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glossary document index

A complete list of all the supporting documents for the time periods between 1215 and 1945.

1848 - 1914

Continued reform

Timeline of some of the major events and milestones during the years 1848 to 1914. Read the background section to put these into context.

1866-67
Reform riots at Hyde Park and Trafalgar Square were followed by the second Reform Act (1867) which gave the vote to male urban artisans.
1866-67
John Stuart Mill unsuccessfully proposes an amendment to secure women's suffrage.
1867
Formation of the Manchester National Society for Women's Suffrage.
1868
First meeting of the Trades Union Congress (TUC)
1869
Women ratepayers are allowed to vote in local municipal elections.
1872
The Ballot Act introduces secret ballots at elections.
1880
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) adopts the principal of equal pay for women.
1881-96
The Highland Land War.
1882
The Married Women's Property Act gives wives control over their earned income.
1884
The third Reform Act gives the vote to rural working men.
1886-96
The 'Welsh Tithe War'.
1888-89
The match-girls strike precipitated further strikes by unskilled workers (gas workers, dockers, and so on).
1893
Formation of the Independent Labour Party.
1897
The National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies under Millicent Fawcett becomes the primary national grouping to demand votes for women.
1900
Formation of the Labour Representation Committee (forerunner of the Labour Party).
1900-01
The Taff Vale railway strike and prosecution of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants.
1903
The Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) is formed by Emmeline and Cristabel Pankhurst to secure votes for women.
1903
Between 1905-10 the WSPU engages in a militant campaign for the vote. Sylvia Pankhurst later leaves to found the East London Women's Federation.
1906
Formation of the Labour Party.
1909
Old Age Pensions Act comes into force.
1910
Demonstration by the Women's Social and Political Union in November 1910 is widely reported.
1910-14
'The Great Unrest': series of strikes across the country in key industries such as the docks, railways and coal mines.
1911
Parliament Act means the House of Lords loses the right of veto over bills passed by the Commons.
1914
Outbreak of World War One.