| 1534 | Church of England established | 1666 | Great Fire of London | 1800-50 | Highland Clearances reached a peak | 1840 | New Zealand declared Crown Colony | 1879 | Zulu war | 1927 | Adopted Children Register begins in England & Wales |
| 1536 | England & Wales Act of Union | 1670 | Huson's Bay Co. established - early settlers in Canada | 1801 | First official census in England Scotland & Wales |
1841 | First time census in England, Wales & Scotland contains names, ages & addresses | 1882 | Suicides allowed to be buried in consecrated ground | 1928 | All residents/property owners 21+ can vote |
| 1536-39 | Dissolution of Monasteries | 1685 | Edict of Nantes repealed - second mass emigration of Huguenots to England & the Netherlands | 1801 | Act of Union - Ireland & Britain into United Kingdom of Great Britain | 1844 | Home Office empowered to grant naturalisation - easier & cheaper for aliens to become naturalised Britons | Late 19th C | Influx of Jews from Eastern Europe into London's East End | 1929 | Legal age of marriage with parents' consent raised to 16 (from 12 for girls & 14 for boys) |
| 1538 | Parish registers introduced in England & Wales | 1707 | Act of Union between England & Scotland | 1804 | Richard Trevithick demonstrates the 1st steam locomotive | 1845 | Civil registration of non-Catholic marriages begins in Ireland | 1882 | An Act allows married women to own property | 1930 | Jews flee to Britain from the spread of Naziism |
| 1553 | Errol in Perthshire keeps Scotland's first parish register | 1708 | Protestant refugees allowed to become naturalised without private Act of Parliament | 1805 | Battle of Trafalgar | 1845-51 | Repeated failures of potato crop in Ireland Causes death of 1 million in Irish Famine | 1885 | Karl Benz tests first motor car | 1931 | Marriage permitted uncle/niece, aunt/nephew |
| 1559 | Illegal to celebrate Catholic mass in England & Wales | 1731 | Use of Latin in English parish registers discontinued | 1806 | First British colonists to South Africa | 1846 | 'Railway mania' as parliament approves building of 273 new lines | 1899-1902 | Boer war | 1939-45 | Second World War |
| 1572 | First Huguenots arrive in Britain following St Bartholomew's Day massacre | 1752 | Gregorian Calendar introduced in England & Wales | 1807 | Slave Trade abolished | 1851 | The only national census of religious worship taken in England, Wales & Scotland | 1901 | Australia joins the Commonwealth | 1947 | India gains independence |
| 1585 | First English settlement in America at Roanoke island - was a failure | 1754 | Hardwicke's Marriage Act 1753. Marriages solemnised in Church of England become main form of legal marriage in England & Wales | 1812 | Rose's Act standardised Parish Records both in books & printed forms | 1851 | Poor Law Ammendment Act - allows transportation of children 'in care' to colonies | 1902 | Cremation Act enables public burial authorities to provide & maintain crematoriums out of the rates | 1948 | NHS begins Registrations of British nationality issued to British colonies citizens First large scale influx of immigrants from West Indies |
| 1588 | Spanish Armada defeated by English fleet | 1760 | James Watt's perfection of steam engine gives impetus to Industrial Revolution | 1815 | Battle of Waterloo | 1851 | The Great Exhibition held in Hyde Park | 1905 | Aliens Act limits immigration | 1950 | Korean War |
| 1600 | Gregorian Calendar introduced in Scotland East India Company formed |
1770 | James Cook lands in Botany Bay | 1819 | Peterloo Massacre in Manchester | 1853-56 | Crimean war |
1907 | Man can marry deceased wife's sister | 1962 | Commonwealth immigration restricted to skilled workers & dependants |
| 1601 | Poor Law Act consolidates system of poor relief in England & Wales | 1775-83 | American War of Independence | 1821 | First census in Ireland | 1855 | Civil Registration of BMDs in Scotland |
1911 | Founding of Society of Genealogists | 1969 | Voting age reduced to 18 |
| 1607 | First succesful settlement in America at Jamestown | 1776 | Declaration of Independence in America | 1823 | Houses of correction and gaols amalgamated into prisons | 1857 | Deaths certified by a Doctor Divorce becomes obtainable through civil courts in England & Wales (Matrimonial Causes Act) |
1914-18 | First World War | 1973 | Britain joins EEC |
| 1617 | Transportation of convicted criminals to America & West Indies begins | 1778 | Catholic Relief Act ends persecution of R.Cs. | 1829 | Metropolitan Police founded by Robert Peel | 1858 | Britain declares India a Crown Possession Civil Court of Probate has jurisdiction over wills in England & Wales (previously ecclesiastical courts) |
1914 | The Aliens Register Act calls for registration with the police of all aliens over the age of 16 | 1975 | Adopted people over 18 in England & Wales (17 in Scotland) gain right to apply for their original birth certificate |
| 1620 | Mayflower sets sail from Plymouth | 1785 | 'The Daily Universal Register' printed for 1st time. Became 'The Times' in 1788 | 1829 | Catholic Emancipation Act allowing Catholics to participate in British public & political life | 1864 | Civil registration of BMDs and all denominations of marriages in Ireland | 1914 | Britain houses 200,000 homeless war refugees from Belgium | ||
| 1634 | Parish registers start in Ireland | 1787 | Transportation of convicts to Australia begins | 1832 | Reform Act - heralds the start of democratic system of voting | 1867 | Canada becomes a Dominion | 1916 | Easter Rising in Dublin - Irish nationalists demand Home Rule | ||
| 1642-51 | Civil Wars. Charles 1st executed 1649 | 1789-99 | French Revolution | 1832 | In Scotland sheriff court allowed to grant probate on wills (previously ecclesiastical courts) | 1869 | Church of Ireland disestablished | 1918 | Women over 30 given right to vote | ||
| 1653-58 | Oliver Cromwell governs most of British Isles | 1790 | Whalers & Traders begin settling in New Zealnd | 1834 | Poor Law Ammendment Act - radical change to the sustem of poor relief - the Union Workhouse introduced | 1872 | Public Health Act established urban & rural sanitary authorities | 1921 | Women can marry deceased husband's brother | ||
| 1656 | Jews enter England freely after Cromwell ends enforcement of Edict of Expulsion | 1790 | Free settlers leave for Australia | 1837 | The civil registration of BMDs in England & Wales introduced | 1873 | First National Ordnance Survey | 1922 | Partition of Ireland creates Northern Ireland and Irish Free State, later renamed Republic of Ireland | ||
| 1659 | Census of Ireland lists those with title to land & number of residents in each town | 1793-1815 | Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars | 1837 | Permitted age for men & women to make a will is raised to 21 | 1873 | Return of Owners of Land, the 'Modern Domesday' is made, listing owners of more than 1 acre of land in Britain & Ireland | 1923 | Empire Settlement Act - white stock to colonies | ||
| 1665-66 | Great Plague of London | 1798 | Irish Rebellion | 1838 | First Public Record Office established | 1875 | After the Births & Deaths Act of 1874, civilians are legally obloged to register births & deaths | 1926 | Legitimacy Act permits re-registration General strike |