Events from the year 1840 in the United Kingdom. 1 January – Trial of Welsh Chartists John Frost, Zephaniah Williams and William Jones for their part in the Newport Rising of 1839 opens at Monmouth before Chief Justice Tindal; this is the first trial …

Feb 10, 2025 · The Victorian era was the period in British history between about 1820 and 1914, corresponding roughly to the period of Queen Victoria’s reign (1837–1901). It was characterized by a class-based society, a growing number of people able to vote, a growing state and economy, and Britain’s status as the most powerful empire in the world.

Arguably the first major event of the decade was the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in the United Tribes (modern-day New Zealand) between Māori rangatira and representatives of the British Crown, which began in February 1840.

In 1834, slaves in the British empire started a period of 'apprenticeship', during which they were obliged to work without pay for their former owners. Abolitionists campaigned against the system...

Jan 21, 2022 · The first full decade of the Victorian Era, the 1840s, saw a wave of changes that would shake the United Kingdom and the British Empire forever. From new governments at home to new territory abroad, Britain as we know it was fundamentally altered every year.

The 1840s, which saw years of poor harvests, were known as the Hungry Forties. Most catastrophic of all was the Irish Famine of 1845–9, during which well over a million people died and some two million emigrated.

Feb 15, 2014 · 1814 The British and Foreign School Society is founded by liberal Anglicans, Roman Catholics and Jews as an alternative to the National Society. 1815 Corn Laws cut off less expensive foreign wheat.

1840 was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar and a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar, the ... May 1 – Britain issues the Penny Black, the world's first postage stamp; it becomes valid for the pre-payment of postage from May 6.

Mar 7, 2025 · There was a great flowering of civic administration and civic pride during the early and mid-Victorian period in Britain. This was particularly reflected in the architecture and infrastructure of British cities—one of the most notable legacies of the period.

Mortality data revealed that, in the poorer quarters of Britain's larger cities, almost one child in five born alive in the 1830s and 1840s had died by the age of five. Polluted water and...