1855 in the United Kingdom
Encyclopedia
 1855 in the United Kingdom: |
| Other years |
| 1853 1853 in the United Kingdom Events from the year 1853 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — Lord Aberdeen, Peelite-Events:* 20 January — The United Kingdom annexes Lower Burma ending the Second Anglo-Burmese War.... | 1854 1854 in the United Kingdom Events from the year 1854 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — Lord Aberdeen, Peelite-Events:* 21 January — Loss of the RMS Tayleur — 380 drowned, later dubbed "the first Titanic".... | 1855 | 1856 1856 in the United Kingdom Events from the year 1856 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — Lord Palmerston, Liberal-Events:... | 1857 1857 in the United Kingdom Events from the year 1857 in the United Kingdom. This is a General Election year.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — Viscount Palmerston, Liberal-Events:* 7 January — London General Omnibus Company begins operating.... |
| Sport |
| 1855 English cricket season 1855 English cricket season The 1855 English cricket season was a successful one for Sussex, largely thanks to the combined efforts of Dean and Wisden-First-class matches:* -Leading batsmen:John Wisden was the leading runscorer with 422 @ 28.13... |
Events from the year 1855 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 — Earl of AberdeenGeorge Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of AberdeenGeorge Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen KG, KT, FRS, PC , styled Lord Haddo from 1791 to 1801, was a Scottish politician, successively a Tory, Conservative and Peelite, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1852 until 1855.-Early life:Born in Edinburgh on 28 January 1784, he...
, PeelitePeeliteThe Peelites were a breakaway faction of the British Conservative Party, and existed from 1846 to 1859. They were called "Peelites" because they were initially led by Sir Robert Peel, who was the British Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader in 1846....
(until 30 January), Viscount PalmerstonHenry Temple, 3rd Viscount PalmerstonHenry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, KG, GCB, PC , known popularly as Lord Palmerston, was a British statesman who served twice as Prime Minister in the mid-19th century...
, 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...
Events
- 9 January — The Earl of AberdeenGeorge Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of AberdeenGeorge Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen KG, KT, FRS, PC , styled Lord Haddo from 1791 to 1801, was a Scottish politician, successively a Tory, Conservative and Peelite, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1852 until 1855.-Early life:Born in Edinburgh on 28 January 1784, he...
loses a vote of no confidence1855 vote of no confidence against the government of the Earl of AberdeenThe 1855 vote of no confidence against the government of the Earl of Aberdeen occurred on 9 January 1855 when the House of Commons voted in favour of a select committee to enquire into alleged mismanagement during the Crimean War...
against his government over the management of the Crimean WarCrimean WarThe Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
. - 29 January — Aberdeen resigns as 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...
. - 5 February — Viscount PalmerstonHenry Temple, 3rd Viscount PalmerstonHenry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, KG, GCB, PC , known popularly as Lord Palmerston, was a British statesman who served twice as Prime Minister in the mid-19th century...
, becomes Prime Minister. - 8 February — The Devil's FootprintsThe Devil's FootprintsThe Devil's Footprints is a name given to a phenomenon that occurred in February 1855 around the Exe Estuary in South Devon, England. After a heavy snowfall, trails of hoof-like marks appeared overnight in the snow covering a total distance of some 40 to 100 miles...
, a series of mysteriously hoofHoofA hoof , plural hooves or hoofs , is the tip of a toe of an ungulate mammal, strengthened by a thick horny covering. The hoof consists of a hard or rubbery sole, and a hard wall formed by a thick nail rolled around the tip of the toe. The weight of the animal is normally borne by both the sole...
-like marks, appear in the snow in DevonDevonDevon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
and continue throughout the countryside for over 100 miles (160.9 km). - 11 April — The first pillar boxes are installed 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...
, at the suggestion of Rowland HillRowland Hill (postal reformer)Sir Rowland Hill KCB, FRS was an English teacher, inventor and social reformer. He campaigned for a comprehensive reform of the postal system, based on the concept of penny postage and his solution of prepayment, facilitating the safe, speedy and cheap transfer of letters...
. - 15 May — The Great Gold RobberyGreat Gold Robbery of 1855The Great Gold Robbery took place on the night of 15 May 1855, when three London firms sent a box of gold bars and coins each from London Bridge station for Paris via the South Eastern Railway...
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...
. - 15 June — Stamp dutyStamp dutyStamp duty is a tax that is levied on documents. Historically, this included the majority of legal documents such as cheques, receipts, military commissions, marriage licences and land transactions. A physical stamp had to be attached to or impressed upon the document to denote that stamp duty...
is removed from newspapers creating mass marketMass marketThe mass market is a general business term describing the largest group of consumers for a specified industry product. It is the opposite extreme of the term niche market.-General:...
mediaMass mediaMass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
in the UK. - 29 June — The Daily Telegraph begins publication.
