Life and Times mid 16th Century to 2000
TUDORS
Henry VII 1485-1509
Henry VIII 1509-1547
Edward VI 1547-1553
Jane Grey 1553-1553
Mary I 1553-1558
Elizabeth I 1558-1603
STUARTS
James I 1603-1625
Charles I 1625-1649
COMMONWEALTH
Oliver Cromwell 1649-1658
Richard Cromwell 1658-1659
STUARTS (restored)
Charles II 1660-1685
James II 1685-1688
William III 1689-1702
Mary II (with Wm) 1689-1694
Anne 1702-1714
Some dates of national importance:
16th century
1553 Edward VI accepts Cranmer’s “42 Articles”.
Lady Jane Grey becomes Queen for 9 days
Accession of Mary I
1555 Parliament re-establishes Catholicism
1558 Accession of Elizabeth I
1559 Act of Supremacy
1568 Mary Queen of Scots arrested by Elizabeth I
Dean of St. Paul’s perfects a way of bottling beer
1575 William Byrd and Thomas Tallis granted a music press monopoly
1577 Francis Drake sets sail around the world
1580 Francis Drake completes his circumnavigation of the world
1581 Laws against Catholics intensified
1584 Jesuits expelled from England
1586 Sir Walter Raleigh brings the first tobacco to England from Virginia
1588 The Spanish Armada
17th century
1603 Accession of James I & VI
1605 The Gunpowder Plot
1606 England adopts the Union Flag
1607 First British colony in the New World established at Jamestown, Virginia
“God Save the King” first sung
1609 “Three Blind Mice” published in London
1611 King James Bible published
1618 Sir Walter Raleigh beheaded
1620 Pilgrim Fathers sail to America in the Mayflower
1625 Charles I ascends the throne
1628 Charles I accepts the Petition of Right
1629 Charles I dissolves Parliament – the beginning of the Eleven Years Tyranny
1640 Short Parliament
Long Parliament called
Strafford impeached
1641 Charles I accepts the Triennial Act
1642 Outbreak of Civil War
1644 Siege of York
Battle of Marston Moor
Scottish Covenanters army invaded northern England. Lord Leven
occupied Northallerton
1649 Execution of Charles I – Republic declared
The Monarchy and the House of Lords abolished
England declared a “Commonwealth and Free State”
1653 Oliver Cromwell installed as Lord Protector
1657 Cromwell offered the crown
1658 Death of Oliver Cromwell
Richard Cromwell proclaimed Lord Protector
1659 Protectorate overthrown and the Commonwealth re-established
1660 Charles II lands at Dover and the Monarchy is restored
1665 The Great Plague
1666 The Great Fire of London
1668 Glorious Revolution
1669 Bill of Rights
STUARTS
Anne 1702-1714
HOUSE OF HANOVER
George I 1714-1727
George II 1727-1760
George III 1760-1820
Some dates of national and local importance in the 18th century
1701 Act of Settlement
1707 Act of Union – Kingdom of Great Britain came into being
1715 Jacobite Rising
1745 Jacobite Rising – Scots reached as far south as Derby
1746 Battle of Culloden
John Wesley preached in Easingwold in the house of John Skaife –
‘Blayds House’ on Stillington Road
1755 Samuel Johnson published “A Dictionary of the English Language”
1775 American War of Independence
1779 World’s first iron bridge built in Shropshire
1786 John Wesley preached in the first Easingwold Chapel
c.1790 First Post Office/Post House opened in Easingwold
HOUSE OF HANOVER
George III 1760-1820
George IV 1820-1830
William IV 1830-1837
Victoria 1837-1901
Some dates of national and local importance in the 19th century
1800 Methodist meetings in Husthwaite and surrounding villages by this time
1807 Slave Trade Act
1815 End of the Napoleonic Wars
Corn Laws - tariffs on imported food following the Napoleonic wars, a period which saw both famine and chronic unemployment in Britain. Landowners sought to keep the price of corn artificially high (“corn” encompassed any grain that needed grinding) by imposing steep import duties on foreign grain even when food supplies were short. This had the effect of making Britain’s staple food very expensive.
