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Pre-Roman: Pre-historic Hungerford (Stone Age, Bronze Age, iron Age)
43-410 Roman Occupation
1066-1087 William I
1086 Domesday Survey
1087-1100 William II
1100-1135 Henry I
1103-18 First written mention of "Hungerford"
1135-1154 Stephen
1147 First written mention of a church at Hungerford
1154-1189 Henry II
1170 Burgesses of Hungerford used a 'common seal'
1189-1199 Richard I
1199-1216 John
1199 Survey of Savernake Forest mentions leper house at Hungerford
1200 Probable period of new town layout
1216-1272 Henry III
1227 Henry III's 2nd Charter for deforestation of Berkshire 10th May 1227
1232 Priory of St John established on 'Bridge Street' island
1241 Town call a 'borough' for the first time
1248 First mention of a market
1248 Theft by William Turnpeny - escaped to Kintbury
1272-1307 Edward I
1273 Chantry of Blessed Virgin Mary mentioned
1275 'Pons de Hungreford' mentioned
1275 Two water mills in the town
1307-1327 Edward II
1325 Robert de Hungerford founded Chantry of Holy Trinity
1327-1377 Edward III
1340 John of Gaunt born
1348-50 The Black Death - 30-60% of population die
1360 Probable date of the old 'Courte House'
1361 Town Fair mentioned
1362 John of Gaunt's wife Blanche inherits Lancastrian estates
1377-1399 Richard II
1413-1422 Henry V
1422-1461 Henry VI
1446 "Town" and "Borough" mentioned in grant to Lord Hungerford
1449 Construction of 2-bay cruck house (now 85-86 High Street)
1450 Possible date of the first Town Hall?
1460-61 Riot in Hungerford
1461-1483 Edward IV
1464 First mention of The Bear in Charnham Street
1470 Earliest known Rent Roll for Hungerford
1483 Edward V
1483-1485 Richard III
1485-1509 Henry VII
1494 Denne Myll (Dun Mill) mentioned
1522 Muster Roll for Hungerford
1537 Bear Inn Landlord gives evidence against highwayman
1541 Bear Inn passed to Henry VIII's wives
1547 Priory of St. John dissolved by Henry VIII
1547-1553 Edward VI
1548 Chantry of Holy Trinity dissolved
1548 Chantry of Blessed Virgin Mary dissolved
1552 Duchy of Lancaster Survey of Hungerford
1553 Lady Jane Gray
1553-1558 Mary I
1573 The Case of the Missing Charters
1573 Duchy of Lancaster Survey of Hungerford
1591 Duchy of Lancaster Survey of Hungerford
1592 Queen Elizabeth's coachman died and buried here
1600's Two fairs and three markets annually
1601 Poor Law Act
1603-1625 James I
1603-04 Plague Epidemic
1606 Duchy of Lancaster Survey of Hungerford
1617 Debate with Duchy finally settled by Feoffment
1625-1649 Charles I
1635 Dr. Sheaff founded Free Grammar School
1642-46 First Civil War
1648 Second Civil War
1649-1660 Commonwealth
1654 John Evelyn visited
1660-1685 Charles II
1662 Settlement Act
1662 Hearth Tax introduced (repealed 1689)
1666 First "Buried in Woollen" Act (repealed 1814)
1667 Coal Tax introduced (repealed 1889)
1668 Samuel Pepys visited
1675 Local felony by John Boone
1676 Duchy of Lancaster Rent Roll of Hungerford
1676 George Bromham and Dorothy Newman hanged at Combe Gibbet
1685-1688 James II
1686 White Hart mentioned
1687 New clock bought for "Clock House" in Town Hall for £10. Clockwinder John Tubb
1688 William of Orange met Commissioners of James II at The Bear
1689 Hearth Tax repealed
1695 Window Tax (repealed 1851)
1697 Settlement Act
1702-1714 Anne
1702 Interesting account of Hunting in Hungerford
1707 Act of Union: England and Scotland forms Great Britain
1709 Jethro Tull (inventor of the seed drill) moves to Prosperous Farm
1714-1727 George I
1715 Fire in Hungerford mentioned in Constables accounts
1718 Lime trees planted around the pond in the High Street
1718-1720 First inoculation against smallpox
1722 Thomas Guy opens Guy's Hospital
1727-1760 George II
1727-1788 Thomas Gainsborough – English landscape and portrait painter
1728-1779 James Cook – English voyager. Endeavour, Resolution, and Adventure. Discovered New Zealand 1770
1730 First experiments with gas street lighting (see 1801)
1731 Jethro Tull publishes "Horse-hoeing Husbandry"
1733 Gate and rails at southern limits of town
1738 Charles Wesley founded Methodist Church
1740 Bridge Street made
1744 Newbury-Marlborough Turnpike Acts
1746 Glass Tax introduced (repealed 1845)
1750 Tea and coffee houses popular in Britain
1750 Bow Street runners – early "police" force
1751 William Hogarth "Gin Lane", "Beer Street" etc. 1697-1764
1751-1816 Richard Sheridan – British dramatist and MP, writer of comedies.
