A quick history of Britain ************************** (with a few genealogically interesting dates thrown in) Pre Norman Conquest ******************* 2000 BC - 800 BC The Neolithic and Bronze Ages. 750BC - 49AD Iron Age Celtic settlers first arrived from Central Europe. 45 BC Julius Caesar introduces the Old Style 'Julian Calendar' into Europe and Britain follows. 43 - 410 Roman occupation of Britain. Settling in the south, they colonised most of South East of England, holding tenuously to other parts, whilst Wales, East Anglia and the North East were barely tamed. 47 London (Londinium) was founded and a bridge built across the river Thames. A network of roads was built across the south of Britain and administration of the barbarians began in earnest. 122 Hadrian's Wall started. A wall 80 miles long to separate the Romans from the "barbarians", the Scots. It was an expression of Roman power and Hadrian's policy of defence before expansion. 214 All free men throughout the Roman Empire were granted Roman citizenship; further Roman influence came in 313 through Christianity when they permitted Christians to worship freely. 400-ish The Saxons begin to invade Britain, the Romans decide not to get involved and abandoned Britain to fight the invasion on our own. 613 The 'Hundreds' are introduced by the Saxons between 613 and 1017. A hundred had enough land to sustain approximately 100 households, defined as the land covered by one hundred "hides", and was headed by a hundred-man or hundred eolder. He was made responsible for administration, justice, and supplying military troops, as well as leading its forces. Within each hundred there was a meeting place where the men of the hundred discussed local issues, and judicial trials were held. Hundreds were further divided: larger or more populous hundreds were split into divisions (or in Sussex, half hundreds). All hundreds were divided into tithings, which contained ten households. Below that, the basic unit of land was the hide, which was originally enough land to support one family but later became a unit of assessment to taxation and indicated the profitability of the land with no necessary relationship to its area. 747 The Tithe system was first recorded in England. The tithe was an annual payment of an agreed proportion (originally one-tenth) of the yearly produce of the land, which was payable by parishioners to the parish church, to support it and its clergyman. Originally, tithes were payments in kind (crops, wool, milk etc.) comprising an agreed proportion of the yearly profits of cultivation or farming, and made by parishioners for the support of their parish church and its clergy. In theory, tithes were payable on (i) all things actually arising from the ground and subject to annual increase - grain, wood, vegetables etc.; (ii) all things nourished by the ground - the young of cattle, sheep etc., and animal produce such as milk, eggs and wool; and (iii) the produce of man's labour, particularly the profits from mills and fishing. Such tithes were termed respectively predial, mixed and personal tithes. Tithes were also divided into great and small tithes; generally speaking, corn, grain, hay and wood were considered great tithes, and all other predial tithes together with all mixed and personal tithes were classed as small tithes. It was common, but by no means universal, for the great tithes to be payable to the rector and the small tithes to the vicar of the parish. It could be argued that this was the beginning of the Church and it's servants becoming the richest and most powerful influence over population and society in Britain. 774 The first recorded 'King' as we would recognise him in England, King Offa, who came into conflict with the Church and became the beginning of the rise of Monarchy as a real rival to the church's power. 793 The Viking invasions begin, marking the beginning of the "Viking Age of Invasion" which lasted up until the Normans arrived in 1066. House of Mercia: King Offa Born c747, Reigned 774-796 Died 796, King of Mercia from 757 claimed to be first King of Angles in 774. House of Wessex: King Egbert Born circa 775 Reigned 829-839 Died 4 February 839 King Æthelwulf Born 795 Reigned 839-856 Died 13 January 858 King Æthelbald Born circa 834 Reigned 856-860 Died 20 December 860 King Æthelberht Born circa 835 Reigned 860-865 Died 865 King Æthelred Born circa 837 Reigned 865-871 Died 23 April 871 King Alfred the Great Born circa 849 Reigned 871-899 Died 26 October 899 King Edward the Elder Born circa 871-877 Reigned 899-924 Died 17 July 924 King Athelstan the Glorious Born 895 Reigned 924-939 Died 27 October 939 King Edmund the Magnificent Born circa 921 Reigned 939-946 Died 26 May 946 King Eadred Born circa 923 Reigned 946-955 Died 23 November 955 King Eadwig Born circa 940 Reigned 955-959 Died 1 October 959 King Edgar the Peaceable Born circa 943 Reigned 959-975 Died 8 July 975 King Saint Edward the Martyr Born circa 962 Reigned 975-978 Died 18 March 978 Canonised 1001 King Æthelred the Unready Born circa 968 Reigned 978-1013 Died 23 April 1016 House of Denmark (Also the Kings of Denmark): King Sweyn Forkbeard Born circa 960 Reigned 1013-1014 Died 3 February 1014 House of Wessex (restored): King Æthelred the Unready Born circa 968 Reigned 1014-1016 Died 23 April 1016 King Edmund Ironside Born circa 993 Reigned 1016 Died 30 November 1016 House of Denmark (restored): King Canute Born circa 995 Reigned 1016-1035 Died 12 November 1035 King Harold Harefoot Born circa 1016/7 Reigned 1035-1040 Died 17 March 1040 King Harthacanute Born 1018 Reigned 1040-1042 Died 8 June 1042 House of Wessex (second restoration): King Saint Edward the Confessor Born circa 1003 Reigned 1042-1066 Died 5 January 1066 Canonised 1161 King Harold Godwinson Born circa 1020 Reigned 1066 Died 14 October 1066 King Edgar the Atheling Born circa 1053 Reigned 1066 Died circa 1125 11th Century - post Conquest **************************** 1066 William I The Norman Conquest. William the Conqueror successfully invaded England by defeating King Harold Godwinson at Hastings and claimed the English throne on the basis that his kinsman Edward the Confessor had bequeathed it to him. 1086 The Domesday Book. A record of a survey of England carried out to assess land tax and other dues, ascertain the value of the crown lands, and generally allow William I to assess the power of his vassal barons and helped keep them under control. The Conquest in some ways had merely replaced Saxon Lords with Norman ones but one concept of the Domesday exercise was that all land was held by a lord and every peasant had to be a manorial tenant of one sort or another. 1087 William II 12th century ************ 1100 Henry I The Pipe Rolls date from the early 12th century, a major period of growth in English government. 1127 The first recorded hereditary coat of arms granted by Henry I, his father in law, to Geoffrey of Anjou. 1135 King Stephen 1154 Henry II 1189 Richard I 1194 The office of Coroner was established. Coroners hold inquests into suspicious or sudden deaths, they also decide on whether valuable finds are treasure trove. An inquest into a death would be heard by a jury which consisted of between 12 and 23 people up until 1926, but between 7 and 11 after that. Coroners traditionally had jurisdiction over a county, some boroughs had their own, but in 1888 counties were divided into districts and a coroner was thereafter appointed by the local authority. 1194-1294 A system of civil justice known as the General Eyre existed, justices were sent out to the country from central courts at Westminster. 1199 King John 13th Century ************ 1215 Magna Carta, an important charter by King John. It formally defined the relationship between the king and the barons, guaranteed rights under feudalism, and regularised the judicial system. Abolished many abuses of feudal tenures, commerce was protected by guaranteeing the liberties of the City of London and of the other cities, boroughs and ports of England; foreign merchants were guaranteed freedom of commerce; and a system of standard weights and measures was established. The Court of Common Pleas was set up in Westminster, the conduct of trials was simplified according to strict rules of procedure, and the penalties for felonies were standardised. No one was to be condemned on rumour or suspicion, but only on the evidence of credible witnesses. The historical basis for English civil liberties is contained in the statement: "No freeman shall be taken and imprisoned or disseised or exiled or in any way destroyed, nor shall we go upon him nor send upon him, except by the lawful judgement of his peers and by the law of the land." The Customs service started and a tax was levied on a range of imported goods. 1216 Henry III 1272 Edward I 1275 An 'Age of consent' statute first appeared in secular law in 1275 in England as part of the rape law. The statute, Westminster 1, made it a misdemeanour to "ravish" a "maiden within age," whether with or without her consent. The phrase "within age" was interpreted by jurist Sir Edward Coke as meaning the age of marriage, which at the time was 12 years of age. 1276 The Seneshaucy, one of the earliest hand books on estate management, was written. 1279 The Hundred Rolls, an incomplete attempt to repeat the Domesday Book exercise. 1284 English criminal law is introduced into Wales. 1290 Lay Subsidy records commence, include names of assessed tax payers; no names between 1332 and 1523 when Henry VIII resurrected the tax on a person's wealth, superseded by Hearth Tax in 1662. The first effects of parliamentary influence on the fiscal system were the abandonment of tallages on towns and the decline of scutage. Taxes on movables were assessed more systematically so that instead of using varying charges, ranging from one-fourth to one-fortieth, on different classes of goods, the tax was imposed at fixed rates of one-tenth on towns and one-fifteenth on counties. Commissioners were appointed for each county to ensure stricter assessment and were supplied with special instructions as to taxable and exempt goods. This tax remained in force from 1290 to 1334, albeit the proportions imposed varied over time (e.g. an eighth and a fifth were granted to the king by parliament in 1297, and a tenth and a sixth in 1322). The Jewish merchant community, here since the Norman Invasion, comes to an end with the Edict of Expulsion which decreed that all Jews in England were to be baptised, banished or executed. (revoked in 1656). 