Tea Party Diva

1807 - The advent of the Steam Ship signals the end of the Tea Clippers

1830 - The first commercial railway in Britain

1837 - Victoria becomes Queen at the age of 18, after the death of her uncle, William IV

1837 - Invention of Lawn Tennis & early Tennis games at Wimbledon

1840’s - Anna, Duchess of Bedford is credited with first Afternoon Tea

1840 - The first postage stamps come into use

1840 - Queen Victoria and Prince Albert marry

1840 - Expansion of the railway network across Britain

1842 - Under the Mines Act, children under 10 are no longer allowed to work in the mines

1843 - Charles Dickens publishes A Christmas Carol

1844 - Under the Factory Act, children between 8 and 13 are not allowed to work more than 6.5 hours per day

1845 - Start of mass migration to Britain, the United States, Canada and Australia as a result of the Irish Potato Famine

1851 - Isaac Singer invents the sewing machine

1851 - The first free public library opens in Winchester

1861 - Prince Albert dies from Typhoid

1873 - The typewriter is invented

1876 - Alexander Graham Bell invents the telephone

1877 - Thomas Edison, recites Mary Had a Little Lamb for the world’s first recording. (The origin of Mary Had a Little Lamb was based on a real life Mary and lamb. It is said to have been written by Sara Josepha Hale, who later became Editor of the famous Godey’s Book for Ladies.)

1877 -Early Wimbledon Tennis Matches are attended by a few hundred spectators

1878 - Electric street lighting in London replaces gas lamps

1880 - Under the Education Act every child between 5 and 10 must attend school

1882 - Invention of the electric iron

1884 - Lewis Waterman invents the fountain pen

1887 - Invention of gramaphone

1901 - Queen Victoria dies. Her son, Edward VII becomes King

1901 - Marconi sends the first wireless telegraph transmission across the Atlantic

1903 - The Wright Brothers make the first successful flight

1908 - The Model T Ford car begins production

Times Past