Something a bit different. In this quiz about British history for children we’ve listed ten historical happenings (of varying importance) spanning the 1600s to the 1900s and then provided a list of dates which need to be matched to the historical events. There’s lots of scope for varying the difficulty of this history quiz of course; withholding the dates being one option so children have to research the topics independently. There’s plenty to discuss after completing the quiz too because children and teenagers are often surprised at the actual dates on which key historical events took place.
In which year in British history did …..?
- … No.10 Downing Street become the Prime Minister’s official residence?
- … Queen Victoria die?
- … the Factory Act make it unlawful for children under 9 years old to work in textile factories?
- … the first fleet of European settlers arrive in Australia?
- … women gain the vote?
- … the Pilgrim Fathers sail from Plymouth, England, to colonise America.
- … Dick Turpin go to the gallows?
- … Sir Robert Peel establish the first Police force?
- … Queen Victoria come to the throne?
- … the Post Office become officially established?
Here are the quiz answers that you need to match to the historical events listed above:
1918 1901 1837 1833 1829 1788 1739 1732 1660 1620
ANSWERS BELOW … STOP SCROLLING !
Listed below are the ANSWERS to our British history quiz in reverse chronological order:
1918: women gained the vote. Before that year, only men were allowed to vote in parliamentary elections. In 1918, however, only a certain cross-section of women were given the vote …. it was 10 years later in 1928 that women achieved full voting equality.
1901: Queen Victoria died (and Edward VII became King).
1837: Queen Victoria came to the throne as successor to William IV.
1833: the Factory Act made it unlawful for children under 9 years old to work in textile factories. This Act of Parliament also provided that children between the ages of 9 and 13 years old must not work more than 8 hours without an hour break for lunch, and that 9 to 13 year olds must be given at least two hours education during each working day.
1829: The first Police force was established by Sir Robert Peel. Based at Scotland Yard, London, the first 1,000 constables were nicknamed ‘Bobbies’ and ‘Peelers’ (both terms being derived from Sir Robert Peel’s name of course).
1788: First fleet of European settlers arrived in Australia. The first 11 ships set sail on 13th May, 1787, under the command of a Captain Arthur Philip and they arrived at Botany Bay in January 1788. Of the first 1530 people to sail to Australia, around half of them were convicts.
1739: Dick Turpin was executed. Undoubtedly the most famous English highwayman of all time, Richard “Dick” Turpin (and his similarly famous horse Black Bess) led a life of crime for around 10 years before finally being sent to the gallows on April 7th 1739.
1732: No.10 Downing Street became the Prime Minister’s official residence. The famous London residence No.10 Downing Street was gifted to Sir Robert Walpole (usually regarded as the ‘first Prime Minister’ of Great Britain) by George II.
1660: the Post Office was officially established. It was under Charles II’s reign that the first Post Office was created but it wasn’t long (1680) that the London Penny Post system was created by William Dockwra which directly challenged the Post Office’s monopoly.
1620: Pilgrim Fathers sailed from Plymouth, England, to colonise America.
That’s all of our British history quiz questions for now. Hope you learned something new!