Timeline of Bristol

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Bristol, England.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

Prior to 16th century

• 803 – St James' Priory founded.^[1]
• 1009 – Market active.^[2]
• 1140 – St Augustine's Abbey founded.^[1]
• 1141 – February: Stephen, King of England imprisoned in Bristol Castle after the Battle of Lincoln.
• 1147 – Bristol fair active.^[2]
• c.1220 – Bristol Cathedral construction begins.
• c.1223 – Grey friary founded.^[1]
• c.1228 – Blackfriars Dominican priory established.
• 1290 – Jews expelled.^[3]
• 1292 – Church of St Mary Redcliffe built.^[4]
• 1295 – Parliamentary representation begins.
• 1373
  • Redcliffe becomes part of Bristol.^[5]
  • Bristol becomes a county.^[4]
• c.1478–1479 – Ricart's Maiores Kalendar of Bristol started.^[6]
• 1497 – May: Italian-born adventurer John Cabot sets sail on the ship Matthew (principally owned by Richard Amerike) looking for new lands to the west.^[7]
• 1498 – May: Cabot sets sail on his second voyage to the Americas; he is never heard of again.^[8]

16th-17th centuries

• 1504 – Chapel of the Three Kings of Cologne built.
• 1542 – See of Bristol established.^[5]
• 1552 – Society of Merchant Venturers chartered.
• 1595 – Merchant Venturers' School founded.
• 1643 – July: Bristol taken by forces of prince Rupert.^[4]
• 1644 – Fort at St. Michael's Hill rebuilt.^[9]
• 1645 – September: Bristol taken by forces of Cromwell.^[4]
• 1656 – Bristol Castle demolished.^[10]
• 1691
  • Bristol Corporation of the Poor founded.^[9]
  • Almshouse established at St. Michael's Hill.^[9]

18th century

• 1701 – Merchants' hall built.^[1]
• 1702 – Bristol Post-Boy newspaper begins publication.
• 1710 – Colston's Hospital founded.^[4]
• 1709 – St James's Square laid out.^[11]
• 1712 – Custom House built.^[11]
• 1717 – William Cossley bookseller in business.^[12]
• 1725 – Farley's Bristol News-Paper begins publication.^[13]
• 1727 – Dowry Square laid out.^[11]
• 1729 – Walter Churchman patents his invention for making chocolate.^[14]
• 1737 – Bristol Royal Infirmary opens.
• 1738 – William Champion patents a process to distill zinc from calamine using charcoal in a smelter.
• 1739 – New Room (Methodist chapel) built.
• 1740 – Merchant Tailors' Guild Hall built.
• 1741 – King Square laid out.^[11]
• 1743 – The Exchange built.^[1]
• 1747 – Bristol becomes Britain's busiest slave trading port.^[15]
• 1753 – Economic unrest.^[4]
• c.1759 – Joseph Fry begins chocolate manufacture.
• 1766 – Theatre opens.^[1]
• 1767 – Bristol Gazette newspaper begins publication.^[16]
• 1768 – Bristol Bridge built.^[1]
• 1770 – Bristol porcelain manufacture begins.^[17][18]
• 1773 – Bristol Library Society founded.^[19]
• 1786
  • Infirmary opens.^[1]
  • Wills, Watkins & Co. open a tobacconists’ shop which becomes W.D. & H.O. Wills.
• 1788 – John Wesley gives speech against slavery.^[15]
• c.1790 – Berkeley Square laid out.
• 1791 – Christ Church with St Ewen and Equestrian Theatre^[20] built.
• 1793 – 30 September: Bridge riot.
• 1796 – John Harvey & Sons, makers of Harvey's Bristol Cream, founded.^[21]
• 1799 – Pneumatic Institution established.

