Timeline of Bristol

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Bristol, England.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

Prior to 16th century

• 803 – St James' Priory founded.
• 1009 – Market active.
• 1140 – St Augustine's Abbey founded.
• 1141 – February: Stephen, King of England imprisoned in Bristol Castle after the Battle of Lincoln.
• 1147 – Bristol fair active.
• c.1220 – Bristol Cathedral construction begins.
• c.1223 – Grey friary founded.
• c.1228 – Blackfriars Dominican priory established.
• 1290 – Jews expelled.
• 1292 – Church of St Mary Redcliffe built.
• 1295 – Parliamentary representation begins.
• 1373 – Bristol becomes a county corporate; Redcliffe becomes part of Bristol.
• c.1478–1479 – Ricart's Maiores Kalendar of Bristol started.
• 1497 – May: Italian-born adventurer John Cabot sets sail on the ship Matthew (principally owned by Richard Amerike) looking for new lands to the west.
• 1498 – May: Cabot sets sail on his second voyage to the Americas; he is never heard of again.

16th-17th centuries

• 1504 – Chapel of the Three Kings of Cologne built.
• 1542 – See of Bristol established.
• 1552 – Society of Merchant Venturers chartered.
• 1595 – Merchant Venturers' School founded.
• 1643 – July: Bristol taken by forces of prince Rupert.
• 1644 – Fort at St. Michael's Hill rebuilt.
• 1645 – September: Bristol taken by forces of Cromwell.
• 1656 – Bristol Castle demolished.
• 1691
  • Bristol Corporation of the Poor founded.
  • Almshouse established at St. Michael's Hill.

18th century

• 1701 – Merchants' hall built.
• 1702 – Bristol Post-Boy newspaper begins publication.
• 1710 – Colston's Hospital founded.
• 1709 – St James's Square laid out.
• 1712 – Custom House built.
• 1717 – William Cossley bookseller in business.
• 1725 – Farley's Bristol News-Paper begins publication.
• 1727 – Dowry Square laid out.
• 1729 – Walter Churchman patents his invention for making chocolate.
• 1737 – Bristol Royal Infirmary opens.
• 1738 – William Champion patents a process to distill zinc from calamine using charcoal in a smelter.
• 1739 – New Room (Methodist chapel) built.
• 1740 – Merchant Tailors' Guild Hall built.
• 1741 – King Square laid out.
• 1743 – The Exchange built.
• 1747 – Bristol becomes Britain's busiest slave trading port.
• 1753 – Economic unrest.
• c.1759 – Joseph Fry begins chocolate manufacture.
• 1766 – Theatre opens.
• 1767 – Bristol Gazette newspaper begins publication.
• 1768 – Bristol Bridge built.
• 1770 – Bristol porcelain manufacture begins.
• 1773 – Bristol Library Society founded.
• 1786
  • Infirmary opens.
  • Wills, Watkins & Co. open a tobacconists’ shop which becomes W.D. & H.O. Wills.
• 1788 – John Wesley gives speech against slavery.
• c.1790 – Berkeley Square laid out.
• 1791 – Christ Church with St Ewen and Equestrian Theatre built.
• 1793 – 30 September: Bridge riot.
• 1796 – John Harvey & Sons, makers of Harvey's Bristol Cream, founded.
• 1799 – Pneumatic Institution established.

19th century

• 1803 – Bristol Dock Company incorporated.
• 1809 – Docks built.
• 1810 – Commercial Rooms built.
• 1821
  • Population: 52,889.
  • John Horwood hanged for the murder of Eliza Balsom.
• 1823
  • Chamber of Commerce founded.
  • Bristol Institution opens.
• 1830s – Clifton becomes part of city.
• 1831 – October: Queen Square riots.
• 1832
  • Bristol Mechanics' Institution building opens.
  • Holy Trinity Church built.
• 1836 – Zoological Gardens open.
• 1837 – Passage to St Vincent's Cave opens.
• 1838 – Paddle steamer SS Great Western (launched 1837) begins travelling to the United States.
• 1840
  • Bath-Bristol section of Great Western Railway begins operating.
  • Bristol and Clifton Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society instituted.
• 1841 – London-Bristol railway completed.
• 1842
  • Synagogue opens in Park Row.
  • Buckingham Baptist Chapel built.
• 1843 – Iron steamship SS Great Britain launched.
• 1844 – Bristol Academy for the Promotion of Fine Arts founded.
• 1847 – Horfield Barracks completed.
• 1850
  • Bristol, West of England and South Wales Permanent Building Society formed.
  • Pro-Cathedral of the Holy Apostles consecrated.
• 1854 – Bristol and Exeter Railway begins operating.
• 1858
  • Western Daily Press newspaper begins publication.
  • Bristol General Hospital opens.
• 1862
  • Bristol Naturalists' Society established.
  • Clifton College opens.
• 1864
  • Clifton Suspension Bridge opens.
  • Avonside Engine Company in business.
• 1865
  • Bristol and West of England Amateur Photographic Association formed.
  • Industrial Exhibition held.
  • Daily Bristol Times and Mirror newspaper in publication.
• 1870 – Gloucestershire County Cricket Club formed.
• 1871 – Bristol Museum and Library established.
• 1875 – Horse-drawn tram begins operating.
• 1876
  • University College, Bristol opens.
  • The Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society founded.
• 1877 – Avonmouth dock opens.
• 1884
  • September: Exhibition opens.
  • Clifton Antiquarian Club founded.
• 1887 – Bristol Tramways and Carriage Company and Bristol Camera Society established.
• 1889
  • Labour strike.
  • Bristol Choral Society founded.
  • March: Flood.
• 1892 – Labour strike.
• 1893 – Brazil, Straker & Co in business.
• 1895 – Electric tram begins operating.
• 1898 – Cabot Tower built on Brandon Hill.

