Timeline: Past and Present Company

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	Date	Event(s)
1	1662	Poor Relief Act or "Act of Settlement" gave JPs the power to return any wandering poor to the parish of origin (repealed 1834)
2	1818	Manchester cotton spinners' strike 20 Oct 1818: 'Convention of 1818' signed between the United States and the United Kingdom which, among other things, settled the US-Canada border on the 49th parallel for most of its length
3	1819	Primitive bicycle, the Dandy Horse, becomes popular Britain returns to gold standard Singapore founded by Sir Stamford Raffles May 1819: SS "Savannah" first steamship to cross Atlantic, reaching Liverpool 20 June 1819 (26 days, mostly under sail) 16 Aug 1819: Peterloo Massacre at Manchester â€“ a large, orderly group of 60,000 meets at St. Peter's Fields, Manchester â€“ demand Parliamentary Reform â€“ mounted troops charge on the meeting, killing 11 people and and maiming many others
4	1820	Cato Street Conspiracy â€“ plot to assissinate British cabinet Abolition of the Spanish Inquisition 29 Jan 1820: Accession of George IV, previously Prince Regent 1 Aug 1820: Regent's Canal in London opens 17 Aug 1820: Trial of Queen Caroline to prove her infidelities so George IV can divorce her â€“ George tries to secure a Bill of Pains and Penalties against her â€“ Caroline is virtually acquitted because bill passed by such a small majority of Lords
5	1821	Faraday publishes "Principles of electro-magnetic rotation" Constable paints "The Hay Wain" 5 May 1821: Napoleon Bonaparte dies on St Helena
6	1822	14 Jun 1822: Charles Babbage proposes a difference engine in a paper to the Royal Astronomical Society
7	1823	New laws concerning marriage by licence â€“ 'very troublesome' according to some: "the Act was repealed, all in a hurry, at the beginning of the next session" Peel begins penal reforms death penalty abolished for over 100 crimes Rugby Football 'invented' at Rugby School Rubberised waterproof material produced by MacIntosh 2 Dec 1823: US President James Monroe delivers a speech establishing American neutrality in future European conflicts (the 'Monroe Doctrine')
8	1824	RSPCA established Portland cement patented 4 Mar 1824: Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) founded (called the "National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck" until 1854) 10 May 1824: National Gallery in London opens to the public
9	1825	27 Sep 1825: Stockton to Darlington Railway opens â€“ world's first service of locomotive-hauled passenger trains
10	1827	Ohm's Law published
11	1828	25 Oct 1828: St Katharine Docks in London opened (designed by Thomas Telford)
12	1829	London Metropolitan Police Force formed, nicknamed "Bobbies" after Sir Robert Peel Louis Braille invents his sytem of finger-reading for the blind 10 Jun 1829: First Oxford/Cambridge Boat Race 6 Oct 1829: George Stephenson's Rocket wins the Rainhill trials (it was the only one to complete the trial!)
13	1830	Uprisings and agitation across Europe: the Netherlands are split into Holland and Belgium Jul 1830: Revolution in France, fall of Charles X and the Bourbons Louis Philippe (the Citizen King) on the throne 15 Sep 1830: George Stephenson's Liverpool & Manchester Railway opened by the Duke of Wellington first mail carried by rail, and first death on the railway as William Huskisson, a leading politician, is run over!
