1846 in the United Kingdom

Events from the year 1846 in the United Kingdom.

Incumbents

*Monarch - Victoria of the United Kingdom
*Prime Minister - Robert Peel, Conservative (until 29 June), John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, Liberal

Events

* 5 January - The United States House of Representatives votes to stop sharing the Oregon Territory with the United Kingdom.
* 10 February - First Anglo-Sikh War: British victory at the Battle of Sobraon.cite book |last=Palmer |first=Alan & Veronica |year=1992 |title= The Chronology of British History|publisher= Century Ltd|location=London|pages= 268-269|isbn= 0-7126-5616-2]
* 9 March - The conclusion of the First Anglo-Sikh War with the signing of the Treaty of Lahore.cite book|title=Penguin Pocket On This Day|publisher=Penguin Reference Library|isbn=0-141-02715-0|year=2006] Kashmir is ceded to the British East India Company and the Koh-i-Noor diamond is surrendered to Queen Victoria.
* 13 March - Ballinglass Incident: eviction of 300 tenants at the village of Ballinglass in Ireland during the Irish Potato famine.
* 16 May - Under the leadership of Prime Minister Robert Peel, Parliament repeals the Corn Laws, replacing the old Colonial mercantile trade system with Free Trade.cite web|url=http://www.icons.org.uk/theicons/icons-timeline/1840-1860|title=Icons, a portrait of England 1840-1860|accessdate=2007-09-13]
* 15 June - Treaty of Washington establishes the 49th Parallel as the border between Oregon and British Canada.
* 29 June - Peel resigns, and is succeeded by John Russell, 1st Earl Russell.
* 26 August - Felix Mendelssohn's oratorio "Elijah" first performed at the Birmingham Festival.
* 10 October - William Lassell discovers Triton, one of the moons of Neptune.
* 21 December - Surgeon Robert Liston carries out the first operation under anaesthesia in Britain.

Undated

* Electric Telegraph Company founded.
* Railway Mania reaches its zenith, with 272 railway construction bills being passed in this year.
* The discovery of Neptune is disputed between the British astronomer John Couch Adams and the French astronomer Urbain Le Verrier.

Ongoing events

* Irish Potato Famine (1845–1849)

Publications

* Charles Dickens' novel "The Battle of Life" and the serialisation of "Dombey and Son".
* Edward Lear's "A Book of Nonsense".

Births

* 18 February - Wilson Barrett, actor (died 1904)
* 17 March - Kate Greenaway, children's book illustrator and writer (died 1901)
* 25 May - Princess Helena of the United Kingdom (died 1923)
* 27 June - Charles Stewart Parnell, Irish political leader (died 1891)
* 16 September - Anna Kingsford, physician, advocate of women's rights, anti-vivisection and vegetarianism (died 1888)

Deaths

* 22 June - Benjamin Haydon, painter and writer (born 1786)
* 5 September - Charles Metcalfe, 1st Baron Metcalfe, colonial administartor (born 1785)
* 23 September - John Ainsworth Horrocks, English-born explorer of South Australia (born 1818)

References

ee also