1753 Hardwick Marriage Act – all (except Jews and Quakers) must marry in Anglican church
1757-1827 William Blake – English artist and poet
1758-1805 Horatio, Lord Nelson. Died on "The Victory"
1760-1820 George III
1762 Murder of William and Anne Cheyney
1765 First canal opened
1768 Royal Academy founded
1770 John Radcliffe opens infirmary in Oxford
1775-1851 Joseph Turner – English landscape painter.
1776-1837 John Constable – English landscape painter
1779 First ironbridge built – Abraham Derby
1781 Britain lost American colonies after 8 year war
1783 First manned hot-air balloon flight
1784 Brick Tax introduced (repealed 1850)
1788 First meeting to consider Western Canal
1788-1824 Lord Byron – English romantic poet
1792-1822 Percy Bysshe Shelley - poet
1794 Hungerford Troop of Berkshire Yeomanry formed
1795-1840 The Regency Period
1795 Speenhamland System (linking poor rate to the cost of bread)
1796 William Jenner performs first vaccination
1798 Western Canal opened to Hungerford
1800 Georgian period: age of consent 14 yrs for boys, 12 yrs for girls
1801 First Congregational Church built
1801 Act of Union – United Kingdom: Britain with Ireland (until 1920)
1801 Gas street lighting becomes widely used – extracted from coal
1805 Battle of Trafalgar
1805 Pond in High Street filled in
1807 First Slave Trade Act – first attempt to abolish the slave trade
1807 Old Wesleyan Chapel in Church Lane built
1809 George III's Golden Jubilee, 25th Oct
1810 Kennet and Avon Canal fully opened
1811-1820 The Regency Period
1811 Vaccination in Hungerford: Mr Major and Mr Barker vaccinating
1811 Enclosure Act for Hungerford received Royal Assent 25.5.1811
1813 Large Ordnance Depot built at Picket Field
1814 George Stephenson's first steam locomotive to haul coal from mines
1814 Buried in Woollen Act repealed
1814-16 New Church of St Lawrence built
1815 3,700 miles of canal in use
1815 Battle of Waterloo. Duke of Wellington defeated Napoleon's army. 16,000 died
1816 "Year Without Summer" caused by the eruption of Indonesian volcano, Mount Tambora, the largest volcanic explosion in recorded history. Local crops lost.