- 16 July — AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n colonies granted self-governing status. - 31 July — Limited Liability ActLimited Liability Act 1855The Limited Liability Act 1855 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that first allowed limited liability for corporations that could be established by the general public in the UK.-Overview:...
protects investors in the event of corporate collapse. - 3 September — Last Bartholomew FairBartholomew FairBartholomew Fayre: A Comedy is a comedy in five acts by Ben Jonson, the last written of his four great comedies. It was first staged on October 31, 1614 at the Hope Theatre by the Lady Elizabeth's Men...
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...
. - 11 September — Sevastapol falls to British troops.
- 17 October — Henry BessemerHenry BessemerSir Henry Bessemer was an English engineer, inventor, and businessman. Bessemer's name is chiefly known in connection with the Bessemer process for the manufacture of steel.-Anthony Bessemer:...
files his patentPatentA patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....
for the Bessemer processBessemer processThe Bessemer process was the first inexpensive industrial process for the mass-production of steel from molten pig iron. The process is named after its inventor, Henry Bessemer, who took out a patent on the process in 1855. The process was independently discovered in 1851 by William Kelly...
for the production of steel. - 17 November — Explorer David LivingstoneDavid LivingstoneDavid Livingstone was a Scottish Congregationalist pioneer medical missionary with the London Missionary Society and an explorer in Africa. His meeting with H. M. Stanley gave rise to the popular quotation, "Dr...
discovers Victoria FallsVictoria FallsThe Victoria Falls or Mosi-oa-Tunya is a waterfall located in southern Africa on the Zambezi River between the countries of Zambia and Zimbabwe.-Introduction:...
. - 22 December — Metropolitan Board of WorksMetropolitan Board of WorksThe Metropolitan Board of Works was the principal instrument of London-wide government from 1855 until the establishment of the London County Council in 1889. Its principal responsibility was to provide infrastructure to cope with London's rapid growth, which it successfully accomplished. The MBW...
established.
Undated
- James Clerk MaxwellJames Clerk MaxwellJames Clerk Maxwell of Glenlair was a Scottish physicist and mathematician. His most prominent achievement was formulating classical electromagnetic theory. This united all previously unrelated observations, experiments and equations of electricity, magnetism and optics into a consistent theory...
unifies electricityElectricityElectricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...
and magnetismMagnetismMagnetism is a property of materials that respond at an atomic or subatomic level to an applied magnetic field. Ferromagnetism is the strongest and most familiar type of magnetism. It is responsible for the behavior of permanent magnets, which produce their own persistent magnetic fields, as well...
into a single theory, classical electromagnetismElectromagnetismElectromagnetism is one of the four fundamental interactions in nature. The other three are the strong interaction, the weak interaction and gravitation...
, thereby showing that lightLightLight or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that is visible to the human eye, and is responsible for the sense of sight. Visible light has wavelength in a range from about 380 nanometres to about 740 nm, with a frequency range of about 405 THz to 790 THz...
is an electromagnetic waveWaveIn physics, a wave is a disturbance that travels through space and time, accompanied by the transfer of energy.Waves travel and the wave motion transfers energy from one point to another, often with no permanent displacement of the particles of the medium—that is, with little or no associated mass...
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Publications
- Mrs Archer CliveCaroline CliveCaroline Clive, sometimes known as Caroline Wigley Clive was an English writer born Caroline Meysey-Wigley in Brompton Grove, London to Edmund Meysey-Wigley of Shakenhurst, Worcestershire and Anna Marie Meysey....
's novel Paul Ferroll. - Serialisation of Charles DickensCharles DickensCharles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
' novel Little DorritLittle DorritLittle Dorrit is a serial novel by Charles Dickens published originally between 1855 and 1857. It is a work of satire on the shortcomings of the government and society of the period....
. - Mrs GaskellElizabeth GaskellElizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell, née Stevenson , often referred to simply as Mrs Gaskell, was a British novelist and short story writer during the Victorian era...
's novel North and South. - Charles KingsleyCharles KingsleyCharles Kingsley was an English priest of the Church of England, university professor, historian and novelist, particularly associated with the West Country and northeast Hampshire.-Life and character:...
's novel Westward Ho!Westward Ho! (novel)Westward Ho! is an 1855 British historical novel by Charles Kingsley, inspired in part by an Elizabethan travelogue by privateer Admiral Sir Richard Hawkins and by the Crimean War.-Plot summary:...
