1806 in the United Kingdom

Events from the year 1806 in the United Kingdom.

Incumbents

Events

5 January – The body of Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, lies in state in the Painted Hall of Greenwich Hospital, London.
8 January – Battle of Blaauwberg: British infantry force troops of the Batavian Republic in the Dutch Cape Colony to withdraw.
9 January
* The Dutch commandant of Cape Town surrenders to British forces. On 10 January, formal capitulation is signed under the Treaty Tree in Papendorp.
* Lord Nelson is given a state funeral and interment at St Paul's Cathedral in London, attended by the Prince of Wales.
18 January – The Dutch Cape Colony capitulates to British forces, the origin of its status as a colony within the British Empire.
23 January – William Pitt the Younger dies aged 46 at Bowling Green House on Putney Heath of a gastrointestinal tract complaint and is succeeded as wartime Prime Minister by his cousin Lord Grenville.
6 February – Battle of San Domingo: The British Royal Navy gains a victory over the French off Santo Domingo.
11 February – Ministry of All the Talents formed by Grenville.
20 March – Construction begins of Dartmoor Prison, to house prisoners of war.
8 April – Proceedings for the impeachment of Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville for the misappropriation of public money at the Admiralty begin; he will be acquitted in the last impeachment trial ever held in the House of Lords.
16 May – The Order in Council of 16 May 1806 declares all ports from Brest (France) to the Elbe to be under a state of blockade by the Royal Navy.
4 July – Invasion of Naples : Battle of Maida in Calabria – British forces defeat the French.
7 July – Start of the first Gentlemen v Players cricket match.
10 July – Vellore Mutiny, the first instance of a mutiny by the Indian sepoys against the British East India Company.
23 July – British invasions of the River Plate: A British expeditionary force of 1,700 men lands on the left bank of the Río de la Plata and invades Buenos Aires.
18 August – English seal hunter Abraham Bristow discovers the Auckland Islands.
7 October – Carbon paper patented by Ralph Wedgwood.
20 October – is wrecked in the Strait of Sicily with the loss of 347 of the 488 onboard.
29 October to 17 December – a General election sees Grenville continue as Prime Minister.
21 November – Napoleon's Berlin Decree initiates the Continental System, blocking the import of British manufactured goods to the rest of Europe.

Undated

Supposedly secret 'Delicate Investigation' by senior statesmen into the life of Caroline of Brunswick, the Prince of Wales's estranged wife, finds "no foundation" for allegations against her morals.
Annual British iron production reaches 260,000 tons.

Ongoing

Anglo-Spanish War, 1796–1808
Napoleonic Wars, 1803–1815

Publications

A New System of Domestic Cookery, 1st edition, "by A Lady" published in London by John Murray.Rhymes for the Nursery by sisters Jane and Ann Taylor published in London, including Jane's "The Star".

Births

1 February – Jane Williams (Ysgafell), writer
6 March – Elizabeth Barrett Browning, poet
9 April – Isambard Kingdom Brunel, engineer
21 April – George Cornewall Lewis, statesman
4 May – William Fothergill Cooke, inventor
20 May – John Stuart Mill, philosopher
27 June – Augustus De Morgan, mathematician, logician
10 November – Alexander Milne, admiral
11 December
* William Prowting Roberts, Chartist lawyer
* Alfred Swaine Taylor, toxicologist, "father of British forensic medicine"

Deaths

c. January?? – Mungo Park, Scottish explorer
23 January – William Pitt the Younger, Prime Minister
19 February – Elizabeth Carter, writer
20 February – Lachlan McIntosh, Scottish-born American military and political leader
17 March – David Dale, Scottish philanthropist
23 March – George Pinto, composer
24 May – John Campbell, 5th Duke of Argyll, Scottish field marshal
10 July – George Stubbs, painter
13 September – Charles James Fox, statesman
22 October – Thomas Sheraton, furniture designer
23 November – Roger Newdigate, politician
29 December – Charles Lennox, 3rd Duke of Richmond, politician