19th century

• 1803 – Bristol Dock Company incorporated.^[5]
• 1809 – Docks built.^[4]
• 1810 – Commercial Rooms built.^[1]
• 1821
  • Population: 52,889.^[1]
  • John Horwood hanged for the murder of Eliza Balsom.^[22]
• 1823
  • Chamber of Commerce founded.^[5]
  • Bristol Institution opens.^[23]
• 1830s – Clifton becomes part of city.^[24]
• 1831 – October: Queen Square riots.^[15]
• 1832
  • Bristol Mechanics' Institution building opens.^[23]
  • Holy Trinity Church built.
• 1836 – Zoological Gardens open.^[25]
• 1837 – Passage to St Vincent's Cave opens.^[26]
• 1838 – Paddle steamer SS Great Western (launched 1837) begins travelling to the United States.^[27]
• 1840
  • Bath-Bristol section of Great Western Railway begins operating.
  • Bristol and Clifton Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society instituted.^[28]
• 1841 – London-Bristol railway completed.^[4]
• 1842
  • Synagogue opens in Park Row.^[3]
  • Buckingham Baptist Chapel built.
• 1843 – Iron steamship SS Great Britain launched.
• 1844 – Bristol Academy for the Promotion of Fine Arts founded.
• 1847 – Horfield Barracks completed.^[29]
• 1850
  • Bristol, West of England and South Wales Permanent Building Society formed.
  • Pro-Cathedral of the Holy Apostles consecrated.
• 1854 – Bristol and Exeter Railway begins operating.
• 1858
  • Western Daily Press newspaper begins publication.^[16]
  • Bristol General Hospital opens.^[5]
• 1862
  • Bristol Naturalists' Society established.
  • Clifton College opens.^[5]
• 1864
  • Clifton Suspension Bridge opens.^[4]
  • Avonside Engine Company in business.
• 1865
  • Bristol and West of England Amateur Photographic Association formed.^[30]
  • Industrial Exhibition held.^[4]
  • Daily Bristol Times and Mirror newspaper in publication.^[16]
• 1870 – Gloucestershire County Cricket Club formed.
• 1871 – Bristol Museum and Library established.^[31]
• 1875 – Horse-drawn tram begins operating.
• 1876
  • University College, Bristol opens.^[4]
  • The Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society founded.
• 1877 – Avonmouth dock opens.^[4]
• 1884
  • September: Exhibition opens.^[4]
  • Clifton Antiquarian Club founded.
• 1887 – Bristol Tramways and Carriage Company and Bristol Camera Society^[30] established.
• 1889
  • Labour strike.^[4]
  • Bristol Choral Society founded.
  • March: Flood.^[4]
• 1892 – Labour strike.^[4]
• 1893 – Brazil, Straker & Co in business.
• 1895 – Electric tram begins operating.
• 1898 – Cabot Tower built on Brandon Hill.^[4]

20th century

• 1901
  • Imperial Direct West India Mail Service begins operating to Jamaica.^[32]
  • Population: 328,945.^[5]
  • Area of city: 11,705 acres.^[5]
• 1904
  • Shirehampton becomes part of city.
  • Area of city: 17,004 acres.^[5]
• 1905 – Bristol Kyrle Society founded.^[33]
• 1906 – Bristol Tramways and Carriage Company introduces its first motor buses.
• 1908 – Royal Edward Dock opens at Avonmouth.^[5]
• 1909 – University of Bristol founded.
• 1910 – British and Colonial Aeroplane Company in business.^[34]
• 1912 – Bristol Hippodrome opens.
• 1914 – International Exhibition opens at the "White City", Ashton Gate, becoming a military depot soon after the outbreak of war.^[35]
• 1916 – Bristol F.2 Fighter aircraft first flies.
• 1929 – Bristol Record Society founded.
• 1930 – Whitchurch Airport begins operating.
• 1932
  • Bristol Evening Post newspaper begins publication.^[16]
  • 23 February: Old Market riot.
• 1933 – Gaiety Cinema opens.^[36]
• 1938 – Ritz Cinema opens.^[36]
• 1940 – 2 November: Aerial bombing by German forces begins.
• 1941 – Bristol Tramways abandoned due to bombing.
• 1944 – 15 May: Aerial bombing by German forces ends.
• 1945 – Bristol Cars in business.
• 1946 – Bristol Old Vic theatre company and Bristol Old Vic Theatre School established.
• 1958 – Bristol Bus Station opens.
• 1959 – Bristol Siddeley aero engine manufacturer in business.
• 1963 – 30 April: Bristol Bus Boycott.
• 1968 – World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association headquartered in city.
• 1969 – British prototype Concorde airliner first flies from Filton.
• 1970
  • Radio repeater tower built at Purdown.^[37]
  • BBC Radio Bristol begins broadcasting.
  • Bristol Polytechnic established.
  • SS Great Britain returns to Bristol.
• 1973 – Clifton Cathedral (Roman Catholic) consecrated.
• 1974
  • Bristol becomes part of the county of Avon
  • Ashton Court Festival begins.
  • Avonmouth Bridge opens in Shirehampton.
• 1977 – Gay Pride begins.^[38]
• 1978
  • Royal Portbury Dock opens.
  • Castle Park laid out.
  • Bristol Gay Centre founded.^[38]
• 1980 – 2 April: St. Pauls riot.
• 1984 – Bristol Community Church organized.
• 1986 – Show of Strength Theatre Company formed.
• 1992
  • 16 July: Hartcliffe riot.
  • University of the West of England granted university status.
• 1996
  • County of Avon abolished; Bristol once again becomes both a city and a county.
  • City of Bristol College established.
• 1998 – Tobacco Factory Theatre established.

