1891 in the United Kingdom

UK related events during the year of 1891

Events from the year 1891 in the United Kingdom.

14 February – in the FA Cup quarter final in English Association football, a goal is deliberately stopped by handball on the goal line. An indirect free kick is awarded, since the penalty kick, proposed the previous year by William McCrum, has not yet been implemented. This event probably changes public opinion on the penalty kick, seen previously as 'an Irishman's motion'. 1–28 February – the driest month in the EWP series with an average of only 9–12 March – the Great Blizzard of 1891 in the south and west of England leads to extensive snow drifts and powerful storms off the south coast, with 14 ships sunk and approximately 220 deaths attributed to the weather conditions. 17 March – the British steamship sinks in the inner harbour of Gibraltar after collision with the battleship HMS Anson, killing 564. 18 March – official opening of the London–Paris telephone link, opening to the public on 1 April. 5 April – census in the United Kingdom: 15.6 million people live in cities of 20,000 or more in England and Wales and cities of 20,000 or more account for 54% of the total English population. The number of Welsh speakers in Wales is recorded for the first time and constitutes 54.4% of the population. 1–9 June – royal baccarat scandal: the Prince of Wales, the future Edward VII, appears as a witness in a trial for slander in the case of an army officer accused of cheating in an illegal gambling game at which the Prince was present. 25 June – Arthur Conan Doyle's detective Sherlock Holmes appears in The Strand Magazine for the first time. 10 October – First street charity collection in the UK is held in Manchester in aid of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.

Baptist Union of Great Britain established by merger of the General and Particular Baptists. Rachel Beer takes over editorship of The Observer, the first woman to edit a national newspaper.

J. M. Barrie's novel The Little Minister. George Gissing's novel New Grub Street. Thomas Hardy's novel Tess of the d'Urbervilles. William Morris' novel News from Nowhere (book publication). Oscar Wilde's novel The Picture of Dorian Gray (book version) and Lord Arthur Savile's Crime and Other Stories. Henry James' short story The Pupil published in Longman's Magazine. Strand Magazine (January).