14	1831	A list of all parish registers dating prior to 1813 compiled 1 Jun 1831: James Clark Ross discovers the North Magnetic Pole 1 Aug 1831: 'New' London Bridge opens (replaced 1973) â€“ old bridge (which had existed for over 600 years) then demolished
15	1832	Electoral Registers introduced Electric telegraph invented by Morse 7 Jun 1832: Reform Bill passed â€“ Representation of the People Act
16	1833	Jan 1833: Britain invades the Falkland Islands 29 Aug 1833: Factory Act forbids employment of children below age of 9
17	1834	Babbage invents forerunner of the computer 18 Mar 1834: 'Tolpuddle Martyrs' transported (to Australia) for Trades Union activities 1 May 1834: Slavery abolished in British possessions
18	1835	Christmas becomes a national holiday First railway boom period starts in Britain â€“ construction of Great Western Railway
19	1836	First Potato famine in Ireland 30 Jan 1836: Telford's Menai Straits Bridge opened - considered the world's first modern suspension bridge 25 Feb 1836: Samuel Colt patented the 'revolver' 6 Mar 1836: The Alamo falls to Mexican troops â€“ death of Davy Crockett Jul 1836: Inauguration of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris
20	1837	Pitman introduces his shorthand system P&O Founded 20 Jun 1837: William IV dies â€“ accession of Queen Victoria (to 1901) 1 Jul 1837: Compulsory registration of Births, Marriages & Deaths in England & Wales â€“ Registration Districts were formed covering several parishes; initially they had the same boundaries as the Poor Law boundaries set up in 1834 13 Jul 1837: Queen Victoria moves into the first Buckingham Palace 20 Jul 1837: Euston Railway station opens â€“ first in London
21	1838	28 Jun 1838: Coronation of Queen Victoria at Westminster Abbey
22	1839	First Opium War between Britain and China (to 1842) â€“ Britain captures Hong Kong Scottish blacksmith Kirkpatrick MacMillan refines the primitive bicycle, adding a mechanical crank drive to the rear wheel, thus creating the first true "bicycle" in the modern sense Charles Goodyear invented vulcanized rubber
23	1840	Population Act relating to taking of censuses in Britain Last convicts landed in NSW (some say 1842 or 1849, but these probably landed elsewhere) 10 Jan 1840: Uniform Penny Postage introduced nationally
24	1841	Thomas Cook starts package tours 10 Feb 1841: Penny Red replaces Penny Black postage stamp 6 Jun 1841: June 6: First full census in Britain in which all names were recorded (Population 18.5M)
25	1842	Income Tax reintroduced in Britain 30 Mar 1842: Ether used as an anaesthetic for the first time (by Dr Crawford Long in America) 29 Aug 1842: Treaty of Nanking â€“ End of First Opium War â€“ Britain gains Hong Kong
26	1843	First Christmas card in England 27 May 1843: The Great Hall of Euston station opened in London 19 Jul 1843: Brunel's 'Great Britain' launched
27	1844	6 Jun 1844: YMCA founded in London by Sir George Williams
28	1845	Tarmac laid for first time (in Nottingham) 17 Mar 1845: The rubber band patented by Stephen Perry
29	1846	10 Sep 1846: The sewing machine is patented by Elias Howe
30	1847	US Mormons make Salt Lake City their centre Jan 1847: An anaesthetic used for the first time in England (James Simpson used ether to numb the pain of labour)
31	1848	First commercial production of chewing gum 24 Jan 1848: Gold found at Sutter's Mill, California â€“ starts the California gold rush 11 Jul 1848: Waterloo railway station in London opens
32	1849	Florin (2 shilling coin) introduced as the first step to decimalisation â€“ which finally occurred in 1971!
33	1851	Gold discovered in Australia 1 May 1851: Great exhibition of the works of industry of all nations ("Crystal Palace" exhibition) opened in Hyde Park
34	1852	Tasmania ceases to be a convict settlement Wells Fargo established in USA
35	1853	Vaccination against smallpox made compulsory in Britain
36	1854	Cigarettes introduced into Britain 27 Mar 1854: Britain declares war on Russia (Crimean War) 25 Oct 1854: Battle of Balaklava in Crimea (charge of the Light Brigade)
37	1856	End of Crimean War 29 Jan 1856: Victoria Cross created by Royal Warrant, backdated to 1854 to recognise acts during the Crimean War (first award ceremony 26 June 1857)