1291 The Pope Nicholas IV Taxation provides a first comprehensive list of parishes. The Taxatio Ecclesiastica, compiled in 1291–92 under the order of Pope Nicholas IV, is a detailed database valuation for ecclesiastical taxation of English and Welsh parish churches and prebends. The Pope promised Edward I one tenth of the annual profits of every ecclesiastical benefice for the endeavour. A Third Taxation, entitled Nova Taxatio was made in 1318 by virtue of a royal mandate directed to the Bishop of Carlisle. The Nova Taxatio was conducted largely to pay for the war with Scotland. An edition was reprinted by the Record Commission in 1802 as Taxatio Ecclesiastica Angliae et Walliae Auctoritate. The database is reportedly "complete or virtually complete for the dioceses of Canterbury, Rochester, London, Lincoln, Norwich, Chichester, Exeter, Hereford, Salisbury, Bath and Wells, Winchester, Worcester, Ely, St Davids, Llandaff, St Asaph and Bangor." It has been demonstrated that there are many inaccuracies and omissions in the Taxatio and that it must be exercised with caution as a source. Nonetheless, it remains an important source document for the medieval period. 1294 First Crown Customs Officers appointed. 14th century ************ 1301 Prince Edward becomes the first English Prince of Wales. 1307 Edward II 1327 Edward III 1327, 1332, 1334 Lay Subsidies statistics for over 13,000 taxpaying vills. 1334 The method of taxation called 'fixed quota' first introduced. England in the 14th century was not ripe for a system that was found hard to make effective even in more advanced societies. Hence, from 1334 onward, the following method of apportionment was employed, i.e. a tenth and fifteenth was taken as affording a definite sum measured by the yield on the ancient valuation. As this gave between £38,000 and £39,000 in the aggregate, the tenth and fifteenth became for the future practically a fiscal expression for a sum of about £39,000, the total to be divided or apportioned between the several counties, cities and boroughs according to their former payments. This settlement, which remained in force for centuries and affected all later direct taxes, had the great advantages of certainty and adaptability. The inhabitants of any particular town knew their total liability and could distribute it amongst themselves in the manner most convenient to themselves. From the royal standpoint, the arrangement was also satisfactory, for the tenth and fifteenth could be multiplied (e.g. in 1352 three-tenths and fifteenths were voted for three years), and supplied a stable revenue for the service of the kingdom. Moreover, the power of regulating the policy of the crown by the bestowal or refusal of grants was naturally agreeable to parliament. Thus, all sections of the nation united in support of the system established in 1334, just before the opening of the Hundred Years' War, in connection with which it was particularly serviceable. 1341 - 1342 Nonarum Inquisitiones introduced a tax on output of corn, wool and lambs. 1349 The Black Death plague rampant in England and Wales with many deaths. 1377 Richard II Poll Tax. There are lists of people liable to pay this tax for the years 1377, 1379, 1381 and from 1640 to 1698. Parishes of residence are given. 1380 By this date the office of Clerk of the Peace had been established to maintain the records of the Quarter Sessions and to frame indictments and presentments. 1383 The National Archives has on-line indexes to the wills and admons proved at the Prerogative Court of Canterbury[PCC] from 1383 to 1858. 1388 Quarter Sessions, a statute laid down that "Justices shall keep their sessions in every quarter of the year at least.." 1399 Henry IV 15th century ************ 1400 Henry IV invades Wales with an army of 13,000 men, the first of 5 unsuccessful such sorties over the next 10 years. 1401 The revolt of Owain Glyndwr (1400-10) which nearly led to the re-establishment of Welsh rule. There had also been revolts in 1287, 1294 and 1316, with serious disturbances in the 1340s and the 1370s. In retaliation, in 1402 the English Parliament in London passed laws which prohibited Welshmen from a wide assortment of things including holding important public office in Wales. But perhaps two of the most insulting was that no Englishman could be convicted at the law-suit of any Welshman and no Welsh child could be brought up as a scholar or be apprenticed to any trade in any town in the kingdom. 1413 Henry V 1415 Welsh archers won Battle of Agincourt for Henry V. 1422 Henry VI 1440s - 1490s Reliefs from Lay Subsidies, records of tax reductions by parishes. 1455 - 1487 Wars of the Roses. This was a series of civil wars fought in medieval England from 1455 to 1487 between the House of Lancaster and the House of York. 1461 Edward IV 1476 William Caxton the first to introduce a printing press into England (Westminster). He was also the first English retailer of printed books and is credited with standardising the English language by constant repetition in print reducing local dialect usage. 1483 Edward V and Richard III Court of Requests established; an offshoot of the king's council, intended to provide easy access by poor men and women to royal justice and equity. 1485 Henry VII The Battle of Bosworth Field - the taking of the English throne by the Welsh Tudor dynasty. The Court of Star Chamber was established in 1485, abolished in 1641; apart from judicial work it heard cases involving enclosures and contested property rights. 16th century ************ 1500 Pipe Office, declared accounts 1500-1817 contain data on the revenues received from nonconformists fined for not attending church. 1509 Henry VIII 1524 Cardinal Wolsey's Dissolution of small religious houses. 1530 Henry VIII restricted the fee charge that was made by the church court on probating a will or granting administration to 6d when estates were less than £5. 1531 The 'Vagabonds and Beggars Act' was revised and a new act was passed by parliament. This act did make some provisions for the different classes of the poor. The sick, the elderly and the disabled were issued licenses to beg. Unfortunately, those individuals who were out of work and in search of employment were still not spared punishment. Throughout the 16th century, a fear of social unrest was the primary motive for the majority of legislation that was passed by parliament. 1534 - 1535 An Act of Supremacy obliges the clergy in England and Wales to swear an oath of loyalty to the monarch as head of the church. The Anglican Church becomes the established church in England and Wales, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man. Commissioners are sent out to document the state of monasteries. The "Court of the Council of Wales" and the Marches established by Edward IV 'to restrain the wild Welchmanne' began regular sittings at Ludlow Castle. 1536 Statute of Enrolments Act, required all bargains and sale of freehold land to be enrolled either at the central court at Westminster or local Quarter Sessions. 1536 - 1543 Acts of Union: Thomas Cromwell's master plan (for Henry VIII) comprising 22 Acts of Parliament to ensure a more effective domination of Wales by Henry VIII and his Parliament resulted in the abolition of the Marcher lordships and the creation of 5 new counties [Monmouth, Brecon, Radnor, Montgomery, Denbigh], making 13 in total. Wales subject to English law for the first time, Welsh land laws abolished, Justices of the Peace established. Wales became subject to pressures to conform to the English practice relating to surnames, and Welsh could no longer be used for official or legal purposes. The English shire system is introduced into Wales at a local level. The Dissolution of the Monasteries. This was the result of the set of administrative and legal processes started by Thomas Cromwell and Henry VIII between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland, appropriated their income, disposed of their assets, and provided for their former members and functions. He was given the authority to do this in England and Wales by the Act of Supremacy, passed by Parliament in 1534. All monastery assets including lands were seized by the crown. These acts had a devastating impact on poor relief. According to British historian Paul Slack, prior to the dissolution, "It has been estimated that monasteries alone provided 6,500 pounds a year in alms before 1537; and that sum was not made good by private benefactions until after 1850." In addition to the closing of monasteries, the majority of hospitals were also closed "which had come to be seen as special types of religious houses" which left many of the sick without proper health care. 1538 Parish registers were formally started. 1540 Statute of Wills, freehold property could now be devised by will. Also allowed wills to be made by males over 14 and females over 12. 1546 Henry VIII set up the Navy Board. 1547 Edward VI 1553 Mary I Parish registers started in Scotland. 1554 Court [Office] of Augmentations created in the aftermath of the Reformation to deal with the flood of property disposals by the Crown. 1555 The first legislated control of highways in England was introduced under the Highways Act 1555. It placed the burden of upkeep of the highways on individual parishes. 1558 Elizabeth I 1559 Letters of administration recorded in Administration Act Books which survive from 1559-1858. (kept at the National Archives) 1559 The history of English Catholics became a subject separate from that of their compatriots, as a result of the Acts of Supremacy and Uniformity. The latter enforced the use of the Protestant Prayer book. 1562 - 3 An Act provided that the apprenticeship term to be served, as a condition of gaining the right to practise a craft, should be at least 7 years. 1563 Statute of Artificers laid down a journeyman's hours of work. Diocesan Returns of Households. Roman Catholic Registers begun. 1565 Tobacco is said to have been introduced to England by Sir John Hawkins in 1565 and was often used for medicinal purposes. 1572 The first major influx of Huguenots into England. 1575 Houses of Correction first established, they held criminals, the homeless, and unmarried mothers. 1576 A 1576 law making it a felony to "unlawfully and carnally know and abuse any woman child under the age of 10 years" was generally interpreted as creating more severe punishments when girls were under 10 years old while retaining the lesser punishment for acts with 10 and 11year-old girls. Jurist Sir Matthew Hale argued that the age of consent now applied to 10 and 11 year-old girls. 1581 In 1581 fines against Catholics were increased substantially and the offence of attending a Catholic Mass risked imprisonment. Three years later it became high treason for a layman to receive the ministrations of Catholic priests. Pipe Rolls: 1581-1591, Catholics with property may appear in these. 1585 Emigration from Britain to the Americas starts with Sir Walter Raleigh's unsuccessful settlement on Roanoke Island, North Carolina. 1589 Act restricting building of new cottages outside towns or boroughs unless a minimum 4 acres of land is attached. 1592 Recusant Rolls 1592-1691 started as part of the state's campaign against Catholicism. 1597 First Poor Law Act. This created 'Overseers of the poor'. An Overseer of the Poor was an official who administered poor relief such as money, food, and clothing in England and various other countries which derived their law from England. 