1807 in the United Kingdom

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United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 1807 in the United Kingdom United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Other years
1805 | 1806 | 1807 | 1808 | 1809
Sport
1807 English cricket season

Events from the year 1807 in the United Kingdom.

Incumbents[]

  • Monarch – George III
  • Prime Minister – William Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville (Coalition) (until 31 March); William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland (Tory) (starting 31 March)
  • Parliament – 3rd (until 29 April), 4th (starting 22 June)

Events[]

  • 1 January – the island of Curaçao is captured by Admiral Charles Brisbane.[1]
  • 7 January – the United Kingdom issues an Order in Council prohibiting British ships from trading with France or its allies.[2]
  • 28 January – Pall Mall, London becomes the first street with gas lighting[3] in a demonstration by Frederick Albert Winsor.
  • 3 February – Napoleonic Wars and Anglo-Spanish War – Battle of Montevideo: the British Army captures Montevideo from the Spanish Empire as part of the British invasions of the River Plate.
  • 18 February – the Royal Navy gun-brig Snipe runs aground 60 yards (55 m) off Great Yarmouth in a storm, with around 200 people drowned, inspiring Captain Manby to invent the Manby Mortar.[4]
  • 23 February
    • Around forty people are killed in a crush attending a public hanging in London.[5]
    • The Slave Trade Act is passed in the House of Commons by an overwhelming majority.[6]
  • 25 March
    • The Slave Trade Act becomes law, abolishing the slave trade throughout the British Empire[7] with effect from 1 May (slavery itself is abolished in British colonies in 1833).
    • The Swansea and Mumbles Railway, at this time known as the Oystermouth Railway, becomes the first passenger carrying railway in the world.
  • 31 March – Duke of Portland asked to form a government following the collapse of the Ministry of all the Talents.
  • 18 April – Harwich ferry disaster: 60 to 90 soldiers and their families drown when a boat capsizes off Landguard Fort.
  • 4 May–9 June – the Duke of Portland wins the general election.
  • 31 May – Primitive Methodism originates in an All Day of Prayer at Mow Cop in North Staffordshire.[8]
  • June – first Ascot Gold Cup held.[9]
  • 22 June – Chesapeake–Leopard affair: Royal Navy warship HMS Leopard attacks and boards the United States Navy frigate USS Chesapeake off Norfolk, Virginia, seeking deserters.
  • 5 July – disastrous attack on Buenos Aires.
  • 7–9 July – Peace of Tilsit between France, Prussia and Russia. Napoleon and Emperor Alexander I of Russia ally together against the British.
  • 13 July – with the death at Frascati of Cardinal Henry Benedict Stuart, the last Stuart claimant to the throne, the movement of Jacobitism comes to an effective end.
  • 27 July – Kitty's Amelia sails from Liverpool on the last legal slaving voyage for a British vessel.[7]
  • 2–7 September – Battle of Copenhagen: The Royal Navy bombards Copenhagen with fire bombs and phosphorus rockets to prevent the Dano-Norwegian navy from surrendering to Napoleon. One third of the city is destroyed and two thousand citizens killed.
  • 2 September – Anglo-Russian War (1807–1812): Russia declares war on the United Kingdom.
  • 13 November – Geological Society founded in London.
  • 20 November – sinking of the Rochdale and the Prince of Wales: The British troopships Rochdale (brig) and Prince of Wales (packet ship) sink in a storm in Dublin Bay with around 400 drowned.[10]
  • 22 December – the U.S. Congress passes the Embargo Act in response to the Orders in Council.
  • 29 December – the Royal Navy ship of the line HMS Anson runs aground on Loe Bar, Cornwall, with around sixty people drowned, inspiring Henry Trengrouse to invent a rocket apparatus for saving life from shipwrecks.[11]
  • Undated – Potassium and sodium isolated by Sir Humphry Davy.

Ongoing[]

Publications[]

Births[]

  • 8 February – Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, sculptor and natural history artist (died 1894)
  • 3 April
    • Mary Carpenter, educational and social reformer (died 1877)
    • Jane Digby, aristocratic adventuress (died 1881 in Syria)
  • 31 August – Thomas Miller, "ploughboy poet" and novelist (died 1874)
  • 8 October – Harriet Taylor Mill, philosophical writer (died 1858)
  • 19 October – Edward Bigge, Archdeacon of Lindisfarne (died 1844)
  • 30 October – Christopher Wordsworth, Anglican bishop and Biblical commentator (died 1885)
  • 30 November – William Farr, epidemiologist (died 1883)

Deaths[]

  • 5 January – Isaac Reed, Shakespearean editor (born 1742)
  • 15 April – Durham Ox, shorthorn bull (born 1796)
  • 18 May – John Douglas, Anglican bishop (born 1721)
  • 13 July – Henry Benedict Stuart, claimant to the throne of the United Kingdom (born 1725)
  • 18 July – Thomas Jones, mathematician (born 1756)
  • 14 September – George Townshend, 1st Marquess Townshend, field marshal (born 1724)
  • 21 December – John Newton, cleric and hymnist (born 1725)

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Munsell, Joel (1858). The Every Day Book of History and Chronology. D. Appleton & Co.
  2. ^ Dudley, William S., ed. (1985). The Naval War of 1812: A Documentary History. Naval Historical Center. p. 34.
  3. ^ Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 2006. ISBN 0-14-102715-0.
  4. ^ Walthew, Kenneth (1971). From Rock and Tempest – The Life of Captain George William Manby. London: Bles. ISBN 0-7138-0287-1.
  5. ^ "Dreadful Catastrophe". The Times. No. 6980. London. 24 February 1807. p. 3.
  6. ^ "William Wilberforce (1759–1833)". Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  7. ^ a b "Abolition of the Slave Trade 1807". BBC. Archived from the original on 11 October 2007. Retrieved 11 September 2007.
  8. ^ Farndale, W. E. (1950). The Secret of Mow Cop: a new appraisal of the origins of Primitive Methodism. London: Epworth Press.
  9. ^ Palmer, Alan; Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History. London: Century Ltd. pp. 242–243. ISBN 0-7126-5616-2.
  10. ^ "Historical Coastal Walking Tour" (PDF). Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 February 2012. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
  11. ^ Gilly, W. (1864). Narratives of Shipwrecks of the Royal Navy. p. 125.
  12. ^ "Icons, a portrait of England 1800–1820". Archived from the original on 17 October 2007. Retrieved 11 September 2007.
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