Pre year 1000
705 Lands on Ribble near Preston in Amounderness granted to Ripon Monastery
c.710 Preston Parish Church built.
930 Preston granted, by Athelstan to the Archbishop of York.
937 Danes defeated at the Pass of the Ribble (battle of Brunnanburgh).
940 Tithes and Fishery of Preston and two bovates of land granted to the priory of Lancaster
1000-1099
1066 Battle of Hastings, Preston is 'given' to Roger de Poictou.
1080/6 Doomsday (Domesday) Survey made - Preston chief town in area, Doomsday book is written.
1087 Penwortham priory erected.
1200-1299
1221 Franciscan Convent of grey Friars founded till 1539
1293 Hospital of St. Mary Magdelen, Maudlands founded.
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1300-1399
1322 Robert the Bruce fired the town.
1323 Assizes held at Preston, adjourned after intimidation of judges by armed men. Preston set on fire by Robert the Bruce.
1333 Edward III with his army passed through Preston on his way to Scotland.
1334 Preston pronounced to be richest royal borough in Lancashire.
1343 Preston is recorded as 'being richer than any other city or town in Lancashire'.
1362 John O'Gaunt held in capite lordship of Parish Church.
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1400-1499
1453 Troops raised at Preston by Lord Derby to fight in Civil war,
1481 Land in Fulwood and Penwortham granted to Sir Thomas Molyneux.
1500-1599
1539 Friary and Hospital closed.
1565 Preston gains its system of government, which remains almost unchanged today.
1566 Elizabeth I Charter documents the hope that Preston shall 'remain a Borough of peace and tranquillity for all future times'.
c-1581 Parish Church re-built and re-dedicated from St. Wilfrid to St. John.
1582 Guild Festival. Celebrated afterwards every 20 years.
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1600-1699
1630 The Great Plague arrived in Preston and claims hundreds of lives.
1665 Roman Catholic Chapel in Yard, Friargate, first since the Reformation.
1617 James I visited Preston, Houghton Tower etc.
1642 Start of civil war, meeting of royalists on Preston moor. Adam Morte refused to be Mayor, he was a Roundhead.
1643 (Feb 10th) Siege ad capture of Preston by Parliamentarians. Retaken March 20th & Aug. l7th.
1644 Prince Rupert ordered Mayor and bailiffs to be imprisoned in Skipton Castle.
1648 The Battle of Preston between Royalist (Duke of Hamilton) and Parliamentarians (Cromwell) on Ribbleton moor. Royalist defeated, 2,500 slain.
1649 Charles II proclaimed King in the town on his way from Scotland.
1650 Earl of Derby landed at mouth of River Wyre with 300 troops, and raised 600 cavalry for the King.
1660 Population of the town supposed to be 5,000 /6,000.
1661 "All the in habitants" of the borough declared by the House of Commons, to have right to vote at Parliamentary elections.
1662 Sedan chairs first introduced. Early closing introduced by local tradesmen.
1666 Grammar school erected at bottom of stoneygate.
1674 First Workhouse established, near Avenham Lane.
1680 First detailed plan of Preston is drawn up by Edward Kuerden.
1684 Charles II amended Preston's Charter.
1690 Preston first lighted with oil lamps.
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1700-1799
1701 Establishment of Mock Corporation of Walton-le-Dale. It continued for about 100 years.
1711 Authur Devis - Preston's most famous painter and landscape artist is born.
1715 Jacobite Rebellion. Siege of the Town. Surrender (Nov. l4th) of Rebels to General Wills.
1716 Twelve rebels executed on Gallows Fall. Four rebel officers previously (end of 1715) executed in the town.
1717 Unitarian Chapel, off Church Street built.
1724 Fire engine first introduced.
1726 Corporation ban bull baiting. House racing was held on Preston Moor annually till 1833. St. George's Church consecrated.
1728 South Prospect of Preston is painted by Nathiel Buck,
1731 Catholic Charitable Society established.
1732 Richard Arkwright born at Preston.
1741 First Preston newspaper the 'Journal" established.
1745 Prince Charles Edward Stuart passed through Preston November 27th.
1755 Penwortham bridge across the Ribble opened.
1756 Packhorses used between Lancaster, Preston & Liverpool
1759 Penwortham Bridge rebuilt. Ann Coder "Praying Nanny" born at Thornley Longridge
1762 Guild Hall opened.
1765 John Wesley passed through Preston.
1768 Richard Arkwright, with Kay's help, perfected and set up first spinning wheel machine at Preston.
1769 Arkwright's first patent for spinning machinery obtained.
1771 Stage Coach commenced between Preston, Wigan & Warrington.
1776 The "Old Bank" opened
1777 First Preston cotton mill built in Moor Lane.
1779-81 Walton bridge built.
