Events from the year 1855 in the United Kingdom.
Incumbents
Monarch – Victoria
Prime Minister – George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen (Coalition) (until 30 January); Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston (Whig) (starting 6 February) Parliament – 16th
Events
9 January – the Earl of Aberdeen loses a vote of no confidence against his government over the management of the Crimean War. 22 January – French political exile Emmanuel Barthélemy is hanged after being convicted of murdering a London man. Barthélemy had previously killed a fellow Frenchman in the last fatal duel in England, but had only been convicted of manslaughter on that occasion. 29 January – Aberdeen resigns as Prime Minister. 5 February – Viscount Palmerston becomes Prime Minister. 8 February – the Devil's Footprints, a series of mysteriously hoof-like marks, appear in the snow in Devon and continue throughout the countryside for over . 28 February – Society of the Holy Cross (SSC) established as an association of Anglo-Catholic priests with a mission to the urban poor under the mastership of Charles Lowder. 11 April – the first pillar boxes in London are installed, at the suggestion of Rowland Hill. 18 April – The Bowring Treaty is signed between the UK and the kingdom of Siam, allowing foreigners to trade freely in Bangkok. 15 May – Great Gold Robbery from a train between London Bridge and Folkestone. 15 June – stamp duty is removed from newspapers creating mass market media in the UK. 29 June – The Daily Telegraph newspaper begins publication in London. 16 July – Australian colonies granted self-governing status. 31 July – Limited Liability Act protects investors in the event of corporate collapse. 3 September – last Bartholomew Fair in London. 9 September – Siege of Sevastopol (1854–55) (Crimean War): Sevastopol falls to the British and their allies. 17 October – Henry Bessemer files his patent for the Bessemer process for the production of steel. 17 November – explorer David Livingstone discovers Victoria Falls in Africa. 22 December – Metropolitan Board of Works established in London.
Undated
James Clerk Maxwell unifies electricity and magnetism into a single theory, classical electromagnetism, thereby showing that light is an electromagnetic wave. The London School of Jewish Studies opens as the Jews' College, a rabbinical seminary, in London. Last minting of the fourpence coin (groat) for use in the U.K. The island of Samson, in the Isles of Scilly, is evacuated.
Publications
Samuel Orchart Beeton's weekly The Boys' Own Magazine (begins publication January). Mrs Archer Clive's novel Paul Ferroll. Serialisation of Charles Dickens' novel Little Dorrit. Mrs Gaskell's novel North and South. Charles Kingsley's novel Westward Ho! William Makepeace Thackeray's novel The Newcomes. Anthony Trollope's novel The Warden. The Ancient Music of Ireland, including the first published version of the Londonderry Air.
Births
21 January – Henry B. Jackson, admiral (died 1929). 1 May – Marie Corelli, novelist (died 1924). 23 May – Isabella Ford, socialist, feminist, trade unionist and writer (died 1924). 2 June – Archibald Berkeley Milne, admiral (died 1938). 28 August – Alexander Bethell, admiral (died 1932). 17 December – Frank Hedges Butler, wine merchant and founding member of the Aero Club of Great Britain (died 1928).