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10 December 1773: Women of Maldon, Essex (one of the few boroughs...

Building and people item

10 December 1773

Women of Maldon, Essex (one of the few boroughs where daughters of freemen—i.e. voters—conferred freeman status on their husbands), were canvassed in print at election time.
Chalus, Elaine. “’That epidemical Madness’: women and electoral politics in the late eighteenth century”. Gender in Eighteenth-Century England: Roles, Representations and Responsibilities, edited by Hannah Barker and Elaine Chalus, Longman, 1997, pp. 151-78.
166

1837: Philippe Ricord (1800-1889), a French doctor...

Building and people item

1837

Philippe Ricord (1800-1889), a French doctor born in Baltimore, established the difference between syphilis and gonorrhea.
Laqueur, Thomas. “Even Immortality”. London Review of Books, 29 July 1999, pp. 3-9.
8
Mitchell, Sally, editor. Victorian Britain: An Encyclopedia. Garland Press, 1988.
833

February 1989: Soviet forces withdrew from Afghanistan:...

National or international item

February 1989

Soviet forces withdrew from Afghanistan: the USA and UK (which had trained Afghan fighters) hailed a victory for freedom over Communism; the Mujahidin a victory for Islam over atheistic powers.
Hardy, Roger. “How China Colluded with the West in the Rise of Osama Bin Laden”. London Review of Books, 2 Mar. 2000, pp. 26-7.
26
Forbes, Peter, editor. Scanning the Century. Viking, 1999.
169

1840: The Ladies' Pocket Magazine, composed of...

Building and people item

1840

The Ladies' Pocket Magazine, composed of fiction, fashion, and light reading, ended publication in London.
Bogenschneider, Duane R., editor. The Gerritsen Collection of Women’s History, 1543-1945: A Bibliographic Guide to the Microform Collection. Microfilming Corporation of America, 1983, 3 vols.
30 P116

1912: The Board of Censors began to issue film...

Building and people item

1912

The Board of Censors began to issue film ratings of 'U' for universal, meaning acceptable for all ages, and 'A', meaning suitable for adults only.
Bishop, James. The Illustrated London News Social History of the First World War. Angus and Robertson, 1982.
120

Before 22 April 1739: Anne Dodd, for almost thirty years the best-known...

Writer or writing item

Before 22 April 1739

Anne Dodd , for almost thirty years the best-known of all the Londonmercuries or trade publishers, died, leaving the business to her daughters.
Bracken, James K., and Joel Silver, editors. Dictionary of Literary Biography 154. Gale Research, 1995.
154: 103-5

From 1830: Inexpensive portable microscopes became widely...

Building and people item

From 1830

Inexpensive portable microscopes became widely available.
Merrill, Lynn L. The Romance of Victorian Natural History. Oxford University Press, 1989.
33

: At Yetminster in Dorset during a smallpox...

Building and people item

Summer 1774

At Yetminster in Dorset during a smallpox epidemic, a farmer named Benjamin Jesty transferred cowpox matter from cattle into scratches in the arms of his wife and two small sons.
Wallace, E. Marjorie, and Joan Begbie. The First Vaccinator. Benjamin Jesty of Yetminster and Worth Matravers and his Family. Anglebury-Bartlett, 1981.
6-7, 9-11

1744: A new Vagrancy Act targeted chiefly prostitutes;...

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1744

A new Vagrancy Act targeted chiefly prostitutes; justices of the peace were empowered to carry out quarterly searches.
Henderson, Tony. Disorderly Women. Longman, 1999.
90, 92

December 1807: A French army occupied Lisbon; Napoleon had...

National or international item

December 1807

A French army occupied Lisbon; Napoleon had ordered the invasion of Portugal because it was defying the Berlin Decrees which prohibited trade with Britain.
Collier, Simon. “Old Iron-Arse”. London Review of Books, 9 Aug. 2001, pp. 30-1.
31

October 1833: The Grand National Consolidated Trades Union...

National or international item

October 1833

The Grand National Consolidated Trades Union (GNCTU) was founded (though some scholars give 1834, its most active year, as that of its founding).
Mitchell, Sally, editor. Victorian Britain: An Encyclopedia. Garland Press, 1988.
765

1821: John Power published Essays on the Female...

Building and people item

1821

John Power published Essays on the Female Economy.
Moscucci, Ornella. The Science of Woman: Gynaecology and Gender in England, 1800-1929. Cambridge University Press, 1990.
24-5

1661: Parliament passed the Corporation Act, the...

