Timeline 1830 - 1870
Rosa Matheson and Patty Baldwin October 2016 The early years of Queen Victoria's reign witnessed some of the most significant changes in the development of world technology. It was also the period when Box saw some of the changes that turned the village from a local, rural society into a national and international centre of manufacturing. Box became a wealthy village based on railways and the quarry industry. Left: Box Tunnel (courtesy Carol Payne) |
Box Tunnel Timeline by Rosa Matheson
1835 Great Western Railway Act proposed Box Hill Tunnel 1836 Sinking of trial shaft started under Glennie 1836 September Contract to Paxton & Orton for 6 permanent and 2 temporary shafts 1836 November work started. Steam pumps brought in 1837 February shafts have been sunk 1837 GWR refused finance for pumps, shafts fill with water 1837 Lewis & Brewer take over shafts contract 1837 Tender to complete tunnel by August 1840 1837 Difficulty letting these, Brewer & Lewis take eastern end 1837 November shaft floods no work until July 1838 1838 February contract to George Burge on western end 1838 Brewer & Lewis began construction began in December, dividing work into six sections out from the six main shafts 1839 August 1,350 yards of the tunnel excavated, 1,200 yards entirely finished 1840 Three additional shafts to expedite the work 1841 January Brunel agreed with Burge and Yockney to increase workforce from 1,200 to 4,000 1841 April work mostly completed 1841 June 30th Official opening 30 June 1842 Work still ongoing but trains running Other Box Dates
1826 Edward Richard Northey inherited Northey Estate 1834 Methodist Church built replacing Ebenezer Chapel 1835 Box Lock-up re-built 1838-1841 Box Church enlarged for Tunnel workers 1840 Hatt Farmhouse built after 1840 1851 Henley Cottage donated to build a girls' schoolhouse 1852 Down-platform at Box Station built 1855 New up-platform built at Box Station 1857 Box Cemetery built on London Road by Poulton & Woodman 1859 Quarry roadway emerged at The Clift 1864 Box Brewery built in Market Place 1864 John Hanning Speke died 1865 Quarryman's Arms rebuilt as beer-house 1866 Tramway opened at The Clift 1867 Free Methodist Chapel built on Box Hill 1869 Kingsdown Methodist Chapel built 1870 Box Cricket Club founded at The Chequers Inn |
National Timeline
1824 Portland cement patented 1825 First horse-drawn London buses 1825 Stockton-Darlington line opened 1825 Beethoven's Ninth Symphony 1827 First friction safety matches 1829 First Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race 1829 First Catholic MP in Parliament 1830 George IV died; William IV succeded 1830 Opening of Liverpool and Manchester Railway 1830 William Huskisson killed by The Rocket locomotive 1831 Swing Riots against rural mechanisation 1832 Great Reform Act 1833 First Factory Act 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act created Unions 1834 House of Parliament burnt down 1835 Abolition of slavery in colonies 1836 Tithe Commutation Act 1836 Chartist movement started 1836 Clifton Suspension Bridge started 1837 William IV died; Queen Victoria 1837 Registration of births, deaths, marriages 1838 SS Great Western sailed to New York 1838 Charles Dickens wrote Oliver Twist 1839 Fox Talbot invented photography 1840 Penny Black stamp introduced 1842 Peacetime Income Tax introduced 1845 SS Great Britain sailed to USA 1845 Irish Potato Famine 1846 Repeal of Corn Laws 1851 Great Exhibition opened 1854 Crimean War 1859 Darwin's Origin of Species published 1861 Prince Albert died 1863 London Underground started 1865 Lister developed antiseptics 1866 Barnardos Homes started 1867 Second Electoral Reform Act 1867 Nelson's Column built 1868 Disraeli then Gladstone became Prime Minister 1869 Suez Canal opened 1870 Charles Dickens died 1870 Compulsory primary schools |
You can find out more about the work of famous railway historian, Rosa Matheson, from the website: https://www.waterstones.com/author/rosa-matheson/1464460
Or write to the author directly at: [email protected]
Or write to the author directly at: [email protected]