1873 in the United Kingdom
Encyclopedia
 1873 in the United Kingdom: |
| Other years |
| 1871 1871 in the United Kingdom Events from the year 1871 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — William Ewart Gladstone, Liberal-Events:... | 1872 1872 in the United Kingdom Events from the year 1872 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — William Ewart Gladstone, Liberal-Events:* 1 January — C. P... | 1873 | 1874 1874 in the United Kingdom Events from the year 1874 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — William Ewart Gladstone, Liberal , Benjamin Disraeli, Conservative-Events:... | 1875 1875 in the United Kingdom Events from the year 1875 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — Benjamin Disraeli, Conservative-Events:... |
| Sport |
| 1873 English cricket season 1873 English cricket season In the 1873 English cricket season, in only their fourth season as a first-class team, Gloucestershire was proclaimed joint Champion County by the media and went on to claim the still unofficial title four times in five seasons .... |
 1872–73 in English football |
Events from the year 1873 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 — William Ewart GladstoneWilliam Ewart GladstoneWilliam Ewart Gladstone FRS FSS was a British Liberal statesman. In a career lasting over sixty years, he served as Prime Minister four separate times , more than any other person. Gladstone was also Britain's oldest Prime Minister, 84 years old when he resigned for the last time...
, 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
- 3 March — First performance of W. S. GilbertW. S. GilbertSir William Schwenck Gilbert was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his fourteen comic operas produced in collaboration with the composer Sir Arthur Sullivan, of which the most famous include H.M.S...
and Gilbert Arthur à BeckettGilbert Arthur a BeckettGilbert Arthur à Beckett was an English writer.-Biography:Beckett was born at Hammersmith, United Kingdom, the eldest son of Gilbert Abbott à Beckett and the brother of Arthur William à Beckett...
's play The Happy LandThe Happy LandThe Happy Land is a play with music written in 1873 by W. S. Gilbert and Gilbert Arthur à Beckett. The musical play burlesques Gilbert's earlier play, The Wicked World...
at the Royal Court TheatreRoyal Court TheatreThe Royal Court Theatre is a non-commercial theatre on Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is noted for its contributions to modern theatre...
, 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...
. The play creates a scandal by breaking regulations against the portrayal of public characters, parodying William Ewart GladstoneWilliam Ewart GladstoneWilliam Ewart Gladstone FRS FSS was a British Liberal statesman. In a career lasting over sixty years, he served as Prime Minister four separate times , more than any other person. Gladstone was also Britain's oldest Prime Minister, 84 years old when he resigned for the last time...
, Robert LoweRobert Lowe, 1st Viscount SherbrookeRobert Lowe, 1st Viscount Sherbrooke PC , British and Australian statesman, was a pivotal but often forgotten figure who shaped British politics in the latter half of the 19th century. He held office under William Ewart Gladstone as Chancellor of the Exchequer between 1868 and 1873 and as Home...
, and Acton Smee AyrtonActon Smee AyrtonActon Smee Ayrton was a British barrister and Liberal Party politician. Considered a radical and champion of the working classes, he served as First Commissioner of Works under William Ewart Gladstone between 1869 and 1873...
, respectively the Prime MinisterPrime ministerA prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
, Chancellor of the ExchequerChancellor of the ExchequerThe Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister who is responsible for all economic and financial matters. Often simply called the Chancellor, the office-holder controls HM Treasury and plays a role akin to the posts of Minister of Finance or Secretary of the...
, and First Commissioner of WorksFirst Commissioner of WorksThe First Commissioner of Works and Public Buildings was a position within the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It took over some of the functions of the First Commissioner of Woods and Forests in 1851 when the portfolio of Crown holdings was divided into the public...
. - 13 March — GladstoneWilliam Ewart GladstoneWilliam Ewart Gladstone FRS FSS was a British Liberal statesman. In a career lasting over sixty years, he served as Prime Minister four separate times , more than any other person. Gladstone was also Britain's oldest Prime Minister, 84 years old when he resigned for the last time...
resigns as Prime Minister, but the Conservatives fail to form a government, and Gladstone returns to office two days later. - 31 March — Supreme Court of Judicature ActSupreme Court of Judicature Act 1873The Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1873 was an Act of Parliament by the Parliament of the United Kingdom in 1873...
reforms the judiciary, establishing the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal of England and WalesCourt of Appeal of England and WalesThe Court of Appeal of England and Wales is the second most senior court in the English legal system, with only the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom above it...
and abolishing the Court of Common PleasCourt of Common Pleas (England)The Court of Common Pleas, or Common Bench, was a common law court in the English legal system that covered "common pleas"; actions between subject and subject, which did not concern the king. Created in the late 12th to early 13th century after splitting from the Exchequer of Pleas, the Common...
as a separate institution and, with it, the office of attorney at lawAttorney at lawAn attorney at law in the United States is a practitioner in a court of law who is legally qualified to prosecute and defend actions in such court on the retainer of clients. Alternative terms include counselor and lawyer...
