Events from the year 1850 in the United Kingdom.
Incumbents
*
Monarch
A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority ...
–
Victoria
*
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
–
Lord John Russell (
Whig)
*
Foreign Secretary
The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Seen as ...
–
Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston
*
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
–
15th
15 (fifteen) is the natural number following 14 (number), 14 and preceding 16 (number), 16.
Mathematics
15 is:
* A composite number, and the sixth semiprime; its proper divisors being , and .
* A deficient number, a smooth number, a lucky ...
Events
* 18 January –
Don Pacifico affair
The Don Pacifico affair was a diplomatic episode which occurred in 1850 and concerned the governments of Greece, the United Kingdom and Portugal, and is considered an example of gunboat diplomacy. The affair is named after David Pacifico, a Jewis ...
:
Lord Palmerston, the
Foreign Secretary
The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Seen as ...
, sends a
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
squadron to blockade the port of
Piraeus
Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saronic ...
in the
Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi (Greek language, Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish language, Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It ...
in defence of the interests of a
British citizen, causing a diplomatic incident with Russia and France.
* 5 March – opening of
Robert Stephenson's
Britannia Bridge carrying the
Chester and Holyhead Railway across the
Menai Strait
The Menai Strait ( cy, Afon Menai, the "river Menai") is a narrow stretch of shallow tidal water about long, which separates the island of Anglesey from the mainland of Wales. It varies in width from from Fort Belan to Abermenai Point to from ...
between the island of
Anglesey
Anglesey (; cy, (Ynys) Môn ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms a principal area known as the Isle of Anglesey, that includes Holy Island across the narrow Cymyran Strait and some islets and skerries. Anglesey island ...
and the mainland of Wales.
* 9 March – the
Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is the highest court of appeal for the Crown Dependencies, the British Overseas Territories, some Commonwealth countries and a few institutions in the United Kingdom. Established on 14 Augus ...
delivers judgement in a case brought on appeal by Rev.
George Cornelius Gorham
George Cornelius Gorham (1787–1857) was a vicar in the Church of England. His legal recourse to being denied a certain post, subsequently taken to a secular court, caused great controversy.
Early life
George Cornelius Gorham was born on 21 Aug ...
which effectively gives the civil courts power to determine the doctrine of the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
.
* 30 March – the
paddle steamer
A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses wer ...
, bound from
Cork
Cork or CORK may refer to:
Materials
* Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product
** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container
***Wine cork
Places Ireland
* Cork (city)
** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...
to London, sinks off
Margate
Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and Westbrook, Kent, ...
with the loss of all 250 on board.
* 4 April –
North London Collegiate School for girls established in new premises with
Frances Buss
Frances Mary Buss (16 August 1827 – 24 December 1894) was a British headmistress and a pioneer of girls' education.
Life
The daughter of Robert William Buss, a painter and etcher, and his wife, Frances Fleetwood, Buss was one of six of thei ...
as Principal.
* 19 April –
Clayton–Bulwer Treaty
The Clayton–Bulwer Treaty was a treaty signed in 1850 between the United States and the United Kingdom. The treaty was negotiated by John M. Clayton and Sir Henry Bulwer, amidst growing tensions between the two nations over Central America, a ...
signed between the United Kingdom and the United States agreeing that neither nation is to colonize or control any Central American republic. The purpose is to prevent one country from building a
canal
Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...
across the isthmus that the other would not be able to use.
* 25 May – the
hippopotamus
The hippopotamus ( ; : hippopotamuses or hippopotami; ''Hippopotamus amphibius''), also called the hippo, common hippopotamus, or river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of only two extan ...
Obaysch
Obaysch (1849? – 11 March 1878) was the first hippopotamus seen in Great Britain since prehistory, prehistoric times, and the first in Europe since Ancient Rome. He was captured on an island on the White Nile when he was less than one year old. ...
arrives at
London Zoo
London Zoo, also known as ZSL London Zoo or London Zoological Gardens is the world's oldest scientific zoo. It was opened in London on 27 April 1828, and was originally intended to be used as a collection for science, scientific study. In 1831 o ...
from
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
, the first to live in the British Isles since prehistoric times.
* 27 June – eccentric
Robert Pate physically assaults
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...
with his cane in
Piccadilly
Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road that connects central London to Hammersmith, Earl's Court, ...
(London).
