1811 in the United Kingdom
| 1811 in the United Kingdom |
| Other years |
| 1809 | 1810 | 1811 | 1812 | 1813 |
| Constituent countries of the United Kingdom |
| England | Ireland | Scotland | Wales |
| Sport |
| 1811 English cricket season |
Events from the year 1811 in the United Kingdom. This is a census year and the start of the British Regency.
Incumbents[edit]
- Monarch – George III
- Regent – George, Prince Regent (starting 5 February)
- Prime Minister – Spencer Perceval (Tory)
- Foreign Secretary – Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley
- Home Secretary – Richard Ryder
Events[edit]
- 1 February – Bell Rock Lighthouse begins operation off the coast of Scotland.[1]
- 5 February – George, Prince of Wales becomes Regent[1] under terms of the Regency Act because of the perceived insanity of his father, King George III.[2] He is known as the Prince Regent and this is the beginning of the Regency period.[3]
- 21 February – The John and Jane, carrying troops bound for the Peninsular War, is accidentally run down and sunk by HMS Franchise off Lizard Point, Cornwall with the loss of a majority of the 300 on board.[4]
- 22 February – Editor Leigh Hunt and his publisher brother John, defended by Henry Brougham, are cleared of seditious libel over a September 1810 article in their newspaper, The Examiner, criticising flogging in the Army.[5]
- 13 March – Battle of Lissa: British fleet defeats the French.
- 25–27 March – Battle of Anholt: British naval forces defeat those of Denmark.
- 4 April – Huddersfield Narrow Canal completed by opening of Standedge Tunnel under the Pennines, the longest (5,413 yards (4,950 m)), deepest and highest canal tunnel in Britain.[6]
- 27 May – The second national Census reveals that the population of England and Wales has increased in ten years by over a million to 10.1 million.[7]
- 10 June – A volcanic eruption, observed from Royal Navy sloop HMS Sabrina (1806), creates Sabrina Island (Azores) which on 4 July is claimed for Britain; a few months later it sinks beneath the sea.
- 18 June – The Welsh Calvinistic Methodists leave the established Church of England by ordaining their own ministers in Bala, North Wales.
- 19 June – The Carlton House Fête is held at Carlton House in London. A costly and extravagant event it celebrated the beginning of the Regency era.
- 8 September – The first known landing on Rockall is made by a party from HMS Endymion.[8][9]
- 16 October – National Society for Promoting the Education of the Poor in the Principles of the Established Church in England and Wales established by the Church of England to promote a system of National Schools.
- November – Luddite uprisings begin in northern England and Midlands.[10]
- 4 December – Royal Navy frigate HMS Saldanha (1809) is driven in a gale onto rocks in Lough Swilly in Ireland with no survivors from the estimated 253 aboard.[11]
- 7–19 December – Ratcliff Highway murders in London.
- 24 December – Christmas Eve storm in the North Sea leads to wreck of HMS St George, Defence and Fancy off Jutland; and HMS Hero and the transport Archimedes off Texel with the loss of nearly 2,000 men.[12]
Ongoing[edit]
- Napoleonic Wars, 1803–1815
- Anglo-Russian War, 1807–1812
- Anglo-Swedish War 1810–1812
- Peninsular War, 1808–1814
Undated[edit]
- Highland Clearances: The Marquess and Marchioness of Stafford begin mass expulsion of crofting tenants from their Highland estates to make way for sheep farming.[13][14]
- Building of Regent Street begins John Nash's development of the West End of London.[15]
- The first complete ichthyosaur fossil is found by Mary Anning at Lyme Regis.
Publications[edit]
- Jane Austen's novel Sense and Sensibility ('by a lady').
- Francis Place's Illustrations and Proofs of the Principles of Population, including an examination of the proposed remedies of Mr. Malthus, and a reply to the objections of Mr. Godwin and others, the first significant text in English to advocate contraception.[16]
Births[edit]
- 9 January – Gilbert Abbott à Beckett, writer (died 1856)
- 1 February – Arthur Hallam, poet (died 1833)[17]
- 6 February – Henry Liddell, academic and cleric (died 1898)
- 24 February – Edward Dickinson Baker, United States Senator from Oregon from 1860 (died 1861 in the United States)
- 21 March – Nathaniel Woodard, educationalist (died 1891)[18]
- 7 June – James Simpson, Scottish obstetrician and pioneer of anaesthesia (died 1870)
- 13 June – Owen Stanley, Royal Navy officer (died 1850)
- 11 July – William Robert Grove, Welsh chemist, inventor (died 1896)[19]
- 13 July
- George Gilbert Scott, architect (died 1878)
- James "paraffin" Young, Scottish chemist (died 1883)[20]
- 18 July – William Makepeace Thackeray, novelist (died 1863)
- 14 September – William Budd, physician and epidemiologist (died 1880)[21]
- 31 October – William Loring, admiral (died 1895)[22]
- 8 November – John Tarleton, admiral (died 1880)[23]
- 21 December – Archibald Campbell Tait, Archbishop of Canterbury (died 1882)
Deaths[edit]
- 9 February – Nevil Maskelyne, Astronomer Royal (born 1732)
- 24 February – James Brudenell, 5th Earl of Cardigan, politician (born 1715)[24]
- 14 March – Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton, Prime Minister of Great Britain (born 1735)[25]
- 4 April – Mary Woffington, Irish socialite (b. 1729)[26]
- 5 May – Robert Mylne, architect (born 1734)[27]
- 7 May – Richard Cumberland, dramatist (born 1732)
- 28 May – Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, Scottish politician, Home Secretary for Great Britain (born 1742)[28]
- 29 July – William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire (born 1748)[29]
- 30 September – Thomas Percy, poet, ballad collector and bishop (born 1729)[30]
- 15 October – Sir Nathaniel Dance-Holland, portrait painter and politician (born 1735)
- 27 November – Andrew Meikle, Scottish mechanical engineer (born 1719)[31]
- 21 December – Sir Peter Parker, 1st Baronet, Admiral of the Fleet (born 1721 in Ireland)
- 31 December – Benjamin Vulliamy, clockmaker (born 1747)
References[edit]
- ^ a b Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 2006. ISBN 0-14-102715-0.
