The Timeline

Page being edited by Elizabeth Herts, Delightful Dukkie and Jill from the A272

Our ancestors (like us) were shaped by the world they lived in and the sudden movement of a family, for example, from their birthplace to another part of the country could be explained by what was going on. We hope that this timeline will help you to put the personal life of your ancestors in context with the social and political situation of the time.

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Eleventh Century

YEAR	MONARCH	POLITICAL/CONFLICTS	SOCIAL/EPIDEMICS	INVENTIONS/DISCOVERIES	NOTABLE EVENTS
1066	William the Conqueror	Battle of Hastings
1086		Domesday book completed
1087	William II
1095		First Crusade
1100	Henry I

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Twelfth Century

YEAR	MONARCH	POLITICAL/CONFLICTS	SOCIAL/EPIDEMICS	INVENTIONS/DISCOVERIES	NOTABLE EVENTS
1119			Foundation of the Knights Templar
1120		Henry I's heir drowns in shipwreck
1123			St Bartholomews Hospital, London founded by Rahere
1124					David I becomes King of Scotland
1135	Stephen
1141	Matilda	Civil War
1147		Second Crusade
1154	Henry II
1170	Henry the Young King
1189	Richard I	Third Crusade
1199	John

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Thirteenth Century

YEAR	MONARCH	POLITICAL/CONFLICTS	SOCIAL/EPIDEMICS	INVENTIONS/DISCOVERIES	NOTABLE EVENTS
1204		Fourth Crusade
1215		Signing of Magna Carta
1216	Henry III	Two regents, William the Marshal and Hubert de Burgh, rule as Henry is only 9
1217		Treaty of Lambeth
1218	Henry III	Fifth Crusade
1219		Death of William the Marshal
1222		Hugh de Burgh supresses an insurrection at Oxford
1223
1224
1227		Henry takes full control of government of England. Hug de Burgh retained as principal adviser.
1216
1216
1232		Peter des Riveaux appointed Treasurer of England
1236		Henry marries Eleanor of Provence
1238		Simon de Monfort marries Henry's sister, Eleanor
1258		De Monfort leads the English barons to rebel.
1258		Henry signs the Provisions of Oxford
1261		Henry repudiates the Provisions of Oxford
1262
1263
1264		Battle of Lewes
1265		Battle of Evesham
1268
1270		Seventh Crusade
1272	Edward I
1277		English conquest of Wales begins
1290		Death of Eleanor of Castile	Jews expelled from England
1299		Edward marries Margaret of France			Ottoman Empire begins

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Fourteenth Century

l1382|| ||Chaucer's: 'The Parlement of Foules' first use of rhyme royal in English Literature ll l-valign="top" l1380|| || || || l1385|| || || ||Chaucer's: 'Troilus and Criseyde' !! l-valign="top" l1387ll ll

MONARCH	POLITICAL/CONFLICTS	SOCIAL/EPIDEMICS	INVENTIONS/DISCOVERIES	NOTABLE EVENTS
1301
1302
1303
1304
1305
1306
1307	Edward II
1309					Papacy moves to Avignon
1314		Battle of Bannockburn
1319		Battle of Mytton: Scots defeat English
1322		Battle of Boroughbridge: crown defeats rebels
1323					Truce between Robert Bruce and Edward II but warfare continues
1325
1327	Edward III				Death of Robert Bruce
1333		Battle of Halidon Hill
1338		Start of 100 Years War
1342			Birth of Geoffrey Chaucer
1346		Battle of Crecy
1346		Battle Of Neville's Cross
1348			Black Death reaches Europe		A third or more of the population died as a result of the Black Death
1356		Battle of Poitiers
1377	Richard II				Papacy returns to Rome
1381		The Peasants' Revolt
1388		Battle of Otterburn
1399	Henry IV
1400		Owen Glendower revolts in Wales	Chaucer dies, London, 25 OCT

