudeLatitudeIn geography, the latitude of a location on the Earth is the angular distance of that location south or north of the Equator. The latitude is an angle, and is usually measured in degrees . The equator has a latitude of 0°, the North pole has a latitude of 90° north , and the South pole has a...
74°15' S and longitudeLongitudeLongitude is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east-west position of a point on the Earth's surface. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees, minutes and seconds, and denoted by the Greek letter lambda ....
34°16'45" W: the southernmost position any ship had reached before, a record that will hold for more than 80 years. - March - Royal Academy of MusicRoyal Academy of MusicThe Royal Academy of Music in London, England, is a conservatoire, Britain's oldest degree-granting music school and a constituent college of the University of London since 1999. The Academy was founded by Lord Burghersh in 1822 with the help and ideas of the French harpist and composer Nicolas...
opens. - 17 June - Charles Macintosh patents the waterproof material later used to make MackintoshMackintoshThe Mackintosh or Macintosh is a form of waterproof raincoat, first sold in 1824, made out of rubberised fabric...
coats. - July - 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...
ensures the passage of five Acts of Parliament, effectively abolishing the death penalty for over one hundred offences; in particular, the Judgement of Death ActJudgement of Death Act 1823The Judgement of Death Act 1823 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom . Passed at a time when there were over 200 offences in English law which carried a mandatory sentence of death, it gave judges the discretion to pass a lesser sentence for the first time. It did not apply to...
allows judges to commute sentences for capital offences other than murder or treason to imprisonment or transportationPenal transportationTransportation or penal transportation is the deporting of convicted criminals to a penal colony. Examples include transportation by France to Devil's Island and by the UK to its colonies in the Americas, from the 1610s through the American Revolution in the 1770s, and then to Australia between...
. - 4 July - Transportation Act allows convicts transportedPenal transportationTransportation or penal transportation is the deporting of convicted criminals to a penal colony. Examples include transportation by France to Devil's Island and by the UK to its colonies in the Americas, from the 1610s through the American Revolution in the 1770s, and then to Australia between...
to the colonies to be employed on public works. - 10 July - Gaols ActGaols Act 1823The Gaols Act 1823 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that provided for improvements in the treatment of prisoners in the United Kingdom.-Overview:...
passed by 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...
, based on the prison reform campaign of Elizabeth FryElizabeth FryElizabeth Fry , née Gurney, was an English prison reformer, social reformer and, as a Quaker, a Christian philanthropist...
. - 23 September - First Burmese WarFirst Burmese WarThe First Anglo-Burmese War was the first of three wars fought between the British and Burmese Empires in the 19th century. The war, which began primarily over the control of northeastern India, ended in a decisive British victory, giving the British total control of Assam, Manipur, Cachar and...
: Burmese attack the British on Shapura, an island close to ChittagongChittagongChittagong ) is a city in southeastern Bangladesh and the capital of an eponymous district and division. Built on the banks of the Karnaphuli River, the city is home to Bangladesh's busiest seaport and has a population of over 4.5 million, making it the second largest city in the country.A trading...
. - 25 November - Opening of The Royal Suspension Chain PierThe Royal Suspension Chain PierThe Royal Suspension Chain Pier was the first major pier built in Brighton, England. Generally known as the Chain Pier, it was designed by Captain Samuel Brown and built in 1823. The pier was primarily intended as a landing stage for packet boats to Dieppe, Seine-Maritime, but it also featured a...
at BrightonBrightonBrighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
, designed by Captain Samuel Brown, RN, the first pleasure pierPierA pier is a raised structure, including bridge and building supports and walkways, over water, typically supported by widely spread piles or pillars...
on the mainland of 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...
. - November - According to tradition, William Webb EllisWilliam Webb EllisRev. William Webb Ellis was an Anglican clergyman who is famous for allegedly being the inventor of Rugby football whilst a pupil at Rugby School....
invents rugbyRugby unionRugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
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Undated
- The King's LibraryKing's LibraryThe King's Library was one of the most important collections of books and pamphlets of the Age of Enlightenment. Assembled by George III, this scholarly library of over 65,000 volumes was subsequently given to the British nation by George IV. It was housed in a specially built gallery in the...
presented to the British MuseumBritish MuseumThe British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
. - Beginning of the first Anglo-Ashanti war.
Publications
- Thomas Campbell's poem The Last Man.
- Thomas De QuinceyThomas de QuinceyThomas Penson de Quincey was an English esssayist, best known for his Confessions of an English Opium-Eater .-Child and student:...
's critical essay On the Knocking at the Gate in MacbethOn the Knocking at the Gate in MacbethOn the Knocking at the Gate in Macbeth is an essay in Shakespearean criticism by the English author Thomas De Quincey, first published in the October 1823 edition of The London Magazine...
(in The London Magazine, October). - Walter ScottWalter ScottSir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet was a Scottish historical novelist, playwright, and poet, popular throughout much of the world during his time....
