1800-1849 | 1850-1899 | All Timelines
1859 – On the Origin of Species was published
1863 – The first underground train went into operation in London
1868 – The last public execution was carried out
1870 – The Education Act was passed, introducing universal education
1870 – Religious dissenters and women were first allowed to enter the Universities of University of Oxford and Cambridge
1880 – The Elementary Education Act 1880 was passed, making primary schooling compulsory and extending it to girls
1884 – The Reform Act (Representation of the People Act)
1885 – The Redistribution of Seats Act
1888 – Local Government Act reforms carried out at county level
1894 – Legislation introduced elected councils at district and parish level
1896 – The Daily Mail was first published
In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson’s Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described East Worlington like this:
WORLINGTON (East), a parish in South Molton district, Devon; 5 miles NE of Lapford r. station, and 6 E of Chulmleigh. Post town, Morchard-Bishop, North Devon. Acres, 2,363. Real property, £1,561. Pop., 284. Houses, 51. The property is subdivided. Roman coins and urns have been found; and remains exist of a curious ancient cross. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Exeter. Value, £248.* Patron, the Earl of Portsmouth. The church is ancient but good. There are a Bible Christian chapel and a national school.
East Worlington Parish Council established following the 1894 Local Government Act
1850 to 1899 A general feature of this period was the cold conditions
1850 A ‘damaging gale’ on the 5th/6th – the west coasts of both Britain & Ireland were particularly badly affected – the gale is noted as having “occasioned fearful loss of life”
1865 Heavy snow fell between the 25th and the 31st January – there were further significant snow events throughout February
1872 to 1879 Eight ‘wet’ years – the ‘growing-to-harvest’ periods (May – September) of 1872, 1875, 1877, 1878 & 1879 all experienced well-above average rainfall – that of 1879 being some 160% above the mean
1884 to 1902 For these 19 years, 15 had annual rainfall totals below the all-series average, with 5 of those years (1884, 1887, 1893, 1898 & 1902) notably dry – notably low river flows recorded in parts of southern Britain,
1890 to 1910 Major drought, but with some very wet interludes initiated by a sequence of notably dry winters – major/sustained groundwater impacts – Most severe phases: 1893, 1899, 1902 and 1905
1891 9-13th March easterly “blizzard” – Heavy, fine powdery snow and strong easterly winds raged across SW England – 9th (and later?), great snowstorm in the west of England, trains buried for days: E-NE gale, shipwrecks, many lives lost. (Eden notes: 220 people dead; 65 ships foundered in the English Channel; 6000 sheep perished; countless trees uprooted; 14 trains stranded in Devon alone.)
1837 to 1901 Victoria
1846 to 1852 John Russell (1st time) – Whig
1852 Edward Geoffrey Stanley (1st time) – Conservative
1852 to 1855 George Hamilton-Gordon – Peelite
1855 to 1858 Henry John Temple (1st time) – Whig
1858 to 1859 Edward Geoffrey Stanley (2nd time) – Conservative
1859 to 1865 Henry John Temple (2nd time) – Liberal
1865 to 1866 John Russell (2nd time) – Liberal
1866 to 1868 Edward Geoffrey Stanley (3rd time) – Conservative
1868 Benjamin Disraeli (1st time) – Conservative
1868 to 1874 William Ewart Gladstone (1st time) – Liberal
1874 to 1880 Benjamin Disraeli (2nd time) – Conservative
1880 to 1885 William Ewart Gladstone (2nd time) – Liberal
1885 to 1886 Robert Cecil (1st time) – Conservative
1886 William Ewart Gladstone (3rd time) – Liberal
1886 to 1892 Robert Cecil (2nd time) – Conservative
1892 to 1894 William Ewart Gladstone (4th time) – Liberal
1894 to 1895 Archibald Philip Primrose – Liberal
1895 to 1902 Robert Cecil (3rd time) – Conservative
St Mary – East Worlington
1796 Benjamin Clay M.A.
1852 Richard Syndercombe Bryan B.A.
1877 Walter Meddon Bruton B.C.L.
1886 Thomas Holford Buckworth
1902 Horace Ayton Hill B.A.
St Mary – West Worlington
1847 Walter Maddon Bruton B.C.L.
1877 Thos. Wemyss Pigot
1880 Chs. Walker Molony
1885 Richard Turner M.A.
1891 Horace Ayton Hill B.A.
1919 Henry John Hodgson M.A.
There is evidence that the Rev. Hill had started to use the building as a ‘community room’ following his appointment as rector in 1891.
