1853 in the United Kingdom explained

Events from the year 1853 in the United Kingdom.

Incumbents

• Monarch – Victoria
• Prime Minister – George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen (Coalition)

Events

• 20 January – the United Kingdom annexes Lower Burma ending the Second Anglo-Burmese War.
• 4 February – Halifax Permanent Benefit Building Society takes its first deposits.^[1]
• 14 February – United Kingdom Alliance for the Suppression of the Traffic in all Intoxicating Liquors formed in Manchester.
• 15 February – PS Queen Victoria sinks in a snowstorm at night entering Dublin Bay with the loss of more than 80 lives.
• 18 February – a treaty is signed with the United States concerning international copyright.^[2]
• 29 March – Manchester is granted city status by letters patent.^{[3] [4]}
• May – the world's first public aquarium is opened in London Zoo.^[5]
• 5 May – Perpetual Maritime Truce comes into force between the United Kingdom and the rulers of the Sheikhdoms of the Lower Gulf, later known as the Trucial States.^[6]
• 6 June – naval fleet travels to Besika Bay to fend off Russian threats to the Ottoman Empire.^[7]
• 25 June – Hochster v De La Tour, a landmark case on anticipatory breach of contract in English contract law, is decided in the Court of Queen's Bench.
• 1 July – first constitution of the Cape Colony provides for a legislative council.^[7]
• 1 August – under terms of the Vaccination Act 1853, all children born after this date are to receive compulsory vaccination against smallpox during their first 3 months of life, with defaulting parents subject to a fine.^[8]
• 12 August – Licensing (Scotland) Act (known after its sponsor as the 'Forbes Mackenzie Act') regulates the supply of intoxicating beverages in Scotland.^[9]
• 20 August – Penal Servitude Act provides for convicted criminals to serve their entire sentence in prison, rather than suffer transportation, and also to be freed on licence.^[10]
• September (approx.) – first pillar box on the British mainland erected in Carlisle.^{[11] [12]}
• 14 September – West Australian becomes the first horse to win the English Triple Crown by finishing first in the Epsom Derby, 2,000 Guineas and St Leger.
• 28 September – emigrant ship Annie Jane sinks in heavy seas off the Scottish island of Vatersay with the loss of 350 lives.^[13]
• 31 October–15 May 1854 – lockout of Preston cotton mill workers seeking reinstatement of ten per cent of their pay; this will be Britain's longest industrial dispute up to this date.^[14]
• 3 December – Crimean War: a protocol is signed with France, Austria, and Prussia for restoring peace between Russia and Turkey.^[2]
• 14 December – Palmerston resigns as Home Secretary over demands for parliamentary reform, but changes his mind on 23 December.^[7]
• 15 December – the Sierra redwood Sequoiadendron giganteum is introduced to England as Wellingtonia by William Lobb.^[15]

Undated

• Betting Houses Act prohibits betting shops, restricting legal betting on horse racing to racecourses.
• Highland Clearances in Skye and Raasay.^[16]
• J. S. Fry & Sons of Bristol produce their Cream Stick, predecessor of Fry's Chocolate Cream and the first mass produced chocolate bar.

Publications

• Charlotte Brontë's novel Villette (published as by Currer Bell).
• Mrs Gaskell's novel Ruth.
• John Mason Neale and Thomas Helmore's adaptations Carols for Christmas-Tide, including the first appearance of "Good King Wenceslas".^{[17] [18]}
• Robert Smith Surtees' comic novel Mr. Sponge's Sporting Tour.
• Charlotte M. Yonge's novel The Heir of Redclyffe.^[19]

Births

• 29 March – Elihu Thomson, engineer and inventor (died 1937)
• 7 April – Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, member of the royal family (died 1884)
• 3 June – Flinders Petrie, Egyptologist (died 1942)
• 5 July – Cecil Rhodes, businessman (died 1902)

Deaths

• 27 January – John Iltyd Nicholl, Welsh politician (born 1797)
• 12 April – James Foster, ironmaster (born 1786)
• 15 August – Frederick William Robertson, Anglican preacher (born 1816)
• 19 August – Sir George Cockburn, Naval commander (born 1772)
• 29 August – Sir Charles James Napier, general and Commander-in-Chief in India (born 1782)
• 6 September – George Bradshaw, cartographer and timetable publisher (born 1800)

Notes and References

1. Book: Baren, Maurice. How It All Began Up the High Street. London. Michael O'Mara Books. 1996. 1-85479-667-4. 58.
2. Book: Cates, William L. R.. The Pocket Date Book. Chapman and Hall. William Leist Readwin Cates. 1863.
3. The London Gazette (1 April 1853) 21426:950.
4. News: The City of Manchester. The Guardian. Manchester. 1853-04-02. 2016-11-14.
5. Book: Brunner, Bernd. The Ocean at Home. Princeton Architectural Press. 2003. New York. 1-56898-502-9. 99. registration.
6. Book: Lorimer, John. Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf. British Government. Bombay. 1915.
7. Book: Palmer, Alan. Palmer . Veronica. 1992. The Chronology of British History. Century Ltd. London. 273–274. 0-7126-5616-2.
8. Web site: United Kingdom Vaccination Act 1853. Policy Navigator. The Health Foundation. 2020-11-18.
9. Web site: H. C. G.. Matthew. Mackenzie, William Forbes (1807–1862). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. 2004. 2011-06-27. 10.1093/ref:odnb/17605.
10. Web site: Timeline of capital punishment in Britain. 2011-02-02.
11. Web site: Icons, a portrait of England 1840–1860. 2007-09-13. https://web.archive.org/web/20070817165102/http://www.icons.org.uk/theicons/icons-timeline/1840-1860. 2007-08-17. dead.
12. Book: Farrugia, Jean Young. The Letter Box: a history of Post Office pillar and wall boxes. Fontwell. Centaur Press. 1969. 0-900000-14-7.
13. Web site: Annie Jane. Wreck site. 2014-04-14.
14. Book: Leigh, J. S.. Preston Cotton Martyrs: the millworkers who shocked a nation. Lancaster. Carnegie. 2008. 978-1-874181-45-3.
15. Web site: Sequoiadendron giganteum (Lindley) Buchholz 1939. Earle, Christopher J.. Gymnosperm Database. University of Hamburg. 1999-08-15. 2014-07-11. https://web.archive.org/web/20081005112526/http://www.biologie.uni-hamburg.de/b-online/earle/cu/se2/. 5 October 2008. dead.
16. Web site: The Skye and Raasay Clearances – 1853. Scotland's History. BBC. 2010-10-10.
17. Book: Weller, Shane. Christmas Carols: Complete Verses. 19. 1992. 2015-11-18. 9780486273976.
18. Web site: Good King Wenceslas. Hymns and Carols of Christmas. 2006-09-30. 2015-11-18.
19. Book: Leavis, Q. D.. Q. D. Leavis. Fiction and the Reading Public. 2nd. London. Chatto & Windus. 1965.