1597 - 1598 Act of Parliament allowing for 'rogues' to be banished from the realm to the colonies. Bound parchment books for recording baptisms, marriages and burials were commenced by Act of Parliament. 1598 Practice made general to submit copy of PRs entries for 12 months to the Bishop. 17th century ************ 1601 The Poor Law Act. This stated a person was recognised as being legally a settled inhabitant of a parish after a month's abode. Churchwardens and householders were now required to give assistance to the poor and sick of the parish who could apply for 'out relief' which they received in their own homes. They might also be taken into the workhouse. A rate was levied on the occupiers of all property within a parish to fund this expense. Before this relief was in the hands of churchwardens and the vestry. 1603 James I Diocesan Returns of Communicants, by parishes. 1607 Successful settlement in Jamestown, Virginia. 1611 Authorised version of Bible (The King James Version). 1617 First child migration scheme, Christ's Hospital School, City of London sent 100 children to the Virginia Company in America. Transportation of convicts to America and West Indies commences. 1620 Browne's Separatist [Independent] church provided the London contingent of the passengers of the Mayflower when she sailed for America. 1625 Charles I Citizenship; "the years between 1625 and 1789 witnessed profound changes in Britain, in terms of the exercise of authority and the position of individuals in society. Constitutionally, this period witnessed the transition from a monarchy based upon ideas of Divine Right to a parliamentary system based upon notions of accountable government." 1634 Official parish registers start in Ireland. An Act requiring the recording of the names of both parents at baptism. 1635 Charles I opens his Royal Post to the public, possibly the original forerunner of the Post Office. 1639 The Independent chapel at Llanfaches in Monmouthshire is the first nonconformist church established in Wales. 1640 The Habeas Corpus Act 1640. This was passed by the Long Parliament to abolish the Star Chamber.[see 1485] It also declared that anyone imprisoned by order of the king, privy council, or any councillor could apply for a writ of habeas corpus, required that all returns to the writ "certify the true cause" of imprisonment, and clarified that the Court of Common Pleas also had jurisdiction to issue the writ in such cases (prior to which it was argued that only the King's Bench could issue the writ). 1643 From 1643 people who disagreed with the priest could withdraw from the Anglican church. In the Civil War and Interregnum period (1643-1660) parish records were not properly maintained and gaps may be found in these records. The Excise service started, as opposed to customs, and a duty was now payable on a range of home-produced goods. 1644 Earliest Non-Conformist Registers. No Non-Conformist registers were kept before this date because they could be used for persecution. 1645 After the Battle of Nazeby some 100 Welsh speaking Royalist wives were slaughtered by Parliamentarians who mistook them for 'foreign spies'. 1646 Under the Act for the Propagation of the Gospel in Wales, Oliver Cromwell appointed preachers and encouraged itinerant preaching. 1648 Royalists routed at Battle of St Fagan's and hundreds of Welshmen were transported to Barbados. 1649 Charles I executed on 30 January 1649 In the Interregnum (Commonwealth) period [1649-1660] the parliamentary regime decreed that all official documents be written in English, not Latin [which otherwise remained the normal written language until 1733]. In this same period many parish registers were not maintained. 1649 - 1650 Under the Commonwealth, Parliamentary surveys were compiled to assess a sale value for Crown lands, extant returns held at National Archives. 1652 In 1652 George Fox, standing on high Pendle Hill in England, had a vision which was said to be the beginning of the religious Society of Friends (the Quakers). 1652 - 1658 Thomas Cromwell is made Lord Protector and the monarchy was abolished. 1653 Ecclesiastical Courts suspended under the Commonwealth, an Act of 8 April, 1653. It abolished all ecclesiastical jurisdictions in probate matters. All wills and administrations had to be brought before 'Judges for the Proving of Wills and Craving of Letters of Administration' in London, and their records were incorporated into the PCC series. However, the old courts were restored on the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660. Parish Register custody. Custody of Parish Registers passed from incumbent to 'Parish Register' elected by parish ratepayers. 1656 A Spanish and Portuguese group of Jewish merchant refugees from the Inquisition are allowed to settle here. This followed the revocation by Oliver Cromwell of the Edict of Expulsion (1290). 1660 Charles II After the Restoration of the monarchy all documents used by genealogists will bear the AD date. The first professional army seen in England and Wales. Few Navy records survive from before this date. Registration of ships brought in following a series of Navigation Acts from 1660 onwards. After 1660 Non-conformists withdrew and were ejected from the Church of England. 1661 Corporation Act laid down that nobody could be legally elected to any local government office without proving he had taken the Anglican sacrament within the previous year. 1662 Hearth Tax, the first Act imposing "Hearth Money". It was considered easier to establish the number of hearths than the number of heads, hearths forming a more stationary measure than people. This form of taxation was new to England, but had precedents abroad. One shilling was liable to be paid for every fire-hearth or stove, in all dwellings, houses, edifices or lodgings, and was payable at Michaelmas, 29 September and on Lady Day, 25 March. The tax thus amounted to two shillings per hearth or stove per year. The original bill did not distinguish between owners and occupiers and there were no exemptions. Prohibited degrees of marriage, relevant rules [reached in about 1560 and confirmed by church laws known as Canons, in 1564] were listed in the Common Book of Prayer of 1662. The latter said that infants should be baptised within 14 days after birth. The Settlement Act of 1662 laid the basis of the law of settlement for the next two centuries The Act of Uniformity placed legal disabilities upon the Independent sect, as it did upon other nonconformists. This was the period of the " Great Ejectment", almost 2000 dissenting congregations and their ministers were forced to leave the parish churches and reform in cottages and barns, requiring discretion and not a little secrecy. 1663 The first Turnpike Act enacted. The first turnpike road, whereby travellers paid tolls to be used for road upkeep, was authorised for a section of the Great North Road in Hertfordshire. 1664 The Conventicle Act of 1664 forbade all assemblies for public worship other than those of the Established Church. Although the persecution was ended under William and Mary, by the 1689 Act of Toleration, meeting places were still subject to granting of licences. 1665 The London Gazette was first published, used to publicise government and official activities, bankruptcies, clerical appointments, service promotions, decorations etc etc. The Five Mile Act forbade dissenting clergy from coming within five miles of corporate towns which was where dissent was strongest. 1666 The Oxford Gazette newspaper was started, later became the London Gazette. 2nd to 5th September, Great Fire of London: A large fire breaks out in the City of London in the house of a baker on Pudding Lane near London Bridge. The fire destroys more than 13,000 buildings including Old St Paul's Cathedral, but only 6 people are known to have died. The fire also destroyed many London churches and their records. 1666-80 Burial in Woollen Acts. This required the dead, except plague victims and the destitute, to be buried in pure English woollen shrouds to the exclusion of any foreign textiles. It was a requirement that an affidavit be sworn in front of a Justice of the Peace (usually by a relative of the deceased), confirming burial in wool, with the punishment of a £5 fee for noncompliance. Burial entries in parish registers were marked with the word "affidavit" or its equivalent to confirm that affidavit had been sworn; it would be marked "naked" for those too poor to afford the woollen shroud. The legislation was in force until 1814, but was generally ignored after 1770. 1669 Formal Quaker record keeping commenced. 1670 First settlers reach Canada. Statute of Distributions decreed that a third of a deceased man's property should go to his widow, and the rest to the children; if childless then the wife had one half and the next of kin the other. 1673 Test Act laid down that anyone holding office under the Crown must take the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy and present a sacrament certificate. 1674 Clandestine places for marriages in London (1674-1753), good places to look for strays: Fleet Prison, St James's Duke's Place, St Botolph Aldgate, Holy Trinity Minories, Mayfair Chapel Curzon St, Grosvennor Chapel South Audley St, Trinity Chapel Conduit St. 1676 Compton Census of religious adherence, by parish. census of religious affiliation within the Provinces and Canterbury and York, listing total numbers of Conformists, Papists and Nonconformists. The returns were published in A. Whiteman (ed.), The Compton Census of 1676: A critical edition (1986). In the seventeenth century, there were two general religious censuses of England and Wales, in 1603 and 1676, the extant documents for which have recently become available in scholarly book editions. The earliest quantitative records of post-Reformation Catholicism come from censuses ordered by Government and mostly conducted by the Church of England, in 1603, 1676, 1705, 1706, 1767, 1780 and 1829. The Roman Catholic Church did not have its own hierarchy in Britain at this time and was dependent for organisation and co-ordination on the work of the Vicars Apostolic. These records are very hard to track down. 1677 Statute of Frauds Act decreed that written evidence now needed of a legal transfer of land ownership, also that only written wills could now devise real estate, and that they had to be signed by the testator before 3 or 4 witnesses. 1679 Habeas Corpus Act. It was to define and strengthen the ancient prerogative writ of habeas corpus, a procedural device to force the courts to examine the lawfulness of a prisoner's detention. The Act is often wrongly described as the origin of the writ of habeas corpus, which had existed in England for at least three centuries before. The Act of 1679 followed an earlier Act of 1640, which established that the command of the King or the Privy Council was no answer to a petition of habeas corpus. Further Habeas Corpus Acts were passed by the British Parliament in 1803, 1804, 1816 and 1862, but it is the Act of 1679 which is remembered as one of the most important statutes laid down in English constitutional history. Though amended, it remains on the statute book to this day. 1682 - 1684 First Welsh Quaker settlers, promised the Welsh Tract, arrived in Pennsylvania. 