The Timeline
From the Family Tree Forum Reference Library
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.
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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 |
Twelfth Century
| YEAR | MONARCH | POLITICAL/CONFLICTS | SOCIAL/EPIDEMICS | INVENTIONS/DISCOVERIES | NOTABLE EVENTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1119 | Foundation of the Knights Templar | ||||
| 1135 | Stephen | ||||
| 1141 | Matilda | Civil War | |||
| 1147 | Second Crusade | ||||
| 1154 | Henry II | ||||
| 1170 | Henry the Young King | ||||
| 1189 | Richard I | Third Crusade | |||
| 1199 | John | ||||
| 1204 | Fourth Crusade | ||||
| 1215 | Signing of Magna Carta |
Thirteenth Century
| YEAR | MONARCH | POLITICAL/CONFLICTS | SOCIAL/EPIDEMICS | INVENTIONS/DISCOVERIES | NOTABLE EVENTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1216 | Henry III | Fifth Crusade | |||
| 1248 | Sixth Crusade | ||||
| 1264 | Battle of Lewes | ||||
| 1265 | Battle of Evesham | ||||
| 1270 | Seventh Crusade | ||||
| 1272 | Edward I | ||||
| 1277 | English conquest of Wales begins | ||||
| 1290 | Death of Eleanor of Castile | Jews expelled from England | |||
| 1299 | Ottoman Empire begins |
Fourteenth Century
| YEAR | MONARCH | POLITICAL/CONFLICTS | SOCIAL/EPIDEMICS | INVENTIONS/DISCOVERIES | NOTABLE EVENTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | ||||
| 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 |
Fifteenth Century
| YEAR | MONARCH | POLITICAL/CONFLICTS | SOCIAL/EPIDEMICS | INVENTIONS/DISCOVERIES | NOTABLE EVENTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1413 | Henry V | ||||
| 1415 | Battle of Agincourt | ||||
| 1422 | Henry VI | ||||
| 1441 | Eton College founded | ||||
| 1450 | Jack Cade's rebellion | ||||
| 1454 | Invention of movable type | ||||
| 1455 | Start of the Wars of the Roses | ||||
| 1455 | First Battle of St Albans | ||||
| 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 |
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 | |||||
| 1563 to 1564 | Bubonic Plague in London | ||||
| 1564 | |||||
| 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 | ||||
| 1601 | Poor Law Act |
Seventeenth Century
| YEAR | MONARCH | POLITICAL/CONFLICTS | SOCIAL/EPIDEMICS | INVENTIONS/DISCOVERIES | NOTABLE EVENTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1601 | Poor Law Act | Shakespeare's "Hamlet" performed on stage | |||
| 1602 | |||||
| 1603 | James I | ||||
| 1604 | |||||
| 1605 | Gunpowder Plot | ||||
| 1606 | |||||
| 1607 | Ulster colonized by Protestant settlers | Huge wave in Bristol Channel kills hundreds | |||
| 1608 | Quebec city founded | ||||
| 1609 | |||||
| 1604 | |||||
| 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 | ||||
| 1615 | |||||
| 1616 | |||||
| 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 | ||||
| 1641 | Irish Rebellion | ||||
| 1642 to 1651 | English Civil Wars | ||||
| 1642 | Battle of 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 | |||
| 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 | |||||
| 1675 | Royal Observatory established at Greenwich | ||||
| 1676 | St Paul's Cathedral begun by Sir Christopher Wren | ||||
| 1677 | |||||
| 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 |
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 | Newcomen patents steam pump | |||||
| 1707 | Act of Union | |||||
| 1714 | George I | End of the War of Spanish Succession | ||||
| 1715 | Jacobite Rebellion | |||||
| 1716 | The Septennial Act (General Elections to be held every 7 years) | |||||
| 1717 | ||||||
| 1718 | ||||||
| 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 | Bramah's flushing watercloset patented. First iron bridge built | |||||
| 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 | Settlement of Australia by Britons begins | |||||
| 1789 | French Revolution | |||||
| 1793 | War with France | |||||
| 1796-1808 | Anglo-Spanish War | |||||
| 1796 | Grand Junction (Union) Canal opens | |||||
| 1796 | Jenner develops smallpox vaccine | |||||
| 1798 | Nelson wins Battle of the Nile |
Nineteenth Century
| YEAR | MONARCH | POLITICAL/CONFLICTS | SOCIAL/EPIDEMICS | INVENTIONS/DISCOVERIES | NOTABLE EVENTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1801 | Regents Canal opens | |||||