21st century

• 2000 – Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory theatre company founded.
• 2001 – Bristol Royal Hospital for Children building opens.
• 2003 – Plain Clothes Theatre Productions formed.
• 2004 – Bristol Shakespeare Festival begins.
• 2007 – Dot to Dot Festival begins.
• 2010 – Brunel Institute opens.^[39]
• 2011
  • 21 April: Stokes Croft Tesco riot.
  • Bristol becomes a "city of sanctuary" for refugees.^[40]
• 2012
  • Redland Green School established.
  • George Ferguson elected Mayor of Bristol.^[41]
• 2015 - Wok to Walk opens on Park St
• 2016 - Daniel Lee, Asher Breuer-Weil, Samuel Gottlieb, Jacob Summerfield, Thomas Prais and Alexander Epstein begin to study at the University of Bristol.

See also

• History of Bristol

References

1. Samuel Tymms (1834). "Gloucestershire". Oxford Circuit. The Family Topographer: Being a Compendious Account of the ... Counties of England 4. London: J.B. Nichols and Son. OCLC 2127940.
2. Samantha Letters (2005), "Gloucestershire", Gazetteer of Markets and Fairs in England and Wales to 1516 (Institute of Historical Research, Centre for Metropolitan History)
3. Roth, Cecil, and Joe Hallaby. "Bristol." Encyclopaedia Judaica. Ed. Michael Berenbaum and Fred Skolnik. 2nd ed. Vol. 4. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2007. 185-186. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 1 Oct. 2013
4. Benjamin Vincent (1910), "Bristol", Haydn's Dictionary of Dates (25th ed.), London: Ward, Lock & Co.
5. "Bristol", The Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.), New York, 1910, OCLC 14782424
6. Jones, Dr Evan. "Robert Ricart's Chronicle of Bristol, 1480–1508". The Smugglers' City. Department of History, University of Bristol. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
7. Williams, Hywel (2005). Cassell's Chronology of World History. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. pp. 189–192. ISBN 0-304-35730-8.
8. Palmer, Alan; Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History. London: Century Ltd. pp. 135–138. ISBN 0-7126-5616-2.
9. City Design Group. "Bristol in the 17th Century". Bristol City Council. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
10. George Henry Townsend (1867), "Bristol", A Manual of Dates (2nd ed.), London: Frederick Warne & Co.
11. Katharine Eustace (2006). "'A Place full of rich and Industrious People': Art and patronage in Bristol in the first half of the 18th century". British Art Journal 7. JSTOR 41614660.
12. Ian Maxted (2006), "Gloucestershire", British Book Trades: Topographical Listings, Exeter Working Papers in British Book Trade History, retrieved 21 September 2013
13. Francis Adams Hyett; William Bazeley (1897). Bibliographer's Manual of Gloucestershire Literature. 3: City of Bristol.
14. Tratt, Graham. "Desert Island Doc: A charter for chocolate". Bristol Museums, Galleries & Archives blog. Bristol Museums, Galleries & Archives. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
15. "Empire and Sea Power". British History Timeline. BBC. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
16. "Bristol (England) Newspapers". Main Catalogue. British Library. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
17. F. Severne Mackenna (1947). Cookworthy's Plymouth and Bristol Porcelain. Leigh-on-Sea: F. Lewis.
18. John Penderill-Church (1972). William Cookworthy 1705-1780: a study of the pioneer of true porcelain manufacture in England. Truro: Bradford Barton. ISBN 0851530958.
19. Paul Kaufman (1967). "The Community Library: A Chapter in English Social History". Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 57. JSTOR 1006043.
20. John Latimer (1893), The Annals of Bristol in the Eighteenth Century, Printed for the author by Butler & Tanner, OCLC 2996647
21. Brooke, Gerry. "harveys – Bristol's very own sherry merchant". Bristol Post. localworld.co.uk. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
22. "The macabre world of books bound in human skin". BBC News Magazine. BBC. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
23. "Bristol". Penny Cyclopaedia. 1836.
24. "The original locality". University of Bristol. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
25. "Bristol", Great Western Railway Guide, London: James Wyld, 1839, OCLC 12922212
26. Arrowsmith's Dictionary of Bristol (2nd ed.). Bristol: J.W. Arrowsmith. 1906.
27. John Ramsay McCulloch (1880), "Docks: Bristol Docks, Shipping &c.", in Hugh G. Reid, A Dictionary, Practical, Theoretical and Historical of Commerce and Commercial Navigation, London: Longmans, Green, and Co.
28. Special report of the Bristol and Clifton Ladies' Anti-slavery Society, London: J. Snow, 1852
29. "Footsteps into the past - Horfield Barracks". Bristol Post. 16 September 2014. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
30. "Photographic Societies of the British Isles and Colonies", International Annual of Anthony's Photographic Bulletin, New York: E. & H. T. Anthony & Company, 1891
31. John Latimer (1887), Annals of Bristol in the Nineteenth Century, Bristol: W. & F. Morgan, OCLC 2996620
32. Port of Bristol. Bristol Docks Office. 1904.
33. "The First 50 years of the Bristol Civic Society". Bristol Civic Society. Archived from the original on 2007-02-19. Retrieved 2007-05-11.
34. John Lovering (1985). "Defence Expenditure and the Regions: The Case of Bristol". Built Environment 11. JSTOR 23286747.
35. "International exhibition became known as a city". Bristol Post. 2013-07-09. Retrieved 2014-01-28.
36. "Movie Theaters in Bristol, England". CinemaTreasures.org. Los Angeles: Cinema Treasures LLC. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
37. City Design Group. "Bristol in the 20th Century". Bristol City Council. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
38. "Timeline of LGBT history in Bristol and the West of England". OutStories Bristol. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
39. "About the Brunel Institute". Bristol: Brunel's ss Great Britain. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
40. "City of Sanctuary: Bristol rallies to help refugees as aid network swells", The Guardian, 6 September 2015
41. "British Mayors". City Mayors.com. London: City Mayors Foundation. Retrieved 21 September 2013.

