Events from the year
1883
Events
January–March
* January 4 – ''Life'' magazine is founded in Los Angeles, California, United States.
* January 10 – A fire at the Newhall Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, kills 73 people.
* Ja ...
in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
.
Incumbents
*
Monarch
A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority and power i ...
–
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
*
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 i ...
–
William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-conse ...
(
Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
)
*
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
–
22nd
Events
* 1 January –
Augustus Pitt Rivers
Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom), Lieutenant General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt Rivers (14 April 18274 May 1900) was an English officer in the British Army, ethnologist, and archaeologist. He was noted for innovations in archaeological met ...
takes office as Britain's first Inspector of Ancient Monuments.
* 5 March –
Gloucester City A.F.C.
Gloucester City Association Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Hempsted, Gloucester, England. The club is affiliated to the Gloucestershire County Football Association and, as of the 2021–22 season, plays i ...
is formed.
* 15 March –
Fenian dynamite campaign
The Fenian dynamite campaign (or Fenian bombing campaign) was a bombing campaign orchestrated by Irish republicans against the British Empire, between the years 1881 and 1885. The campaign was associated with Fenianism; that is to say the Irish ...
: An explosion at the Local Government Board,
Charles Street, Mayfair
Charles Street is a street in the Mayfair district of the City of Westminster, London.
Location
Charles Street runs roughly north-east from Waverton Street in the west to Berkeley Square in the east, bending slightly northward halfway along. Th ...
(
Westminster
Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster.
The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...
) causes over £4,000 worth of damage and some minor injuries to people nearby. A second bomb at ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
'' newspaper offices in
Queen Victoria Street, London
Queen Victoria Street, named after the British monarch who reigned from 1837 to 1901, is a street in London which runs east by north from its junction with New Bridge Street and Victoria Embankment in the Castle Baynard ward of the City of Londo ...
does not explode.
* 29 March –
Edward Benson enthroned as
Archbishop of Canterbury.
* 31 March –
Blackburn Olympic
Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-no ...
beat
Old Etonians F.C. 2–1 in the
FA Cup Final
The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official atten ...
at
The Oval
The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since ...
, the Etonians being the last
amateur team to reach the final and Olympic being the first northern working-class team to do so.
* 7 May –
Royal College of Music
The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including performanc ...
opens in London with
George Grove
Sir George Grove (13 August 182028 May 1900) was an English engineer and writer on music, known as the founding editor of ''Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians''.
Grove was trained as a civil engineer, and successful in that profession, b ...
as first Director.
[
* 11 May – ]William Morris
William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...
registers his Strawberry Thief printed textile design.
* 16 June – Victoria Hall disaster
The Victoria Hall disaster occurred on 16 June 1883 at the Victoria Hall in Sunderland, England, when a stampede for free toys caused 183 children (aged between 3 and 14 years old) to be crushed to death due to compressive asphyxia.
Events
On ...
: A rush for treats results in 183 children being asphyxiated
Asphyxia or asphyxiation is a condition of deficient supply of oxygen to the body which arises from abnormal breathing. Asphyxia causes generalized hypoxia, which affects primarily the tissues and organs. There are many circumstances that can ...
in a concert hall in Sunderland.
* 3 July – SS ''Daphne'' sinks on launch in Glasgow, leaving 124 dead.
* 1 August – GPO introduces the Parcels Post service.
* 4 August – first electric railway
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
opens, the Volk's Railway at Brighton.
* 13 August – Coventry City F.C.
Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed th ...
are formed as "Singer
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...
s F.C."
* 25 August – Trial of Lunatics Act permits a criminal on trial to be found guilty but insane.
* 29 August – Dunfermline Carnegie Library, the first Carnegie library is opened in Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans i ...
's hometown, Dunfermline.
* 11 September – Major Evelyn Baring becomes Consul-General
A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...
of Egypt under British rule.
* September – Bristol Rovers F.C.
Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system.
They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been ...
is founded as "Black Arabs F.C."
* October
** GPO officially replaces the title "letter carrier" by "postman".[
** Dunstable Town F.C. formed.
* October–November – ]Primrose League
The Primrose League was an organisation for spreading Conservative principles in Great Britain. It was founded in 1883.
At a late point in its existence, its declared aims (published in the ''Primrose League Gazette'', vol. 83, no. 2, March/April ...
established in support of the Conservative Party
The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right.
Political parties called The Conservative P ...
.
* 4 October – the Boys' Brigade
The Boys' Brigade (BB) is an international interdenominational Christian youth organisation, conceived by the Scottish businessman Sir William Alexander Smith to combine drill and fun activities with Christian values. Following its inception ...
is founded in Glasgow. It is the first uniformed youth organisation in existence.
* 24 October – Cardiff University opens under the name of University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire.
* 30 October – two Clan na Gael
Clan na Gael ( ga, label=modern Irish orthography, Clann na nGael, ; "family of the Gaels") was an Irish republican organization in the United States in the late 19th and 20th centuries, successor to the Fenian Brotherhood and a sister org ...
dynamite bombs explode in the London Underground
The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England.
