Industrial Revolution

Before 1750

Agricultural changes

1709

Abraham Darby develops coke

1712

Thomas Newcomen invented atmospheric steam engine

1720

Outburst of speculation that damaged economy.

1733

John Kay made the flying shuttle

1739

War with Spain from trading interests

1750

1770: Acts creating turnpike trusts to maintain roads

1756

1763: Seven years war

1759

1774: Acts of parliament passed to allow canals to be built in mainlands and north

1761

Duke of Bridgewater built a canal from coalmines to center of Manchester

1765

James Hargreaves made the spinning jenny

1769

James Watt patented the new steam engine

1769

First modern factory built by Richard Arkwright

1770

1835: 1200 factories and 1300 woolen factories were built in Britain

1771

Richard Arkwright patented his water frame

1775

1783: American war of independence

1779

Samuel Crompton invented the spinning mule

1779

1830: The price of a yard of finished cotton dropped 93%

1783

Peace treaty with united states to ensure free trade

1783

84 Henry Cort came up with puddling and rolling iron

1786

Prime minister William Pitt (the son of original William Pitt) established a commercial treaty with France

1792

Britain had about 1.5 millions ton of merchant shipping (increased from 600,000 in 1760)

1800

1850: Urban growth by 25% each decade

1802 and 1819

Child labor/factory act

1804

Richard Trevithick created first railway steam locomotive

1811

1812: Luddite Riots

1815

War with France ended

1815

Peace treaty ensuring commercial interests with Africa

1815

Corn laws

1819

Peterloo

1824

Combination laws/repeal of them

1825

A railway line opened between Stockton and Darlington

1829

George and Robert Stephenson's rocket to haul large amounts of coal

1829

Bad harvest leading to rising prices

1830

Richard Oastler's letter about regulations for children gaining national attention

1830

King George Ill dies, more liberal government brought in by election

1830

1831: Captain Swing Riots

1831

National Union of the Working Classes set up in London

1832

Demand for radical change on who can vote

1832

Nastler lost his seat in parliament, but Lord Ashley took on his mission

1832

A royal commission made under Edwin Chadwick's leadership

1832

The Great Reform Act

1833 Factory act

1834

New poor law of 1834

1835

Municipal corporations act

1830s

1848: Chartist movement

1838

People's Charter met in London

1838

The great western was the first steamship to complete a transatlantic journey

1839

The Newport Rising

1842

Edwin Chadwick's royal commission report

1842 Mines Act

1844 and 1847 Factory Acts

1844

Act of parliament requiring every railway company to run at least one service a day

1848

First public health act of 1848

1848

Demonstration to put pressure on the charter was banned

1850s

Rise in employment and real wages

1852

More than 6000 km of railway by this year