. - April — Ashanti attack British forts in the Gold CoastGold Coast (British colony)The Gold Coast was a British colony on the Gulf of Guinea in west Africa that became the independent nation of Ghana in 1957.-Overview:The first Europeans to arrive at the coast were the Portuguese in 1471. They encountered a variety of African kingdoms, some of which controlled substantial...
. - 1 April — The British steamer RMS AtlanticRMS AtlanticRMS Atlantic was a transatlantic ocean liner of the White Star Line that operated between Liverpool, United Kingdom, and New York City, United States. During the ship's 19th voyage, on 1 April 1873, it ran onto rocks and sank off the coast of Nova Scotia, killing 535 people...
sinks off Nova ScotiaNova ScotiaNova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
killing 547. - 2 April — The first sleeping carSleeping carThe sleeping car or sleeper is a railway/railroad passenger car that can accommodate all its passengers in beds of one kind or another, primarily for the purpose of making nighttime travel more restful. The first such cars saw sporadic use on American railroads in the 1830s and could be configured...
is introduced in Britain, on the Glasgow to London night express. - 20 May — In Chipping Norton, rioters attempt to free the Ascott MartyrsAscott MartyrsThe Ascott Martyrs were 16 women from the village of Ascott-under-Wychwood in Oxfordshire, England who were imprisoned in 1873 for their role in founding a branch of the National Union of Agricultural Workers...
— sixteen women sentenced to imprisonment for attempting to dissuade strikebreakerStrikebreakerA strikebreaker is a person who works despite an ongoing strike. Strikebreakers are usually individuals who are not employed by the company prior to the trade union dispute, but rather hired prior to or during the strike to keep the organisation running...
s in an agricultural labour dispute. - 9 June — Alexandra PalaceAlexandra PalaceAlexandra Palace is a building in North London, England. It stands in Alexandra Park, in an area between Hornsey, Muswell Hill and Wood Green...
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...
destroyed by fire only a fortnight after its opening. - October — Girton CollegeGirton College, CambridgeGirton College is one of the 31 constituent colleges of the University of Cambridge. It was England's first residential women's college, established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon. The full college status was only received in 1948 and marked the official admittance of women to the...
opens as the first women's collegeWomen's collegeWomen's colleges in higher education are undergraduate, bachelor's degree-granting institutions, often liberal arts colleges, whose student populations are composed exclusively or almost exclusively of women...
in Cambridge. - 26 November — British troops invade Ashanti territory.
Undated
- Third Anglo-Ashanti War: The United Kingdom declares war against Ghana's King Kofi KariKari, who was involved in the trading of slaves.
- Britain puts pressure on SultanSultanSultan is a title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", and "dictatorship", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who...
SayyidSayyidSayyid is an honorific title, it denotes males accepted as descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad through his grandsons, Hasan ibn Ali and Husain ibn Ali, sons of the prophet's daughter Fatima Zahra and his son-in-law Ali ibn Abi Talib.Daughters of sayyids are given the titles Sayyida,...
BarghashBarghash bin Said of ZanzibarSayyid Barghash bin Said Al-Busaid, GCMG, GCTE , son of Said bin Sultan,was the second Sultan of Zanzibar. Barghash ruled Zanzibar from October 7, 1870 to March 26, 1888....
who closes slave markets in ZanzibarZanzibarZanzibar ,Persian: زنگبار, from suffix bār: "coast" and Zangi: "bruin" ; is a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania, in East Africa. It comprises the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of numerous small islands and two large ones: Unguja , and Pemba...
. - Elizabeth Garrett AndersonElizabeth Garrett AndersonElizabeth Garrett Anderson, LSA, MD , was an English physician and feminist, the first woman to gain a medical qualification in Britain and the first female mayor in England.-Early life:...
admitted to membership of the British Medical AssociationBritish Medical AssociationThe British Medical Association is the professional association and registered trade union for doctors in the United Kingdom. The association does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The association’s headquarters are located in BMA House,...
