1808 in the United Kingdom

Events from the year 1808 in the United Kingdom.

Incumbents

*Monarch - George III of the United Kingdom
*Prime Minister - William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland, Tory

Events

* 1 January - Sierra Leone becomes a British Crown Colony.cite book |last=Palmer |first=Alan & Veronica |year=1992 |title= The Chronology of British History|publisher= Century Ltd|location=London|pages= 242-243|isbn= 0-7126-5616-2]
* 20 July - Henry Crabb Robinson makes the first despatch from a specialist war reporter, to "The Times" newspaper.
* 1 August - Peninsular War: British expeditionary force lands near Oporto.
* 21 August - Peninsular War: British-Portuguese victory over the French at the Battle of Vimeiro.cite book|title=Penguin Pocket On This Day|publisher=Penguin Reference Library|isbn=0-141-02715-0|year=2006]
* 20 December - the original Covent Garden Theatre in London was destroyed by a fire along with most of the scenery, costumes and scripts.

Undated

* West Africa Squadron established to suppress the slave trade along the coast of West Africa. [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/timeline/empireseapower_timeline_noflash.shtml British History Timeline, BBC History] ]
* Barium, calcium, magnesium and strontium isolated by Sir Humphry Davy.
* John Dalton publishes "New System of Chemical Philosophy", explaining his atomic theory of chemistry.

Births

* 20 March - Charles Henry Cooper, antiquarian (died 1866)
* 27 April - William Cavendish, 7th Duke of Devonshire, politician (died 1891)
* 2 May - Emma Darwin, wife of Charles Darwin (died 1896)
* 12 May - Edwin Abbott, educator (died 1882)
* 12 June - George Wilshere, 1st Baron Bramwell, judge (died 1892)
* 11 June - James Ballantine, artist and author (died 1877)
* 19 June - Montagu Bertie, 6th Earl of Abingdon, politician (died 1884)
* 1 July - Henry Doubleday, entomologist and ornithologist (died 1875)
* 15 July - Henry Cole, civil servant (died 1882)
* 30 July - Frederick Nicholls Crouch, composer and cellist (died 1896)
* 19 August - James Nasmyth, engineer (died 1890)
* 24 August - William Lindsay Alexander, church leader (died 1884)
* 5 September - Arthur William Buller, Member of Parliament (died 1869)
* 15 September - John Hutton Balfour, botanist (died 1884)
* 6 November - Thomas Legh Claughton, academic, poet and clergyman (died 1892)
* 22 November - Thomas Cook, travel entrepreneur (died 1892)

Unknown dates

* Caroline Chisholm, humanitarian (died 1877)
* Henry Fothergill Chorley, critic (died 1872)
* William Cureton, Orientalist (died 1864)

Deaths

* 28 May - Richard Hurd, bishop and writer (born 1720)
* 5 September - John Home, writer (born 1722)
* 10 November - Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester, soldier and governor of Quebec (born 1724)
* Theophilus Lindsey, theologian (born 1723)

References

ee also