Victoria reigned for more than 60 years, longer than any other British monarch. Her reign was a period of significant social, economic and technological change, which saw the expansion of Britain's industrial power and of the British empire.20 June 1837 - 22 January 1901.
Victoria married her cousin, Prince Albert.
In 1837 most people lived in villages and worked on the land; by 1901, most lived in towns and worked in offices, shops and factories.
| 1837 |
 Victoria becomes Queen at the age of 18 after the death of
her uncle, William IV.
|
1838 |
Charles Dickens' 'Oliver Twist' is published
|
1838 |
1 August: Slavery is abolished in the British empire
In 1834, slaves in the British empire started a period of 'apprenticeship', during which they were obliged to work without pay for their former owners. When the apprenticeship period ended in 1838, over 700,000 slaves were freed in the British Caribbean. Plantation owners received about £20 million in government compensation for the loss of their slaves. The former slaves received nothing. |
1838 |
17 September: London-Birmingham line opens.
It was
the first railway line into London, with passengers disembarking in the newly-designed Euston station. |
1840
|
10 January: The
first postage stamps (Penny Post) comes into use |
1840 |
June: Vaccination for the poor is introduced
|
1842 |
June: Income tax is introduced for the first time during peacetime
Income tax was levied at a rate of 7d (three pence) in the pound.
|
1842
|
Mines
Act ends child labour |
1845 - 1849
|
Ireland suffers the Great Potato Famine when entire crops of potatoes, the staple Irish food, are ruined. The famine was a consequence of the appearance of blight, the potato fungus. About 800,000 people died as a result of the famine. A large number of people migrated to Britain, the United States, Canada and Australia. |
1850s |
The
first post boxes were built |
1851 |
1 May: The
Great Exhibition opens
Census
showed just over half of Britain's population (of 20 million) lived in towns |
1854- 1856
|
Crimean
War
The Crimean War was fought between the Russians and an alliance of the British, French and Turks who feared Russian expansion in the Balkans.
|
1854
|
A
cholera epidemic led to demands for a clean water supply and proper sewage
systems in the big cities |
| 1856 |
 Britain
defeats  Russia in the Crimean War |
1857 |
The Indian Mutiny |
1858 |
India came under direct British government control when the remaining authority of the East India Company was dissolved. |
1859 |
Charles Darwin's 'On the Origin of Species' is published |
1860 |
The
first public flushing toilet opens |
1861 |
14 December: Victoria's husband, Prince Albert, dies aged 42
Albert's premature death from typhoid plunged Victoria into a long period of mourning and withdrawal from public life. |
1862 |
The first London trams |
1863 |
London
Underground opens
The foundation of the Football Association |
1866 |
Alice in Wonderland |
1868 |
Joseph
Lister discovers disinfectant |
1868 |
The
last public hanging |
1869 |
The
first Sainsbury's shop open in Dury Lane, London |
1870 |
Education
Act means school for everyone |
1871 |
Queen
Victoria opens the Albert Hall |
1872 |
18 July: Voting by secret ballot is introduced |
1876 |
1 May: Victoria is declared empress of India |
1876 |
Alexander
Bell invented the telephone
Primary education was made compulsory |
1877 |
The
first public electric lighting in London |
1880 |
2 August: Education becomes compulsory for children under ten |
1881 |
17 January: Sir William Armstrong's home at Cragside in Rothbury (Northumberland) becomes the first to use electric light.
Swan's new electric lamps were powered by water from a local stream through a dynamo-electric generator. |
1883 |
First
electric railway |
1887 |
The
invention of the gramophone |
1891 |
Free
education for every child |
1901 |
Population
of Britain 40 million |
1901 |
 22 January: Victoria dies and is succeeded by Edward VII
Victoria died at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight at the age of 81.
|
| Click here for Information on the Victorian |
Project Britain
© 