. As the Association votes against the admission of further women in 1878, she remains the only woman member for nineteen years. - Chemical company Brunner MondBrunner MondTata Chemicals Europe is a UK-based chemicals company that is a subsidiary of Tata Chemicals Limited, itself a part of the India-based Tata Group...
established by John Brunner and Ludwig MondLudwig MondDr Ludwig Mond , was a German-born chemist and industrialist who took British nationality.-Education and career:...
who begin to build WinningtonWinningtonWinnington is a small, mainly residential area of the town of Northwich in Cheshire, England.-Industry:Winnington is the home to Brunner Mond UK chemical works, where soda ash is created. Polythene, the material used in many plastic items , was first made at the chemical works by R.O. Gibson and...
Works in NorthwichNorthwichNorthwich is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It lies in the heart of the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers Weaver and Dane...
, CheshireCheshireCheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
. - Work begins on the Natural History MuseumNatural History MuseumThe Natural History Museum is one of three large museums on Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London, England . Its main frontage is on Cromwell Road...
in London. - Rangers Football ClubRangers F.C.Rangers Football Club are an association football club based in Glasgow, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Premier League. The club are nicknamed the Gers, Teddy Bears and the Light Blues, and the fans are known to each other as bluenoses...
officially established in GlasgowGlasgowGlasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
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Publications
- Thomas HardyThomas HardyThomas Hardy, OM was an English novelist and poet. While his works typically belong to the Naturalism movement, several poems display elements of the previous Romantic and Enlightenment periods of literature, such as his fascination with the supernatural.While he regarded himself primarily as a...
's novel A Pair of Blue EyesA Pair of Blue EyesA Pair of Blue Eyes is a novel by Thomas Hardy, published in 1873.The book describes the love triangle of a young woman, Elfride Swancourt, and her two suitors from very different backgrounds. Stephen Smith is a socially inferior but ambitious young man who adores her and with whom she shares a...
. - 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...
's work A Treatise on Electricity and MagnetismA Treatise on Electricity and MagnetismA Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism is a two volume treatise on electromagnetism written by James Clerk Maxwell in 1873.-See also:* On Physical Lines of Force* A Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic Field-External links:...
. - Walter PaterWalter PaterWalter Horatio Pater was an English essayist, critic of art and literature, and writer of fiction.-Early life:...
's collected Studies in the History of the Renaissance. - Serialisation of 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 Phineas ReduxPhineas ReduxPhineas Redux is a novel by Anthony Trollope, first published in 1873 as a serial in The Graphic. It is the fourth of the "Palliser" series of novels and the sequel to the second book of the series, Phineas Finn.-Synopsis:...
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Births
- 7 February — Thomas AndrewsThomas Andrews (shipbuilder)Thomas Andrews, Jr. was an Irish businessman and shipbuilder; managing director and head of the draughting department for the shipbuilding company Harland and Wolff in Belfast, Ireland. Andrews was the shipbuilder in charge of the plans for the ocean liner...
, shipbuilder (died 19121912 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1912 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George V*Prime Minister - H. H. Asquith, Liberal-Events:* 1 January - Post Office takes over National Telephone Company....
) - 19 April — Sydney BarnesSydney BarnesSydney Francis Barnes was an English professional cricketer who is generally regarded as one of the greatest bowlers in the sport's history...
, cricketer (died 19671967 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1967 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:* Monarch – Elizabeth II* Prime Minister – Harold Wilson, Labour Party-January:* January – UK release of the London-set film Blowup....
) - 8 May — Nevil Sidgwick, chemist (died 19521952 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1952 in the United Kingdom. This year sees a change of monarch.-Incumbents:*Monarch – King George VI , Elizabeth II*Prime Minister – Winston Churchill, Conservative Party-Events:...
) - 17 May — Dorothy RichardsonDorothy RichardsonDorothy Miller Richardson was a British author and journalist.-Biography:Richardson was born in Abingdon in 1873. Her family moved to Worthing, West Sussex in 1880 and then Putney, London in 1883...
, feminist writer (died 19571957 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1957 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:* Monarch – Elizabeth II* Prime Minister – Anthony Eden and Harold Macmillan, Conservative Party-Events:* 9 January – Resignation of Anthony Eden as Prime Minister due to ill-health....
) - 11 August — Bertram MillsBertram MillsBertram Wagstaff Mills was a British circus owner who ran the Bertram Mills Circus. Originally from Paddington, London, his circus became famous in the UK for its Christmas shows at Olympia in West London...
, circus manager (died 19381938 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1938 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch – King George VI*Prime Minister – Neville Chamberlain, national coalition-Events:...
