1840 in the United Kingdom

Events from the year 1840 in the United Kingdom.

Incumbents

*Monarch - Victoria of the United Kingdom
*Prime Minister - William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, Whig

Events

* 10 January - Uniform Penny Post introduced.
* 22 January - British colonists reach New Zealand. Official founding date of Wellington.
* 6 February - Treaty of Waitangi, document granting British sovereignty in New Zealand, is signed.cite book|title=Penguin Pocket On This Day|publisher=Penguin Reference Library|isbn=0-141-02715-0|year=2006]
* 10 February - Queen Victoria marries Prince Albert of Saxe Coburg-Gotha.
* 15 April - King's College Hospital opens in Portugal Street, London.
* 1 May - issue of the Penny Black, the world's first postage stamp.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]
* 10 June - Edward Oxford attempts to assassinate Queen Victoria.cite book |last=Palmer |first=Alan & Veronica |year=1992 |title= The Chronology of British History|publisher= Century Ltd|location=London|pages= 263-264|isbn= 0-7126-5616-2]
* 4 July - The Cunard Line's 700-ton wooden paddlewheel steamer RMS "Britannia" departs from Liverpool bound for Halifax , Nova Scotia on the first transatlantic passenger cruise.
* 15 July - Austria, Britain, Prussia, and Russia sign a London Treaty with the Sublime Porte, ruler of the Ottoman Empire.
* 23 July - The Province of Canada is created by the Act of Union.
* 7 August - Chimney Sweeps Act 1840 prohibits the employment of children under the age of 21 as chimney sweeps.
* 10 September - Ottoman and British troops bombard Beirut and land troops on the coast to pressure Egyptian Muhammad Ali to retreat from the country.
* 16 September - Joseph Strutt handed over the deeds and papers concerning the Arboretum, which was to become England's first public park.
* 30 September - the foundation of Nelson's Column laid.
* 14 October - Maronite leader Bashir Shihab II surrenders to the British forces and goes into exile in Malta.
* 25 October - First railway timetable published.
* December - Stockport Viaduct was completed in this year. It is one of the largest brick structures in Europe.

Undated

* David Livingstone leaves for Africa.
* The foundation stone of the Palace of Westminster is laid as its reconstruction following a fire in 1834 begins. (Completed in 1860).
* Trafalgar Square laid out and paved.
* The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals gains its Royal status.
* Cunard Line operates the first transatlantic paddle steamer mail service.

Ongoing events

* First Opium War (1839–1842)
* First Anglo-Afghan War (1839–1842)

Publications

* Serialisation of Charles Dickens' novel "The Old Curiosity Shop".
* William Makepeace Thackeray's novel "Catherine".

Births

* 18 January - Henry Austin Dobson, poet and essayist (died 1921)
* 26 January - John Clayton Adams, landscape artist (died 1906)
* 5 February - John Boyd Dunlop, inventor (died 1921)
* 29 February - John Philip Holland, inventor (died 1914)
* 27 April - Edward Whymper, mountaineer (died 1911)
* 2 June - Thomas Hardy, writer (died 1928)
* 9 October - Simeon Solomon, artist (died 1905)
* 21 November - Victoria, Princess Royal (died 1901)
* 29 November - Rhoda Broughton, writer (died 1920)

Deaths

* 6 January - Fanny Burney, novelist (born 1752)
* 18 February - Jeffry Wyattville, architect and garden designer (born 1766)
* 30 March - Beau Brummell, arbiter of fashion (born 1778)
* 1 May - Joseph Williamson, philanthropist and builder of Williamson's tunnels (born 1769)
* 26 May - Sidney Smith, admiral (born 1764)

References

ee also