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Fifteenth Century

YEAR	MONARCH	POLITICAL/CONFLICTS	SOCIAL/EPIDEMICS	INVENTIONS/DISCOVERIES	NOTABLE EVENTS
1413	Henry V
1415		Battle of Agincourt
1422	Henry VI
1440				A decade of developing the Johannes Gutenberg printing techniques			Eton College & Kings College Cambridge founded
1450		Jack Cade's rebellion
1454				Johannes Gutenberg using movable type commercially
1455		Start of the Wars of the Roses
1455		First Battle of St Albans
1456					Johannes Gutenberg prints '42 Line' Bible in Catholic Mainz,Germany	1461	Edward IV
1470	Henry VI
1471	Edward IV	Battle of Barnet
1476				Caxton sets up first English printing press
1483	Edward V
1483	Richard III
1485		Battle of Bosworth Field			Richard III died in battle
1485	Henry VII
1486		Henry married Elizabeth of York, uniting the houses of York and Lancaster
1487
1488
1489
1490
1491		Perkin Warbeck claims to be Richard, Duke of York
1492					Christopher Columbus discovers America
1493
1494
1495
1496
1497
1498
1499		Perkin Warbeck hanged

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Sixteenth Century

YEAR	MONARCH	POLITICAL/CONFLICTS	SOCIAL/EPIDEMICS	INVENTIONS/DISCOVERIES	NOTABLE EVENTS
1502					Death of Prince Arthur, heir to the throne
1503					Death of Elizabeth of York, Henry's wife
1505
1506
1507
1508
1509	Henry VIII	Marriage of Henry and Catherine of Aragon
1515		Birth of Princess Mary
1528
1529		Cardinal Wolsey accused of high treason
1530
1531
1532		Sir Thomas More gives up the Chancellorship
1533		Henry excommunicated by the Pope
1534		Act of Supremacy passed
1535
1536		Execution of Anne Boleyn			Act of Union between Wales and England
1538					Parish Registers started
1547	Edward VI
1548
1549		First Act of Uniformity passed, making Roman Catholic mass illegal			The First Book of Common Prayer issued
1550
1551
1552
1553	Jane
1553	Mary I
1554		Marriage of Mary to Philip of Spain			Execution of Lady Jane Grey
1555
1556
1558	Elizabeth I
1559		Second Act of Supremacy
1560
1561
1562			Sumptuary law restricts hose, ruffs and swords
1563 to 1564			Bubonic Plague in London
1564			William Shakespeare baptised 26APR Statford-upon -Avon Warickshire
1565
1568		Mary Queen of Scots flees to England and is imprisoned by Elizabeth
1577 to 1580				Francis Drake circumnavigates the world
1586		Mary Queen of Scots sent for trial
1587		Execution of Mary Queen of Scots
1588		Spanish Armada
1590			First part of Edmund Spenser's "The Fairie Queen" published
1598					Bishops' Transcripts introduced
1600					East India Company founded

