Timeline: Robert Craxford: The Craxford Family Genealogy Magazine

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Bef 1767 - 1816 (~ 48 years)

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Timeline

1767

1777

1787

1796

1806

1816

Robert Craxford (1767 - 1816)

	Date	Event(s)
1	1767	1767: Newcomen's steam pumping engine perfected by James Watt
2	1768	9 Jan 1768: Philip Astley starts his circus in London 6 Dec 1768: The first edition of the "Encyclopaedia Britannica" published in Edinburgh by William Smellie
3	1769	1769: Arkwright invents water frame (textile production) 1769: Capt James Cook maps the coast of New Zealand 6 Sep 1769: David Garrick organises first Shakespeare festival at Stratford-upon-Avon
4	1770	1770: Clyde Trust created to convert the River Clyde, then an insignificant river, into a major thoroughfare for maritime communications 28 Apr 1770: Capt James Cook lands in Australia (Botany Bay) — Aug 21: formally claims Australia for Britain
5	1771	1771: Right to report Parliamentary debates established in England
6	1772	1772: First Travellers' Cheques issued by the London Credit Exchange Company 1772: "Morning Post" first published (until 1937) 14 May 1772: Judge Mansfield rules that there is no legal basis for slavery in England
7	1774	13 Sep 1774: Cook arrives on Easter Island
8	1775	19 Apr 1775: Battle of Lexington: first action in American War of Independence (1775–1783)
9	1776	1776: Somerset House in London becomes the repository of records of population 1776: Watt and Boulton produce their first commercial steam engine 4 Jul 1776: American Declaration of Independence 7 Sep 1776: First attack on a warship by a submarine – David Bushnell's "Turtle" attacked HMS Eagle in New York harbour. The attack was perhaps spectacular (a charge did detonate beneath the ship), but was nevertheless unsuccessful. "Turtle" was a one man affair, man-powered [Les Moore]
10	1777	1777: Samuel Miller of Southampton patents the circular saw.
11	1779	1779: Marc Isambard Brunel opens the first steamdriven sawmill at Chatham Dockyard in Kent 1779: First iron bridge built, over the Severn by John Wilkinson 1779: First Spinning Mills operational in Scotland 14 Feb 1779: Capt James Cook killed on Hawaii 23 Sep 1779: Naval engagement between Britain and USA off Flamborough Head
12	1780	1780: Male Servants Tax 1780: The English Reform Movement – until now, only landowners and tenants (freeholders with 40 shillings per year or more) allowed to vote, and in open poll books 1780: Fountain pen invented 1780: About this time the word 'Quiz' entered the language, said to have been invented as a wager by Mr Daly, a Dublin theatre manager 4 May 1780: First Derby run at Epsom (some say 2nd June) 2 Jun 1780: Jun 2–8: The Gordon Riots – Parliament passes a Roman Catholic relief measure – for days, London is at the mercy of a mob and destruction is widespread
13	1782	1782: Gilbert's Act establishes outdoor poor relief – the way of life of the poor beginning to alter due to industrialisation – New factories in rapidly expanding towns required a workforce that would adjust to new work patterns 1782: James Watt patents his steam engine
14	1783	1783: Duty payable on Parish Register entries (3d per entry – repealed 1794) – led to a fall in entries! 3 Sep 1783: Treaty of Versailles (Britain/US) 3 Nov 1783: Last public execution at Tyburn in London (John Austin, a highwayman)
15	1784	1784: Pitt's India Act – the Crown (as opposed to officers of the East India Company) has power to guide Indian politics 1784: Wesley breaks with the Church of England 1784: First golf club founded at St Andrews 1784: Invention of threshing machine by Andrew Meikle 2 Aug 1784: First mail coaches in England (4pm Bristol / 8am London)
16	1785	1785: Sunday School Society founded to educate poor children (by 1851, enrols more than 2 million) 1 Jan 1785: John Walter publishes first edition of The Times (called The Daily Universal Register for 3 years)
17	1787	1787: MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club) established at Thomas Lord's ground in London
