| Year |
Month |
Event |
| 1800 |
August |
Act of Union with Ireland passed |
| 1801 |
January |
Act of Union comes into force |
| |
February |
William Pitt resigns office as Prime Minister: one of the reasons being the King’s refusal to grant Catholic Emancipation |
| 1811 |
March |
First outbreak of Luddite violence in Nottinghamshire |
| 1812 |
March |
Seven men convicted of frame-breaking at the Nottinghamshire Assizes |
| |
June |
Lord Liverpool’s government formed on the basis of ‘neutrality’ on the Catholic question |
| 1816 |
June |
Frames broken at Loughborough; James Towle and others convicted in August 1816 and April 1817 |
| 1821 |
|
Catholic Relief Bill passes the House of Commons and defeated in the House of Lords |
| 1822 |
May |
4th Duke begins his diaries following the death of his eldest child, Lady Anna Maria |
| |
September |
Death of 4th Duke’s wife, Georgiana, following a difficult childbirth |
| 1823 |
May |
Formation of the Catholic Association to campaign for Catholic Emancipation |
| 1824 |
November |
4th Duke asked to revive his family’s traditional political interest in Retford |
| 1825 |
|
Catholic Relief Bill passes the House of Commons and defeated in the House of Lords |
| |
|
Act to suppress political associations in Ireland (for three years): the Catholic Association manages to by-pass it |
| 1826 |
June |
Some pro-‘Catholic’ gains in Ireland at the General Election. |
| |
|
The Retford contest at the General Election is accompanied by violence and accusations of bribery. A parliamentary investigation follows |
| 1827 |
April |
4th Duke displays open hostility towards Canning Ministry (April-August) |
| 1828 |
January |
Duke of Wellington becomes Prime Minister |
| |
May |
Canningites resign from Wellington Ministry following debates on the Retford constituency |
| |
July |
Daniel O’Connell elected M.P. for County Clare |
| |
August |
Formation of Protestant Brunswick Clubs to campaign against Emancipation |
| |
Summer |
4th Duke bolsters anti-Catholic sentiment through provincial ‘Brunswick Clubs’ |
| |
October |
Mass meeting of ‘Protestants’ and ‘Catholics’ at Penenden Heath |
| 1829 |
February |
After securing the King’s support, Wellington and Peel propose Catholic Emancipation: Peel is defeated by Inglis in the Oxford University by-election (March) |
| |
February-March |
4th Duke opposes Catholic Emancipation to vehement opposition.
His cousin, W.H. Clinton resigns as M.P. and M.T. Sadler is elected in his place |
| |
April |
Catholic Relief Act; Suppression of Irish political societies; Disfranchisement of Irish 40 shilling freeholders |
| |
September |
4th Duke decides to evict tenants who failed to vote for Sadler at Newark.
There is local and national outcry against his electoral influence, particularly as lessee of Crown Lands at Newark |
| 1830 |
March |
Failed parliamentary motion to deprive 4th Duke of his Crown Lands |
| |
July-August |
General Election with Wellington returned as Prime Minister |
| |
November |
Wellington resigns and a Whig Ministry is installed under Earl Grey |
| 1831 |
March |
Parliamentary Reform Bill is introduced, with 4th Duke’s seats in Yorkshire scheduled for extinction |
| |
April-May |
Reform Bill is defeated in the House of Commons and a General Election follows.
Heavy electoral losses for opponents of reform mean any future bill is likely to have a majority in the Commons and will need to be resisted in the Lords |
| |
October |
Reform Bill is defeated in the House of Lords and the property of prominent anti-reformers (particularly peers) is attacked in protest.
4th Duke sees Nottingham Castle attacked and burned |
| |
December |
4th Duke is excluded from the list of Special Commissioners appointed to investigate the Reform Bill riots at Nottingham |
| 1832 |
June |
The Reform Bill is finally passed |
| |
|
Irish Reform Act |
| |
December |
4th Duke’s political interest at Newark is revived at the General Election and W.E. Gladstone is returned as M.P.
The 4th Duke’s son, the Earl of Lincoln, is elected as M.P. for the Southern Division of Nottinghamshire |
| 1833 |
|
Irish Coercion Act; Irish Church Temporalities Act (reforming the Church of Ireland) |
| 1834-8 |
|
Parliamentary battles between Conservatives and Whigs over the ‘Appropriation’ of the Church of Ireland’s revenues |
| 1834 |
December |
The Whig Ministry is dismissed by William IV and Sir Robert Peel is installed as Prime Minister. Gladstone and Lord Lincoln are appointed to junior office |
| 1835 |
May |
Peel resigns as Prime Minister and the Whigs return to power under Lord Melbourne |
| |
August |
4th Duke opposes Municipal Corporations Act, designed to re-model the nature of English local government |
| 1837 |
July |
At the General Election held on the death of William IV the Whigs remain in power, though the Tories gain ground |
| 1838 |
|
Poor Law extended to Ireland |
| 1839 |
Spring |
Chartist activity begins in Britain. 4th Duke is dismissed as Lord Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire |
| 1840 |
|
Loyal National Repeal Association formed (under O’Connell) to campaign for the Repeal of the Act of Union |
| |
August |
Irish Corporations Act |
| 1841 |
June |
At the General Election a Tory Ministry is returned under Sir Robert Peel. Both the Earl of Lincoln and Gladstone gain Cabinet posts |
| 1842 |
Summer |
Second period of Chartist activity. Peel's Ministry revives Income Tax and revises the Corn Law |
| 1843-5 |
|
Lord Devon’s Commission on Irish Land |
| 1844 |
|
‘Young Ireland’ founded as an alternative to O’Connell’s peaceful campaign for Repeal of the Act of Union |
| |
|
Charitable Bequests (Ireland) Act |
| 1845 |
|
Maynooth Grant increased; Academic Colleges (Ireland) Bill |
| |
January |
Gladstone resigns from Cabinet over his opposition to the Maynooth Grant. 4th Duke also opposes the grant |
| |
December |
First reports of Irish Potato Famine bring Cabinet crisis.
Peel repeals the Corn Laws.
Gladstone and Lincoln accept new Cabinet posts necessitating their re-election.
4th Duke opposes repeal of Corn Laws and supports the ‘Protectionists’ within the Tory Party, who are opposed to the ‘Peelites’ |
| 1846 |
January |
Gladstone retires from Newark following the 4th Duke’s opposition to his political stance |
| |
February |
The Earl of Lincoln stands for election in South Nottinghamshire.
His father, the 4th Duke, publicly condemns him and issues a letter calling on voters to reject him.
Lincoln is defeated.
Considers standing for North Nottinghamshire division, but is ultimately returned for the Falkirk Burghs, a constituency influenced by his father-in-law, the Duke of Hamilton |
| |
June |
Peel resigns after the Irish Coercion Bill is defeated.
The ‘Protectionist’ arm of the Tory Party, under Lord Stanley in the House of Lords and Lord George Bentinck in the Commons, form the opposition to Lord John Russell’s new Whig Ministry |
| 1847 |
May |
Death of Daniel O’Connell |
| |
July |
The Tory vote at the General Election remains split between the Peelites and Protectionists |
| |
|
The Chartist leader Feargus O'Connor elected as M.P. for Nottingham |
| 1848 |
April |
Third period of Chartist activity. Rally at Kennington Common in London in support of the Chartist petition |
| |
July |
Abortive Irish uprising by ‘Young Ireland’, fifty years after the Irish Rebellion of 1798 |
| 1850 |
May |
4th Duke makes his last entry in his diary |
| 1851 |
January |
4th Duke of Newcastle under Lyne dies |