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Seventeenth Century

YEAR	MONARCH	POLITICAL/CONFLICTS	SOCIAL/EPIDEMICS	INVENTIONS/DISCOVERIES	NOTABLE EVENTS
1601			Poor Law Act Relief granted to paupers only in their parish of legal settlement		Orphans and paupers' children became apprentices (see Poor Law Act)
1602
1603	James I
1604
1605		Gunpowder Plot
1606
1607		Ulster colonized by Protestant settlers	Huge wave in Bristol Channel kills hundreds		Settlement of Jamestown, Virginia, USA
1608			John Milton (poet) born		Quebec city founded
1609
1610			Authorized Version of Bible
1611
1612		Henry Prince of Wales died of typhoid
1612		10 hanged at Lancaster for witchcraft
1613
1614					New York founded by Dutch (New Amsterdam)
1615
1616			Shakespeare dies 23APR Statford-upon-Avon
1617
1618
1619
1620					Pilgrim Fathers settle in New England
1621
1622
1623
1624			Fire destroys much of Dunfermline
1625	Charles I
1626
1627		England goes to war with France
1628
1629		11 years rule without Parliament commences
1630
1631
1632
1633
1634		First writs for Ship Money issued
1635
1636
1637		John Hampden tried for non payment of Ship Money	New Prayer Book introduced in Scotland
1638
1639		First Bishops War against Scots
1640		Second Bishops war Battle of Newburn Ford
1641		Star Chamber and Court of High Commission abolished			Protestation Returns required by Parliament
1641		Irish Rebellion
1642 to 1651		English Civil Wars
1642		Royalists victory at Powick Bridge 23 Sep
1642		Battle of Edgehill 23 Oct
1643		Battle of Braddock Down 19 Jan
1643		Battle of Hopton Heath 16 Mar
1643		Battle of Stratton 16 May
1643		Battle of Chalgrove 17 Jun
1643		Battle of Adwalton Manor 30 Jun
1643		Battle of Roundway Down 13 Jul
1643		Battle of Newbury 20 Sep
1643		Battle of Winceby 11 Oct
1644		Battle of Nantwich 25 Jan
1644		Battle of Cheriton 29 Mar
1644		Battle of Cropredy Bridge 29 Jun
1644		Battle of Marston Moor 2 Jul
1645
1646
1647			George Fox's spiritual revelation that leads to founding Quakers
1648					Frondes civil wars in France
January 1649	Regicide of Charles I	England declared a republic
1649 to 1660	Interregnum				Possible gaps in Parish records
1649		Irish royalists defeated at Wexford and the Siege of Drogheda
1650		Scots royalists defeated at Dunbar			Cape Town founded
1651		Scots royalists defeated at Worcester			Charles II flees into exile
1652 to 1654		First Dutch War
1652			Pasqua Rosee opens London's first Coffee House
1653	Oliver Cromwell
1654
1655		Parliament dismissed. Country divided into 11 districts, each with a Major-General			Jamaica captured from the Spanish
1656
1657
1658	Richard Cromwell				Oliver Cromwell dies
1659
1660	Charles II				Samuel Pepys begins diary
1661
1662			Poor Relief Act (Act of Settlement)		The parish responsible for the relief of the poor.
1662					Book of Common Prayer (the current traditional C of E prayer book)
1663			Mens' wigs become fashionable
1664
1665-67		2nd Dutch War	The Oxford Gazette (later the London Gazette) first published
1665		Five Mile Act	Great Plague
1666			Great Fire of London
1666			The Oxford Gazette becomes the London Gazette
1667			John Milton writes "Paradise Lost"
1668					Bombay granted to East India Company
1669
1670		Secret Treaty of Dover
1671
1672-74		3rd Dutch War
1673		Test Act
1674				John Milton(poet) died
1675					Royal Observatory established at Greenwich
1676				St Paul's Cathedral begun by Sir Christopher Wren
1677					Act for burying in Woollen
1678		Popish plot fabricated by Titus Oates	"Pilgrim's Progress" by John Bunyan
1679		Habeas Corpus Act
1682					Pennsylvania founded
1685	James II	Battle of Sedgmoor	Edict of Nantes revoked and many Huguenots settle in England
1687				Newton publishes Principia
1688		The Glorious Revolution
1689	William and Mary	Battle of Killiecrankie	Freedom of worship for Protestant dissenters
1692		Glencoe Massacre
1693		National Debt founded			Land tax first introduced
1694	Death of Mary; William rules alone		Foundation of the Bank of England
1695		Press licensing abandoned in England(freedom of the press)
1696			Window Tax introduced