) - 22 November — Johnny TyldesleyJohnny TyldesleyJohnny Tyldesley was a Lancashire and England cricketer and for many years the finest professional batsman in county cricket.-Life and career:...
, cricketer (died 19301930 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1930 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:* Monarch - King George V* Prime Minister - Ramsay MacDonald, Labour-Events:* 1 February - The Times publishes its first crossword....
) - 17 December — Ford Madox FordFord Madox FordFord Madox Ford was an English novelist, poet, critic and editor whose journals, The English Review and The Transatlantic Review, were instrumental in the development of early 20th-century English literature...
, writer (died 19391939 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1939 in the United Kingdom. This year sees the start of World War II.-Incumbents:*Monarch – King George VI*Prime Minister – Neville Chamberlain, national coalition-Events:...
) - 26 December — Thomas WassThomas WassThomas Wass was a Nottinghamshire bowler who is best remembered, along with Hallam, for bowling that gave Nottinghamshire a brilliant County Championship win in 1907...
, Nottinghamshire bowler (died 19531953 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1953 in the United Kingdom. This is the year of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and the North Sea flood.-Incumbents:*Monarch – Elizabeth II*Prime Minister – Winston Churchill, Conservative Party-Events:...
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Deaths
- 18 January — Edward Bulwer-LyttonEdward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron LyttonEdward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton PC , was an English politician, poet, playwright, and novelist. He was immensely popular with the reading public and wrote a stream of bestselling dime-novels which earned him a considerable fortune...
, writer (born 18031803 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1803 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George III*Prime Minister - Henry Addington, Tory-Events:...
) - 7 February — Sheridan Le FanuSheridan Le FanuJoseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu was an Irish writer of Gothic tales and mystery novels. He was the leading ghost-story writer of the nineteenth century and was central to the development of the genre in the Victorian era....
, writer (born 18141814 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1814 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George III*Prime Minister - Lord Liverpool, Tory-Events:* 14 January** Treaty of Kiel cedes Danish Heligoland to Britain.** Last River Thames frost fair in London....
) - 27 April — William Charles MacreadyWilliam Charles Macready-Life:He was born in London, and educated at Rugby.It was his intention to go up to Oxford, but in 1809 the embarrassed affairs of his father, the lessee of several provincial theatres, called him to share the responsibilities of theatrical management. On 7 June 1810 he made a successful first...
, actor (born 17931793 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1793 in the Kingdom of Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George III*Prime Minister - William Pitt the Younger, Tory-Events:...
) - 1 May — 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...
, explorer of Africa (born 18131813 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1813 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George III*Prime Minister - Lord Liverpool, Tory-Events:* 1 June - War of 1812: HMS Shannon captures the USS Chesapeake....
) - 8 May — John Stuart MillJohn Stuart MillJohn Stuart Mill was a British philosopher, economist and civil servant. An influential contributor to social theory, political theory, and political economy, his conception of liberty justified the freedom of the individual in opposition to unlimited state control. He was a proponent of...
, philosopher (born 18061806 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1806 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.-Incumbents:*Monarch - George III*Prime Minister - William Pitt the Younger, Tory , Lord Grenville coalition-Events:...
) - 20 July — Richard Bethell, 1st Baron WestburyRichard Bethell, 1st Baron WestburyRichard Bethell, 1st Baron Westbury PC, QC , was a British lawyer, judge and Liberal politician. He served as Lord Chancellor of Great Britain between 1861 and 1865.-Background and education:...
, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain (born 18001800 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1800 in Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George III*Prime Minister - William Pitt the Younger, Tory-Events:* 8 January - First soup kitchens open in London.* 17 March - catches fire with the loss of 700 lives....
) - 17 September — Alexander BerryAlexander BerryAlexander Berry was a Scottish-born surgeon, merchant and explorer who in 1822 was given a land grant of 10,000 acres and 100 convicts to establish the first European settlement on the south coast of New South Wales, Australia.This settlement became known as the Coolangatta Estate and later...
, adventurer and Australian pioneer (born 17811781 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1781 in the Kingdom of Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George III*Prime Minister - Lord North, Tory-Events:* 1 January - Industrial Revolution: The Iron Bridge opens across the River Severn....
) - 1 October — Edwin LandseerEdwin Henry LandseerSir Edwin Henry Landseer, RA was an English painter, well known for his paintings of animals—particularly horses, dogs and stags...
, painter (born 18021802 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1802 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George III*Prime Minister - Henry Addington, Tory-Events:...
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