Romantic poets, selected poems: context links Contents
Romantic poets, selected poems: context links Timeline
| Year | Historical | Literary | Author |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1771 | Smollett's The Expedition of Humphrey Clinker | ||
| 1775 | James Watt develops the steam engine | ||
| 1776 | American War for Independence begins (to 1784) | Smith's The Wealth of Nations | |
| 1778 | Founding of Royal Academy | ||
| 1779 | Anglo-Spanish War | ||
| 1780 | Gordon Riots, June 2-10, 300 people killed | ||
| 1783 |
American Revolution ends Anglo-Spanish war ends Evangelical revival begins |
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| 1784 |
Wesleyan charter published First mechanical threshing machine in use |
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| 1785 | First steam engine installed | ||
| 1787 | Formation of a Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade | ||
| 1788 | The Times founded | ||
| 1789 |
French Revolution and fall of the Bastille First steam-driven cotton factory opens in Manchester |
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| 1790 | First steam-driven rolling mill opens | Edmund Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France | |
| 1791 | Darwin's The Botanic Garden | Paine's Rights of Man, part 1 | |
| 1792 | Abolition of French monarchy and Republic declared; Louis XVI of France is put on trial |
Paine's Rights of Man, part 2 Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Woman |
Birth of Percy Bysshe Shelley |
| 1793 |
Britain and France at war Louis XVI and his queen, Marie-Antoinette are executed. Reign of Terror begins. |
Godwin's Political Justice | |
| 1794 | Execution of Danton and Robespierre in France | Godwin's Caleb Williams | |
| 1795 |
Food riots Rise of Napoleon Thomas Carlyle born |
More's Cheap Repository Tracts Adam Smith writes Essays on Philosophical Subjects |
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| 1796 |
Failure of French attempt to invade Ireland. Peace negotiations with France break down. Napoleon Bonaparte marries Josephine and invades Italy Peace negotiations with France break down |
Wollstonecraft's Letters Written During a Short Residence in Sweden, Denmark and Norway M.G. Lewis writes The Monk |
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| 1797 |
Failure of French attempt to invade through Wales. Mutinies in navy Naval mutinies at Spithead and Nore Birth of Schubert |
Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin born in London; her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, dies ten days later | |
| 1798 |
French forces land in Ireland. Government extends control of newspapers. Nelson defeats French in Egypt at Battle of the Nile Battle of the Nile; Nelson destroys French fleet |
Wordsworth and Coleridge's Lyrical Ballads Wollstonecraft's The Wrongs of Woman published Malthus: An Essay on the Principle of Population |
Mary Shelley's father, William Godwin, marries Mary Clairmont |
| 1799 |
Combination Act bans some political societies Introduction of income tax Britain at war with France |
Godwin's St Leon | |
| 1800 |
Act of Union of Ireland with Britain (takes effect 1801) Food riots in many places in Britain Volta generates electricity |
Maria Edgeworth: Castle Rackrent Walter Scott: The Eve of St John |
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| 1801 |
High food prices and economic and social unrest First Factory Act First cencus of England and Wales Thomas Jefferson elected President of the USA Union of Great Britain and Ireland |
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| 1802 |
Peace of Amiens ends war with France Health and Morals of Apprentices Act passes Parliament |
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| 1803 |
War with France begins again Richard Trevithick builds first working railway steam engine |
Godwin's Life of Chaucer | |
| 1804 |
Napoleon preparing invasion of England Napoleon crowned Emperor War with Spain |
Ann and Jane Taylor's Original Poems for Infant Minds | |
| 1805 |
Nelson's victory at Trafalgar Battle of Austerlitz |
Walter Scott: The Lay of the Last Minstrel Robert Southey: Poems |
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| 1806 |
Napoleon defeats Prussians and establishes trade blockade of Britain End of the Holy Roman Empire |
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| 1807 |
Slave trade abolished in all British possessions |
Charles and Mary Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare Bowdler: The Family Shakespeare Hazlitt: Essays Leigh Hunt: Essays |
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| 1808 |
Start of Peninsular War Beethoven: Fifth and Sixth Symphonies |
Cowper: Poems |
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| 1809 |
Proposals for Parliamentary reform are defeated in the House of Commons Quarterly Review founded First use of gas-lighting in central London Battle of Corunna Arthur Wellesley defeats the French at Talavera and is created Duke of Wellington Tennyson is born |
Birth of Alfred, Lord Tennyson, poet | |
| 1810 |
George III suffering from mental illness Napoleon annexes the Netherlands Chopin and Schumann are born |
Coleridge lectures on Shakespeare | |
| 1811 |
Luddite machine-breakers active in the Midland counties of England. Prince of Wales becomes Regent following the insanity of his father George III Luddites begin destroying factory machinery Shelley is expelled from Oxford |
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| 1812 |
War with America begins (until 1814) Further Luddite unrest Prime Minister Spencer Percival assassinated Napoleon begins invasion of Russia Wellington defeats French at Salamanca Battle of Borodino Napoleon enters Moscow but begins a retreat one month later |
