Theme Intriguing People
Khaki uniforms for British troops 1848
British colonial troops in India in 1848, were issued with khaki uniforms to give them camouflage in the arid dusty conditions they found themselves in. Khaki is the Hindi word meaning ‘dust covered’. Take a look at old military photos, the type of uniform could give you a hint if your ancestor served overseas and…
Read MoreMetropolitan Police 1829
The early years of the C19th saw a London riddled with crime. Petty thieving, beatings and murders, along with rioting, meant that London was a particularly unsavoury and unsafe place especially at night. Although there were foot patrols, whose main role it was to protect property, there was no overall organised policing unit. Sir Robert…
Read MoreUnrest in Europe 1848
The year of 1848 saw much unrest throughout Europe. The demands from the people for constitutional change and more equality, saw uprisings in Paris, all over Italy, Vienna, Prague and Germany. In Britain there is a revival of the Chartist movement.
Read MorePhotographs 1839
Louis Daguerre born in Seine-et-Oise if France in 1789, reveals to the world his process for making photographs, using a silver image on a copper plate. These images are known as daguerrotypes.
Read MoreManchester Ship Canal 1894
The Manchester Ship Canal was opened in 1894 and was the largest river navigation canal in the world. It took six years to build and cost £15 million. It was 58km long and started at the Mersey estuary in Liverpool and terminated at the dock in Manchester. It allowed the newly created Port of Manchester…
Read MoreSir Robert Peel 1834
Sir Robert Peel(2nd Baronet) became the 29th Prime Minister of Britain in December 1834 He was the son of Sir Robert Peel (1st Baronet) of the Cotton Mill fame aka Burton-on-Trent , a major industrialist and wealth producer, see related articles. His mother was the first wife of his father Ellen YATES, who we believe…
Read MoreLord Nelsons Statue 1843
In 1843, a statue of Lord Nelson was erected in the newly developed Trafalgar Square. The Square had been completed two years earlier to sweep away the squalid courts and cook houses that gave it the name Porridge Island.
Read MoreHenry Charles Harrod 1849
In 1849, Henry Charles Harrod, a tea dealer of Eastcheap, takes over a grocery shop at 8 Brompton Road, London, that later becomes Harrods department store.
Read MoreBenjamin Disraeli 1874
Benjamin Disraeli becomes Prime Minister in February 1874.
Read MoreRepeal of the Navigation Acts 1850
The Repeal of the Navigation Acts by the British Parliament, on 26th June 1850, ends the restriction on foreign shipping, allowing US clipper ships to bring cargoes of China tea into British ports.
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