1815 in the United Kingdom

Updated on Nov 04, 2023

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Events from the year 1815 in the United Kingdom. 1815 marks the end of years of war between the United Kingdom and France when the Duke of Wellington wins a decisive victory over Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo. Fighting in the War of 1812 between the UK and the United States also ceases, peace terms having been agreed at the end of 1814. The year also sees the introduction of the Corn Laws which protect British land owners from cheaper foreign imports of corn.

Incumbents

Monarch - George III

Prime Minister - Earl of Liverpool (Tory)

Events

2 January

Lord Byron marries Anna Isabella Milbanke, Seaham, County Durham.

The Prince Regent divides the Order of the Bath into three classes: the Knights Grand Cross, Knights Commander and Companions.

3 January - Austria, Britain and Bourbon-restored France form a secret defensive alliance treaty against Prussia and Russia.

8 January - War of 1812: Battle of New Orleans - American forces under General Andrew Jackson defeat the British in the last major battle of the war.

13 February - The Cambridge Union Society, one of the oldest debating societies in the world, founded at the University of Cambridge.

15 March - Corn Laws passed by Parliament.

30 May - The East Indiaman Arniston, repatriating wounded troops to Britain from Ceylon, is wrecked near Waenhuiskrans, South Africa with the loss of 372 of the 378 on board.

16 June - Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Quatre Bras - Marshal Ney wins a strategic victory over an Anglo-Dutch force.

18 June - Napoleonic Wars: The Duke of Wellington wins a decisive victory over Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo.

21 June - News of the victory at Waterloo reaches London from Broadstairs this evening.

10 July - Apothecaries Act prohibits unlicensed medical practitioners.

15 July - Napoleon boards HMS Bellerophon off Rochefort and surrenders to Captain Frederick Lewis Maitland of the Royal Navy.

24 July–4 August - HMS Bellerophon anchors off the south Devon coast with Napoleon on board prior to his being taken into exile.

1 August - William Smith publishes the first national geological map of the UK, A Delineation of the Strata of England and Wales, with part of Scotland.

18 October - The Bible Christian Church, a Wesleyan Methodist denomination, is founded by William O'Bryan in north Devon and Cornwall.

3 November - Sir Humphry Davy announces his discovery of the Davy lamp as a coal mining safety lamp.

5 November - Ionian Islands become a British protectorate.

Undated

Jones, Watts and Doulton begin life as a stoneware pottery in South London.

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack retrospectively recognises statistics for first-class cricket in England from this year.

Publications

Jane Austen's novel Emma (anonymous; dated 1816).

Lord Byron's poems with musical settings Hebrew Melodies, including "She Walks in Beauty"; sells over 10,000 copies in a few months.

Thomas Love Peacock's first novel Headlong Hall (anonymous; dated 1816).

Walter Scott's novel Guy Mannering (anonymous).

Births

24 January - Thomas Gee, Welsh publisher (died 1898)

12 February - Edward Forbes, naturalist (died 1854)

24 April - Anthony Trollope, English novelist (died 1882)

2 November - George Boole, English mathematician and philosopher (died 1864)

10 December - Augusta Ada King (née Byron), Countess of Lovelace, early English computer pioneer (died 1852)

Deaths

8 January - Edward Pakenham, British general (killed in battle) (born 1778)

14 January - William Creech, Scottish publisher and Lord Provost of Edinburgh (born 1745)

15 January - Emma, Lady Hamilton, English mistress of Horatio Nelson (born 1765)

22 February - Smithson Tennant, chemist (born 1761)

1 June - James Gillray, caricaturist (born 1757)

18 June - Thomas Picton, British general (killed in battle) (born 1758)

References

1815 in the United Kingdom Wikipedia

(Text) CC BY-SA

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