* 29 June –
Don Pacifico affair
The Don Pacifico affair was a diplomatic episode which occurred in 1850 and concerned the governments of Greece, the United Kingdom and Portugal, and is considered an example of gunboat diplomacy. The affair is named after David Pacifico, a Jewis ...
:
Palmerston Palmerston may refer to:
People
* Christie Palmerston (c. 1851–1897), Australian explorer
* Several prominent people have borne the title of Viscount Palmerston
** Henry Temple, 1st Viscount Palmerston (c. 1673–1757), Irish nobleman and ...
defends his action robustly in
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
.
* 3 July – the
Koh-i-Noor
The Koh-i-Noor ( ; from ), also spelled Kohinoor and Koh-i-Nur, is one of the largest cut diamonds in the world, weighing . It is part of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. The diamond is currently set in the Crown of Queen Elizabeth The Q ...
diamond is presented to Queen Victoria.
* July–August – '
Great Stink
The Great Stink was an event in Central London during July and August 1858 in which the hot weather exacerbated the smell of untreated human waste and industrial effluent that was present on the banks of the River Thames. The problem had been m ...
': Hot weather exacerbates the effects of untreated sewage discharged into the River Thames in London.
* 5 August – colonies of
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
,
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
,
Tasmania
)
, nickname =
, image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdi ...
, and
Victoria granted representative government.
* 14 August
**
Liberties Act provides a mechanism to enable the various
liberties or independent jurisdictions in England and Wales to be merged into the
geographical counties in which they lie.
**
Irish Franchise Act increases the rural electorate in Ireland.
[
* 27 August – a telegraph cable is laid beneath the ]English Channel
The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...
from Dover
Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...
to Cap Gris Nez in France but does not function.
* 29 September – by the Bull '' Universalis Ecclesiae'', Pope Pius IX
Pope Pius IX ( it, Pio IX, ''Pio Nono''; born Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878, the longest verified papal reign. He was notable for convoking the First Vatican ...
recreates the Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
hierarchy in England and Wales, which had become extinct with the death of the last Marian bishop in the reign of Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen".
El ...
, a move held by many Protestants to constitute "papal aggression". Nicholas Wiseman is appointed first Archbishop of Westminster
The Archbishop of Westminster heads the Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster, in England. The incumbent is the metropolitan of the Province of Westminster, chief metropolitan of England and Wales and, as a matter of custom, is elected presid ...
and elevated to Cardinal
Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to:
Animals
* Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds
**''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae
**''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...
. He issues a pastoral letter, ''From Without the Flaminian Gate'', and on 21 November is enthroned in St George's Cathedral, Southwark
The Metropolitan Cathedral Church of St George, usually known as St George's Cathedral, Southwark, is the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Southwark, south London, and is the seat of the Archbishop of Southwark.
The cathedral is ...
.
* October – Central Criminal Lunatic Asylum for Ireland opened in Dundrum, Dublin
Dundrum (, ''the ridge fort''), originally a town in its own right, is an outer suburb of Dublin, Ireland. The area is located in the Dublin postal districts, postal districts of Dublin 14 and Dublin 16. Dundrum is home to the Dundrum Town Centr ...
, the first secure hospital in Europe.
* 17 October – James Young patents a method of distilling paraffin Paraffin may refer to:
Substances
* Paraffin wax, a white or colorless soft solid that is used as a lubricant and for other applications
* Liquid paraffin (drug), a very highly refined mineral oil used in cosmetics and for medical purposes
* Alkane ...
from coal, laying the foundations for the Scottish paraffin industry.
* 22–3 October – first Wenlock Olympian Class Games held at Much Wenlock
Much Wenlock is a market town and parish in Shropshire, England, situated on the A458 road between Shrewsbury and Bridgnorth. Nearby, to the northeast, is the Ironbridge Gorge, and the new town of Telford. The civil parish includes the villag ...
, Shropshire
Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...
.
* November
** Undergraduates at Exeter College, Oxford arrange a "foot grind" (a cross-country steeplechase), the first organised university athletic event in Britain.
** Salford Museum and Art Gallery
Salford Museum and Art Gallery, in Peel Park, Salford, Greater Manchester, opened to the public in November 1850 as the Royal Museum and Public Library. The gallery and museum are devoted to the history of Salford and Victorian art and architect ...
first opens as "The Royal Museum & Public Library", the first unconditionally free public library in England, established under the Museums Act 1845
The Museums Act 1845 ( 8 & 9 Vict c 43), sometimes called the Museums of Art Act 1845 or the Museums of Art in Boroughs Act, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which gave the town councils of larger municipal boroughs the power t ...
