1850 to 1899

1850
1st April. Orphan Asylum opened in Queen Street.
10th June. Wolverhampton Cemetery opened.
Exchange building built between 1850 and 1853 at a cost of £11,000. It was designed by Wolverhampton architect G. T. Robinson.

1851
April. G.B. Thorneycroft, first mayor of Wolverhampton, died.
22nd May. Norton's Mill destroyed by fire.
John Barker, high sheriff - Great Procession from Wolverhampton to Stafford, to meet the Judges at the Assizes.

1852
22nd July. Consecration of Holy Trinity Church, Heath Town. 
Ragged Schools in Salop Street established.
Stour Valley Railway opened.

1853
9th March. General Market first opened.
14th June. Wolverhampton Improvement Act, 1853 passed.
Post Office removed from John Street to Queen Street.
First stone laid for the School of Design in Darlington Street.
Restoration of the Collegiate Church commenced.

1854
27th January. Sir Robert Peel delivered a lecture at the Corn Exchange.
Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway opened.
Birmingham, Dudley, and Wolverhampton Railway opened. 
Orphanage at Goldthorn Hill opened.

1855
1st May. S.S. Mary and John, Roman Catholic Church opened.
8th May. Presentation of a plate, value £1,000, to the Rev. J. B. Owen, late of Bilston.
22nd May. The Rev. T.H. Campbell elected Headmaster of the Grammar School.

1856
10th, 11th, 12th July. Wolverhampton Fair shortened to 3 days, instead of the usual 8 days.
Wolverhampton Chamber of Commerce founded.

1857
23rd November. Great Fire at Griffin's, Snow Hill and Garrick Street, on the site of St. George's Hall.
The library in Waterloo Road erected.

1858
20th October. St. George's Hall opened.
Russian trophy gun erected in the Market Place (Queen Square).

1859
8th July. St. Philip's Church, Penn Fields, consecrated.

1861
18th July. St. Luke's Church consecrated.
October. Dalton Memorial School connected with the above opened. 
First edition of the Midland Counties Express.

1862
5th September. Glaisher and Coxwell's Great Balloon Ascent, from Stafford Road Gas Works. An altitude of 7 miles was attained, the highest ever reached.

1863
County of Stafford Bank (National Provincial) moved from Cock Street (Victoria Street) to High Green (Queen Square).
The Agricultural Hall opened.
Tettenhall College opened.

1864
6th May. Quarter Sessions established.

1865
March. Great lock-out in iron trade of Staffordshire
St. Andrew's Church opened.

1866
27th August. Wolverhampton's Life Boat launched at Bushbury Pool.
30th November. Queen Victoria's Visit to Wolverhampton and Prince Albert's Statue unveiled.

1867
22nd February. William Murphy, formerly a member of the Roman Catholic Church; later an agent of the Protestant Evangelical Mission and Electoral Union, London, lectured in Wolverhampton.
11th June. Barnhurst Estate purchased by the town.
30th September. Church Congress met at Wolverhampton.
1st December. Large fire at Fearncombe's Works, Dudley Road resulted in a lot of damage.
Hinde's Almanack first published.

1868
1st January. The town acquired the Waterworks, J. Lyons Wright, Engineer.
6th June. Present system of deep sewerage commenced by Town Council.

1869
8th February. Free Libraries Act adopted.
20th April. St. Jude's Church consecrated.
11th May. Exhibition opened at Molineux Grounds.
25th July. Wolverhampton Improvement Act, 1869 passed.
30th September. Free Library opened in Queen Street.
9th October. Wolverhampton’s first cycling fatality took place in Piper’s Row. William Jones swerved to miss a pedestrian and ran into a wagon. He died on the spot.
October. Foundation Stone of Town Hall laid; building cost £20,000.
Hospital Sunday instituted.
Presbyterian Church, Merridale Road, erected.
Congregational Union met at Wolverhampton.

1870
St. Andrew's Church consecrated, after enlargement.
First School Board elected, H. H. Fowler, Chairman.

1871
July. Royal Agricultural Show held at Wolverhampton Race Course.
19th October. New Town Hall opened.

1872
5th to 10th August. Visit of Archaeological Society.
New Post Office in Queen Street opened (moved to Lichfield Street in 1897).
Lloyds Bank incorporated.