38	1857	Work starts on the laying of the Transatlantic cable
39	1858	'The great stink' â€“ smell of the River Thames forced Parliament to stop work Royal Opera House opens in Covent Garden, London
40	1859	Peaceful picketing legalised in Britain 25 Apr 1859: Work started on building the Suez canal (opened 17 Nov 1869) 4 May 1859: Brunel's Royal Albert Bridge opened at Saltash giving rail link between Devon and Cornwall 24 Nov 1859: Charles Darwin publishes "The Origin of Species"
41	1860	29 Aug 1860: First tram service in Europe starts in Birkenhead
42	1861	25 May 1861: American Civil War begins
43	1862	Lincoln issues first legal US paper money (Greenbacks) 20 Apr 1862: First pasteurisation test completed by Louis Pasteur and Claude Bernard
44	1863	Football Association founded (UK) Opening of state institution for criminally insane at Broadmoor, England 10 Jan 1863: First section of the London Underground Railway opens
45	1864	A man-powered submarine, "Hunley", sank a Federal steam ship, USS Housatonic, at the entrance to Charleston harbour in 1864 â€“ the first recorded successful attack by a submarine on a surface ship 11 Mar 1864: The Great Sheffield Flood â€“ over 250 died when a new dam broke while it was being filled for the first time 20 Aug 1864: Red Cross established â€“ Twelve nations sign the First Geneva Convention 8 Dec 1864: Clifton Suspension Bridge over the River Avon officially opened
46	1865	Elizabeth Garrett Anderson (1836-1917) becomes first woman doctor in England [she later became the first woman mayor in England, in Aldeburgh 1908] First concrete roads built in Britain 14 Apr 1865: End of American Civil War â€“ slavery abolished in USA 14 Apr 1865: Abraham Lincoln assassinated in Ford's Theatre by John Wilkes Booth 5 Jul 1865: William Booth (1829-1912) founds Salvation Army, in London
47	1867	1 Jul 1867: The British North America Act takes effect, creating the Canadian Confederation
48	1868	Last convicts landed in Australia (Western Australia)
49	1869	Ball bearings, celluloid, margarine, and washing machines, all invented 23 Nov 1869: Cutty Sark launched in Dumbarton
50	1870	GPO takes over the privately-owned Telegraph Companies (nationalised) Dr Thomas Barnardo opens his first home for destitute children Water closets come into wide use Diamonds discovered in Kimberley, South Africa 1 Oct 1870: First British postcard â€“ halfpenny post
51	1871	27 Mar 1871: First Rugby Football international, England v Scotland, played in Edinburgh 29 Mar 1871: Opening of Royal Albert Hall, London 29 Jun 1871: Trades Unions legalised in Britain, but picketing made illegal
52	1872	Licensing hours introduced Penalties introduced for failing to register births, marriages & deaths (Eng & Wales) 4 Dec 1872: American ship "Mary Celeste" is found abandoned by the British brig "Dei Gratia" in the Atlantic Ocean
53	1874	Factory Act introduces 56-hour week 5 Apr 1874: Birkenhead Park opened, said to be the first civic public park in the world â€“ features of it later copied in Central Park, New York
54	1875	London's main sewage system completed 1 Jan 1875: Midland Railway abolishes Second Class passenger facilities, leaving First Class and Third Class. Other British railway companies followed during the rest of the year. (Third Class was renamed Second Class in 1956)
55	1876	14 Feb 1876: Alexander Graham Bell and Elisha Gray each file a patent for the telephone â€“ Bell awarded the rights
56	1877	Edison invents microphone and phonograph
57	1878	Edison & Swan invent electric lamp Red Flag Act in Britain limits mechanical road vehicles to 4mph CID established at New Scotland Yard
58	1879	18 Sep 1879: Blackpool illuminations switched on for first time
59	1880	Education Act: schooling compulsory for 5-10 year olds Mosquito found to be the carrier of malaria 2 Aug 1880: Greenwich Mean Time adopted throughout UK
60	1881	Postal Orders introduced Flogging abolished in Army and Royal Navy Sep 1881: Godalming in Surrey became the first town in England to have a public electricity supply installed (but in 1884 it reverted to gas lighting until 1904) 26 Oct 1881: Gunfight at OK Corral