The ...
, injuring several people. Next day Home Secretary
The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national s ...
William Vernon Harcourt drafts 300 policemen to guard the Underground and introduces the Explosives Bill.
* 3 November–5 November – Mahdist War: Anglo-Egyptian forces defeated at the Battle of El Obeid
The Battle of Shaykan was fought between Anglo-Egyptian forces under the command of Hicks Pasha and forces of Muhammad Ahmad, the self-proclaimed Mahdi, in the woods of Shaykan near Kashgil near the town of El-Obeid on 3–5 November 1883.
...
in Sudan.
* Undated
** Home and Colonial Stores
Home and Colonial Stores was once one of the United Kingdom's largest retail chains. Its formation of a vast chain of retail stores in the late 1920s is seen as the first step in the development of a UK food retail market dominated by a small num ...
established as grocers, in London.
** Potter Thomas Twyford
Thomas William Twyford (1849–1921) was a pottery manufacturer in England. He invented the single piece, ceramic flush toilet. At the time of Twyford's death he was recognised as a leading pioneer in the application of principles of hygiene to sa ...
invents his 'Unitas' single-piece ceramic pedestal (free-standing) flush toilet
A flush toilet (also known as a flushing toilet, water closet (WC) – see also toilet names) is a toilet that disposes of human waste (principally urine and feces) by using the force of water to ''flush'' it through a drainpipe to another loca ...
.
Publications
* G. A. Henty
George Alfred Henty (8 December 1832 – 16 November 1902) was an English novelist and war correspondent. He is most well-known for his works of adventure fiction and historical fiction, including ''The Dragon & The Raven'' (1886), ''For The ...
's novels ''Friends Though Divided: a tale of the Civil War'', ''Jack Archer: a tale of the Crimea'' and ''Under Drake's Flag: a tale of the Spanish Main''.
* William Robinson's gardening book ''The English Flower Garden''.
* J. R. Seeley's study of the growth of the British Empire ''The Expansion of England
''The Expansion of England: Two Courses of Lectures'' is a book by English historian John Robert Seeley about the growth of the British Empire, first published in 1883. Seeley argued that the British expansion was based on its defeat of Louis XI ...
''.
* 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 ...
's historical adventure novels ''Treasure Island
''Treasure Island'' (originally titled ''The Sea Cook: A Story for Boys''Hammond, J. R. 1984. "Treasure Island." In ''A Robert Louis Stevenson Companion'', Palgrave Macmillan Literary Companions. London: Palgrave Macmillan. .) is an adventure no ...
'' (in book form) and ''The Black Arrow
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'' (in serial form).
Sport
Rugby football
* England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
, Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
and Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
take part in the inaugural Home Nations Championship.
Births
* 1 January – Mary Forbes
Mary Forbes (born Ethel Louise Young; 1 January 1883 – 22 July 1974) was a British-American film actress, based in the United States in her latter years, where she died. She appeared in more than 130 films between 1919 and 1958. , actress (died 1974)
* 3 January – Clement Attlee, 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 ...
(died 1967)
* 16 January – Oswald Short
Hugh Oswald Short, AFRAeS (16 January 1883 – 4 December 1969) was an English aeronautical engineer.
Early life
Oswald Short was born at Stanton by Dale, Ilkeston, Derbyshire, the son of mining engineer Samuel Short and his second wife Emma R ...
, aviation
Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot a ...
pioneer and aircraft builder, youngest of the Short Brothers (died 1969)
* 17 January – Compton Mackenzie
Sir Edward Montague Compton Mackenzie, (17 January 1883 – 30 November 1972) was a Scottish writer of fiction, biography, histories and a memoir, as well as a cultural commentator, raconteur and lifelong Scottish nationalist. He was one of th ...
, novelist and Scottish nationalist (died 1972)
* 20 January – Bertram Ramsay, admiral (died 1945)
* 15 February – Sax Rohmer
Arthur Henry "Sarsfield" Ward (15 February 1883 – 1 June 1959), better known as Sax Rohmer, was an English novelist. He is best remembered for his series of novels featuring the master criminal Dr. Fu Manchu."Rohmer, Sax" by Jack Adrian in Da ...
, author (died 1959)
* 16 February – Elizabeth Craig, cookery writer (died 1980)
* 25 February – Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, member of the royal family (died 1981)
* 19 March – Walter Haworth
Sir Walter Norman Haworth FRS (19 March 1883 – 19 March 1950) was a British chemist best known for his groundbreaking work on ascorbic acid ( vitamin C) while working at the University of Birmingham. He received the 1937 Nobel Prize in Chem ...
, chemist, Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...
laureate (died 1950)
* 28 March – William Henry Harris, organist, choral trainer and composer (died 1973)
* 19 May – George Cholmondeley, 5th Marquess of Cholmondeley
George Horatio Charles Cholmondeley, 5th Marquess of Cholmondeley (; 19 May 1883 – 16 September 1968), styled Earl of Rocksavage from birth until 1923, was a British peer. He was the Lord Great Chamberlain of England in 1936 and also between ...