. - William Makepeace ThackerayWilliam Makepeace ThackerayWilliam Makepeace Thackeray was an English novelist of the 19th century. He was famous for his satirical works, particularly Vanity Fair, a panoramic portrait of English society.-Biography:...
's novel The NewcomesThe NewcomesThe Newcomes is an novel by William Makepeace Thackeray, first published in 1855.-Publication:The Newcomes was published serially over about two years, as Thackeray himself says in one of the novel's final chapters...
. - Anthony TrollopeAnthony TrollopeAnthony Trollope was one of the most successful, prolific and respected English novelists of the Victorian era. Some of his best-loved works, collectively known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire, revolve around the imaginary county of Barsetshire...
's novel The WardenThe WardenThe Warden is the first novel in Anthony Trollope's series known as the "Chronicles of Barsetshire", published in 1855. It was his fourth novel.-Synopsis:...
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Deaths
- 3 January — Julius Charles HareJulius Charles HareJulius Charles Hare was an English theological writer.He was born at Valdagno, near Vicenza, in Italy. He came to England with his parents in 1799, but in 1804-1805 spent a winter with them at Weimar, Germany, where he met Goethe and Schiller, and took an interest in German literature which...
, theological writer (born 17951795 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1795 in the Kingdom of Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George III*Prime Minister - William Pitt the Younger, Tory-Events:* March - English Benedictine monks expelled from the Priory of St...
) - 10 January — Mary Russell MitfordMary Russell MitfordMary Russell Mitford , was an English author and dramatist. She was born at Alresford, Hampshire. Her place in English literature is as the author of Our Village...
, novelist and dramartist (born 17871787 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1787 in the Kingdom of Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George III*Prime Minister - William Pitt the Younger, Tory-Events:...
) - 25 January — Dorothy WordsworthDorothy WordsworthDorothy Mae Ann Wordsworth was an English author, poet and diarist. She was the sister of the Romantic poet William Wordsworth, and the two were close for all of their lives...
, poet and diarist (born 17711771 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1771 in the Kingdom of Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George III*Prime Minister - Lord North, Tory-Events:* 22 January - Spain cedes the Falkland Islands to Britain....
) - 20 February — Joseph HumeJoseph HumeJoseph Hume FRS was a Scottish doctor and Radical MP, born in Montrose, Angus.-Medical career:He studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh and moved to India in 1797...
, doctor and politician (born 17771777 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1777 in Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George III*Prime Minister - Lord North, Tory-Events:* 3 January - American Revolution: American general George Washington defeats British general Charles Cornwallis at the Battle of Princeton.* 18 May - First performance of...
) - 31 March — Charlotte BrontëCharlotte BrontëCharlotte Brontë was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood, whose novels are English literature standards...
, author (born 18161816 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1816 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George III*Prime Minister - Lord Liverpool, Tory-Events:* 9 January - Sir Humphry Davy tests the Davy lamp for miners at Hebburn Colliery....
) - 5 May — Robert InglisRobert InglisSir Robert Harry Inglis, 2nd Baronet FRS was an English Conservative politician, noted for his staunch High church views.He was the son of Sir Hugh Inglis, a minor politician and MP for Ashburton...
, politician (born 17861786 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1786 in the Kingdom of Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George III*Prime Minister - William Pitt the Younger, Tory-Events:...
) - 23 May — Charles Robert MaldenCharles Robert MaldenCharles Robert Malden , was a nineteenth century British naval officer, surveyor and educator. Discoverer of Malden Island in the central Pacific, which is named in his honour. Founder of the Windlesham House School at Brighton, England.Malden was born in Putney, Surrey, son of Jonas Malden, a...
explorer (born 17971797 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1797 in Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George III*Prime Minister - William Pitt the Younger, Tory-Events:* 3 January - Three of the stones making up Stonehenge fall due to heavy frosts....
) - 28 June — Fitzroy Somerset, 1st Lord Raglan, commander of British forces in the Crimean War (born 17881788 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1788 in the Kingdom of Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George III*Prime Minister - William Pitt the Younger, Tory-Events:...
) - 8 or 9 July — William Edward ParryWilliam Edward ParrySir William Edward Parry was an English rear-admiral and Arctic explorer, who in 1827 attempted one of the earliest expeditions to the North Pole...
Arctic explorer (born 17901790 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1790 in the Kingdom of Great Britain. This is a General Election year.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George III*Prime Minister - William Pitt the Younger, Tory-Events:...
)