61	1882	Fourth Eddystone Lighthouse completed
62	1883	Statue of Liberty presented to USA by France 24 May 1883: Brooklyn Bridge, New York opens (crosses East River) 1 Aug 1883: Parcel post starts in Britain 27 Aug 1883: Eruption of Krakatoa near Java â€“ 30,000 killed by tidal wave
63	1884	31 May 1884: John Harvey Kellogg patents corn flakes 13 Oct 1884: Greenwich made prime meridian of the world
64	1885	Carl Benz builds the 'Motorwagen', a single-cylinder motor car Gottlieb Daimler patents the world's first motorcycle Eastman makes first coated photographic paper Canadian Pacific Railway completed Mar 1885: First UK cremation in modern times took place at Woking 5 Sep 1885: The first train runs through the Severn Tunnel 29 Sep 1885: First electric tramcar used at Blackpool
65	1886	20 Jan 1886: Mersey railway (under Mersey) opened by Prince of Wales May 1886: Pharmacist John Styth Pemberton invents a carbonated beverage later named "Coca-Cola" 29 May 1886: Putney Bridge opens in London
66	1887	Daimler produces a four-wheeled motor car
67	1888	Convention of Constantinople guarantees free maritime passage through Suez Canal in war and peace Jack the Ripper active in east London during the latter half of the year County Councils set up in Britain Dunlop invents pneumatic tyre First box camera â€“ George Eastman registers the trademark Kodak, and receives a patent for his camera which uses roll film 20 Mar 1888: Football League formed
68	1889	Celluloid film produced Dock Strike â€“ docker's won their "Docker's Tanner", 6 old pennies 31 Mar 1889: Eiffel Tower completed (to mark centenary of French Revolution) 14 May 1889: Children's charity NSPCC launched in London 3 Jun 1889: Canadian Pacific Railway completed from coast to coast 28 Sep 1889: Length of a metre defined
69	1890	4 Mar 1890: Forth railway bridge opens â€“ took six years to build 4 Nov 1890: City & South London Railway opens â€“ London's first deep-level tube railway and first major railway in the world to use electric traction
70	1891	Primary education made free and compulsory 18 Mar 1891: First telephone link between London & Paris 4 May 1891: Fictional date when Sherlock Holmes throws Moriarty over Reichenbach Falls, then disappears for 3 years! (published in 1893) 24 Aug 1891: Thomas Edison patents the motion picture camera
71	1892	Electric oven invented Shop Hours Act â€“ limit 74 hours per week for under-18's 6 Oct 1892: Alfred Lord Tennyson dies, aged 83, at his house Aldworth, near Haslemere
72	1893	Henry Ford's first car Zip fastener invented
73	1894	Picture postcard introduced in Britain 1 Jan 1894: Manchester Ship Canal opens 1 Mar 1894: Blackpool Tower opens 30 Jun 1894: Tower Bridge first opens 2 Aug 1894: Death duties first introduced in Britain
74	1895	Sir Henry Wood starts Promenade Concerts in London 12 Jan 1895: The National Trust founded in England 24 May 1895: Henry Irving becomes the first person from the theatre to be knighted 28 May 1895: Oscar Wilde sent to prison 12 Jul 1895: First recorded motor journey of any length (56 miles) in Britain 17 Oct 1895: First people in Britain to be charged with motor offences â€“ John Henry Knight and James Pullinger of Farnham, Surrey Nov 1895: X-rays discovered
75	1896	5 Apr 1896: First modern Olympic Games held in Athens 2 Jun 1896: Guglielmo Marconi receives a British patent (later disputed) for the radio
76	1897	Thomas Edison patents the Kinetoscope, the first movie projector
77	1898	First photograph using artificial light Zeppelin builds airship Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company founded 17 Mar 1898: USS Holland launched, the first practical submarine 27 Jun 1898: The first solo circumnavigation of the globe completed at Rhode island by Joshua Slocum in Spray (started from Boston, Mass on Apr 24, 1895)
78	1899	6 Mar 1899: Aspirin first marketed by Bayer 11 Oct 1899: Start of Second Boer War
79	1900	School leaving age in Britain raised to 14 years Central Line opens in London: underground is electrified Escalator shown at Paris exhibition 9 Feb 1900: Davis Cup tennis competition established 27 Feb 1900: Labour Party formed