1819 Peterloo Massacre - cavalry charged into a crowd of 60,000-80,000 people in St Peter’s Field in Manchester, where they had gathered to demand reform of parliamentary representation at a time of great hardship following the Napoleonic war and the imposition of the Corn Laws. In an area of the country where there was relatively little suffrage, the meeting was to be addressed by the well-known radical orator Henry Hunt. In fear, the local magistrates called for the arrest of Hunt and as the sabre waving cavalry tried to disperse the crowd. 15 people were killed and hundreds injured. The massacre was given the name Peterloo in an ironic comparison with the relatively recent Battle of Waterloo (1815). Although this event was eventually seen as a defining moment in Britain’s radical history, the immediate effect was to cause the government to crack down on reform by passing the Six Acts (restricting public meetings and freedom of expression).
1825 Stockton and Darlington Railway opened – world’s first public passenger
Railway
1832 Great Reform Act - Introduced wide-ranging changes to the electoral system of England and Wales. The Act granted seats in the House of Commons that had sprung up during the Industrial Revolution and removed the “Rotten Boroughs” – those with very small electorates usually dominated by a wealthy patron. The Act increased the electorate from about 50,000 to 813,000 people, allowing about 1 out of 5 adult males to vote.
1833 Abolition of Slavery
1834 New Poor Law
1838 Formation of the Anti-Corn Law League - The Anti-Corn Law league was formed by Richard Cobden and John Bright. It was aimed at the abolition of the unpopular Corn Laws, which kept the price of bread high at a time when factory owners were trying to cut wages. The League was the first powerful national lobbying group in politics. It was well-organised, well-funded, had representation in Parliament and became a model for later reform movements.
1840 Penny Post introduced
1841 First Methodist Chapel built in Husthwaite
1844 Final Enclosure Act for Husthwaite
1845 Irish potato famine
1846 Corn Laws repealed - Repeal of the Corn Laws – Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel forced through the repeal of the Laws at great personal and political cost because of the urgent need for new food supplies following the Irish potato famine. In fact, the repeal did little to help the immediate plight of the Irish. There was, however, a significant increase of free trade following the abolition.
1848 Thirsk to Leeds railway opened
1854 Husthwaite Gate railway station opened
Battle of Balaclava – “The Charge of the Light Brigade”
1859 Charles Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species” published
1863 First underground train went into operation in London
1867 Second Reform Act/Representation of the People Act enfranchised 1,500,000 men. All male urban householders and male lodgers paying £10 rent per year for unfurnished accommodation got the right to vote. The Act redistributed 52 seats in the Commons from small towns to the growing industrial towns.
1868 Last public execution in England
1870 Education Act introduced universal education for 5-13 year olds
1880 Elementary Education Act made primary education compulsory and extended
it to girls
1884 Third Reform Act/Representation of the People Act. The voting qualifications of the 1867 Act were extended to the countryside and established the modern system of the one member constituency as the normal pattern in Parliament. All women and 40% of adult males were still without the vote.