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Eighteenth Century

YEAR	MONARCH	POLITICAL/CONFLICTS	SOCIAL/EPIDEMICS	INVENTIONS/DISCOVERIES	NOTABLE EVENTS
1701		Act of Settlement
1702	Anne	War of Spanish Succession starts	The Daily Courant published - first daily newspaper
1703
1704		Battle of Blenheim
1705		The Earl of Peterborough captures Barcelona		Newcomen patents steam pump
1706		Marlborough defeats the French at the Battle of Ramilles
1707		Act of Union
1708		Capture of Minorca			Prince George of Denmark, Anne's husband, dies
1709
1710
1711
1712
1713		The Treaty of Utrecht
1714	George I	End of the War of Spanish Succession
1715		Jacobite Rebellion defeated
1716		The Septennial Act (General Elections to be held every 7 years)
1717
1718				Thomas Lombe's silk spinning patent
1719			"Robinson Crusoe" published
1720			South Sea Bubble burst
1721		Robert Walpole becomes the first prime minister
1722					Death of Duke of Marlborough
1726			"Gulliver's Travels" by Jonathan Swift published		Death of Sophia Dorothea, wife of George I
1727	George II				Death of Sir Isaac Newton
1733				Kay's flying shuttle
1736			Witchcraft finally abolished as a crime
1737					Death of Queen Caroline
1738			Methodism begins
1739		War of Jenkins Ear
1740					War of the Austrian Succession
1745		2nd Jacobite rebellion
1746		Battle of Culloden
1750			London earth tremors cause panic
1752					Gregorian calendar introduced
1753			Foundation of the British Museum		Marriage Act
1755		War with France
1756 to 1763		Seven Years' War
1760	George III
1763			August hailstorms ruin Sussex harvest
1768			Royal Academy of Arts founded	Spinning jenny
1770		Lord North becomes Prime Minister			Cook charts New South Wales
1773		Boston Tea Party
1775		American War of Independence		James Watt develops the steam engine
1776				Bridgewater canal completed	American Declaration of Independence
1778				First iron bridge built
1778				Bramah's flushing watercloset patented
1779				Crompton's Mule
1780		4th Anglo-Dutch war	Gordon Riots in London
1781
1782
1783					Britain recognises U.S. independence
1783 to 1801		William Pitt the Younger Prime Minister
1784
1785			Separation of the Methodist Church from the Church of England	Cartwright's Power Loom
1788					Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie) dies in Rome
1788					Settlement of Australia by Britons begins
1789					French Revolution
1790
1791			Publication of "The Rights of Man" by Thomas Paine	The Board of Ordnance started mapping southern Britain
1793		War with France
1796 to 1808		Anglo-Spanish War
1796				Grand Junction (Union) Canal opens
1796				Jenner develops smallpox vaccine
1798		Nelson wins Battle of the Nile

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Nineteenth Century

YEAR	MONARCH	POLITICAL/CONFLICTS	SOCIAL/EPIDEMICS	INVENTIONS/DISCOVERIES	NOTABLE EVENTS
1800					Census Act
1801				Regents Canal opens	Census 10th March (of limited use to family historians
1801				First Ordnance Survey map published, the 1 inch map of Kent
1802
1803		War with France
1804 to 1806		William Pitt Prime Minister
1805		Battle of Trafalgar
1806			State funeral of Nelson
1807		Abolition of Slavery Act
1808 to 1814		Peninsular War
1809
1810			First curry house opens in England
1811		Prince George appointed Regent when his father's health deteriorates (porphyria)			Census 27th May (of limited use to family historians)
1812-15		Anglo-American War
1812		Prime Minister Spencer Perceval assassinated		First commercial European paddle steamer	Rose's Act passed. Entry of baptisms, marriages and burials in Anglican churches standardised in bound volumes
1813			Publication of "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen
1815		Napoleon defeated at the Battle of Waterloo		Leeds Liverpool canal completed
1816				Davy lamp improves mining safety	Year without a summer due to volcanic eruption
1817		Peterloo Massacre
1818					Death of Queen Charlotte
1819
1820	George IV	Failure of the Cato Street Conspiracy
1821					Census May 28th (of limited value to family historians)
1822				Caledonian Canal completed
1823
1824
1825				First railway, Stockton-Darlington
1826			Machine breaking & riots in Lancashire	First steamship crosses Atlantic
1829		The Catholic Relief Act passed - Catholics permitted to becomes MPs	Metropolitan Police established	Stephenson's "Rocket" locomotive
1830	William IV			Liverpool & Midlands Railway opens
1830					Census: 30th May (of limited use to family historians
1833		Slavery Abolition Act
1834		Poor Law Amendment Act	Tolpuddle Martyrs sentenced to transportation to Australia
1835
1836			Sentence of Tolpuddle Martyrs remitted under public pressure
1837	Victoria			Electric Telegraph invented	Civil Registration introduced
1838				Daguerrotype photographical process	Public Record Office established
1839 to 42		First Afghan War
1839		Foundation of the anti-Corn Law League
1840			Uniform Penny Post introduced		Victoria married Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
1841			Thomas Cook travel company founded	London-Brighton railway completed	Census: 6th June
1843			Rebecca riots in Wales
1844				Safety match invented in Sweden
1845			Start of the Irish Potato Famine		Emigration from Ireland rises steeply
1845 to 1872		New Zealand Colonial Wars
1846		Repeal of the Corn Laws
1847				First use of chloroform in childbirth
1848			Foundation of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
1849
1850
1851			The Great Exhibition	Australian Gold Rush	Census: 30th March
1852			Foundation of the Museum of Manufactures (later the Victoria & Albert Museum)
1853			Compulsory Vaccination Act
1854 to 1856		The Crimean War
1854			Broad Street cholera outbreak	John Snow discovers cause of cholera
1855					Civil Registration introduced in Scotland
1856			Crinoline becomes popular	Synthetic dyes invented
1856				Bessemer converter enables large scale steel production
1857			The Museum of Manufactures moved to South Kensington and became South Kensington Museum (later the Victoria and Albert Museum)		Matrimonial Causes Act
1858					Secular Court of Probate created
1861					Census: 7th April
1861					Death of Prince Albert from typhoid
1861 to 1865		American Civil War	Lancashire Cotton Famine
1863			Formation of Football Association	First underground railway opens in London
1867				Suez canal opens
1870		Education Act makes primary education compulsory	First Barnardo's Home opens
1871			Trade Unions legalized	Penny farthing bicycle invented	Census: 2nd April
1874 to 1880		Benjamin Disraeli Prime Minister (Conservative)
1876				Alexander Graham Bell invents telephone
				Edison invents phonograph
1878 to 80		Seond Afghan War
1879		Zulu War
1880 to 1881		First Boer War
1881					Census: 3rd April
1883				First electric railway opens in Brighton
1887					Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee
1891					Census: 5th April
1892
1893		First Matabele War		Marconi invents Wireless Telegraph
1894
1895				Rontgen discovers X rays
1896		Second Matabele War
1897					Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee
1898
1899			Museum of South Kensington becomes the Victoria and Albert Museum	Bayer begin marketing Aspirin
1899 to 1902		Second Boer War