.
* 19 November – Alfred Tennyson appointed as Poet Laureate
A poet laureate (plural: poets laureate) is a poet officially appointed by a government or conferring institution, typically expected to compose poems for special events and occasions. Albertino Mussato of Padua and Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) ...
.
* 25 November – gale in the English Channel
The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...
.
* 10 December – Bingley Hall, the world's first purpose-built permanent exhibition hall, opens in Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
.
* 17 December – the Inman Line (Liverpool and Philadelphia Steamship Company) begins operation when new iron paddle steamer puts out from Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
bound for Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
.
Undated
* Public Libraries Act
Public Libraries Act is a stock short title used in the United Kingdom for legislation ("Acts of Parliament") relating to public libraries.
List
* The Public Libraries Act 1850 (13 & 14 Vict c 65)
* The Public Libraries (Ireland) Act 1855 (18 & ...
, Interpretation Act
Interpretation Act (with its variations) is a stock short title used for legislation in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Republic of Ireland, Singapore and the United Kingdom relating to statutory interpretation, interpretat ...
, Police of Scotland Act and Factory Act
The Factory Acts were a series of acts passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom to regulate the conditions of industrial employment.
The early Acts concentrated on regulating the hours of work and moral welfare of young children employed ...
passed by parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
.
* The University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
establishes an Honour School (i.e. an undergraduate course) in Natural Science
Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...
.
* London butchers C Lidgate opens for the first time.
* The 1846–1860 cholera pandemic
The third cholera pandemic (1846–1860) was the third major outbreak of cholera originating in India in the nineteenth century that reached far beyond its borders, which researchers at UCLA believe may have started as early as 1837 and lasted ...
claims 52,000 lives in England and Wales between 1848 and 1850.
Publications
* Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Elizabeth Barrett Browning (née Moulton-Barrett; 6 March 1806 – 29 June 1861) was an English poet of the Victorian era, popular in Britain and the United States during her lifetime.
Born in County Durham, the eldest of 12 children, Elizabet ...
's collection ''Sonnets from the Portuguese
''Sonnets from the Portuguese'', written ca. 1845–1846 and published first in 1850, is a collection of 44 love sonnets written by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. The collection was acclaimed and popular during the poet's lifetime and it remain ...
'' containing the well-known poem which begins "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways."
* Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...
' novel '' David Copperfield'' complete in book form.
* Alfred Tennyson's poem ''In Memoriam A.H.H.
The poem "In Memoriam A.H.H." (1850) by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, is an elegy for his Cambridge friend Arthur Henry Hallam, who died of cerebral haemorrhage at the age of twenty-two years, in Vienna in 1833. As a sustained exercise in tetrametri ...
''
* William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ''Lyrical Ballads'' (1798).
Wordsworth's ' ...
's poem '' The Prelude; or, Growth of a Poet's Mind'' (posthumously).
* '' The Germ'', periodical of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (later known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, James ...
edited by William Michael Rossetti (four issues, January–April, the last two retitled ''Art and Poetry'').
Births
* 4 January – Frederick York Powell, historian and scholar (died 1904)
* 15 January – Leonard Darwin
Leonard Darwin (15 January 1850 – 26 March 1943) was an English politician, economist and eugenics, eugenicist. He was a son of the naturalist Charles Darwin, and also a mentor to Ronald Fisher, a statistician and evolutionary biologist.
B ...
, son of the naturalist Charles Darwin (died 1943)
* 19 January – Augustine Birrell
Augustine Birrell King's Counsel, KC (19 January 185020 November 1933) was a British Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party politician, who was Chief Secretary for Ireland from 1907 to 1916. In this post, he was praised for enabling tenant farmers t ...
, author and politician (died 1933)
* 27 January – John Collier John Collier may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
*John Collier (caricaturist) (1708–1786), English caricaturist and satirical poet
*John Payne Collier (1789–1883), English Shakespearian critic and forger
*John Collier (painter) (1850–1934), ...
, writer and painter (died 1934)
* 27 January – Edward Smith Ed, Eddie, Edgar, Edward, Edwin, and similar, surnamed Smith, may refer to:
Military
* Edward H. Smith (sailor) (1889–1961), United States Coast Guard admiral, oceanographer and Arctic explorer
*Edward Smith (VC) (1898–1940), English recipient ...