1685 James II Around 60,000 Huguenots [French Protestants] came to England after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. 1688 After the Glorious Revolution of 1688 dissenters had to accept exclusion from power as the price of toleration. 1689 William III and Mary II The Toleration Act ended the persecution of Quakers etc, and permits dissenters to worship in licensed and unlocked meeting houses. 1691 The Toleration Act permitted Nonconformists to set up their own burial grounds, so from this date burials were no longer only seen in parish registers. 1693 The Land Tax first regularly imposed. A quota was fixed for each county and local assessors were left to allot appropriate sums to each parish, and within the parishes, to each taxpayer; and was largely confined to owners of real estate. Only a few early records survive. The tax was administered locally and original records will usually be located at the County Record Office. 1694 A tax introduced to help finance war against France was the levy of 1694 on births, marriages, burials, bachelors over 25 and childless widowers. Probate now used to raise revenue when Stamp Duties introduced from Holland. The Church Courts dealt with it, taxed personal goods worth more than £20 at 5s, later increased to 10s. Clandestine 'Fleet Marriages' These began to gain popularity. These were an earlier form of marriage which was stopped in 1753. From 1694 to 1754 it is estimated that some 300,000 of these marriages were performed. These were legally binding marriages (in both Common and Ecclesiastical Law) that took advantage of a loophole in Common Law which allowed people to be married by a simple exchange of vows. Fleet Prison was the best known place where these marriages could be performed, hence the name. They were attractive to people because they were legally binding, could be made without attracting the attention of others through the calling of the Banns or other notice, and they could be made without the any authority's consent (such as parents, masters etc). They were also cheaper than regular church marriages. Hardwicke's Marriage Act of 1753 put an end to them. 1695 Church of England incumbents were ordered to register the births, not baptisms, of dissenters in their parish, so the word "born" in a parish register may give a clue to dissenting parents. The baptism of dissenters' children at home became common place and lasted for 100 years. 1696 The window tax, a new tax on housing replaced the Hearth Tax. It was designed to impose tax relative to the prosperity of the taxpayer, but without the controversy that then surrounded the idea of income tax. It consisted of two parts: a flat-rate house tax of 2 shillings per house, and a variable tax for the number of windows above ten windows in the house. Properties with between ten and twenty windows paid a total of four shillings, and those above twenty windows paid eight shillings. The number of windows that incurred tax was changed to seven in 1766 and eight in 1825. Records at A2A. Association Oath lists sometimes survive from this year. 1697 Settlement Act - inter alia, parishes now allowed to issue settlement certificates to people who wanted to live or work in another parish. 18th century ************ 1701 The Act of Settlement barred Catholics from the throne of England. 1702 Queen Anne 1709 Candles were taxed from 1709 in the wake of heavy military expenditure during wars with France. 1710 Apprentice Duty Tax was levied between 1710 and 1811, records were kept in Apprentice Books, extant copies of which are held at the National Archives, Kew. 1714 George I A major Parish Register change, Marriages to state whether by Banns or Licence. 1715 Jacobite Risings. 1715 & 1745. These were a series of uprisings, rebellions, and wars in Great Britain and Ireland occurring between 1688 and 1746. The uprisings were aimed at returning James VII of Scotland and II of England, and later his descendants of the House of Stuart, to the throne after he was deposed by Parliament during the Glorious Revolution. 1718 An Act which broadened and regularised the system of transportation of convicts to the colonies. 1723 Between 1723 and 1750, about 600 parish workhouses were established in England and Wales. Sir Edward Knatchbull's legislation For Amending the Laws relating to the Settlement, Employment and Relief of the Poor allowed the establishment of workhouses where poor relief would be provided. This could be done either by an individual parish or through the combining of a number of neighbouring parishes which would share the cost, but only with the agreement of the majority of parishioners. Parishes had the authority to rent or buy appropriate accommodation. The local JPs could also sub-contract the administration of relief to someone who would feed, clothe and house the poor for a weekly rate from the parish. The same Act allowed workhouse overseers to refuse relief to paupers who would not go into a workhouse. The legislation also marked the first appearance of the 'workhouse test' - that anyone who applied for relief would have to enter the workhouse where he or she would be obliged to undertake set work in return for relief. The principle was that entering the workhouse should be a deterrent to casual in irresponsible claims on the poor rates. Only the truly desperate would apply to 'the house'. Unlike the large union workhouses erected following the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act, parish workhouses were generally small establishments, and often in rented existing buildings rather than specially built premises. The running of workhouses was often handed over to a contractor who would, for an agreed price, feed and house the poor. He would also provide the inmates with work and benefit from any income generated. This system was known as 'farming' the poor. Sometimes a parish might run a workhouse for a few years, then give up on the practice, only to try it again a decade or two later in different premises. It is therefore difficult to give any definitive list of where parish workhouses operated. 1727 George II The Gin Act of 1727 introduced a heavy tax on the manufacture of gin, geneva, juniper water and all other compositions of any other ingredients with brandy, low wines or spirits. 1731 The Gentleman's Magazine first appeared, principally it carried news of the 'gentry'. 1733 At last English replaces Latin for legal documents. Hooray! The use of Latin in English documents was officially ended in 1733, some clergy perversely carried on using it after that and Catholic registers were kept in Latin long after this. 1735 National list of tax payers produced. Mr. William Pitt, MP, starts to get busy introducing many many new acts and bills to parliament. He and his son, William Pitt the younger, begin a radical reform of English politics, policies and regulation. An whole era of complex parliamentary legislation begins to be inflicted upon the public whether they like it or not. He solidified Britain's dominance over world affairs. He is known for his opposition to corruption in government, his support for the American position in the run-up to the American War of Independence, his advocacy of British greatness, expansionism and colonialism, and his antagonism toward Britain's chief enemies and rivals for colonial power, Spain and France. His statesmanship was said to be based on a clear, consistent, and distinct appreciation of the value of the "Empire". He had extraordinary parliamentary skills by which he dominated the House of Commons. He displayed a commanding manner, brilliant rhetoric, and sharp debating skills that cleverly utilised broad literary and historical knowledge. He became prime minister in 1766. 1736 The Witchcraft Act, controversially declared witchcraft no longer to be a crime. 1737 Licensing Act, only the Theatres Royal, Haymarket, and Covent Garden, could put on full length dramas and stay open throughout the winter. 1738 The Methodist movement began in 1738 when John and Charles Wesley set out to revive a sense of spirituality and inner holiness in worship 1742 Dr Williams Dissenters Register founded and used until 1837. A General Register of Births of Children of Protestant Dissenters of the three Denominations set up by Dr Williams Library; Presbyterian (inc Unitarian), Congregational, Baptist. Now held at the National Archives. 1742 First Methodist chapel in Wales built at Groes Wen, Caerphilly 1747 From this date masters or owners of merchant ships had to keep and file a Muster Roll giving details of the number of crewmen and the ship's voyages. 1748 In Scotland a Window Tax was imposed after 1748. A house had to have at least seven windows or a rent of at least £5 to be taxed. Records held by www.nrscotland.gov.uk. 1752 Gregorian calendar replaced Julian. The Gregorian Calendar replaced the Julian Calendar by Act of Parliament. The day following Wed 2nd Sept became Thur 14th Sept to recover eleven days lost due to the defects of the Julian Calendar. The year now began on 1st Jan instead of 25th March. Financial year now commenced 25th March plus eleven days ie 6th April. Coroners allowed £1 for every inquest they attended outside gaols and 9d a mile for their journey from their home to where a body was situated. 1753 Hardwicke's Marriage Act, "An Act for the Better Preventing of Clandestine Marriage". The biggest shake up of marriage laws to date, rewriting nearly every aspect of current legislation. Marriage ceremonies now had to be held in the parish church or chapelry, by banns or licence [although Jewish and Quaker marriages outside these premises were also valid]. Previously no ceremony was required, (see 1694, 'Fleet marriages') simply an exchange of promises in front of witnesses followed by cohabitation. Fixed minimum marriage ages as 14 for men and 12 for women. Marriages to be recorded in a separate book from baptisms and burials, the register to consist of printed forms. Register entries showed marital status, parish of residence, and were signed by the couple and the witnesses (if literate of course). No marriage of a person under the age of 21 was valid without the consent of parents or guardians. Clergymen who disobeyed the law were liable for 14 years transportation. Banns Registers brought into compulsory use too. Couples now had to marry in a parish where one of them lived. 1754 Army Lists covering commissioned officers have been published almost every year since 1754. 1756 - 63 The Seven Years War. This was a world war that took place between 1754 and 1763 with the main conflict being in the seven-year period 1756 to 1763. It involved most of the great powers of the time and affected Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines. Quite complex, the war was driven by the antagonism between Great Britain and the Bourbon Dynasty (in France and Spain), resulting from overlapping interests in their colonial and trade empires, and by the antagonism between the Hohenzollern Dynasty (in Prussia) and Habsburg Dynasty (with their Holy Roman Emperors and archdukes in Austria), resulting from territorial and hegemonial conflicts in the Holy Roman Empire. Basically a gigantic tribal conflict over trade. 