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Twentieth Century

YEAR	MONARCH	POLITICAL/CONFLICTS	SOCIAL/EPIDEMICS	INVENTIONS/DISCOVERIES	NOTABLE EVENTS
1901	Edward VII				Australia granted dominion status
1902
1903				Wilbur and Orville Wright make the first flight
1904
1905
1906					San Francisco earthquake
1907			First mention of a brassiere in Vogue		New Zealand granted dominion status
1908		Triple Entente between Russia, France and Britain signed			4th Olympic Games held in London
1909			Old age pension introduced in Britain
1910	George V
1911		National Insurance Act			Census 2nd April
1912					Sinking of the Titanic
1913
1914 to 1918		World War One
1917					Russian Revolution
1918		Qualification of Women Act		Influenza pandemic	First opportunity for women to vote
1919		Third Afghan War (May-Aug)			Lady Astor becomes the first woman MP
1920
1921
1922
1923
1924		First Labour Government formed by Ramsay MacDonald
1925
1926			General Strike in support of coalminers		Formal Legal Adoption Commenced
1927
1928				Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin
1929			The Wall Street Crash		Start of the Great Depression
1930
1931
1932
1933
1936	Edward VIII January to December
1936	George VI		Maiden voyage of the liner the Queen Mary
1937					Duke of Windsor marries Wallis Simpson
1939 to 1945		World War Two
1946
1947			Notably severe winter in UK		India and Pakistan granted independence
1948
1949
1950
1952	Elizabeth II			Polio vaccine developed
1954			Rationing finally ends
1955
1956
1957
1958
1959
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969					Apollo 11 moonlanding - 1st man on the moon
1970
1971					Introduction of decimal currency
1972
1973

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Adding an event to the timeline

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Adding an event

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Adding a new row

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| DATE || MONARCH || type in here || type in here || type in here || type in here

N.B. One | at the beginning of the line

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Adding hyperlinks

[http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/goldrush/ Australian Gold Rush]

[[Records Office Guide|Civil Registration introduced]]

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