, Captain of the Titanic (died 1912)
* 29 January – Ebenezer Howard, urban planner (died 1928)
* 18 February – George Henschel, musician (died 1934)
* 9 March – Hamo Thornycroft
Sir William Hamo Thornycroft (9 March 185018 December 1925) was an English sculptor, responsible for some of London's best-known statues, including the statue of Oliver Cromwell outside the Palace of Westminster. He was a keen student of classi ...
, sculptor (died 1925)
* 9 April – Julius Wernher, German-born British businessman and art collector (died 1912)
* 13 April – Arthur Matthew Weld Downing
Arthur Matthew Weld Downing (13 April 1850 – 8 December 1917) was an Irish mathematician and astronomer. Downing's major contribution to astronomy is in the calculation of the positions and movements of astronomical bodies, as well as being ...
, astronomer (died 1917)
*16 April – Sidney Gilchrist Thomas
Sidney Gilchrist Thomas (16 April 1850 – 1 February 1885) was an English inventor, best known for his role in the iron and steel industry.
Life
Thomas was born at Canonbury, London, and was educated at Dulwich College. His father, a Welshman, w ...
, inventor (died 1885)
* 26 April – Harry Bates, sculptor (died 1899)
* 1 May – Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn
Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (Arthur William Patrick Albert; 1 May 185016 January 1942), was the seventh child and third son of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. He served as Gov ...
, member of the Royal Family (died 1942)
* 10 May – Thomas Lipton, merchant and yachtsman (died 1931)
* 12 May – Charles McLaren, 1st Baron Aberconway
Charles Benjamin Bright McLaren, 1st Baron Aberconway, (12 May 1850 – 23 January 1934), known as Sir Charles McLaren, 1st Baronet, between 1902 and 1911, was a Scottish jurist and Liberal Party politician. He was a landowner and industriali ...
, Liberal politician and jurist (died 1934)
* 18 May – Oliver Heaviside
Oliver Heaviside FRS (; 18 May 1850 – 3 February 1925) was an English self-taught mathematician and physicist who invented a new technique for solving differential equations (equivalent to the Laplace transform), independently developed vec ...
, engineer (died 1925)
* 26 May – James Kenyon James Kenyon may refer to:
*James Kenyon (cinematographer)
James Kenyon (26 May 1850 – 6 February 1925) was a businessman and pioneer of cinematography in Blackburn, Lancashire, England.
The son of Thomas and Margaret Kenyon, little is k ...
, pioneer of cinematography (died 1925)
* 28 May – Frederic William Maitland
Frederic William Maitland (28 May 1850 – ) was an English historian and lawyer who is regarded as the modern father of English legal history.
Early life and education, 1850–72
Frederic William Maitland was born at 53 Guilford Street, Lon ...
, jurist and historian (died 1906)
* 2 June – Jesse Boot, 1st Baron Trent
Jesse Boot, 1st Baron Trent (2 June 1850 – 13 June 1931) transformed The Boots Company, founded by his father, John Boot, into a national retailer, which branded itself as "Chemists to the Nation".
Biography
Boot sold his controlling interes ...
, businessman (died 1931)
* 24 June – Horatio Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener, field marshal and statesman (died 1916)
* 13 August – Philip Bourke Marston, poet (died 1887)
* 14 August – W. W. Rouse Ball, mathematician (died 1925)
* 9 September – Jane Ellen Harrison
Jane Ellen Harrison (9 September 1850 – 15 April 1928) was a British classics, classical scholar and linguistics, linguist. Harrison is one of the founders, with Karl Kerenyi and Walter Burkert, of modern studies in Ancient Greek religio ...
, classical scholar and feminist (died 1928)
* 17 September – Cuthbert A. Brereton
Cuthbert Arthur Brereton (17 September 1850 – 12 September 1910) was a civil engineer and a partner of Sir John Wolfe Barry. Together they completed numerous projects in England and Wales, the most prominent being the King Edward VII Bridge ov ...
, civil engineer (died 1910)
* 18 October – Basil Hall Chamberlain
Basil Hall Chamberlain (18 October 1850 – 15 February 1935) was a British academic and Japanologist. He was a professor of the Japanese language at Tokyo Imperial University and one of the foremost British Japanologists active in Japan during th ...
, Japanologist (died 1935)
* 24 October – Mary Paley Marshall
Mary Marshall (née Paley; 24 October 1850 – 19 March 1944) was an economist who in 1874 had been one of the first women to take the Tripos examination at Cambridge University – although, as a woman, she had been excluded from receiving ...