1780 Town Hall fell down.
1792 New Town Hall opened.
1784 Friends Meeting House erected. Rebuilt about 1797 and again in 1847
1786 "The Terrace" in Fishergate, commenced, completed in 1800.
1789 House of Correction bottom of Church Street opened.
1790 Almshouses erected by the Corporation on north side of town.
1792 Sir Richard Arkwright died in his 60th year.
1793 St. Wilfrid's Catholic Chapel opened.
1794 Joseph Livesey is born. He founded the temperance movement in 1834 and was a philanthropist to the town, an author and pioneer.
1797 "Royal" and "Loyal" Preston Volunteer Corps established.
1798 Preston and Lancaster Canal opened.
c.1799 First houses erected in Winckley Square.
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1800-1899
1802 Theatre Royal built. Tramroad bridge over River Ribble erected.
1804 John Horrocks died aged 36. Formation of company for improving navigation of Ribble.
1807 General election; seven days polling and rioting.
1808 Independent Chapel, Grimshaw Street opened.
1810 First Preston Agricultural Society established. Only three policemen in Preston at this time.
1813 House of Recovery built. Tower of Parish Church rebuilt with eight new bells added.
1814 National School, Avenham-lane erected. St. Wilfrid', Catholic schools Fox street and Vauxhall Road Chapel built. Great overflow of the Ribble.
1815 Preston Gas Company established. Trinity Church consecrated.
1816 Preston first lighted with gas, people starving because of failed harvest. A man named Arkwright pilloried in the Market Place, being the last thus punished in Preston.
1818 Hand-loom weavers strike.
1822 Foundation of St Peter', Church laid. First local. First local Building Society established.
1814 Corn Exchange opened. Preston and Blackburn new road made.
1826 Serious rioting; power looms destroyed, military called out. St. Paul's Church opened.
1828 Mechanics Institution established, at 21 Cannon Street. Lancaster Bank opened in Preston. Mr. Green's balloon ascent from rear of Craven Heifer.
1829 First steamer on the Ribble. Court House adjoining the prison erected. Distress in the town.
1830 Cock-pit closed for fighting.
1831 Act passed for construction of railway between Preston and Wigan.
1832 Lock-up built in Avenham Street. Water Company founded. Temperance Society established.
1833 New House of Recovery built. Last horse race on Fulwood Moor. Canal between Preston and Kendal opened. "Water Witch" sailed daily between the two.
1834 Preston Law, Society established. Launch on Ribble of "Enterprise" first steamboat built at Preston, May 23rd.
1835 First election (December 31) under Municipal Reform Act. Almshouses, Deepdale Road, taken down. North Union Railway between Preston & Wigan (April 25). Earthquake felt.
1936 Christ Church consecrated West End Shamble,' (Fishergate) erected. St Ignatius's Church opened.
1837 General Election, one day's polling first introduced; rioting, military called out.
1838 North Union Railway opened. St. Mary's Church opened. Wesley Chapel, North Road, built. Incorporation of Ribble Navigation Company.
I839 St. Thomas's Church opened. Great Hurricane. Preston made a port under Fleetwood.
1840 Preston and Lancaster, Longridge and Wyre Railways Opened. St Augustine's Catholic Church opened. Establishment or Literacy & Philosophical Society. Ancient coins found in Cuerdale.
1841 Grammar School, Cross Street erected. Railway communication between Bolton and Preston established.
1842 August 12th - cotton workers killed by military.
1842 Savings Bank, Lune Street erected. Rioters shot in Lune Street by the 72nd Highlanders.
1843 Shock of earthquake felt. Preston made an independent port. First stone of New Quay laid. Fulwood Barracks commenced finished 1848.
1844 New Jerusalem Chapel, Avenham Road opened. Preston Bank established.
1845 Victoria warehouses on Quay erected, Great Free Trade Demonstration; Cobden and Bright spoke (Nov, 19).
1846 Preston & Blackburn Railway opened. Railway communication between Preston and Kendal established.
1847 Queen Victoria landed at Fleetwood from Ireland and passed through Preston Station. Clayton and Wilson's Bank failed.
