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Catholic Emancipation Act is passed by Parliament
To avoid the risk of an uprising in Ireland, the British Parliament passed the Roman Catholic Relief Act in 1829, which granted Catholic emancipation and enabled O'Connell to take his seat. -
Great Reform Act (1st reform Act) is passed by British Parliament
The Representation of the People Act 1832 (commonly known as the Reform Act 1832 or sometimes as The Great Reform Act) was an Act of Parliament that introduced wide-ranging changes to the electoral system of England and Wales. According to its preamble, the act was designed to "take effectual Measures for correcting divers Abuses that have long prevailed in the Choice of Members to serve in the Commons House of Parliament." -
Slavery is banned in all British colonies
The Slavery Abolition Act 1833 was an 1833 Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom abolishing slavery throughout the British Empire. -
Queen Victoria ascends to the throne
She inherited the throne at the age of eighteen, upon the death of her uncle William IV who had no legitimate children (children born to married parents). -
Irish Potato Famine Begins
The Famine began quite mysteriously in September 1845 as leaves on potato plants suddenly turned black and curled, then rotted, seemingly the result of a fog that had wafted across the fields of Ireland. The cause was actually an airborne fungus (phytophthora infestans) originally transported in the holds of ships traveling from North America to England. -
Use of Secret Ballot in Great Britain passes
The secret ballot is a voting method in which a voter's choices in an election or a referendum are confidential. The key aim is to ensure the voter records a sincere choice by forestalling attempts to influence the voter by intimidation or bribery. The system is one means of achieving the goal of political privacy. -
Second Reform Act is passed by British Parliament
The 1867 Reform Act: Granted the vote to all householders in the boroughs as well as lodgers who paid rent of £10 a year or more, and
reduced the property threshold in the counties and gave the vote to agricultural landowners and tenants with very small amounts of land -
British Parliament ends all public hangings
The Capital Punishment Amendment Act 1868 received Royal Assent on 29 May 1868, putting an end to public executions in the United Kingdom. The Act required that all prisoners sentenced to death be executed within the walls of the prison in which they were being held, and that their bodies be buried in the prison grounds. -
Queen Victoria dies
ueen Victoria died on 21 January 1901 at the age of 81. She had been the Queen of Great Britain for 63 years, presiding over the industrialization of Britain and the expansion of the British Empire overseas. But perhaps her most lasting influence was on the values of the time: the Victorian age became synonymous with prudish gentility and repression. -
All women 30 and older gain the right to vote in Great Britain
The 1918 Representation of the People Act was the start of female suffrage in Great Britain. The bill was passed by an overwhelming majority in the House of Commons (385 for to 55 against) – an element of support that surprised the Suffragettes and other suffragist movements. The 1918 Representation of the People Act gave women of property over the age of 30 the right to vote – not all women, therefore, could vote – but it was a major start.