| 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 | ||||||
| 1812 | 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 | Leeds Liverpool canal completed | |||||
| 1816 | Napoleon defeated at the Battle of Waterloo | Year without a summer due to volcanic eruption | ||||
| 1817 | Peterloo Massacre | |||||
| 1818 | Death of Queen Charlotte | |||||
| 1819 | ||||||
| 1820 | George IV | |||||
| 1821 | ||||||
| 1822 | ||||||
| 1823 | ||||||
| 1824 | ||||||
| 1825 | First railway, Stockton-Darlington | |||||
| 1826 | First steamship crosses Atlantic | |||||
| 1829 | The Catholic Relief Act passed - Catholics permitted to becomes MPs | Metropolitan Police established | ||||
| 1830 | William IV | |||||
| 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 | ||||
| 1839-42 | 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 | ||||||
| 1845 | Start of the Irish Potato Famine | Emigration from Ireland rises steeply | ||||
| 1846 | Repeal of the Corn Laws | |||||
| 1847 | First use of chloroform in childbirth | |||||
| 1851 | The Great Exhibition | Australian Gold Rush | Census: 30th March | |||
| 1854-1856 | The Crimean War | |||||
| 1853 | Compulsory Vaccination Act | |||||
| 1854 | Broad Street cholera outbreak | John Snow discovers cause of cholera | ||||
| 1855 | Civil Registration introduced in Scotland | |||||
| 1856 | Crinoline becomes popular | |||||
| 1857 | Matrimonial Causes Act | |||||
| 1858 | Secular Court of Probate created | |||||
| 1861 | Census: 7th April | |||||
| 1861 | Death of Prince Albert from typhoid | |||||
| 1861-1865 | 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 | ||||||
| 1878-80 | Seond Afghan War | |||||
| 1879 | Zulu War | |||||
| 1880-1881 | 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 | |||||
| 1899-1902 | Second Boer War |
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 | 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 | ||||
| 1914-1918 | World War One | ||||
| 1917 | Russian Revoution | ||||
| 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 | ||||
| 1927 | |||||
| 1928 | Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin | ||||
| 1929 | |||||
| 1930 | |||||
| 1931 | |||||
| 1932 | |||||
| 1933 | |||||
| 1936 | Edward VIII January to December | ||||
| 1936 | George VI | ||||
| 1937 | Duke of Windsor marries Wallis Simpson | ||||
| 1939-1945 | World War Two | ||||
| 1946 | |||||
| 1947 | Notably severe winter in UK | India and Pakistan granted independence | |||
| 1948 | |||||
| 1949 | |||||
| 1950 | |||||
| 1952 | Elizabeth II | ||||
| 1954 | Rationing finally ends | ||||
| 1955 | |||||
| 1956 | |||||
| 1957 | |||||
| 1958 | |||||
| 1959 | |||||
| 1960 | |||||
| 1961 | |||||
| 1962 | |||||
| 1963 | |||||
| 1964 | |||||
| 1965 | |||||
| 1966 | |||||
| 1967 | |||||
| 1968 | |||||
| 1969 | |||||
| 1970 | |||||
| 1971 | Introduction of decimal currency | ||||
| 1972 | |||||
| 1973 |
Adding an event to the timeline
It will sometimes be necessary to make a value judgement into which column something will fit. If that column is already "full", then another row can be added.
The columns will remain the same width, and any long text will wrap onto extra lines automatically. It will also be vertically aligned.
Please keep the text as short as possible - if you feel that more information is needed, it is usually possible to add a hyperlink to a website such as Wikipedia!!
If there is a relevant page elsewhere in The Wiki, please use an internal link.
Click on [edit]
You will see the code:
Adding an event
Count along the row and just type in the spaces - be careful to leave || in between each item.
| DATE || MONARCH || type in here || type in here || type in here || type in here
Adding a new row
Each row in the list needs:
|-valign="top"
| DATE || MONARCH || type in here || type in here || type in here || type in here
N.B. One | at the beginning of the line
N.B. Nothing at the end of the line
Adding hyperlinks
[http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/goldrush/ Australian Gold Rush]
[[Records Office Guide|Civil Registration introduced]]
For more information about wiki coding please see 
The Wiki Guide How to use The Wiki.