1757 The Militia was a voluntary county based part-time force for home defence. It ceased to be summoned after the Civil War but was revived in 1757 with the Militia Act which established Militia Regiments in all counties of England and Wales. 1760 George III Records of soldiers who were discharged from the army with a pension include attestation, or joining up, records, and discharge papers; the period of such extant records is 1760-1913. The Register Society founded at Lloyd's Coffee House in London, later to become Lloyd's Register of Shipping. 1760-1774 In this period no less than 452 separate Turnpike Acts were passed. 1770 Captain Cook lands at Botany Bay, Australia. 1775-1783 American War of Independence. It is worth noting that during the war there was no emigration into what became the USA. The only people going there were British soldiers, probably their families and people connected with the British Government. 1776 The first official workhouse returns were made showing the existence of about 2,000 workhouses, each with between 20 and 50 inmates. The cost of indoor relief was high; inefficient workhouse management led to increased social pressure for more sympathetic treatment of the poor. Over 16,000 individual men, women and children were housed in one of the eighty workhouses in metropolitan London; between 1 per cent and 2 per cent of the population of London. Workhouses, institutions in which the poor were housed, fed and set to work, had by this time become the most common form of relief available to poor Londoners. 1778 In 1778 an Act was passed "to relieve upon conditions and under restrictions, persons professing the Popish religion". It is from now that a number of Catholic registers begin. 1780 Stamp Duty of 10s on estates worth more than £100 [was £20], with a sliding scale for bigger estates. Separate Legacy Duty brought in chargeable on receipts for both legacies and any part of the estate residue. It was largely evaded as it was not made compulsory to give receipts. 1780 From this date a person who paid Land Tax on freehold property of £2 or more per annum was entitled to vote, so Land Tax returns were recorded at the Quarter Sessions and thus created lists of eligible voters. 1782 The Workhouse Act allowed parishes to come together in voluntary unions to administer the poor law and employ paid guardians in the union workhouse. Duty of 3d payable for burials. Duty of 3d payable for register entries of burials. Possible false and duplicate parish entries. Navy Lists giving details of commissioned officers run from 1782 to date; held at National Archives, Kew. Foreign Office formed. 1783 Stamp Act (Pitt's Tax?). This was passed by the House of Commons of Great Britain in order to raise money to pay for the American War of Independence. Under the provisions of this Act, all baptism, marriage and burial entries in each parish register were subject to a tax of 3d. Church ministers were empowered to collect the duty, and were allowed to keep 10% of this fee as compensation for their trouble. Refusal to pay carried a fine of five pounds. This was a deeply unpopular tax, and many clergymen were sympathetic to the plight of their parishioners, and as paupers were exempt from this tax, it is not uncommon for family history researchers and genealogists to find that the number of supposed poor people within a parish has increased many times above normal during these years until the act was finally repealed in 1794. Such entries in a parish register are annotated with either the letter "P." or "Pauper". If a family could not claim exemption then it was not unusual for them simply not to bother, and this would result in a number of adult "late" baptisms during the following decades. 1784 First Mail coaches introduced, had an armed Mail Guard on board. 1785 Stamp Act extended to non-conformists. The Times newspaper was started (changed name from Daily Universal Register in 1788). 1786 Sunday School Movement started in Wales by Thomas Charles, 1787 First convicts sent to Australia in what is known as the First Fleet; the Second Fleet followed in 1790. 1789 French Revolution 1789-1801. National Archives has any extant British records. 1790 First US census. Methodist's registers began. New Zealand settled by whalers and traders in 1790s. First free settlers reach Australia in 1790s. 1791 The Catholic Relief Act of 1791 enabled Catholics to worship at their own registered churches under registered priests, and many churches were built. There are annual Criminal registers for 1791-1892 at the National Archives, Kew. First official survey of Great Britain is started using the Ordnance branch of the army, hence the 'Ordnance Survey' [OS] name which survives to this day. The Observer newspaper was started. 1792-c1832 The Land Tax Returns, by parish. 1793 Service records of Royal Marine officers are held at the National Archives, Kew, for period 1793-1925. 1793-1815 French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. 1794 Stamp Act repealed. End of tax on Baptism, Marriage & Burial register entries, may have been a rush of baptisms after this date. From this date, under common law, all the inhabitants of a parish have the right to be buried in the 'parish burial ground'. 1795 Pitt brought in a law which penalised anyone who administered a property of a deceased person without obtaining a grant of probate or administration within 6 months of his or her death. This is the first time probate had been compulsory since the 17c. The notorious Speenhamland policy originates in Berkshire, where the poor were 'helped' by wages being increased by a dole payment to a subsistence level, this system was inevitably abused by unscrupulous employers. In the context of navy press gangs, Pitt brings in an Act which required a certain number of recruits from each county or port. 1796 William Pitt brings in death duties [called Legacy Duty] for the first time in his budget to pay for the Napoleonic War. This was levied on estates [not land] worth more than £20, had a sliding scale depending on which relative the legacy was left to. In 1805 and 1815 it was varied, and also in 1853 when transfers of land at death were included. This became Probate Duty in 1881, and Estate Duty from 1894. Church courts required to send copies of all their grants of probate to the Estate Duty Office. 1797 French invasion force of 1400 men land at Carreg Wastad near Fishguard, Wales. 1798 From this date Land Tax assessment forms were printed and included the names of the owner and occupier of particular properties. Irish Rebellion. 1799-1800 Combination Laws, applied to all industries, stopped combinations of workers from trying to collectively further their interests. Income tax was introduced in 1799 by Prime Minister William Pitt to finance the war against revolutionary France. 19th century ************ 1801 The first official OS map was published, scale 1" to the mile. These are at the National Archives. Decennial Population Censuses, by enumeration districts. The Acreage Returns, agricultural statistics by parish. When a peace treaty was signed with France in 1802, Pitt's income tax Act of 1799 was repealed by his successor Henry Addington. 1803-15 The Napoleonic Wars. The renewal of the war with France forced Addington to bring in a new Income Tax Act in 1803. An Act required all men aged 17-55 to be recorded, together with whether they were willing to volunteer for militia duty. 1806 Start of colonisation of South Africa. 1807 Abolition of the slave trade. 1811 The Calvinistic Methodist church splits from the Church of England with Thomas Charles ordaining 6 of his leading lay preachers so that they might administer the Sacrament. National Society for promoting the Education of the Poor, founded in 1811. 1812-14 The Second War for American Independence. Another period when there was no emigration from UK to the USA. 1813 Adoption of standard printed baptismal registers with additional data following Rose's Act of 1812. Trinity Act of 1813. It is now legal for a congregation to call itself Unitarian. 1814 British and Foreign School Society, founded in 1814. 1815 After 1815 people were legally obliged to apply for Admons [Letters of Administration]. Corn laws introduced in the Importation Act 1815. The Corn Laws were trade laws designed to protect cereal producers in the UK against competition from less expensive foreign imports. More simply, to ensure that British landowners reaped all the financial profits from farming, the corn laws (which imposed steep import duties) made it too expensive for anyone to import grain from other countries, even when the people of the UK needed the food. 1815 Owners of copyhold property now able to devise land by will. Published Assessments to Property Tax, by parish. Assessments to County Rates, by parish. Newspaper stamp duty increased from 3 1/2d to 4d, then reduced to 1d in 1836. 1816 Income Tax Act of 1803 repealed. 1818 Wesleyan registers begun London. Select Committee on Education, 1818-19. 1820 George IV 1821 Manchester Guardian newspaper started. 1822 The Coastguard service was created under the control of, and from parts of, the Customs service, such as the revenue cruisers, riding officers and water guard. 1823 Marriage Bonds abolished in 1823. Bonds and allegations are linked to marriage licences. By obtaining a marriage licence, the couple did not have to wait three weeks for the banns to be read. This could be important if they wanted to avoid parental wrath (perhaps daddy would not approve or daughter was already in difficulties), or to avoid every Tom, Dick and Harry knowing their business. If they were not in their home parishes, then it would be difficult to arrange for the banns to be read there. It can also be seen as a status symbol. Allegations might survive and would show the names, ages (but it could just be "21 upwards") occupations and places of residence of the couple, whether single or widowed and where the marriage was to take place. If one of both were minors, then a parent should be named as giving consent. Where bonds were submitted, they contained the sworn statements of relatives or friends that they knew of no impediment to the marriage, confirming that the marriage would take place in a certain church and the amounts of money by which these people were bound (and which they would forfeit if the licence was not complied with). Banns now had to be read in both parishes, if different. Act under which Houses of Correction and County Gaols were amalgamated, now regulated by justices of the peace who had to keep records. The word prison is first used in official documents. An Act which stopped the previous custom of burying a suicide in the roadway. It was now lawful for these to be buried in consecrated ground, although without the benefit of a religious service. It also brought to an end the tradition of driving a stake through the body and throwing lime over it. 1829 Metropolitan Police force established in London. Catholic Emancipation Act, Catholics are now allowed to participate in public and political life. 1830 William IV The historic Tory Party became generally known as the Conservative Party. 