Further reading

Published in the 17th-18th centuries

• John Ogilby (1699), "(Bristol)", Traveller's Guide, or, A Most Exact Description of the Roads of England, London: Abel Swall
• Nathaniel Spencer (1772). "County of Somerset: (Bristol)". Complete English Traveller. London: J. Cooke.
• Daniel Defoe; Samuel Richardson (1778), "(Bristol)", A Tour Through the Island of Great Britain (8th ed.), London: J.F. and C. Rivingdon
• William Barrett (1789), History and antiquities of the city of Bristol, Bristol: Printed by W. Pine, OCLC 2435385
• Archibald Robertson (1792), "City of Bristol", Topographical Survey of the Great Road from London to Bath and Bristol, London, OCLC 1633468
• Mathew's New History of Bristol or Complete Guide. 1794.

Published in the 19th century

1800s-1820s

• "Bristol", Kearsley's Traveller's Entertaining Guide through Great Britain, London: George Kearsley, 1803
• Walley Chamberlain Oulton (1805), "Bristol", Traveller's Guide: Or, English Itinerary 1, J. Cundee, OCLC 65847812
• "Bristol". Crosby's Complete Pocket Gazetteer of England and Wales. London: B. Crosby. 1807.
• Joseph Nightingale (1813), "Bristol", Beauties of England and Wales 13 (1), London: J. Harris, Somersetshire
• John Corry (1816), History of Bristol, Bristol: W. Sheppard
• Bristol Memorialist, 1816
• James Dugdale (1819), "Somersetshire: Bristol", New British Traveller 4, London: J. Robins and Co.
• Samuel Seyer (1821), Memoirs historical and topographical of Bristol and its neighbourhood, Bristol: Printed for the author by J. M. Gutch, OCLC 5739402 v.2
• Chronological Outline of the History of Bristol, and the Stranger's Guide Through Its Streets and Neighbourhood. Bristol: John Evans. 1824.
• Robert Watt (1824). "Bristol". Bibliotheca Britannica 3. Edinburgh: A. Constable. OCLC 961753.
• Chilcott's New Guide to Bristol. 1826.
• John Evans (1828), New Guide, or, Picture of Bristol (4th ed.), Bristol, OCLC 45137262