20th century

• 1901
  • Imperial Direct West India Mail Service begins operating to Jamaica.
  • Population: 328,945.
  • Area of city: 11,705 acres.
• 1904
  • Shirehampton becomes part of city.
  • Area of city: 17,004 acres.
• 1905 – Bristol Kyrle Society founded.
• 1906 – Bristol Tramways and Carriage Company introduces its first motor buses.
• 1908 – Royal Edward Dock opens at Avonmouth.
• 1909 – University of Bristol founded.
• 1910 – British and Colonial Aeroplane Company in business.
• 1912 – Bristol Hippodrome opens.
• 1914 – International Exhibition opens at the "White City", Ashton Gate, becoming a military depot soon after the outbreak of war.
• 1916 – Bristol F.2 Fighter aircraft first flies.
• 1929 – Bristol Record Society founded.
• 1930 – Whitchurch Airport begins operating.
• 1932
  • Bristol Evening Post newspaper begins publication.
  • 23 February: Old Market riot.
• 1933 – Gaiety Cinema opens.
• 1938 – Ritz Cinema opens.
• 1940 – 2 November: Aerial bombing by German forces begins.
• 1941 – Bristol Tramways abandoned due to bombing.
• 1944 – 15 May: Aerial bombing by German forces ends.
• 1945 – Bristol Cars in business.
• 1946 – Bristol Old Vic theatre company and Bristol Old Vic Theatre School established.
• 1958 – Bristol Bus Station opens.
• 1959 – Bristol Siddeley aero engine manufacturer in business.
• 1963 – 30 April: Bristol Bus Boycott.
• 1968 – World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association headquartered in city.
• 1969 – British prototype Concorde airliner first flies from Filton.
• 1970
  • Radio repeater tower built at Purdown.
  • BBC Radio Bristol begins broadcasting.
  • Bristol Polytechnic established.
  • SS Great Britain returns to Bristol.
• 1973 – Clifton Cathedral (Roman Catholic) consecrated.
• 1974
  • Bristol becomes part of the county of Avon
  • Ashton Court Festival begins.
  • Avonmouth Bridge opens in Shirehampton.
• 1977 – Gay Pride begins.
• 1978
  • Royal Portbury Dock opens.
  • Castle Park laid out.
  • Bristol Gay Centre founded.
• 1980 – 2 April: St. Pauls riot.
• 1984 – Bristol Community Church organized.
• 1986 – Show of Strength Theatre Company formed.
• 1992
  • 16 July: Hartcliffe riot.
  • University of the West of England granted university status.
• 1996
  • County of Avon abolished; Bristol once again becomes both a city and a county.
  • City of Bristol College established.
• 1998 – Tobacco Factory Theatre established.

21st century

• 2000 – Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory theatre company founded.
• 2001 – Bristol Royal Hospital for Children building opens.
• 2003 – Plain Clothes Theatre Productions formed.
• 2004 – Bristol Shakespeare Festival begins.
• 2007 – Dot to Dot Festival begins.
• 2010 – Brunel Institute opens.
• 2011
  • 21 April: Stokes Croft Tesco riot.
  • Bristol becomes a "city of sanctuary" for refugees.
• 2012
  • Redland Green School established.
  • George Ferguson elected Mayor of Bristol.
• 2015 - Wok to Walk opens on Park St
• 2016 - Daniel Lee, Asher Breuer-Weil, Samuel Gottlieb, Jacob Summerfield, Thomas Prais and Alexander Epstein begin to study at the University of Bristol.

See also

• History of Bristol

Further reading

Published in the 19th century

1800s-1820s

• v.2

1850s-1890s

• • v.1: Civil history
  • v.2: Ecclesiastical history
  • v.3: Civil and Modern History

Published in the 20th century

• (articles reprinted from The Bristol Times and Mirror)

External links

• . Includes Bristol directories, various dates.
• Europeana. Works related to Bristol, various dates
• Digital Public Library of America. Works related to Bristol, various dates