1848 All Saints' Church opened. Mill Hill Ragged School built. Collision between soldiers of 39th regiment and policemen.
1849 Railway to Liverpool (via Ormskirk) opened. 'Institution for the Diffusion of Knowledge' opened at Avenham.
1850 Public Health Act introduced. First stone of St. Watburge's Catholic Church, Maudlands, laid.
1851 Baths and Washhouses opened, in Saul Street.
1852 Statue of Sir Robert Peel in Winckley Square unveiled. Principal paving and sewering works commenced.
1853 Parish Church taken down and rebuilt; Zoar Baptist Chapel, Regent Street built. Commenced (Oct 31) of strikes of 20,000 cotton workers, factory operatives resulting in the great "lock-out" of the factories. Queen Victoria lunched at railway station. Obelisk in the Market place removed.
1854 Termination of the lockout of operatives (May 2). St. Walburge's Catholic church opened. New Post Office in Lancaster Road opened. Trial trip of "Dandy" first screw steamboat on Preston/Lancaster Canal (December 19).
1856 Temperance Hall opened July 5.
1857 There are now 75 cotton mills in use.
1858 Magistrates' Court and Police Station, Lancaster Road opened. Disturbance among pauper labourers.
1859 May 2, First horse-drawn bus between Preston and Fulwood. St. Luke's Church opened. Oct. 29 first enrolment of Rifle Volunteers. Dec. 8. New Congregational Chapel, Grimshaw Street opened. Waggon-running on the old Tramway ceased.
1860 Establishment of Cheese and Wool Fairs. Pig Market established in St. John Street. April 9, Spinners & Minders' Institute, Church Street opened.
1861 May 30, Fulwood Church, a transformed Methodist Church, opened. Sept. 21, Col. Crofton and Adjt. Plantain shot at Fulwood Barracks by Private McCaffery executed at Kirkdale 11th January 1862.
1862 Jan 6 death of Rev Robert Harris in his 98th year. Jan 27th first meeting of the Preston Relief Committee. June 26, Orchard Chapel and Wesleyan Chapel, Moor Park opened. Sept.2, Foundation stone of new, Town Hall laid.
1863 April 6, opening of the coastline between Lytham and Blackpool. April 21, discontent amongst laborers employed by Poor Law Guardians, riot threatened; military called out. June 7 Orphan School opened. Sept.22, Consecration of St. Mark's Church. Nov 4th & 5th floods at Preston and district.
1864 All Saints Church, High Walton consecrated.
1865 April 17th Lytham Pier opened. Aug. 7th, Longridge New Congregational Chapel opened.
1866 April 12th, death of Sir Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood, bart. A Club for Liberals was opened in Church Street.
1867 Conservative Club opened in Lord Street. Aug.10, accident on Longridge Railway left 70 injured. Oct. 3, opening of New Gothic Town Hall and Avenham and Miller Parks by Duke of Cambridge. Oct. 4 Moor Park opened. Oct.24, Cattle Market opened.
1868 June 1st, first Hanson cab on Preston's streets. June 3, riot between English and Irish. Oct.29 St. James's Church opened (after being rebuilt) Dec. 29th new Workhouse opened by Mr. T.B. Addison.
1869 March 14, earthquake felt. April 9, cotton Operatives' strike; terminated May 14th (weavers), and Sept. (spinners).
1870 Jan 1st Infirmary opened. May 3, Emmanuel Church opened. May 31, new Post Office, Fishergate opened Aug 6th roof of new covered Market fell. Sept. 29 new Public Swimming Baths opened. Dec 5, Garstang and Knott End Railway opened.
1871 March 17th, earthquake felt. Aug. 4th, corner stone at St. Joseph's Orphanage laid.
1872 First steam fire engine purchased for the town.
1873 June 3, Derby Memorial Statue, Miller Park, unveiled by Colonel Wilson Patten. Work commenced on new Central Railway Station.
1874 June 24th St. Joseph's R.C. Church, Ribbleton lane opened. June 25th First Medical Officer of Health for the borough. Nov. 3, last public pump (in Fishergate) removed.
1875 Covered Market in the Orchard completed.
1876 May 29th corner stone of Ebenezer Independent chapel, Leyland laid. June 2nd, Skating rink at Preston, opened. Nov 9th, appointment of first School Attendance Committee.
1877 May 12th, Preston Nursery and Pleasure Garden, opened
Oct, 27 Reform Club, Fishergate opened.