1831 As part of the 1831 census an investigation was made into the state of each parish register. 1831 - 1833 Cholera epidemic hits UK, almost 500 deaths in large Welsh towns but 1500 in Liverpool alone. Central Board of Health established in London. 1832 Reform Act 1832, the first Reform Bill. Counties were divided to reflect population distribution and Wales gained 5 more seats, the total becoming 32. But still only one man in seven could vote, and voting was still not secret. Electoral registers were introduced and show the names of people entitled to vote in parliamentary elections. 1833 Factory Act. This prohibited employment of children under 9, but baptismal certificates were the only available evidence, albeit unreliable, of a child's age. The first Treasury grant towards the building of schools - given between the British and the National Society schools. 1834 The Poor Law Amendment Act This brought in significant changes, parishes were now made to amalgamate into Unions, each with a Board of Guardians to administer relief. To obtain relief 'paupers' now had to go into Union workhouses whereas before they could receive 'out relief' in their homes. The Act included the controversial bastardy clause which which said that up to the age of 16 children were the sole responsibility of the mother and if she couldn't look after them then she would have to enter the workhouse. This caused an outcry and 10 years later was changed so that a mother was allowed to apply for maintenance from the father. Though the Settlement Act was repealed in 1834, the principle of settlement remained substantially in force until 1876. The Old Bailey becomes known as the Central Criminal Court. 1835 Marriage of a minor without consent ceased to be invalid. First recorded photograph of a person by Daguerre. Merchant Shipping Act, Crew Lists and other documents now to be filed with the Register Office of Merchant Seamen. 1836 The Tithes Commutation Act of 1836 enabled commutation to be made more easily by commissioners in negotiation with the inhabitants of each parish on the basis of a land valuation. The schedules and detailed maps produced as part of this exercise are invaluable for genealogists. The drawing up of tithe maps covered the period from 1836 to c1850. 1836 General Enclosure Acts of 1836, 1840 and 1845. These followed an increasing number of private Acts of Parliament effecting the enclosure of both privately held and communal land. Commissioners oversaw the process, awards and maps at National Archives. 1837 Queen Victoria The "Victorian era" started with the death of William IV on 20th June 1837. Civil Registration Act. Births, marriages and deaths now had to be registered with the official Registrar in each Registration District. It was also made possible for non-religious civil marriages to be held in register offices which were set up in towns and cities. Nonconformist registers requested to be deposited at National Archives. Under the Marriage Act of 1836, marriages could again take place in Roman Catholic and Nonconformist places of worship but a Civil Registrar had to be present and the place had to be licenced. Marriage services can now be performed in Welsh. Banns and marriage licences were no longer obligatory. Jews and Gentiles now allowed to marry each other. At the FRC are indexes of births and deaths at sea since 1837 on any UK registered ship. Statute of Wills permitted the devise of all realty by written will signed by the testator before 2 non benefiting witnesses. 1838 The Public Records Act enacted to preserve the government's and law courts' records and other nationally important archives. An Act was passed for the conveyance of mails by the Post Office using railways. Debt was now distinguished from premeditated fraud and ceased to be an offence punishable by a prison sentence unless the debtor was likely to abscond. People's Charter and National Petition launched. 1839 The County Police Act passed Committee of the Privy Council on Education, established in 1839. 1840 Rowland Hill sets up the Post Office with the penny post. The Liberal Party was the successor to the Whig Party, the term Liberal was used formally from 1840 but informally from 1815. Their first period of power was 1830-41. The term Whig had been used since the reign of James II. 1841 First detailed 10 yearly census return, previous ones from 1801 are only useful for statistics. Under the Ordnance Survey Act the OS becomes a separate institution. The enfranchisement of Copyhold land was introduced [i.e its legal conversion into freehold]. Children's Employment Commission Report, resulted in a Mines Act which prohibited women or boys (under aged 10) to work underground. 1842 - 1843 and 1859 - 1860 Published Assessments to Income Tax, by parish. Income tax on incomes over £150 was re-introduced by Peel. 1843 - 4 New Parishes Act, permitting the first boundary reforms which allowed the division of large parishes in smaller ecclesiastical parishes. The Counties [Detached Parts] Act of 1844 eliminated those detached parts of counties surrounded by a sole other county. Royal Commission on the Health of Towns and Populous Places; a Board of Health was established. A Report on the Turnpike Trusts: "It was to be expected that the government should institute an enquiry into the (Rebecca) rioting. Edwin Chadwick, the secretary of the Poor Law Commission, who had paid some attention to conditions in Wales in preparing a report in 1839 on the best means of establishing a constabulary force, wrote to the home office on 11 July 1843 to suggest that an enquiry be held......" 1844 The Factory Act made provision for a child's age to be confirmed through a copy of the birth registration entry, fee 1/-. It also reduced the age limit for child labour in factories from 9 to 8. 1844 The Poor Law Amendment Act introduced the concept of maintenance into statute law which produced bastardy files which may help where a father of an illegitimate child is not named in the birth entry. This Act abolished compulsory apprenticeship and laid down duties of the masters and the terms of the indentures. 1844 The Liberation Society, a group wanting the dis-establishment of the Church of England totally, was founded. 1845 -1850 Irish potato famine in which 1 million perished and mass emigration started. 1846 Corn Laws repealed. 1847 Juvenile Offenders Act. The Act allowed children under the age of fourteen to be tried summarily before two magistrates, speeding up the process of trial for children, and removing it from the publicity of the higher courts. The age limit was raised to sixteen in 1850. Band of Hope began its temperance movements 1848 The Public Health Act of 1848 established the public health services of this country, and one of its first provisions was the formation of the General Board of Health, a central department to which local authorities could turn to for advice and help. Local boards of health were established under this Act, and the Local Government Act 1858, in populous areas not covered by a town vestry or council, or by Improvement Commissioners. They were responsible for most aspects of public health, including street cleaning, sewerage, water supply and highways. It had only been in operation a few weeks when the 1848-9 cholera epidemic appeared. 1849 The Inland Revenue Department came into being by the merger of the Board of Excise with the Board of Stamps and Taxes. 1850 In 1850 the law permitted the creation of a Roman Catholic hierarchy in Britain. In the 1850s the Board of Trade, Railway Department, assumed responsibility for canals. Coal Mines Inspection Act 1850, the first statute to give the state some element of control over coal mining. 1851 Census of Religious Worship, by parish meant the great growth of nonconformity was revealed statistically. Further legislation for the protection of apprentices. The 1851 census showed that 21% of the population worked in agriculture. 1852 Registration regional areas now total 34; was 27 in 1837. Burial Acts; between 1852 and 1906 no less than 15 Burial Acts were passed . Burial boards were established under the Burial Act 1853 which allowed parish vestries, borough councils or local boards of health to create and manage new cemeteries. First roadside Post Office pillar box built at Jersey, and in mainland Britain the following year. Changed from dark green to red in 1874. 1853 Gladstone's Succession Duty Act passed; charged all property of a deceased, landed or personal, 'on which there was succession', excluded personal property already covered by Legacy Duty. Not abolished until 1949. Principle of continuous engagement began in Royal Navy. Most Catholics were buried in Anglican parish burial grounds until 1853, borough cemeteries after that. 1853 - 1854 Cholera epidemic spreads across England and into Wales causing nearly a thousand deaths in the latter months of the year, the disease again being much more prevalent in the industrial south. London by comparison had ten thousand seven hundred and thirty-eight deaths. A direct consequence of the compulsory vaccination of this year was a sharp increase in under-registration of births. The Charity Commission for England and Wales was set up by the Charitable Trust Act of 1853. 1853 - 1856 Crimean War. 1854 1854, 1866+, Agricultural Statistics, by parish. 1855 Civil registration commences in Scotland. Stamp Duty on newspapers abolished reducing their price greatly. Daily Telegraph newspaper started. Criminal Justice Act. 1856 All cities, boroughs and counties were now obliged to establish their own police force, some already did. The Admiralty takes over control of the Coastguard from the Custom service. 1857 Non-conformist registers deposited with Registrar General (and then passed to the PRO - now at the National Archives). Extra Parochial Places Act, allowed some extra parochial areas to be absorbed into adjoining parishes. 1858 The Probate Act of 1857 came into effect on January 12 1858. It abolished Church Courts with the state taking over the administration or probate of wills and admons from the Church courts through the Principal Probate Registry. Until this Act wills which only dealt with the disposition of land [not goods] did not require to be probated and so have generally not survived. Following the Matrimonial Causes Act of 1857 from 1858 a divorce could be granted by the new civil Court for Divorce and Matrimonial Causes. 1860 Coroners are now salaried and paid for from local rates. 