Building and people item

1661

Parliament passed the Corporation Act, the first of four Acts making up the Clarendon Code (named after Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon ), which strictly limited the rights and practices of Dissenters.
McDowell, Paula. The Women of Grub Street: Press, Politics, and Gender in the London Literary Marketplace, 1678-1730. Clarendon, 1998.
153

12 March 1903: London's New Theatre (re-named in 1973 the...

Building and people item

12 March 1903

London's New Theatre (re-named in 1973 the Albery and from June 2006 renamed again the Noel Coward Theatre), built by architect W. G. R. Sprague back to back to Wyndham's Theatre , first opened its doors.
“The Albery Theatre (June 2006 renamed The Noel Coward Theatre)”. thisistheatre.com.

24 May 1918: In Canada an Act to confer the Electoral...

National or international item

24 May 1918

In Canada an Act to confer the Electoral Franchise upon Women was passed, granting Canadian women over the age of twenty-one the right to vote in federal elections.
“Women’s Right to Vote in Canada”. Paarliament of Canada: A to Z Index: Women, 1 Feb. 1999.

28 July 1916: England banned the importing of cocaine and...

National or international item

28 July 1916

England banned the importing of cocaine and opium.
Seymour, David, and Emily Seymour, editors. A Century of News. Contender Books, 2003.

6 November 1719: A nineteen-year-old journeyman, John Matthews,...

Building and people item

6 November 1719

A nineteen-year-old journeyman, John Matthews , was hanged for his part in printing the Jacobite tract Vox Populi, Vox Dei—the only such punishment under the Treason Act, 1707 (Royal Assent 1708).
McDowell, Paula. The Women of Grub Street: Press, Politics, and Gender in the London Literary Marketplace, 1678-1730. Clarendon, 1998.
74ff

7 December 1789: Hester Lynch Piozzi heard the African John...

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7 December 1789

Hester Lynch Piozzi heard the African John Frederick Bridgetower speaking in public at Bath, to great applause, and wrote how Dr. Johnson would have adored that Man!
Piozzi, Hester Lynch. The Piozzi Letters. Editors Bloom, Edward A. and Lillian D. Bloom, University of Delaware Press; Associated University Presses, 1989–2002, 6 vols.
1: 330-1 and nn2-4

After March 1866: On the death of prominent Victorian psychiatrist...

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After March 1866

On the death of prominent Victorian psychiatrist John Conolly , his son-in-law and leading Darwinist psychiatrist Henry Maudsley wrote a scathing official memoir.
Showalter, Elaine. The Female Malady: Women, Madness, and English Culture, 1830-1980. Pantheon Books, 1985.
116-17
Showalter, Elaine. The Female Malady: Women, Madness, and English Culture, 1830-1980. Pantheon Books, 1985.
116

1841: Richard Owen coined the term dinosaur....

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1841

Richard Owen coined the term dinosaur.
Dean, Dennis R. “Through Science to Despair: Geology and the Victorians”. Victorian Science and Victorian Values: Literary Perspectives, edited by James Paradis and Thomas Postlewait, New York Academy of Sciences, 1981, pp. 111-36.
119

1965: Two women in Brisbane, Australia, chained...

Building and people item

1965

Two women in Brisbane, Australia, chained themselves to a public bar to protest against the Australian ban on women in hotel front bars.
Wallace, Christine. Germaine Greer: Untamed Shrew. Richard Cohen Books, 1999.
156

1849: The British Female Emigrant Society was founded...

Building and people item

1849

The British Female Emigrant Society was founded to aid displaced women.
Walkowitz, Judith R. ’We Are Not Beasts of the Field’: Prostitution and the Campaign Against the Contagious Diseases Acts, 1869-1886. University of Rochester, 1974.
106

Anna Eliza Bray

AEB first reached print with a collection of letters, the first of two which appeared over the course of her career. During fifty-four years, she published twelve novels, and twelve historical and biographical works. She...
Anna Eliza Bray Black-and-white portrait of Anna Eliza Bray in her youth, 1883.

1925: Wishart and Company was founded by Ernest...

Writer or writing item

1925

Wishart and Company was founded by Ernest Edward Wishart and Douglas Garman at 19 Buckingham Street, London.
Rose, Jonathan, and Patricia J. Anderson, editors. Dictionary of Literary Biography 112. Gale Research, 1991.
343

1880s: Artists, musicians, and writers were welcomed...

Building and people item

1880s

Artists, musicians, and writers were welcomed into fashionable circles as never before.
Adburgham, Alison. A Punch History of Manners and Modes 1841-1940. Hutchinson, 1961.
128-30