80	1901	Commonwealth of Australia founded Hubert Cecil Booth patents the vacuum cleaner 22 Jan 1901: Queen Victoria dies â€“ Edward VII king 2 Feb 1901: Queen Victoria's funeral â€“ interred beside Prince Albert in the Frogmore Mausoleum at Windsor Great Park Jun 1901: Denunciation of use of concentration camps by British in Boer War 2 Oct 1901: Britain's first submarine launched 12 Dec 1901: First successful radio transmission across the Atlantic, by Marconi â€“ Morse code from Cornwall to Newfoundland
81	1902	Balfour's Education Act provides for secondary education Cremation Act â€“ cremation can only take place at officially recognised establishments, and with two death certificates issued Marie Curie discovers radioactivity 24 May 1902: Empire Day (later Commonwealth Day) first celebrated 31 May 1902: Treaty of Vereeniging ends Second Boer War 9 Aug 1902: Coronation of Edward VII
82	1903	Workers' Education Association (WEA) formed in Britain Women's Social and Political Union formed in Britain by Emmeline Pankhurst Henry Ford sets up his motor company 14 Dec 1903: First flight of Wilbur & Orville Wright
83	1904	Leeds University established 8 Apr 1904: France and UK sign the Entente Cordiale 4 May 1904: America takes over construction of the Panama Canal from the French (completed 1914)
84	1905	The title 'Prime Minister' noted in a royal warrant for the first time â€“ placed the Prime Minister in order of precedence in Britain immediately after the Archbishop of York Aliens Act in Britain: Home Office controls immigration Germany lays down the first Dreadnought battleship 11 Apr 1905: Einstein publishes Special Theory of Relativity
85	1906	Introduction of free school meals for poor children 10 Feb 1906: Launching of HMS Dreadnought, first turbine-driven battleship 15 Mar 1906: Rolls-Royce Ltd registered 26 May 1906: Vauxhall Bridge opened in London 20 Sep 1906: Launching of Cunard's RMS Mauretania on the Tyne
86	1907	New Zealand becomes a Dominion Imperial College, London, is established First airship flies over London Lumiere develops a process for colour photography Jul 1907: Leo Hendrik Baekeland patents Bakelite, the first plastic invented that held its shape after being heated 1 Aug 1907: Baden-Powell leads the first Scout camp on Brownsea Island 9 Nov 1907: The Cullinan Diamond presented to Edward VII on his birthday
87	1908	Coal Mines Regulation Act in Britain limits men to an eight hour day Separate courts for juveniles established in Britain Lord Baden-Powell starts the Boy Scout movement 1 Jul 1908: SOS became effective as an international signal of distress 12 Aug 1908: First 'Model T' Ford made
88	1909	Beveridge Report prompts creation of labour Exchanges Peary reaches the north pole First commercial manufacture of Bakelite â€“ start of the plastic age 1 Jan 1909: Old Age Pensions Act came into force 16 Jan 1909: Ernest Shackleton's expedition finds the magnetic South Pole 15 Mar 1909: Selfridges department store opens in London 25 Jul 1909: Bleriot flies across the Channel (36 minutes, Calais to Dover)
89	1910	Railway strike and coal strikes in Britain Constitutional crisis in Britain Dr Crippen caught by radio telegraphy; hanged 23 Nov at Pentonville Madame Curie isolates radium Halley's comet reappears Tango becomes popular in North America and Europe 6 May 1910: Edward VII dies â€“ George V becomes King
90	1911	Parliament Act in Britain reduces the power of the House of Lords British MPs receive a salary First British Official Secrets Act Rutherford: theory of atomic structures Strikes by seamen, dock and transport workers (1911-1912) 2 Apr 1911: Census: Population - England and Wales: 36 Million; Scotland: 4.6 Million; N Ireland: 1.25 Million 22 Jun 1911: Coronation of George V 14 Dec 1911: National Insurance introduced in Britain
91	1912	Irish Home Rule crisis grows in Britain Britain nationalises the telephone system Discovery of the 'Piltdown Man' â€“ hoax, exposed in 1953 18 Jan 1912: Captain Scott's last expedition â€“ he and his team reach the south pole on Jan 18th; all die on the way back, their bodies found in November 14 Apr 1912: The 'unsinkable' Titanic sinks on maiden voyage â€“ loss of 1,513 lives 13 May 1912: Royal Flying Corps (later the RAF) founded in Britain