, Lord Great Chamberlain (died 1968)
* 5 June – John Maynard Keynes
John Maynard Keynes, 1st Baron Keynes, ( ; 5 June 1883 – 21 April 1946), was an English economist whose ideas fundamentally changed the theory and practice of macroeconomics and the economic policies of governments. Originally trained in ...
, economist (died 1946)
* 1 July – Arthur Borton
Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Drummond Borton (1 July 1883 – 5 January 1933) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
Biogra ...
, soldier, Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...
recipient (died 1933)
* 23 July – Stuart Paton
Stuart Paton (23 July 1883 – 16 December 1944) was a British director, screenwriter and actor of the silent era. Paton mostly worked with Universal, and is accredited with directing 67 films between 1915 and 1938. He also wrote for 24 fil ...
, screenwriter and film director (died 1944)
* 29 July – Fred Pentland
Frederick Beaconsfield Pentland (29 July 1883 – 16 March 1962) was an English football player and coach.
Pentland played club football in the Football League for Blackpool, Blackburn Rovers and Middlesbrough, in the Southern Football League f ...
, footballer and coach (died 1962)
* 23 August – Jesse Pennington
Jesse Pennington (23 August 1883 – 5 September 1970) was an English footballer in the early part of the 20th century. He was nicknamed "Peerless Pennington".
Career
Born in West Bromwich, Pennington was a left-back for West Bromwich Albion fo ...
, footballer (died 1970)
* 8 November – Arnold Bax
Sir Arnold Edward Trevor Bax, (8 November 1883 – 3 October 1953) was an English composer, poet, and author. His prolific output includes songs, choral music, chamber pieces, and solo piano works, but he is best known for his orchestral musi ...
, composer (died 1953)
* 25 November – Percy Marmont
Percy Marmont (25 November 1883 – 3 March 1977) was an English film actor.
Biography
Marmont appeared in more than 80 films between 1916 and 1968. A veteran film actor by 1923, he scored a big hit that year in ''If Winter Comes'', later rem ...
, actor (died 1977)
Deaths
* 9 March – Arnold Toynbee, economic historian (born 1852)
* 14 March – Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...
, political philosopher and economist (born 1818 in Germany)
* 14 April – William Farr
William Farr CB (30 November 1807 – 14 April 1883) was a British epidemiologist, regarded as one of the founders of medical statistics.
Early life
William Farr was born in Kenley, Shropshire, to poor parents. He was effectively adopted b ...
, epidemiologist (born 1807)
* 18 April – Elizabeth Ferard, Anglican deaconess (born 1825)
* 28 April – Jack Russell, dog breeder (born 1795)
* 13 May – James Young, Scottish chemist (born 1811)
* 20 May – William Chambers of Glenormiston, Scottish publisher and politician (born 1800)
* 11 June – Caroline Leigh Gascoigne
Caroline Leigh Gascoigne (''gas-koin′''; , Smith; 2 May 1813 – 11 June 1883) was a 19th-century English poet and novelist. She published ''Temptation'' (1839), ''Evelyn Harcourt'' (1842), ''Dr. Harold's Note-Book'' (1869), and other works in ...
, poet and novelist (born 1813)
* 14 June – Edward FitzGerald, poet (born 1809)
* 23 June – Sir William Knollys, general (born 1797)
* 23 July – Rose Massey, actress (died of consumption in the United States) (born c. 1845)
* 24 July – Matthew Webb
Captain Matthew Webb (19 January 1848 – 24 July 1883) was an English swimmer and stuntman. He is the first recorded person to swim the English Channel for sport without the use of artificial aids. In 1875, Webb swam from Dover to Calais in l ...
, first recorded person to swim the English Channel unaided (died in swim at Niagara Falls) (born 1848)
* 26 July – Sir William Fenwick Williams, general (born 1800)
* 6 October – William Beresford, politician (born 1797)
* 14 October – Sir Arthur Elton, 7th Baronet, writer and Liberal politician (born 1818)
* 20 October – George Chichester, 3rd Marquess of Donegall
George Hamilton Chichester, 3rd Marquess of Donegall (10 February 1797 – 20 October 1883), styled Viscount Chichester until 1799 and Earl of Belfast between 1799 and 1844, was an Anglo-Irish landowner, courtier and politician. He served as V ...
, Anglo-Irish landowner, courtier and politician (born 1797)
* 19 November – Sir Charles William Siemens, electrical engineer (born 1823 in Germany)
* 26 December – Thomas Holloway
:
Thomas Holloway (22 September 180026 December 1883) was an English patent medicine vendor and philanthropist.
Early life
Holloway was born in Devonport, Plymouth, Devon, the eldest son of Thomas and Mary Holloway (née Chellew), who at the ...
, pharmacist and philanthropist (born 1800)
* Margaret Agnes Bunn, actress (born 1799)
References
{{Year in Europe, 1883
Years of the 19th century in the United Kingdom
1883 by country
1880s in the United Kingdom
1883 in Europe