SAXE-COBURG-GOTHA
Edward VII 1901-1910
WINDSOR
George V 1910-1936
Edward VIII 1936-1936
George VI 1936-1952
Elizabeth II 1952-date
Some dates of national and local importance in the 20th century
1901 Death of Queen Victoria and succession of Edward VII
Vacuum cleaner invented
Marconi sends first radio message across the Atlantic
1902 End of the Boer War
1903 Women’s Social and Political Union formed to campaign for women’s suffrage
The ice cream cone is invented
Daily Mirror is first printed
1904 An Entente Cordiale is signed between Britain and France marking the end of centuries of intermittent conflict between the two nations and paving the way to military and diplomatic co-operation
1905 Liberal government under Henry Campbell-Bannerman embarks on a programme of social reform
1906 First “Dreadnought” class battleship is launched
Bubble-gum is invented
1907 Britain and Russia agree an entente and along with France became known as the “Triple Powers” who lined up against the “Triple Alliance” of Germany, Italy and Austria-Hungary
1908 Olympic Games are held at White City, London
Custard creams invented
Parliament approved an “old age pension”, which was means tested to a maximum of 5 shillings a week to all those over 70
1909 Lloyd George presents the “People’s Budget” designed to fund the new “Dreadnought” class battleships and social reforms. Its rejection by the House of Lords led to Lloyd George’s determination to reform the Lords
1910 Death of Edward VII and succession of George V
1911 Liberals finally force through House of Lords reform. The Lords can no longer veto legislation that has passed the Commons in three successive sessions. Parliament is now to be dissolved after 5 years rather than 7. Pay for MPs is also introduced
National Insurance Act – a contributory scheme of health insurance providing payment for medical treatment and a limited plan for unemployment benefit. This is seen as the foundation of the Welfare State
1912 Irish “Home Rule” is proposed (reflecting the Liberals’ dependence on Irish Nationalist votes in the House of Commons
Royal Flying Corps established
Sinking of the Titanic with the loss of 1,503 lives
1913 Suffragette Emily Dickinson is killed by the king’s horse at the Derby
First domestic fridge is sold
First crossword appears
1914 28th June - Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife are assassinated by Bosnian Serb terrorist Gavrillo Princip in Sarajevo. The event escalates quickly, drawing in the “Great Powers” of Europe and resulting in the outbreak of World War I
4th August – Britain declares war on Germany in response to the invasion of neutral Belgium
1916 Easter uprising in Ireland
1917 Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. Tsar Nicholas II is forced to abdicate
1918 Feb. - Representation of the People Act enfranchises all men over the age of 21 and propertied women over the age of 30. The electorate increased to 21 million, of which 8 million were women
March - Treaty of Brest-Litovsk takes Russia out of the war, following the revolution. The terms are so humiliating that the treaty helps to ignite the Russian Civil War, which continues until 1922
May – Spanish Flu reaches Britain and eventually kills more than 20,000 in Britain and up to 50 million worldwide
11th Nov. – World War I ends when Germany signs an Armistice
School leaving age raised to 14
1919 Treaty of Versailles following the end of World War I
Sinn Fein sets up its own parliament and Provisional Government
Lady Astor becomes the first woman to take her seat in parliament
Sex Disqualification Removal Act makes it illegal to exclude women from most jobs
1920 Women allowed to receive degrees from Oxford University
Britain is given mandates for Mesopotamia and Palestine
Husthwaite W.I. started
1921 The Anglo-Irish Peace Treaty partitions Ireland but still leaves all of the country bound to Britain as a dominion
1922 Irish Civil War is ignited by the Anglo-Irish Peace Treaty
BBC is founded and radio broadcasting begins
1924 Ramsay Macdonald becomes the first Labour Prime Minister
Hutchinsons garage and coaches started in Husthwaite
1925 Chancellor Winston Churchill returns Britain to the “Gold Standard”
“Plaid Cymru” formed to promote Welsh language and culture
1926 May - The General Strike
John Logie Baird gives the first public demonstration of television
The steam iron goes on sale
1928 5th Reform Act. All women over the age of 21 get the vote
The first “talkie” (film with dialogue) is shown in Britain
Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin
Sliced bread is sold for the first time in the USA
1929 24th October – Wall Street Crash sparks the Great Depression
1930 Frank Whittle invents the jet engine
1932 Founding of the British Union of Fascists by Oswald Mosley
1934 Scottish Nationalist Party founded