's novel Quentin DurwardQuentin DurwardQuentin Durward is a historical novel by Walter Scott, first published in 1823. The story concerns a Scottish archer in the service of the French King Louis XI ....
. - Thomas WakleyThomas WakleyThomas Wakley , was an English surgeon. He became a demagogue and social reformer who campaigned against incompetence, privilege and nepotism. He was the founding editor of The Lancet, and a radical Member of Parliament .- Life :Thomas Wakley was born in Membury, Devon to a prosperous farmer and...
's medical journalMedical journalA public health journal is a scientific journal devoted to the field of public health, including epidemiology, biostatistics, and health care . Public health journals, like most scientific journals, are peer-reviewed...
The LancetThe LancetThe Lancet is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal. It is one of the world's best known, oldest, and most respected general medical journals...
(first published 5 October).
Births
- 8 January - Alfred Russel WallaceAlfred Russel WallaceAlfred Russel Wallace, OM, FRS was a British naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist and biologist...
, naturalist and biologist (died 19131913 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1913 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George V*Prime Minister - H. H. Asquith, Liberal-Events:* 1 January - British Board of Film Censors receives the authority to classify and censor films....
) - 13 August - Goldwin SmithGoldwin SmithGoldwin Smith was a British-Canadian historian and journalist.- Early years :He was born at Reading, Berkshire. He was educated at Eton College and Magdalen College, Oxford, and after a brilliant undergraduate career he was elected to a fellowship at University College, Oxford...
, historian (died 19101910 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1910 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King Edward VII , King George V*Prime Minister - H. H...
)
Deaths
- 26 January - Edward JennerEdward JennerEdward Anthony Jenner was an English scientist who studied his natural surroundings in Berkeley, Gloucestershire...
, physician and medical researcher (born 17491749 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1749 in Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George II*Prime Minister - Henry Pelham, Whig-Events:* February - Admiralty revises the command structure of the Royal Navy and issues new Fighting Instructions....
) - 27 January - Charles HuttonCharles HuttonCharles Hutton was an English mathematician.Hutton was born at Newcastle-on-Tyne. He was educated in a school at Jesmond, kept by Mr Ivison, a clergyman of the Church of England...
, mathematician (born 17371737 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1737 in Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George II*Prime Minister - Robert Walpole, Whig-Events:...
) - 7 February - Mrs RadcliffeAnn RadcliffeAnne Radcliffe was an English author, and considered the pioneer of the gothic novel . Her style is romantic in its vivid descriptions of landscapes, and long travel scenes, yet the Gothic element is obvious through her use of the supernatural...
, writer (born 17641764 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1764 in Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George III*Prime Minister - George Grenville, Whig-Events:...
) - 26 February - John Philip KembleJohn Philip KembleJohn Philip Kemble was an English actor. He was born into a theatrical family as the eldest son of Roger Kemble, actor-manager of a touring troupe. His elder sister Sarah Siddons achieved fame with him on the stage of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane...
, actor (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....
) - 14 March - John Jervis, 1st Earl of St VincentJohn Jervis, 1st Earl of St VincentAdmiral of the Fleet John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent GCB, PC was an admiral in the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom...
, Royal Navy admiral (born 17351735 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1735 in Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George II*Prime Minister - Robert Walpole, Whig-Events:* 8 January - Premiere of George Frideric Handel's opera Ariodante at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden....
) - 23 April - Joseph NollekensJoseph NollekensJoseph Nollekens was a sculptor from London generally considered to be the finest British sculptor of the late 18th century. He was also a founder member of the Royal Academy in 1768.-Life:...
, sculptor (born 17371737 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1737 in Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George II*Prime Minister - Robert Walpole, Whig-Events:...
) - 11 September - David RicardoDavid RicardoDavid Ricardo was an English political economist, often credited with systematising economics, and was one of the most influential of the classical economists, along with Thomas Malthus, Adam Smith, and John Stuart Mill. He was also a member of Parliament, businessman, financier and speculator,...
, economist (born 17721772 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1772 in Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George III*Prime Minister - Lord North, Tory-Events:* 24 March - Royal Marriages Act 1772 requires the monarch's consent for the marriage of all members of the royal family.* 28 May - Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal open...
) - 23 September - Matthew BaillieMatthew BaillieMatthew Baillie was a Scottish physician and pathologist.-Life:...
, physician and pathologist (born 17611761 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1761 in Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George III*Prime Minister - Duke of Newcastle, Tory-Events:* 16 January - In India, general Sir Eyre Coote captures Pondicherry from the French....
) - 30 October - Edmund CartwrightEdmund CartwrightEdward Cartwright was an English clergyman and inventor of the power loom.- Life and work :...
, clergyman and inventor of the power loom (born 17431743 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1743 in Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George II*Prime Minister - Spencer Compton, Earl of Wilmington, Whig , Henry Pelham, Whig-Events:...
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