1861 The 1861 census returns were damaged by enemy action in WW2. Post Office Savings Bank introduced. American Civil War 1861-65. 1862 Elementary school log books commenced. Schools receiving state aid now subject to a 'payment by results' system. Coal Mines' Regulation Act [around 1862] which stated that " there must be at least two shafts or outlets, with which every seam for the time being at work in the mine shall have a communication; such shafts must not at any point be nearer to one another than 15 yards, and there shall be between such two shafts a roadway not less than 4 feet wide and 4 feet high." [Following an accident in Hartley, in which 204 men were suffocated]. The Land Registry formed, the process of registering land and property transfers was voluntary for most parts outside central London until the C20. Made compulsory in 1897 but only on a gradual basis county by county as and when a transfer occurred. 1864 Registration of Burials Act. This compelled non-parochial burial grounds to keep registers and provide copies of these to the Anglican registrars. Civil registration commences in Ireland. 1865 - 1866 The fourth and virtually last great cholera epidemic in Britain. GRO index of deaths now gives deceased's age. GRO indexes now printed or typed (not handwritten as previously). Sanitary Act, municipal mortuaries started to be built. 1867 The Second Reform Bill. Relatively few people are found in Electoral registers until 1867 when there was a large increase in voters, but still men only. The vote was give to all male heads of households in borough seats. The Poor Law Amendment Act of 1868, required that extra parochial places with no overseer be amalgamated with adjoining civil parishes. Transportation to the colonies effectively ended. 1869 Dis-establishment of the Church of Ireland [Anglican]. Debt is now finally decriminalised and routine imprisonment for debt ceased, other than in cases of fraud or deliberate refusal to pay, and the Court for the Relief of Insolvent Debtors was wound up. Creditors who were owed more than £50 could petition for bankruptcy proceedings. 1870 Voting qualifications changed. Gladstone's Licensing Act [Alcohol], he lost the next election. Post Office gets monopoly to run the Telegraph service. 1870 System of free passages to Australia started. Act to Abolish Forfeitures for Treason and Felony, this ended the medieval rule of law that the property of someone found to have committed suicide was forfeited to the crown. The practice of sending the body of a suicide to anatomy classes for dis-section was stopped. School Boards and the Works School System after the Education Act of 1870. 1871 Vaccination Act required that duplicates of birth certificates were to be made [not with mother's maiden name]. Some may survive in county ROs. After 1898 parents could refuse vaccination for their children on grounds of conscience. Dr Barnardo's records began in 1871 and are full from 1885, deposited at Liverpool University. 1872 In aftermath of 1868 elections Tory landowners took their revenge and threw hundreds of farmers off their land. This directly lead, in 1872, to the Ballot Act being passed making voting secret, so that landowners no longer knew how their tenants voted. Before this how someone voted was recorded in Poll Books. National Agricultural Labourer's Union set up by Joseph Arch. He had over 100,000 members within first year. Under the Public Health Act 1872, the existing 1848/58 local boards were incorporated into urban sanitary authorities (USDs), together with boroughs and improvement commissions, while rural sanitary authorities (RSDs) covered the remainder. 1873 First Ordnance Survey map for whole country published. 1874 Necessity for a doctor's certificate as to cause of death before a death cert could be issued by the Registrar. Death certificate now needed for burying stillborn children. Fines began for non registration of births, previously the Registrar's responsibility. Registrars now allowed to register a birth up to seven years after the birth itself (only 6 months until now). The Public Health Acts of 1874/5 created new local authorities with responsibility for public health. Urban areas such as towns or boroughs were to form Urban Sanitary Districts (USDs)The remainder of the country was divided into Rural Sanitary Districts (RSDs) - these corresponded to the existing Poor Law unions (exc. the USDs). 1875 Before 1875, a mother was allowed to name any man as the father; he was not required to acknowledge paternity. From now on, a man could only be named as the father if he consented and was present at the registration. The Supreme Court of Judicature was established comprising 5 divisions; Chancery; Probate Divorce and Admiralty; Common Pleas; Exchequer; King's [Queen's] Bench; the last 3 being amalgamated in 1881 into the King's [Queen's] Bench. Local Authorities were allowed to compulsory purchase slum properties under the Artisans' and Labourers' Dwellings Act. England raised the age of consent for girls to 13 years; an act of sexual intercourse with a girl younger than 13 was now a felony. 1876 Elementary Education Act. Divided Parishes and Poor Law Amendment Act permitted that detached parts of parishes could be separate parishes in own right or amalgamated with other parishes. 1877 Poor Law Act provided that parts of parishes cut off by municipal boundaries, or rivers, be treated as 'detached' for the purposes of the 1876 Act. Prison act. A National Prison Commission is set up. Up to now most crimes were punishable by death, fine or whipping, plus transportation. The way we punished crime was changing, and many more prisons existed. The board's duties included the maintenance of all prisons, the appointment of subordinate prison staff, the inspection of prison buildings and the condition of prisoners, and the exercise of powers formerly vested in visiting justices and inspectors of prisons. It also submitted annual reports on every prison to the Home Office for presentation to Parliament, together with other returns. The reports included details of manufacturing processes carried on by prisoners within the prisons. This is the start of penal regulation and reform in England. 1879 Zulu War. 1880 Burial Laws Amendment Act, allowed ex-communicants of the Anglican Church a modified form of service when being buried in a parish churchyard, also Catholic and any other Christian rites. This Act also allowed a suicide's body to be interred in a churchyard, although 48 hours notice was required before a burial, either without a religious service or with such Christian religious service as the person responsible saw fit. Also allowed the use of the Church of England Burial service on unconsecrated ground by a C of E minister. Education Act. School attendance made compulsory between 5 and 10. Local Authorities now had duty to ensure that the children in their area were being properly educated. Telephone directories first make an appearance. Post Office starts to operate its own telephone exchanges. Probate Duty. Gladstone brought in legislation which unified probate duty on deceased's estates at 3% of the net value after debts with those under £100 exempt and those worth up to £1000 at lower rates. 1882 Divided Parishes and Poor Law Amendment Act. This provided that detached parts of parishes wholly surrounded by another parish be amalgamated with that parish. Only about 5% of the male population left wills in the nineteenth century and wills written by wives were almost non-existent until the Married Women's Property Act of 1882 came into the force. Since 1837, all testators have had to be aged over 21; prior to that, the minimum age was 12 for a girl and 14 for a boy. Under the Married Woman's Property Act, married women are now legally able to own property . Prior to this all property brought into a marriage by a wife became the that of the husband's. At least it was the husband who went to the debtors' prison even if debts were created by his wife. In the period 1882 to 1908, Barnardo's sent 4500 children to Canada without parental consent, another 3000 as a result of court orders etc. Suicide still a crime but people could now be buried in consecrated ground. 1883 The Boy's Brigade founded by William A Smith in Glasgow. The title Postman replaces Letter Carrier, also parcel post started. 1884 The Third Reform Bill. The majority of adult male householders were now able to vote. These Reform and Redistribution Acts of 1884/5 re-distributed parliamentary seats to reflect the growth of industrial areas, and the vote was thus granted to the bulk of Welsh working class males. 1885 The first legal cremation in UK was probably in Woking in 1885 1886 The Severn Tunnel (Rail) opened 1888 Most coroners were elected by freeholders up until this date, now appointed by local authorities. From the 20th century coroners are either a barrister, a solicitor or qualified medical practitioner. Local Government Act of 1888 which created county councils. 1889 Secondary Education Act. 1891 The first census requiring indication of language spoken - some 1.685 million Welsh speakers. Tithe Act, landlords now to be responsible for payment of tithes. 1893 Education Act. Age for compulsory school attendance increased to 11. Minor outbreak of Cholera in UK. 1894 Local Government Act, created parish councils and provided that every parish was to be within a single administrative county; and that parishes straddling urban and rural district councils were to be split. The Vestry act transferred the civil functions of the parish to parish councils. Finance Act; introduced Estate Duty replacing probate duty, became payable on value of all property, real and personal, settled or not settled after deduction of debts and funeral costs. Estates worth less than £100 still exempt from duty. 1895 Last turnpike toll-gates in Britain removed - in Anglesey. Urban and Rural District Councils replaced Urban & Rural Sanitary Authorities. 1896 Daily Mail newspaper started 1897 World's first wireless transmission at Lavernock, Vale of Glamorgan, by Marconi. 1898 Non-conformist marriages could now take place without the local civil Registrar of BMD attending. 1899 Education Act. Age for compulsory school attendance increased to 12. Boer War 1899 - 1902. At the FRC are indexes of deaths in the Boer War 20th century ************ 1900 The Labour Party was formally started in UK at a conference of the Independent Labour party and the Fabian Society. Until 1906 it was known as the Labour Representative Committee. Daily Express newspaper started 1901 Edward VII Factory & Workshop Act. This repealed the Factory & Workshop Acts of 1878, 1883, 1891, 1895, and also the Cotton Cloth Factories Acts of 1889 & 1897. The 1901 Act was itself repealed in the Factories Act of 1937. The 1901 Act said that children under 12 could not be employed in a factory or workshop unless already so employed. Certificates of fitness for employment were required which needed evidence of a child's age. This might be a copy of the birth registration entry, fee 6d. School leaving age was 13, but only compulsory to stay until 12. The taking of the 1901 census created storage problems for the GRO who offered the 1871 and 1881 returns to the National Archives to make room for it. The latter demanded the earlier censuses as well as part of the deal, but where were they? The 1841 and 1861 turned up in the lofts over the House of Lords' Committee Rooms. The books for 1851 were eventually found in a GRO vault at Somerset House, with 1871 in another which had been used as a fowl house ! [Family Tree Magazine Jan 2002]. The 1901 census showed that the percentage of the population working in agriculture had fallen to 8.6% (21% in 1851). 