- 1800 – Act of Union
- England and Ireland were united. It did not include Catholic emancipation.
- 1800 – Combination Acts
- They were to prevent unions of workmen under cover of trade activities from engaging in revolutionary propaganda.
- 1811 – Regency Act
- It set up a regency when King George III became permanently insane.
- 1815 – Corn Law
- It prohibited the importing of wheat until the price at home rose to a high level.
- 1829 – Catholic Emancipation Bill
- It lifted restrictions on Roman Catholics in Ireland.
- 1832 – Reform Bill
- It abolished pocket and rotten boroughs outright and allocated their seats to large towns and counties. A uniform franchise was to be established , giving the vote in towns who occupied a house worth ten pounds a year, and in the country to tenant farmers as to the forty shilling freeholders.
- 1833 – Factory Act
- It forbade the employment of chilren under nine in most factories. Work hours of women and young people were limited to eleven hours a day. Inspectors would be provided to ensure that the law was carried out.
- 1834 – Poor Law
- It cut off completely all relief-money to the able-bodied. The aged, sick, or child paupers were compelled to enter work-houses where they were forced to perform degrading labour.
- 1835 – Municipal Corporations Act
- It gave one hundred seventy towns elected councils and business-like administration for the first time. Machinery was set up to handle problems of improving the health, housing, and welfare of the crowded urban centres.
- 1838 – People’s Charter
- It proposed six points: manhood suffrage, vote by ballot, equal electoral districts rearranged each census, annual parliaments, no property qualifications for candidates, MPs to receive salaries.
- 1839 – Durham’s Report
- Upper and Lower Canada should be united. The united provinces should be given responsible government patterned on the British system. The governor-general would represent the monarch. His Cabinet of Ministers would rule in domestic matters, while the government in London would control Empire and foreign policy.
- 1840 – Canada Act
- It put into effect the recommendations of Lord Durham’s Report.
- 1842 – Mines Act
- The use of women and children working in the mines was ended.
- 1844 – Bank Act
- The Bank of England was given the ultimate monopoly of the note issue. It became the controlling element in the country’s credit credit structure. It had an obligation to the public interest in its policies and could not act merely for the benefit of its shareholders.
- 1861 – Companies Act
- It encouraged the development of limited liability for new enterprises.
- 1867 – Reform Act
- It brought some change in the franchise and a redistribution of seats.
- 1867 – British North America Act
- It created the first of the self-governing British Dominions, with the Provinces of Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia as founding members. All powers not expressly reserved to the provinces were assumed by the central government. The Governor-General ruled through ministers drawn from the majority in the House of Commons. Members of the House were elected in numbers proportionate to the population they represented.
- 1870 – Education Act
- It provided that elected school boards should make good the gaps in the voluntary system.
- 1870 – Land Act
- It attempted to protect tenants in Ireland from unfair eviction.
- 1871 – Trade Union Act
- It gave unions power to enforce a contract.
- 1872 – Ballot Act
- It abolished open voting.
- 1875 – Agricultural Holdings Act
- It protected tenant farmers from eviction without proper compensation.
- 1880 – Ground Game Act
- It entitled farmers to kill hares and rabbits.
- 1881 – Coercion Bill
- It gave the Irish viceroy the power to imprison anyone accused of terrorism and to detain him as long as felt necessary.
- 1883 – Corrupt Practices Act
- The cost of a contest for almost any seat was made to be within the means of men with moderate means.
- 1884 – Reform Act
- Agricultural laborers were given the right to vote.
- 1888 – Local Government Act
- It set up county councils and county borough councils, which developed technical education.
- 1889 – Naval Defence Act
- Its aim was to make the British Navy superior to the combined navies of any two European powers.
(This page was updated in December 2012.)