18	1788	1788: First steamboat demonstrated in Scotland 1788: Law passed requiring that chimney sweepers be a minimum of 8 years old (not enforced) 1788: First slave carrying act, the Dolben Act of 1788, regulates the slave trade – stipulates more humane conditions on slave ships 1788: King George III's mental illness occasions the Regency Crisis – Edmund Burke and Charles James Fox attack ministry of William Pitt – trying to obtain full regal powers for the Prince of Wales 1788: Gibbon completes "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" 26 Jan 1788: First convicts (and free settlers) arrive in New South Wales (left Portsmouth 13 May 1787) — the 'First Fleet'; eleven ships commanded by Captain Arthur Phillip
19	1789	28 Apr 1789: Mutiny on HMS Bounty – Captain William Bligh and 18 sailors are set adrift and the rebel crew ends up on Pitcairn Island
20	1790	1790: Forth and Clyde Canal opened in Scotland
21	1791	1791: John Bell, printer, abandons the "long s" (the "s" that looks like an "f") 1791: Establishment of the Ordnance Survey of Great Britain 4 Dec 1791: First publication of The Observer – world's oldest Sunday newspaper
22	1792	1792: Repression in Britain (restrictions on freedom of the press) – Fox gets Libel Act through Parliament, requiring a jury and not a judge to determine libel 1792: Boyle's Street Directory published 1792: Coal-gas lighting invented by William Murdock, an Ayrshire Scot 1 Oct 1792: Introduction of Money Orders in Britain 1 Dec 1792: King's Proclamation drawing out the British militia
23	1793	11 Feb 1793: Britain declares war on France (1793-1802) 15 Apr 1793: £5 notes first issued by the Bank of England
24	1794	1794: Abolition of Parish Register duties 6 Oct 1794: The prosecutor for Britain, Lord Justice Eyre, charges reformers with High Treason – he argued that, since reform of parliament would lead to revolution and revolution to executing the King, the desire for reform endangered the King's life and was therefore treasonous
25	1795	1795: The Famine Year 1795: Foundation of the Orange Order 1795: Speenhamland Act proclaims that the Parish is responsible for bringing up the labourer's wage to subsistence level – towards the end of the eighteenth century, the number of poor and unemployed increased dramatically – price increases during the Napoleonic Wars (1793-1815) far outstripped wage rises – many small farmers were bankrupted by the move towards enclosures and became landless labourers – their wages were often pitifully low 1795: Pitt and Grenville introduce "The Gagging Acts" or "Two Bills" (the Seditious Meetings and Treasonable Practices Bills) – outlawed the mass meeting and the political lecture. 1795: Consumption of lime juice made compulsory in Royal Navy
26	1796	1796: Pitt's "Reign of Terror": More treason trials – leading radicals emigrate 1796: Legacy Tax on sums over £20 excluding those to wives, children, parents and grandparents 14 May 1796: Dr Edward Jenner gave first vaccination for smallpox in England
27	1797	1797: England in Crisis, Bank of England suspends cash payments 1797: Mutinies in the British Navy at Spithead and Nore 1797: Tax on newspapers (including cheap, topical journals) increased to repress radical publications 1797: The first copper pennies were produced ('cartwheels') by application of steam power to the coining press 22 Feb 1797: French invade Fishguard, Wales; last time UK invaded; all captured 2 days later 26 Feb 1797: First £1 (and £2) notes issued by Bank of England
28	1798	1798: First planned human experiment with vaccination, to test theories of Edward Jenner Feb 1798: The Irish Rebellion; 100,000 peasants revolt; approximately 25,000 die – Irish Parliament abolished (Feb-Oct) 1 Aug 1798: Battle of the Nile (won by Nelson)
29	1799	1799: Foundation of Royal Military College Sandhurst by the Duke of York 1799: Foundation of the Royal Institution of Great Britain 9 Jan 1799: Pitt brings in 10% income tax, as a wartime financial measure 12 Jul 1799: 'Combination Laws' in Britain against political associations and combinations 15 Jul 1799: "Rosetta Stone" discovered in Egypt, made possible the deciphering (in 1822) of Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics
30	1800	1800: Electric light first produced by Sir Humphrey Davy 1800: Use of high pressure steam pioneered by Richard Trevithick (1771-1833) 1800: Royal College of Surgeons founded 1800: Herschel discovers infra-red light 1800: Volta makes first electrical battery 2 Jul 1800: Parliamentary union of Great Britain and Ireland