1902 The first Midwives Act passed, which created the Central Midwives Board and state regulation became compulsory. 1904 Daily Mirror newspaper started. 1905 The Unemployed Workmen's Act set up distress committees in many towns. Aliens Act - restricted immigration. 1906 The name Suffragettes is coined to describe militants fighting for women's rights to vote. 1907 The 'Deceased Wife's Sister's Marriage Act' was an Act of the Parliament allowing a man to marry his dead wife's sister, which had previously been forbidden. This prohibition had derived from a doctrine of Canon Law whereby those who were connected by marriage were regarded as being related to each other in a way which made marriage between them improper. First Aid Nursing Yeomanry is formed (FANYs). The Scouts movement started by Baden-Powell. 1908 State retirement pensions first introduced in the UK with David Lloyd George's Old Age Pensions Act - pensions granted to those over age 70 with an income under £31.10s pa. Became universal under the National Insurance Act 1946, which introduced the basic flat-rate pension. 1909 Town and Country Planning Acts in 1909-1932. H.M. Customs and Excise created by merging the Board of Customs with the Board of Excise. 1910 George V From the 1910 Valuation Office Survey [known as the Lloyd George Domesday] maps were produced [between 1910 and 1915] for taxation purposes. They were adapted from OS maps with plot numbers of each property linked to field books. Licensing Act, abolished the use of public houses for inquests. Girl Guide Movement started by the sister of Baden-Powell. 1911 GRO birth indexes now include the mother's maiden name (but local indexes not until 1969). The Society of Genealogists is founded. National Health Insurance introduced by David Lloyd George as Chancellor of the Exchequer. 1912 From Jan 1st GRO marriage indexes include the spouse's name, i.e both entries include the other party's surname. So, cross checking is no longer required to be sure one has the right entry. Post Office takes over the National Telephone Company. Minimum Wage Act for coal miners passed after national miners' strike. 1914 - 1916 The Great War, Passports now compulsory for overseas travel, Aliens Registration Act, all foreigners over 16 now had to register with police. In 1914, the standard rate of income tax was 6%, with an additional "super-tax" on the wealthy, introduced by Lloyd George in 1909. 1916 David Lloyd George becomes Prime Minister in a coalition government. 1917 Report of the Commission Appointed to enquire into Industrial Unrest, 1917. 1918 The voting franchise was extended to all male adults [over 21] resident in the constituency. Women over 30, who were householders or wives of householders, were granted the right to vote in parliamentary elections in 1918 but not until 1928 were women over 21 enfranchised. Education Act. Compulsory education age increased to 14. Sex Disqualification (Removal) act, admitted women to previously male professions, e.g the law which led to the first woman barrister called to the bar in 1921. Nancy Astor is the first woman to sit in Parliament. Ministry of Health formed. 1919 Women (householders or stable residents) over 30 got the vote. 1920 Dis-establishment of the Church in Wales. The payment of tithe to the church was now formerly abolished in Wales. Divorce uncommon prior to this date. 1921 Now legal to marry deceased husband's brother, although such relationships had often happened before this especially if a woman was left with children. 1922 British Broadcasting Company formed (public corporation from 1927). Dublin Record Office destroyed by fire. Registrars now allowed to register a birth at any time after the birth itself (7 years since 1874). 1922 A law of property Act brought to an end the last meaningful function of manorial courts when 'copyhold' was abolished as a form of land tenure. 1923 The Matrimonial Causes Act. Adultery of either spouse now grounds for divorce where before women alone also had to prove cruelty or desertion. 1925 The Royal Commission on the Coal Industry, Samuel Commission, recommended the amalgamation of small mines. 1925 This year saw a series of statutes passed that altered land law; Law of Property Act, Settled Land Act, The Trustee Act, Land Registration Act, Land Charges Act, Administration of Estates Act. One effect of the Law of Property Act was that the requirement to prove descent of land 'as far back as possible' was removed, the period of proof becoming 30 years, further reduced to 15 years in 1970; thus old title deeds became redundant. The Law of Property Act changed the law so that in an intestacy case both realty and personalty now passed to the next of kin. 1926 Coroners Act introduced requirement for coroners to be either legally or medically qualified, previously only had to be a landowner. 1927 Landlord and Tenant Act. A system of legal adoption introduced for first time, the word itself had been loosely used for the status of guardianship and foster parenthood previously. There are indexes at the FRC covering these adoptions since this date All stillbirths now to be recorded in the Register of Stillbirths at the ONS. 1929 The 'Ages of Marriage Act'. The minimum marriage ages increased. "Full age" on a marriage certificate meant being age 21 or over. "Minor" or "under age" meant between 12 and 20 for a girl and between 14 and 20 for a boy, until 1929 when the lower age was raised to 16 for both parties. Giving the right age was not compulsory, and a wrong age would not invalidate the marriage although wilful deception might lead to a prosecution for perjury. Voting qualifications changed, lowered to women over 21. Until this year Registrars of BMD had been paid on commission. 1930 Boards of Guardians (workhouses) were the responsibility of the Poor Law Commission in London, and in 1919 became part of the Ministry of Health. Boards of Guardians were abolished in 1930. 1930 Housing Act which enabled the Ministry of Health to demolish unfit houses whilst building new ones (slum clearance). 1931 The census returns for this year were completely destroyed by enemy action in WW2. 1934 Hore-Belisha introduces driving tests (among other things). Hore-Belisha was appointed Minister of Transport in 1934. All UK speed limits for motor cars had controversially been removed by the Road Traffic Act 1930. 1934 was to see record GB road casualties with (7,343 deaths and 231,603 injuries) being recorded and three-quarters occurring in built-up areas. Hore-Belisha's Road Traffic Act 1934 introduced a speed limit of 30 mph for motor cars in built-up areas. This was vigorously opposed by many, who saw the new regulations as a removal of 'an Englishman's freedom of the highway.' The earlier 20 mph speed limit had been abolished in 1930 because it was universally flouted. A large backlog of court cases had made the law unenforceable. He re-wrote the Highway Code and was responsible for the introduction of two innovations which led to a dramatic drop in road accidents: the driving test and the Belisha beacon, named after him by the public. 1936 Edward VIII and George VI Tithes finally abolished in Great Britain. 1939 - 45 World War II. Enumeration of the UK on 29 Sept 1939. The National Health Service number commenced as the security identification number allocated as a result of that enumeration. 1940s National Farm Survey 1941 - 1943 1941 No census return taken because of WWII. 1944 Introduction of PAYE - Pay As You Earn - in 1944, with tax deducted by employers from wages and the introduction of the P45 form which was given to an employee leaving work. 1946 National Health Service Act. New Town Act, for developing new urban areas. Furnished Houses [Rent Control]Act, established Rent Tribunals to control rent levels on furnished property. 1947 'Short' birth certificates introduced - without parents' names shown. Town and Country Planning Act, for post war re-construction. Planning permission now needed for house construction. 1948 National Health Service established by Aneurin Bevan. Anglican Church revised canons mean that they will no longer marry a couple if neither have been baptised, with certain stipulations if one has been baptised. 1952 Elizabeth II 1961 The 1861 census returns were damaged by enemy action in WW2. In 1962 the GRO was concerned about the space needed to store the 1961 census and actually urged the destruction of the 1861 return! This was stopped by the intervention of the SOG and Christopher Chataway MP, they were then sent over to the National Archives. [Family Tree Magazine(UK) Jan 2002]. Suicide Act repealed the rule of law that made it a crime to commit suicide, although anyone aiding and abetting such an act is still liable to prosecution. 1965 Rent Act, re-introduced rent control on unfurnished property. 1969 Naming of illegitimate children, The surname of a child, which can be any name the parents choose, has been entered on the birth certificate only since 1969. Before that date it had to be inferred from the parents' name. In the case of an illegitimate child, only the mother's name is normally given on a birth cert. The maiden name of deceased married women now given on death certificates. Deceased's date and place of birth now given on death certificates instead of age at death. The GRO indexes now include the deceased's date of birth The age of majority was reduced from 21 to 18. 1971 Assize Courts replaced by Crown Courts. 1972 The Local Government Act, with amendments in 1977, introduced, inter alia, a single code for all burial authorities dealing with the management of cemeteries. 1975 Adoptees over 18 can now apply for their birth certificates. 1979 All parish registers had to be deposited with the local Records Office unless it could be proved that the parish itself had adequate storage facilities. 1982 [For a legitimate child under school leaving age the name of the father should be given on death certificates] and that of the mother too from 1982 onwards. 1984 BMD indexes at GRO now annual not quarterly. 1990 The Land Registry register of land title in England & Wales is opened to inspection to the public. Originally Compiled by Gareth Hicks and Mike Thomas http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ukwales2/HelpPagepearls6.html Later additions and factual editing by Jon Hyatt