1846

Good condition set of three. Events 1846 5 January ? The United States House of Representatives votes to stop sharing the Oregon Territory with the United Kingdom. 10 February ? First Anglo-Sikh War: British victory at the Battle of Sobraon. 9 March ? The conclusion of the First Anglo-Sikh War with the signing of the Treaty of Lahore. Kashmir is ceded to the British East India Company and the Koh-i-Noor diamond is surrendered to Queen Victoria. 13 March ? Ballinglass Incident: eviction of 300 tenants at the village of Ballinglass in Ireland during the Great Famine. 3 April ? Last London-based mail coach runs, to Norwich. 15 May ? Under the leadership of Prime Minister Robert Peel, the House of Commons votes to repeal the Corn Laws by passing an Importation Bill, replacing the old colonial mercantile trade system with free trade. On 25 June the Duke of Wellington persuades the House of Lords to pass the Act, which will take full effect from February 1849. 15 June ? Treaty of Washington establishes the 49th Parallel as the border between Oregon and British Canada. 22 June ? The North British Railway is opened to public traffic between Edinburgh and Berwick-upon-Tweed, the first line to cross the border between Scotland and England. Waverley Station is opened. 26 June ? The Great Northern Railway is authorised by Act of Parliament with powers to construct a direct line from London to York (with a loop via Boston), 233.5 mi (375.8 km) with a capital of £5,600,000, the largest single railway scheme ever approved by Parliament. 29 June ? Peel resigns, and is succeeded by John Russell, 1st Earl Russell. 9 July ? A flood at East Wheal Rose lead mine in Cornwall kills 39. 16 July ? The London and North Western Railway is formed in England by amalgamation of the London and Birmingham Railway, Grand Junction Railway and Manchester and Birmingham Railway. 30 July ? Opening of Albert Dock, Liverpool. 8 August ? The planet Neptune is first observed but not recognised by James Challis, director of the Cambridge Observatory. 15 August ? Inauguration of Scott Monument in Edinburgh. 18 August ? Parliament of the United Kingdom passes the following Acts Religious Opinions Relief Act, removing most remaining disabilities affecting the ability of Jews, Dissenters and Roman Catholics to participate in public life. Gauge Act, ruling that new railways in Great Britain should be built to standard gauge (5 ft 3 inches in Ireland) unless otherwise authorised. 26 August Parliament passes the Public Baths and Wash Houses Act (An Act to encourage the Establishment of public Baths and Wash-houses) permitting local authorities to establish baths and wash houses in Britain. Felix Mendelssohn?s oratorio Elijah first performed at the Birmingham Festival. 28 August ? Railway Mania reaches its zenith, with 272 railway construction Acts being passed in this year. 1 September ? Deodand abolished in England and Wales by the Deodands Act. 3 September ? Electric Telegraph Company founded. 10 October ? William Lassell discovers Triton, one of the moons of Neptune. 21 December ? Surgeon Robert Liston carries out the first operation under anaesthesia in Britain.…