1888 in the United Kingdom

1888 in the United Kingdom:

Other years

1886 | 1887 | 1888 | 1889 | 1890

Individual countries of the United Kingdom

England | Ireland | Scotland | Wales

Sport

1888 English cricket season Football: England

Events from the year 1888 in the United Kingdom.

Incumbents

• Monarch — Victoria
• Prime Minister — Robert Cecil, Marquess of Salisbury (Conservative)

Events

• 26 January — The Lawn Tennis Association is founded.^[1]
• 13 February — The first issue of the Financial Times goes on sale.^[2] (originally launched on 9 January by Horatio Bottomley as the London Financial Guide).
• 23 March — A meeting called by William McGregor to discuss establishment of The Football League is held in London.^[3]
• 24 March- West Bromwich Albion beat Preston North End 2-1 to win the FA cup
• 3 April — London prostitute Emma Elizabeth Smith is brutally attacked by two or three men, dying of her injuries the following day, first of the Whitechapel murders but probably not a victim of Jack the Ripper.
• 8 May — Royal opening of the International Exhibition of Science, Art and Industry in Kelvingrove Park, Glasgow (continues to November).^[4]
• 28 May — Celtic Football Club of Glasgow play their first official match, beating Rangers 5–2.
• June — Annie Besant organises the London matchgirls' strike.
• 7 August — Whitechapel murders: The body of London prostitute Martha Tabram is found, a possible victim of Jack the Ripper.^[5]
• 9 August — Oaths Act permits the oath of allegiance taken to the Sovereign by Members of Parliament to be affirmed rather than sworn to God, thus confirming the ability of atheists to sit in the House of Commons.
• 13 August — The Local Government Act, effective from 1889, establishes county councils and county borough councils in England and Wales, redraws some county boundaries, and gives women the vote in local elections.^[2]
• 31 August — Whitechapel murders: The mutilated body of London prostitute Mary Ann Nichols is found, perhaps the first victim of Jack the Ripper.
• 6 September — Charles Turner becomes the first bowler in cricket to take 250 wickets in an English season, a feat since accomplished only by Tom Richardson (twice), J.T. Hearne, Wilfred Rhodes (twice) and Tich Freeman (six times).
• 8 September
  • Whitechapel murders: The mutilated body of London prostitute Annie Chapman is found. She is considered to be the second victim of Jack the Ripper.
  • In England, the first six Football League matches are played.^[5] The 12 members of the new league are Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers, Preston North End, West Bromwich Albion, Everton, Burnley, Accrington, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Notts County, Derby County and Stoke City, all from the north of England or the midlands.^[6] The first goal in the League is scored by Kenny Davenport of Bolton Wanderers.^[7]
• 27 September — Whitechapel murders: The 'Dear Boss letter' signed "Jack the Ripper", the first time the name is used, is received by London's Central News Agency.^[5]
• 30 September — Whitechapel murders: The bodies of London prostitutes Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Eddowes, the latter mutilated, are found. They are generally considered Jack the Ripper's third and fourth victim respectively.
• 2 October — The Whitehall Mystery: Dismembered remains of a woman's body are discovered at three central London locations, one being the construction site of New Scotland Yard.
• 14 October — The first recorded film, Roundhay Garden Scene, is made in Roundhay in Leeds. The film is two seconds and 18 frames in length.
• 8 November — Joseph Assheton Fincher files a patent for the parlour game which he calls "Tiddledy-Winks".^[8]
• 9 November — Whitechapel murders: The mutilated body of London prostitute Mary Jane Kelly is found. She is considered to be the fifth, and last, of Jack the Ripper's victims. A number of similar murders in England follows, but the police attribute them to copy-cat killers.
• 7 December — John Boyd Dunlop patents the pneumatic bicycle tyre.^[5]
• 17 December — The Lyric Theatre (London) opens.^[5]

