Events
- 1 January – first steam-powered merry-go-round recorded, in Bolton. [1]
- 15 February – about 350 convicts held on St Mary's Island at Chatham Dockyard take over their prison in a riot. [2]
- 20 February – storms damage the Crystal Palace in London and cause the collapse of the steeple of Chichester Cathedral. [3]
- 21 to 26 March – the Tooley Street fire in Southwark destroys several buildings. [4]
- 30 March – William Crookes announces his discovery of thallium.
- 7 April – United Kingdom census. The population is more than double that of 1801 and those living in urban areas are in a majority.
- 12 April – American Civil War breaks out, leading to the Lancashire Cotton Famine (1861–1865).
- 13 May – British government resolves to remain neutral in the American Civil War. [4]
- 17 May – a 7-day working men's package holiday to Paris, organised by Thomas Cook, sets out from London Bridge station. [5]
- 31 May – Perpetual Truce of Peace and Friendship signed between Bahrain and the U.K.
- July – outbreak of yellow fever onboard paddle frigate HMS Firebrand in the West Indies kills 52. [6]
- 31 July – Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act codifies company law. [4]
- 6 August – Criminal Law Consolidation Acts (drafted by Charles Sprengel Greaves) granted Royal Assent, generally coming into effect on 1 November. The death penalty is limited to murder, embezzlement, piracy, high treason and to acts of arson perpetrated upon docks or ammunition depots; the age of consent is codified as twelve. The Home Secretary takes over the power to reprieve or commute sentences from the judiciary and Privy Council. [7]
- Accessories and Abettors Act, codifying the law on accessories and abettors.
- Coinage Offences Act, codifying the law on counterfeiting of coins.
- Criminal Statutes Repeal Act.
- Forgery Act, codifying the law on forgery.
- Larceny Act, codifying the law on larceny and related offences.
- Malicious Damage Act, codifying the law on criminal damage.
- Offences against the Person Act, codifying the law on actual or attempted violent offence against the person and abortion, abolishing the nominal death penalty for buggery and creating the offence of "causing bodily harm by wanton or furious driving".
- 27 August – last execution in Britain for attempted murder – Martin Doyle in Chester.
- 16 September – Post Office Savings Bank opens. [4]
- 24 October – HMS Warrior, the world's first ocean-going (all) iron-hulled armoured battleship is completed and commissioned.
- 8 November – Trent Affair: Union-captained ship USS San Jacinto intercepts the British mail packet Trent at sea and removes two Confederate diplomats. [8]
- 15 November – teaching begins at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, founded by conductor Henry Wylde, the oldest specialist performing arts school in the British Isles. [9]
- 25 November – a tenement collapses in the Old Town, Edinburgh, killing 35 with 15 survivors.
- 1 December – Trent Affair: the British government dispatches its diplomatic response, partly drafted by the terminally ill Prince Consort. [10]
Undated
- James Clerk Maxwell demonstrates the principle of three-colour photography (see picture). [11]
- British Empire establishes bases in Lagos to stop the slave trade.
- The Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation, Manchester in Salford is consecrated as the oldest purpose-built Greek Orthodox Church in England.
- Construction commences on Royal Museum in Edinburgh.
- Guards Crimean War Memorial unveiled in London, including sculptures of Other Ranks.
- William Morris founds the influential furnishing company, Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co.