1820-1830 George IV
1821 Bare Knuckle Fight on Hungerford Common between Bill Neat & Tom Hickman
1825 Local theft by John Giles and George Breadmore - transported to Australia
1827 Bare Knuckle Fight on Hungerford Common between Marten & Gybletts
1829 Sir Robert Peal organised civilian police force
1829 The Rocket wins £500 prize for fastest locomotive. Liverpool & Manchester Railway
1830-1837 William IV
1830 Agricultural "Swing" Riots locally - Gibbons foundry and Tannery damaged
1832 Great Reform Bill passed
1833 Slavery finally abolished
1835 Hungerford & Ramsbury Union formed
1834 Tolpuddle martyrs arrested for joining trade union. Transported to Australia
1836 Height of coaching era 200 coaches weekly on Bath Road
1837-1901 Victoria
1837 Turnstiles erected in Little Church Lane
1837 More than 20,500 miles of turnpike roads in use
1839 Royal Berkshire Hospital opened
1840 Meeting about Emigration to New Zealand
1840 New Congregational Church built
1842 Westfield House School established
1845 Canals virtually extinct
1845 Hungerford Gas Company registered
1845 Glass Tax repealed
1847 Railway opened to Hungerford terminus station
1848 New workhouse opened off Cow Lane
1848 Tithe Award for Hungerford
1848 By now only three coaches weekly on Bath Road
1850 Brick Tax repealed
1851 Window Tax repealed
1852 Grand Cricket Match, England v Hungerford, July
1852 Kennet and Avon Canal bought by GWR
1858 Night School established
1862 Railway extended west to Devizes
1863 Little Church Lane turnstile replaced by posts
1864 Primitive Methodist Chapel built
1864 Police Station built
1870 Newtown School Chapel (St Mary's Church, Newtown) built
1870 Hungerford Post office first connected to the Telegraph system
1871 New Town Hall and Corn Exchange built
1872 Autumn Troop Manoeuvres around Hungerford
1874 Railway converted to standard gauge
1876 Murder of two local policemen
1877 Last year canal made a profit
1879 Restoration of St Lawrences completed
1879 Bullock stampede in Hungerford
1884 Old Grammar School in Croft closed
1887 Queen Victoria's Jubilee, 21st June
1889 Coal Tax repealed
1891 First steam fire engine "Greenwich"
1892 Party for townspeople of Hungerford to celebrate Sir William Pearce's 31st birthday
1893 First fire station built in Charnham Street
1894 Boundary changes bringing Charnham Street into Hungerford
1896 Second railway bridge over High Street
1897 Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, 20th June
1899 St John's Mission Hall built
1900 Church House built
1901-1910 Edward VII
1903 Water Works company formed
1905 Telephone exchange first installed
1907 School added to Primitive Methodist Chapel
1908 Formation of Town & Manor Charity, under Charity Commissioners
1909 New Sewerage and Drainage system
1910-1936 George V
1910 Tragic death of Mr Freddie Pratt, June
1910 New motorised fire engine "Dreadnought"
1910 Swimming sports in the canal, 1910 onwards
1910 New 'council' school built in Fairview Road
1912 Visit of King George V to Chilton
1914 Post Office built
1914-18 First World War
1915 180 Company A.S.C. MT. stationed in Hungerford
1917 Plane crash in Hungerford
1919 Peace Celebration Dinner
1920 Widening of Bridge Street: Dedication of War Memorial
1921 Sports ground opened in The Croft
1921 War Memorial Dedication Service
1924 Motorised fire engine 'John of Gaunt'
1928 Sale of Inglewood Estate (4,225 acres with many local properties and farms)
1932 Charnham Street floods, 16 May
1932 Lytton Strachey, Bloomsbury Group, dies at Ham Spray House, 28 May
1936 Edward VIII
1936-1952 George VI
1939-45 Second World War
1944 General Eisenhower addressed American troops on Common
1948 George VI and Queen Elizabeth passed through Hungerford
1948 "Black Legend" - film about Combe Gibbet made by John Schlesinger
1952-now Elizabeth II
1952 Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip passed through the town
1953 Queen Elizabeth II's Coronation, 2 Jun 1953
1960 Fire destroyed James Mill
1963 John of Gaunt Secondary School opened
1964 Swimming pool opened
1964 Railway station demolished
1966 Third railway bridge over High Street
1967 Library opened in Church Street
1968 New fire station in Church Street built
1970 Steam Fairs on the Common in aid of Corn Exchange restoration
1971 Railway accident demolished signal box
1971 M4 Motorway opened
1974 Local government re-organization: first Mayor of Hungerford
1974 Re-opening of Kennet and Avon Canal to Hungerford
1978 New bells hung in St Lawrence's Church
1979 Formation of Hungerford Historical Association
1980 Hungerford and Camburn Educational Foundation formed
1981 Hungerford twinned with Ligueil
1987 Hungerford shooting tragedy
1988-89 Archaelogical Dig at Undy's Farm
1998 Hungerford Fish Mortality
2008 New library and council office opened in Church Street
2012 Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee
2012 Jubilee Pedestrian bridge built over canal
2015 Queen Elizabeth celebrates being the longest reigning monarch - 9 Sep - 63 yrs, 216 days
See also:
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