Undated

• Edward King, Anglican bishop of Lincoln, is prosecuted for using ritualistic practices; the special ecclesiastical court finds largely in his favour.^[9]
• Order of Saint John chartered.
• Completion of first stage of Royal Museum in Edinburgh.
• University College of North Wales, Bangor, opens its agriculture department — the first in a British university.
• Camborne School of Mines founded in Cornwall.
• W.D. & H.O. Wills launch the Woodbine brand of cigarette.
• The board game Snakes and Ladders is introduced from India to the U.K. by Jaques of London.
• Sarawak and Borneo become British protectorates.
• First British rugby union tour of Australia and New Zealand, an unofficial predecessor of the British Lions.
• First International Forestry Exhibition opens in Edinburgh.^[10]

Publications

• Thomas Hardy's short story collection Wessex Tales.
• W. E. Henley's A Book of Verses, containing the first publication of the poem Invictus.^[11]
• Henry James' novella The Aspern Papers.
• Rudyard Kipling's short story collection Plain Tales from the Hills (in Calcutta).
• Mrs Humphrey Ward's 'novel of doubt' Robert Elsmere.
• Oscar Wilde's collection of children's fairy stories The Happy Prince and Other Tales.

Births

• 18 January — Thomas Sopwith, aviation pioneer and yachtsman (died 1989)
• 8 February — Edith Evans, actress (died 1976)
• 1 March — Ewart Astill, cricketer (Leicestershire) (died 1948)
• 17 May — Tich Freeman, cricketer (died 1965)
• 25 May — Miles Malleson, actor (died 1969)
• 9 July — Simon Marks, businessman (died 1964)
• 14 August — John Logie Baird, inventor (died 1946)
• 16 August — T. E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia") liaison officer during the Arab Revolt, writer, and academic (died 1935)
• 6 December — Will Hay, actor and comedian (died 1949)
• 7 December — Joyce Cary, author (died 1957)
• 18 December — Gladys Cooper, actress (died 1971)
• 22 December — J. Arthur Rank, film magnate (died 1972)
• 25 December — Michael Sadleir, novelist (died 1957)

Deaths

• 29 January — Edward Lear, artist and writer (born 1812)
• 3 February — Henry Maine, jurist (born 1822)
• 15 April — Matthew Arnold, poet (born 1822)
• 23 August — Philip Henry Gosse, scientist (born 1810)

References

1. "LTA". Sports KnowHow. Archived from the original on 23 December 2010. Retrieved 2011-01-27.
2. Palmer, Alan; Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History. London: Century Ltd. pp. 314–315. ISBN 0-7126-5616-2.
3. Davies, Hunter (2003). Boots, Balls and Haircuts: An Illustrated History of Football from Then to Now. London: Cassell Illustrated. pp. 39–41. ISBN 1-84403-261-2.
4. Kinghorn, Jonathon; Glasgow Museums and Art Galleries (1988). Glasgow's International Exhibition, 1888. Glasgow Museums & Art Galleries. ISBN 978-0-902752-36-8.
5. Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 2006. ISBN 0-14-102715-0.
6. "History of the Football League". The Football League. 22 September 2010. Retrieved 2012-10-12.
7. Winter, Henry (2013-07-29). "Bolton and England inside forward Kenyon Davenport finally credited with scoring Football League's first goal". The Daily Telegraph (London). Retrieved 2013-08-02.
8. UK Patent # 16,215
9. Newton, John A. (2004). "King, Edward (1829–1910)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/34319. Retrieved 2012-10-12. (subscription or UK public library membership required)
10. Pelle, Kimberley D. "Appendix D:Fairs Not Included". In Findling, John E. Encyclopedia of World's Fairs and Expositions. McFarland & Company, Inc. pp. 424–427. ISBN 978-0-7864-3416-9.
11. Adams, James Eli (2009). A history of Victorian literature. John Wiley and Sons. ISBN 0-631-22082-8. Retrieved 28 October 2010.

See also