92	1913	Third Irish Home Rule Bill rejected by House of Lords â€“ threat of civil war in Ireland â€“ formation of Ulster Volunteers to oppose Home Rule Suffragette demonstrations in London â€“ Mrs Pankhurst imprisoned Trade Union Act in Britain establishes the right to use Union funds for political purposes Invention of stainless steel by Harry Brearley of Sheffield Geiger invents his counter to measure radioactivity 4 Jun 1913: Emily Davison, a suffragette, runs out in front of the king's horse, Anmer, at the Epsom Derby and dies
93	1914	Irish Home Rule Act provides for a separate Parliament in Ireland; the position of Ulster to be decided after the War Chaplin and De Mille make their first films 28 Jun 1914: Archduke Ferdinand assassinated in Sarajevo 4 Aug 1914: Britain declares war on Germany, citing Belgian neutrality as reason 5 Aug 1914: British cableship Telconia cut through all five of Germany's undersea telegraph links to the outside world 15 Aug 1914: Panama Canal opened, the Canal cement boat 'Ancon' making the first official transit (plans for a grand opening were cancelled due to the start of WW1) Oct 1914: Battle of Ypres â€“ beginning of trench warfare on western front 27 Nov 1914: First policewoman goes on duty in Britain 16 Dec 1914: German battleships bombard Hartlepool and Scarborough
94	1915	Junkers construct first fighter aeroplane First automatic telephone exchange in Britain 19 Jan 1915: First Zeppelin air raid on England, over East Anglia â€“ four killed Feb 1915: Submarine blockade of Britain starts Apr 1915: Second Battle of Ypres â€“ poison gas used for first time 25 Apr 1915: Gallipoli campaign starts (declared ANZAC Day in 1916) 7 May 1915: RMS Lusitania sunk by German submarine off coast of Ireland â€“ 1,198 died 16 May 1915: First meeting of a British WI (Women's Institute) took place in Llanfairpwll (aka Llanfair PG), Anglesey
95	1916	Compulsory military service introduced in Britain Feb 1916: Battle of Verdun â€“ appalling losses on both sides, stalemate continues 24 Apr 1916: Easter Rising in Ireland â€“ after the leaders are executed, public opinion backs independence 21 May 1916: First use of Daylight Saving Time in UK 31 May 1916: Battle of Jutland â€“ only major naval battle between the British and German fleets 5 Jun 1916: Sinking of HMS Hampshire and death of Kitchener 3 Aug 1916: Sir Roger Casement hanged at Pentonville Prison for treason 15 Sep 1916: First use of tanks in battle, but of limited effect (Battle of the Somme 1 July to 18 Nov: over 1 million casualties) 7 Dec 1916: Lloyd-George becomes British Prime Minister of the coalition government
96	1917	Battle of Cambrai â€“ first use of massed tanks, but effect more psychological than actual Ministry of Labour is established in Britain Feb 1917: February revolution in Russia; Tsar Nicholas abdicates 16 Apr 1917: Lenin returns to Russia after exile 17 Apr 1917: USA declares war on Germany 26 May 1917: George V changes surname from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor (Royal proclamation on 17 July) Jul 1917: Battle of Passchendaele â€“ little gained by either side (Jul-Nov) 7 Nov 1917: 'October' Revolution in Russia â€“ Bolsheviks overthrow provisional government; Lenin becomes Chief Commissar 6 Dec 1917: Halifax (Nova Scotia) Explosion, one of the world's largest artificial non-nuclear explosions to date: a ship loaded with wartime explosives blew up after a collision, obliterating buildings and structures within two square kilometres of the explosion 9 Dec 1917: British forces capture Jerusalem
97	1918	Vote for women over 30, men over 21 (except peers, lunatics and felons) War of Independence in Ireland 18 Jan 1918: Bentley Motors founded 8 Mar 1918: Start of world-wide 'flu pandemic Jul 1918: Second Battle of the Marne: last major German offensive in WW1 (Jul-Aug) 1 Oct 1918: Arab forces under Lawrence of Arabia capture Damascus 11 Nov 1918: Armistice signed Dec 1918: First woman elected to House of Commons, Countess Markiewicz as a Sinn FÃ©in member refused to take her seat

Joseph MAYES Abt 1818 - Yes, date unknown

Joseph MAYES
Abt 1818 - Yes, date unknown