Timeline- What was happening at Important Dates in Family History Records
Tracing family history is a fascinating way of brining history to life. It is very illuminating to see just how recently our forebears lived very different, and usually much harder lives than we do.
Looking at a history timeline puts into context the way the world was looking to the people who lived before us.
1801 |
First census was taken and has been taken every 10 years since (except 1941). The early censuses, 1801-1831 are of little value to the genealogist as they do not contain names and other personal details but are merely a recording of the number of persons living and working in particular areas. |
The Napoleonic Wars had started two years earlier in 1799. A census in London showed there were 860,035 residents and the first census was held in France. |
1837 |
On 1 July 1837 a civil registration system for births, marriages and deaths was introduced in England and Wales. Registration was undertaken by civil registrars who reported to the Registrar General at the General Register Office (GRO) in London, now part of the Office for National Statistics (ONS). |
Queen Victoria ascends to the throne of England |
1841 |
The first census in England was compiled that contained names, this is the first census to be useful for genealogical purposes. |
Dvorak the composer and Renoir the impressionist painter were born. |
1851 |
Census in England |
First reported sitings by white men of the Yosemite Valley, the first America's Cup is won by America and the Great Exhibition is held in London. |
1861 |
Census in England |
American Civil War begins, serfs emancipated in Imperial Russia, In Britain the death penalty is limited to murder, embezzlement, piracy and to acts of arson perpetrated upon docks or ammunition depots. |
1871 |
Census in England |
Henry Morton Stanley locates missing explorer and missionary, Dr. David Livingstone in Ujiji, near Lake Tanganyika, and greets him saying "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?", Trades Union legalised in Britain. In 1867, Disreali's Reform Act had enlarged the franchise of men in Britain. |
1881 |
Census in England |
Billy the Kid escapes from a New Mexico jail, London Evening News begins publication. Sitting Bull of the Sioux surrenders. |
1891 |
Census in England |
Marie Curie entered the Sorbonne in Paris, Factory Act prohibited women working in factories within four weeks of confinement and raised the legal age at which children could work from 10 to 11. Basketball invented by James Naismith |
1901 |
Queen Victoria dies at Osborne on the Isle of Wight, the Boer War ends. |