- ^ Care of King During his Illness, etc. Act 1811.
- ^ "George IV (1762–1830)". BBC History. Retrieved 2 September 2011.
- ^ French, Brian (2013). "Dangerous Waters". Maritime South West. 26: 93–123.
- ^ Roe, Nicholas (2005). Fiery Heart: The First Life of Leigh Hunt. London: Pimlico. ISBN 9780712602242.
- ^ "Standedge Tunnel: a true wonder of the waterways". British Waterways. Archived from the original on 15 September 2012. Retrieved 23 January 2009.
- ^ "1811". 2011 Census. 2011. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
- ^ Hall, Basil (1831). Fragments of Voyages and Travels. London.
- ^ Fisher, James (1957). Rockall. Country Book Club. pp. 23–35.
- ^ "Icons, a portrait of England 1800–1820". Archived from the original on 17 October 2007. Retrieved 11 September 2007.
- ^ Hepper, David J. (1994). British Warship Losses in the Age of Sail, 1650–1859. Rotherfield: Jean Boudriot. ISBN 0-948864-30-3.
- ^ Gosset, William Patrick (1986). The Lost Ships of the Royal Navy, 1793–1900. Mansell. ISBN 0-7201-1816-6.
- ^ "George Granville Leveson-Gower (1st Duke of Sutherland)". Gazetteer for Scotland. Retrieved 10 November 2010.
- ^ Noble, Ross (15 October 2010). "The Cultural Impact of the Highland Clearances". British History in-depth. BBC. Retrieved 10 November 2010.
- ^ Palmer, Alan; Palmer, Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History. London: Century Ltd. pp. 244–245. ISBN 0-7126-5616-2.
- ^ "Francis Place". Spartacus Educational. Archived from the original on 6 August 2007. Retrieved 12 October 2011.
- ^ Blocksidge, Martin (2010). A Life Lived Quickly: Tennyson's friend Arthur Hallam and his legend. Brighton: Sussex Academic Press. ISBN 978-1-84519-418-5.
- ^ Gibbs, David (2011). In Search of Nathaniel Woodard: Victorian Founder of Schools. Chichester: Phillimore. ISBN 978-1-86077-667-0.
- ^ Morus, Iwan Rhys. "Grove, Sir William Robert (1811–1896)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/11685. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ "James Young (1811–1883), engineer, founder of first commercial oil-works in the world and the father of the petrochemical industry". Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame. 2011. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
- ^ Pelling, Margaret. "Budd, William". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/3881. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ O'Byrne, William Richard (1849). . . John Murray – via Wikisource.
- ^ O'Byrne, William Richard (1849). . . John Murray – via Wikisource.
- ^ Drummond, Mary M. (1964). "Brudenell, Hon. James (1725–1811)". In Namier, Sir Lewis; Brooke, John (eds.). The House of Commons 1754-1790. The History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
- ^ "History of Augustus Henry Fitzroy, 3rd Duke of Grafton - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
- ^ Highfill, Philip H.; Burnim, Kalman A.; Langhans, Edward A. (1993). A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers and Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800. Vol. 16. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press. p. 225. ISBN 978-0-8093-1803-2.
- ^ Ward, Robert (2007). The Man Who Buried Nelson: The Surprising Life of Robert Mylne. Stroud: Tempus. ISBN 978-0-7524-3922-8.
- ^ Durban, Michael. "Cavendish, William, fifth duke of Devonshire (1748–1811)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/58758. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ Fry, Michael. "Dundas, Henry, first Viscount Melville (1742–1811)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/8250. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ Palmer, Roy. "Percy, Thomas (1729–1811)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/21959. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ "Andrew Meikle (1719–1811) engineer and inventor of the threshing machine". Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame. 2011. Retrieved 14 February 2021.