Birth of Robert Browning, poet The Brothers Grimm publish their Tales Shelley publishes Declaration of Rights |
Visits Dundee and meets Percy Bysshe Shelley |
| 1813 |
Toleration Act for Unitarians Leigh Hunt imprisoned for libelling Prince Regent Wellington enters France Napoleon defeated at Battle of Leipzig Prussian army begins invasion of France |
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| 1814 |
Robert Stephenson builds steam locomotive Napoleon abdicates and is banished to Elba End of war with America Congress of Vienna Allies enter Paris British burn Washington in USA |
Scott's Waverley | Mary Shelley elopes with Percy Bysshe Shelley. Travels to Continent with Percy Bysshe Shelley and her stepsister Claire Clairmont. Returns to England in the autumn |
| 1815 |
Napoleon returns from Elba and is defeated at Waterloo Corn Law passed Leigh Hunt released from prison on Feb. 3 Napoleon returns to France and enters Paris Napoleon finally defeated by Wellington at the battle of Waterloo Napoleon banished to St Helena John Nash begins the Brighton Pavilion |
Scott's Guy Mannering | Mary Shelley gives birth to a daughter who dies within two weeks |
| 1816 |
Riots in East Anglia and the manufacturing districts of the north of England Economic depression William Cobbett's Political Register Shelley marries Mary Godwin |
Scott's The Antiquary |
Gives birth to son, William. Travels with Percy Bysshe Shelley and Claire to Continent; they stay at the Villa Deodati with Lord Byron and Polidori Begins writing Frankenstein Returns to England. Fanny Imlay, Mary's half-sister, and Percy Bysshe Shelley's wife, Harriet, commit suicide. Marries Percy Bysshe Shelley in December |
| 1817 |
Prince Regent's coach attacked: further repressive measures by Government. Further social unrest Manchester 'Blanketeers' march to London |
Scott's Rob Roy Hazlitt's Characters of Shakespeare's Plays Southey's Wat Tyler |
Shelley completes Frankenstein while living in Marlow, Bucks Gives birth to daughter, Clara. History of a Six Week's Tour published Shelley's Laon and Cythna |
| 1818 |
Proposals for Parliamentary reform are twice defeated in the House of Commons Percy and Mary Shelley depart from England for the final time |
Peacock's Nightmare Abbey Scott's Heart of Midlothian |
Shelley's Frankenstein published |
| 1819 |
Peterloo massacres in Manchester and passing of Six Acts placing restrictions on the press and public assemblies Poor Relief Act passed Factory Act passed Queen Victoria born Birth of Albert (later Prince Consort) |
Scott's Ivanhoe; The Bride of Lammermoor Leigh Hunt: Hero and Leander J.H. Reynolds: Benjamin the Waggoner; Peter Bell (both parodies of Wordsworth) |
Shelleys travel to Italy, living in Lucca, Este (where Clara dies), Rome and Naples. Move to Rome, where William dies, and then Livorno (Leghorn). Mary writes Mathilda |
| 1820 |
Death of George III and accession of George IV Royal Astronomical Society founded |
Lamb's Essays of Elia Maturin's Melmoth the Wanderer |
Shelleys move to Florence, where son, Percy Florence, is born. Move to Pisa. Mary writes Prosperine and Midas |
| 1821 |
Another reform bill defeated in Commons Greek War of Independence |
Scott's Kenilworth Quincey's Confessions of an English Opium-Eater |
Shelley's move to Livorno, Bagni di San Giuliano and back to Pisa |
| 1822 |
Colony for freed slaves founded in Liberia |
Thomas de Quincey, Confessions of an English Opium Eater | Shelleys move to Lerici. Mary Shelley suffers a miscarriage. Percy Bysshe Shelley drowns. Mary moves to Genoa |
| 1823 |
Scott's Quentin Durward Hazlitt's Liber Amoris |
Shelley's Valperga and second edition of Frankenstein published. Returns to London | |
| 1824 | Combination Acts repealed, thus giving trade unions right to exist | Scott's Redgauntlet | |
| 1825 | Stockton - Darlington Railway opens | Hazlitt's The Spirit of the Age | |
| 1826 |
Power looms destroyed by unemployed weavers Further attempts at Parliamentary reform defeated |
Shelley's The Last Man published | |
| 1828 |
Test and Corporation Acts repealed Duke of Wellington becomes Prime Minister |
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| 1829 |
Catholic Emancipation Act Robert Peel creates metropolitan police force |
Carlyle's Signs of the Times | |
| 1830 |
Death of George IV and accession of William IV Earl Grey's Whig reforming government 'Captain Swing' rural riots Opening of Manchester - Liverpool Railway July Revolution in France Greek independence from Ottoman Empire secured |
Cobbett's Rural Rides Charles Lyell (Dante Gabriel?s Godfather), Principles of Geology |
Shelley's Perkin Warbeck published |
| 1831 |
Wellington resigns as Prime Minister in opposition to Parliamentary reform National Union of the Working Class founded Michael Faraday discovers electromagnetic induction Cholera outbreak in England |
Mill's The Spirit of the Age | Mary Shelley: Revised third edition of Frankenstein published |
| 1832 |
Parliamentary Reform Act passed Passage of the Great Reform Act Morse invents the telegraph |
Chambers' Edinburgh Journal and Penny Magazine (-1837) begin | |
| 1833 |
First Tracts for the Times published Factory Act limits children's working hours and includes provision for education Abolition of Slavey Act |
Carlyle's Sartor Resartus (-1834) | |
| 1834 |
New Poor Law British Empire abolishes slavery |
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| 1836 | Mary Shelley's father, William Godwin dies | ||
| 1837 |
Death of William IV and accession of Queen Victoria Brunel, Great Western Railway |
Carlyle's The French Revolution Sarah Stickney Ellis, The Women of England: Their Social Duties and Domestic Habits |
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