1935 First Penguin paperbacks go on sale bringing literature to the masses. This revolution in publishing saw 3 million sold within a year
1936 Death of George V and succession of Edward VIII
Jarrow March to highlight poverty and mass-unemployment in the north of England
10th December – Edward VIII abdicates to marry Wallis Simpson
1937 George VI crowned king
1938 March - Anschluss – Germany occupies then annexes Austria
September – Munich Agreement between Britain, Germany, Italy and France cedes the Sudetenland area of Czechoslovakia to Germany. Prime Minister Chamberlain returns to Britain claiming that he has secured “Peace in our time”
1939 3rd September – Britain declares war on Germany in response to the invasion of Poland
1940 Winston Churchill becomes prime minister of the coalition government
1945 8th May – Britain celebrates the end of the war on VE Day
July – Labour wins the General Election by a landslide
15th August – VJ Day marks the end of World War II
October – the United Nations comes into existence with Britain as a founder member
Husthwaite annual show started
1947 Britain’s coal industry nationalised
India gain independence from Britain
School leaving age is raised to 15
1948 Post-war immigration begins with the arrival of the “SS Empire Windrush”
NHS established
Berlin Airlift
Olympic Games open at Wembley Stadium, London
1949 Republic of Ireland comes into being
1950 British troops sent to support a United Nations in repelling a communist invasion of South Korea by North Korea
1951 Festival of Britain opened by George VI
Dennis the Menace first appears
Zebra crossings introduced
1952 6th February – Death of George VI and succession of Elizabeth II
1953 Watson and Crick publish their discovery of the structure of DNA
Last passenger train from Husthwaite Gate station
Beginning of end of food rationing after WWII
1955 Winston Churchill retires as Prime Minister at the age of 80
Fish fingers are introduced
1956 Clean Air Act – is particularly directed against burning coal in urban areas
Britain’s first nuclear power station opened at Calder Hall, Cumberland
Hungarian Uprising
Suez Crisis
1957 Ghana becomes the first British colony in Africa to gain independence
Britain tests its first hydrogen bomb
1958 First stage of Britain’s motorway system opened with the M6 Preston bypass
1959 Husthwaite Gardening Club formed
1963 France vetoes Britain’s entry to the European Common market
New state-funded universities open with state-paid fees and maintenance
Beatles have their first No. 1 hit - Please Please Me
1964 Last good train from Husthwaite Gate station
1965 Death of Sir Winston Churchill
Comprehensive education is initiated
Death penalty for murder abolished
1966 England wins the World Cup
1967 Abortion and homosexuality legalised
BBC2 is the first British TV station to broadcast in colour
1969 British troops are sent to Northern Ireland in a “limited operation” to restore law and order
Concorde makes its maiden flight
1971 Decimalised currency replaces “pounds, shillings and pence”
North Sea oil concession auctioned
1972 30th Jan. Bloody Sunday, Londonderry, Northern Ireland
Idi Amin expels Ugandan Asians and many settle in Britain
School leaving age is raised to 16
1973 Britain joins the European Economic Community
1974 New C. of E. county primary school opened in Husthwaite
School leaving age raised to 16
1975 Sex Discrimination Act is passed
1976 Yorkie Bar introduced
1978 World’s first “Test Tube Baby” born in Oldham
1978-9 “Winter of Discontent” – strikes paralyse Britain
1979 Margaret Thatcher becomes Britain’s first female prime minister
Lord Mountbatten killed by the IRA
1981 Brixton riots mark the start of violence across England
Hunger strikes by Republican prisoners in Northern Ireland
Humber Bridge opens
1982 Unemployment breaches the 3 million barrier in deep economic recession
Argentina invades the Falkland Islands
The Mary Rose is raised from the seabed off Portsmouth
A new £1 coin is introduced
1984 Beginning of the miners’ strike over pit closures
IRA bombs Conservative Conference in Brighton
1985 First mobile phone call in Britain is made
1986 Privatisation of British Gas paved the way for the privatisation of many other British industries
1987 End of corporal punishment in state schools
Husthwaite designated a conservation area
1989 Tim Berners-Lee invents the World Wide Web
Satellite television begins in Britain
1990 Introduction of a new local tax – “Poll Tax” – sparks riots and rallies across Britain
1992 “Coxwoldshire” local history book published
1994 Channel Tunnel opens
First women priests ordained in the Church of England
1996 Smartphones are introduced
1997 Britain hands Hong Kong back to China
Diana, Princess of Wales dies in a car crash in Paris
1998 Good Friday Agreement establishes a devolved Northern Irish Assembly
Student grants abolished
1999 Britain decides not to join the European Single Currency
Jane Collard