31	1801	1801: Grand Union Canal opens in England 1801: Elgin Marbles brought from Athens to London 1 Jan 1801: Union Jack becomes the official British flag 10 Mar 1801: First census puts the population of England and Wales at 9,168,000. Population of Britain nearly 11 million (75% rural) 24 Dec 1801: Richard Trevithick built the first self-propelled passenger carrying road loco
32	1802	25 Mar 1802: Treaty of Amiens signed by Britain, France, Spain, and the Netherlands – the "Peace of Amiens," as it was known, brought a temporary peace of 14 months during the Napoleonic Wars – one of its most important cultural effects was that travel and correspondence across the English Channel became possible again
33	1803	1803: Poaching made a Capital offence in England if capture resisted 1803: Richard Trevithick built another steam carriage and ran it in London as the first self-propelled vehicle in the capital and the first London bus 1803: Semaphore signalling perfected by Admiral Popham 30 Apr 1803: Louisiana Purchase: Napoleon sells French possessions in America to United States 12 May 1803: Peace of Amiens ends – resumption of war with France – The Napoleonic Wars (1803-18l5) 23 Jul 1803: First public railway opens (Surrey Iron Railway, 9 miles from Wandsworth to Croydon, horse-drawn)
34	1804	1804: Matthew Flinders recommends that the newly discovered country, New Holland, be renamed "Australia" 21 Feb 1804: Richard Trevithick runs his railway engine on the Penydarren Railway (9.5 miles from Pen-y-Darren to Abercynon in South Wales) – this hauled a train with 10 tons of iron and 70 passengers. It was commemorated by the Royal Mint in 2004 in the form of a £2.00 coin. 3 Mar 1804: John Wedgwood (eldest son of the potter Josiah Wedgwood) founds The Royal Horticultural Society 2 Dec 1804: Napoleon declares himself Emperor of the French 12 Dec 1804: Spain declares war on Britain
35	1805	1805: London docks opened 21 Oct 1805: Admiral Nelson's victory at Trafalgar 2 Dec 1805: Battle of Austerlitz; Napoleon defeats Austrians and Russians
36	1806	1806: Dartmoor Prison opened (built by French prisoners) 9 Jan 1806: Nelson buried in St Paul's cathedral, London
37	1807	25 Mar 1807: Parliament passes Act prohibiting slavery and the importation of slaves from 1808 – but does not prohibit colonial slavery
38	1808	1808: Gas lighting in London streets 13 Jul 1808: 'Hot Wednesday' – temperature of 101°F in the shade recorded in London 20 Dec 1808: Beethoven premieres his Fifth Symphony, Sixth Symphony, Fourth Piano Concerto and Choral Fantasy together in Vienna
39	1809	12 Feb 1809: Birth of Charles Darwin 18 Sep 1809: Royal Opera House opens in London
40	1810	1810: John McAdam begins road construction in England, giving his name to the process of road metalling
41	1811	5 Feb 1811: Prince of Wales (future George IV) made Regent after George III deemed insane
42	1812	11 May 1812: Prime Minister, Spencer Perceval, assassinated – shot as he entered the House of Commons by a bankrupt Liverpool broker, John Bellingham, who was subsequently hanged 18 Jun 1812: Start of American "War of 1812" (to 1814) against England and Canada Oct 1812: Napoleon retreats from Moscow with catastrophic losses
43	1813	1813: Ireland: First recorded "12th of July" sectarian riots in Belfast 1813: Jane Austen wrote "Pride and Prejudice"
44	1814	1 Jan 1814: Invasion of France by Allies 6 Apr 1814: Napoleon abdicates and is exiled to Elba 13 Aug 1814: Convention of London signed, a treaty between the UK and the Dutch 24 Aug 1814: The British burn the White House 29 Nov 1814: "The Times" first printed by a 'mechanical apparatus' (at 1,100 sheets per hour) 24 Dec 1814: Treaty of Ghent signed ending the 1812 war between Britain and the US
45	1815	1815: Trial by Jury established in Scotland 1815: Davy develops the safety lamp for miners 18 Jun 1815: The Battle of Waterloo: Napoleon defeated and exiled to St. Helena
46	1816	1816: Income tax abolished 1816: For the first time British silver coins were produced with an intrinsic value substantially below their face value – the first official 'token' coinage 1816: Climate: the 'year without a summer' – followed a volcanic explosion of the mountain "Tambora" in Indonesia the previous year, the biggest volcanic explosion in 10,000 years 1816: Large scale emigration to North America 1816: Trans-Atlantic packet service begins

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