1878 May 1st, Conservative Club building, Guildhall Street opened. May 17th, Cotton Operatives Riot in Preston. Riot Act read, military called cut June 7th, a report showed 7,000 in receipt of daily relief. June 19, first Coffee Tavern opened in Friargate. June 19, end of cotton strike. Sept. 4, Childers Day Nursery opened in Leeming Street.
1879 Jan. 1, Free Library and News-room opened at Town Had. Jan. 25 "British Workman" opened at Ashton. (Feb.27) Opening of industrial home for Fallen Women, at Ashton (March 20) tramway line between Preston and Fulwood opened. July 15, failure of Western District Bank branch at Preston. Aug 24, foundation stone of new Catholic Church at Walton-Le-Dale laid (Dec 8) Mr. Gladstone stopped at Preston station and delivered a speech.
1880 January 1 15-railway collision at Burscough junction, 7 people killed and 30 injured. April 25th reopening of St. Wilfrid's Church. June 11th, first telephone line at Preston. July 18, New Central Railway Station, Preston opened. Nov. 14, flood in Preston and district.
1881 July 5, terrific thunderstorm in Preston and district. Oct 8, Corporation Astronomical Observatory opened. Nov 1, change in the area and names of municipal wards.
1882 April 14, construction of extension tramway (owned by the Corporation) commenced. July 3,4,5, Temperance Conference and Jubilee (at Preston) the first teetotal pledge, Sept. 4, Public Hall, At Corn Exchange. Tramway between Fishergate-hill and the Pleasure Gardens, Ribble opened. Sept. 14. New County offices and magistrates' Sessions Hall Formally opened. Sept. 15, opening of the west Lancashire (Southport to Preston) Railway Sept. 27th opening of Rodgett Infirmary (Royal Albert Asylum Lancaster) Oct. 26 Corporation agreed to buy entire undertaking of the Ribble Navigation Company including farm at Freckleton for £72,500. Dec. 23, opening of Tramway between Preston and Ashton-on-Ribble.
1883 Jan. 1 Preston Union Bank registered Jan. 17 Matthew Brown, brewer, died aged 76. April 27 Ribble Bill read a third time in the House of Commons.
1883 July 23, Consecration of St. Matthew's Church, Preston. Aug. 8, formation of a Ratepayers' Assoctation in Preston.
1892 Albert Edward Dock (now Riversway) is opened, together with rail links.
1893 Harris Library and Museum opened.
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1900 onwards
1900 Electric carriage works in Strand Road now produce trams.
1902 The Guild enters a new dynamic phase in industrial development.
1907 Cotton industry begins to decline. First concerns over the viability of the dock development are voiced.
1914 World War 1. Preston becomes a major railway centre and key mobilisation base.
1916 'Preston Pals' almost annihilated on 23rd July. Bazentin-le-Petite. Northern France.
1920 Preston's economy changes from typical mill town. Diversification includes new administrative centre of the County Council, The town has become a major route centre of dock, railway yards and road distribution. Also a major market and service centre for agriculture.
1925 The first electric trams arrive, but unemployment is rising.
1931 Heavy engineering continues expanding for export worldwide. Expansion into service industries, such as gas, electric and telephones.
1930's New Housing boom - over 400 homes a year are completed- 12 new schools and nearly 10 miles of sewers. Consumer society develops rapidly - motorcars, motorbikes, domestic appliances - some produced locally. Over 20 cinemas and five theatres complete the leisure scene.
1938 North End Football Team beat Huddersfield Town to bring the Wembley Cup home. Confidence rises in the Town's economy, as Preston Withstood the Depression better than most.
1939 World War 11 and re-armament.
1945 15th August: the Mayor announces termination of hostilities from the town hall steps.
1950's Cotton mills continue to close after the war boom. Cheap imports from abroad are blamed.
1963 Aircraft production includes partnership in Jaguar, Concorde and Tornado aircraft.
1970 Preston and district employment is strongly rooted in new technology, with nuclear and aerospace industries.
1979 Decision is taken to close the Dock and redevelop the site.
1980,s Preston withstands major job losses at Courltaulds and British Leyland.
1990's In the last decade of the century. Preston's role as a natural business and administrative centre for Lancashire is re-asserting itself as a dominant employer through to the next millennium.
2002 March 14th - It's the City of Preston! The town today became England's 50th city to mark the Queen's Golden Jubilee celebrations.
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