, economist (died 1944)
* 13 November
** Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll a ...
, writer (died 1894)
** Sir John Benn, 1st Baronet, politician (died 1922)
* 11 December – Lady Mary Victoria Hamilton
Lady Mary Victoria Douglas-Hamilton, also known as Mary Victoria Hamilton (11 December 185014 May 1922), was a Scottish noblewoman who was the great-grandmother of Prince Rainier III of Monaco, Prince Karl Johannes von Schwarzenberg and Princes ...
, Scottish-German-French great-grandmother of Prince Rainier III of Monaco (died 1922)
* 24 December – Brandon Thomas, actor and playwright (died 1914)
Deaths
* 26 January – Francis Jeffrey, Lord Jeffrey
Francis Jeffrey, Lord Jeffrey (23 October 1773 – 26 January 1850) was a Scottish judge and literary critic.
Life
He was born at 7 Charles Street near Potterow in south Edinburgh, the son of George Jeffrey, a clerk in the Court of Session ...
, judge and literary critic (born 1773)
* 14 February – Sir Gordon Bremer, naval officer (born 1786)
* 13 March – Owen Stanley
Captain Owen Stanley FRS RN (13 June 1811 – 13 March 1850) was a British Royal Navy officer and surveyor.
Life
Stanley was born in Alderley, Cheshire, the son of Edward Stanley, rector of Alderley and later Bishop of Norwich. A brother w ...
, naval officer and explorer of New Guinea (born 1811)
* 7 April – William Lisle Bowles
William Lisle Bowles (24 September 17627 April 1850) was an English priest, poet and critic.
Life and career
Bowles was born at King's Sutton, Northamptonshire, where his father was vicar. At the age of 14 he entered Winchester College, where ...
, poet and critic (born 1762)
* 9 April – William Prout, chemist and physician (born 1785)
* 23 April – William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ''Lyrical Ballads'' (1798).
Wordsworth's ' ...
, poet (born 1770)
* 24 May – Jane Porter, novelist (born 1776)
* 9 June – John Green Crosse
John Green Crosse, FRCS, FRS (6 September 1790 – 9 June 1850) was a well-known English surgeon of his day, at the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital.
After completing his apprenticeship in Stowmarket, he studied at St. George's Hospital and at th ...
, surgeon (born 1790)
* 2 July – Sir Robert Peel, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern pr ...
(born 1788)
* 4 July – William Kirby, entomologist (born 1759)
* 7 July – Timothy Hackworth, steam locomotive engineer (born 1786)
* 8 July – Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, member of the Royal Family (born 1774)
* 12 July – Robert Stevenson Robert Stevenson may refer to:
* Robert Stevenson (actor and politician) (1915–1975), American actor and politician
* Robert Stevenson (civil engineer) (1772–1850), Scottish lighthouse engineer
* Robert Stevenson (director) (1905–1986), Engl ...
, Scottish lighthouse engineer (born 1772)
* 5 August – Mary Anne Whitby
Mary Anne Theresa Whitby (née Symonds; 1783–1850) was an English writer, landowner, and artist. She became an authority on the cultivation of silkworms, and in the 1830s reintroduced sericulture to the United Kingdom. During the 1840s, she c ...
, scientist (born 1783)
* 26 August – Louis Philippe I, exiled King of the French (born 1773 in France)
* 27 August – Thomas Kidd, classical scholar and schoolmaster (born 1770)
* 2 September – Charles Williams-Wynn, Tory politician (born 1775)
* 2 October – Sarah Biffen
Sarah (born Sarai) is a biblical matriarch and prophetess, a major figure in Abrahamic religions. While different Abrahamic faiths portray her differently, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all depict her character similarly, as that of a ...
, armless painter (born 1784)
* 1 December – Aaron Manby, ironmaster and civil engineer (born 1776)
* 3 December – John Gibb, Scottish civil engineering contractor (born 1776)
* 4 December
** Robert Gilfillan
Robert Gilfillan (7 July 1798 – 4 December 1850) was a Scottish poet and songwriter.
Life
He was born in Dunfermline in Fife, Scotland, the son of Robert Gilfillan (died 1834), a master weaver, and his wife, Marion Law. In 1811 the family mo ...
, poet (born 1798)
** William Sturgeon, physicist and inventor (born 1783)
References
{{Year in Europe, 1850
Years of the 19th century in the United Kingdom
1850 by country
1850 in Europe
1850s in the United Kingdom