1830s-1840s

• David Brewster, ed. (1830). "Bristol". Edinburgh Encyclopædia. Edinburgh: William Blackwood.
• James Dallaway (1834), Antiquities of Bristow in the middle centuries, Bristol: Mirror office, OCLC 4782585
• Mathew's Bristol Directory. Bristol. 1841.
• "Bristol", Mogg's Great Western Railway and Windsor, Bath, and Bristol Guide, London: Edward Mogg, 1841
• "Bristol and its Vicinity". Slater's National Commercial Directory of Ireland; including ... English Towns of Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, West Bromwich, Leeds, Sheffield and Bristol, and in Scotland, those of Glasgow and Paisley. Manchester: I. Slater. 1846.
• Charles Frederick Cliffe (1848), "Bristol", Book of South Wales, the Bristol Channel, Monmouthshire, and the Wye (2nd ed.), London: Hamilton, Adams
• Hunt & Co.'s Directory & Court Guide for the Cities of Bath, Bristol, & Wells. 1848.
• Samuel Lewis (1848), "Bristol", Topographical Dictionary of England (7th ed.), London: S. Lewis and Co.

1850s-1890s

• Chilcott's Descriptive History of Bristol (9th ed.). 1851.
• "Bristol", Black's Picturesque Tourist and Road-book of England and Wales (3rd ed.), Edinburgh: Adam and Charles Black, 1853
• "Bristol". Bradshaw's Descriptive Railway Hand-Book of Great Britain and Ireland. London: W.J. Adams. 1860.
• George Bryce (1861). Popular History of Bristol. Bristol: W. Mack.
• Charles Knight, ed. (1867). "Bristol". Geography. English Cyclopaedia (London: Bradbury, Evans, & Co.).
• "Bristol", Handbook for Travellers in Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, and Herefordshire, London: J. Murray, 1872, OCLC 2167311
• Wright's Bristol Directory. Bristol. 1872.
• Bristol, Cardiff, Newport, and Swansea Commercial List. London: Estell and Co. 1876.
• 'Canynge' Concise Guide to Bristol and Suburbs, Bristol: Jefferies & Sons, 1878
• J. F. Nicholls (1881), Bristol Past and Present, Bristol: J.W. Arrowsmith, OCLC 2663342
  • v.1: Civil history
  • v.2: Ecclesiastical history
  • v.3: Civil and Modern History
• John Parker Anderson (1881), "Gloucestershire: Bristol", Book of British Topography: a Classified Catalogue of the Topographical Works in the Library of the British Museum Relating to Great Britain and Ireland, London: W. Satchell
• "Bristol Trades Directory". Kelly's Directory of Somersetshire. 1883.
• Archaeological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, ed. (1883), Memoirs illustrative of the history and antiquities of Bristol
• William Clark Russell (1883). "Bristol". North-East Ports and Bristol Channel. Newcastle upon Tyne: A. Reid.
• How to See Bristol. Arrowsmith. 1885.
• Laurence Cowen (1893), Greater Bristol, London: Pelham Press
• Charles Gross (1897). "Bristol". Bibliography of British Municipal History. New York: Longmans, Green, and Co.
• Alfred B. Beaven (1899), Bristol lists: municipal and miscellaneous (Bristol Lists: Municipal and Miscellaneous ed.), Bristol: T. D. Taylor, Sons, and Hawkins, OCLC 5828470

Published in the 20th century

• John Latimer (1900), Annals of Bristol in the seventeenth century, Bristol: William George's Sons, OCLC 2996673
• G.K. Fortescue, ed. (1902). "Bristol". Subject Index of the Modern Works Added to the Library of the British Museum in the Years 1881–1900. London.
• John Latimer (1902), Annals of Bristol in the Nineteenth Century (Concluded) 1887–1900, Bristol: W. George's Sons, OCLC 2996691
• Charles Wells, ed. (1902). Historic Bristol. Bristol. (articles reprinted from The Bristol Times and Mirror)
• Robert Donald, ed. (1908). "Bristol". Municipal Year Book of the United Kingdom for 1908. London: Edward Lloyd.
• John Latimer (1908), Sixteenth-Century Bristol, Bristol: J.W. Arrowsmith
• "Bristol", Great Britain (7th ed.), Leipzig: Karl Baedeker, 1910
• "Bristol". List of Works Relating to British Genealogy and Local History. New York: New York Public Library. 1910.
• "Bristol". England. Blue Guides. London: Macmillan. 1920.

External links

• "Bristol and Transatlantic Slavery: Timeline". Port Cities UK. UK: New Opportunities Fund.
• "Gloucestershire", Historical Directories (UK: University of Leicester). Includes Bristol directories, various dates.
• Europeana. Works related to Bristol, various dates
• Digital Public Library of America. Works related to Bristol, various dates

Coordinates: 51°27′00″N 2°35′00″W / 51.45°N 2.583333°W