1820 in the United Kingdom

Events from the year 1820 in the United Kingdom.

Incumbents

*Monarch - George III of the United Kingdom (until 29 January), George IV of the United Kingdom
*Prime Minister - Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool, Tory

Events

* 29 January - George IV of the United Kingdom ascends the Throne, ending the period known as the English Regency.
* 23 February - A plot to murder the Cabinet, the Cato Street conspiracy, is exposed.cite book|title=Penguin Pocket On This Day|publisher=Penguin Reference Library|isbn=0-141-02715-0|year=2006]
* March - General election increases Tory party majority.cite book |last=Palmer |first=Alan & Veronica |year=1992 |title= The Chronology of British History|publisher= Century Ltd|location=London|pages= 250-251|isbn= 0-7126-5616-2]
* April - Radical War in Scotland, and in the West-riding of Yorkshire.
* 1 May - Last hanging drawing and quartering in England of the Cato Street conspirators for treason (only hanged and beheaded) (See Capital punishment in the United Kingdom.)
* 11 May - Launch of HMS Beagle the ship that took the young Charles Darwin on his scientific voyage.
* June - Pains and Penalties Bill put before Parliament to deprive Caroline of Brunswick, George IV's wife, of the title of Queen Consort. The bill was withdrawn after her public trial.

Undated

* Foundation of the Royal Society of Literature by George IV. [ [http://www.rslit.org/about.htm About the RSL] ]

Publications

* John Keats' poetry anthology "Lamia and Other Poems".
* Walter Scott's novels "The Abbot" and "The Monastery".
* Percy Bysshe Shelley's lyrical drama "Prometheus Unbound".
* The 6th Edition of Encyclopædia Britannica.

Births

* 17 January - Anne Brontë, author (died 1849)
* 13 February - James Geiss, businessman (died 1878)
* 28 February - John Tenniel, illustrator (died 1914)
* 30 March - Anna Sewell, writer (died 1878)
* 27 April - Herbert Spencer, philosopher and political theorist (died 1903)
* 4 May - Joseph Whitaker, publisher (died 1895)
* 12 May - Florence Nightingale, nurse (died 1910)
* 23 November - Isaac Todhunter, mathematician (died 1884)
* 10 December - Princess Elizabeth of Clarence (died 1821)

Deaths

* 23 January - Prince Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent and Strathearn (born 1767)
* 29 January - King George III of the United Kingdom (born 1738)
* 1 May - Arthur Thistlewood, conspirator (born 1774)
* 30 May - William Bradley, Britain's tallest ever man (born 1787)
* 19 June - Sir Joseph Banks, naturalist and botanist (born 1743)
* 3 September - Benjamin Latrobe, architect (born 1764)
* William Drennan, poet (born 1754)
* James Keir, geologist, chemist and industrialist (born 1735)

References

ee also