1873
14th April. Mayoral Chain presented to Town Council by Isaac Jenks.

1874
30th March. Miners' Strike commenced. Ended 11th July.
2nd November. The Evening Express first Issued.
Hospital Saturday instituted.
Grammar School moved to new buildings in Compton road.

1875
3rd August. The town purchased the Baths.

1876
7th August. Artisans' Dwelling Act adopted.
August. Wolverhampton and Staffordshire Bank - new building opened in Queen Square. Now Barclays Bank.
Wolverhampton Literary Club formed.

1877
All Saints Church erected.
Swan Hotel, Queen Square, pulled down.

1878
1st May. The tramway to Tettenhall opened. 
26th and 27th September. Last Wolverhampton Races on the site of West Park.

1879
6th June. Unveiling of Villiers' Statue on Snow Hill.
16th September. Fire at Davies Bros., Crown Works.

1880
6th April. Rev. Henry Hampton, Vicar of St. John's, died.
June. The Evening Star issued.
13th June. Training Home for Orphan Girls, Riches Street, opened.
Gas Offices, Waterloo Road, erected.

1881
25th March. Wolverhampton Friendly Societies' Medical Association, established.
April. Houses and Shops in Lichfield Street pulled down under Artisan Scheme.
May to October. Steam Tram ran on the Tettenhall line.
6th June. West Park opened.
1st July. The Wolverhampton and Midlands Eye Infirmary opened.
Blue Coat School moved to North Street.

1882
March. Opening of the loop line between Aston and Stetchford allowing an improved train service to London.
July. Horatio Brevitt appointed Town Clerk and Clerk of the Peace.
18th August. Wolverhampton Loans Act passed.
December. Michael Davitt delivered an Address at the Exchange on the Irish Land Question.

1883
27th January. Loss of the Wolverhampton Life Boat, with four men, at the Mumbles, Swansea.
7th May. Opening of the Wolverhampton, Sedgley, & Dudley Tramway Company.
August. First Shop opened in New Lichfield Street.
13th September. Wolverhampton Triennial Festival took place in the Agricultural Hall. 
28th December. Foundation Stone of Borough Hospital laid.
Chubbs' Lock Manufactory moved from London.
Old Hall Tin and Japan Works closed and demolished.
Borough Debt Consolidated, £600,000 Stock issued by Bank of England at 94/4/6 for 3.5 percent.

1884
16th April. First issue of the Midland Evening News.
30th May. The Wolverhampton Fine Art and Industrial Exhibition opened by the Lord Lieutenant.
28th June. The two local Newspapers, the Evening Express, and the Evening Star amalgamated under the title of the Express & Star.
1st August. Foundation Stone of the Barge Mission room laid.
September. The annual meeting of the Associated Chamber of Commerce was held at Wolverhampton.

1885
23rd February. The Claimant, otherwise Sir Roger Tichborne, visited the Agricultural Hall.
6th March. Borough Hospital opened.
25th, 26th, 27th May. Annual fair removed from Queen Square to the Wholesale Market.
20th July. New School Board offices formally opened by the Rt. Hon. A. Mundella, M.P.
21st July. Art Gallery opened.
6th September. N.C.A. Neville, Barrister, appointed Stipendiary Magistrate for South Staffordshire. 
Jubilee of the Right Hon. C. P. Villiers as M.P. for Wolverhampton.

1886
March. Whitmore Reans Constitutional Club established.
Women's Hospital founded in St. Mark's Place.

1887
8th February. Poll of Owners taken on Corporation Bill.
24th March. Bequest of Cartwright Pictures.
4th June. Schmidt Bequest created.
21st June. Queen Victoria's Jubilee.
21st June. Cartwright Trust created.
8th August. Corporation Bill, No. 2, passed.
14th September. Second visit of his Excellency, Sir Saler Jung.
3rd October. Church Congress met at Wolverhampton.

1888
13th August. New Race Course opened at Dunstall Park.
September. Chemical Laboratory at Free Library opened.
23rd October. Eye Infirmary opened by the Earl of Dartmouth.
8th December. Great Fire at Shelton's Timber Yard.

1889
January to March. Gilchrist Lectures, 1st series, in the Agricultural Hall.
20th June. Cottage Homes foundation stone laid.
16th, 17th, 18th July. Horticultural and Floral Show and Fete, first held in West Park.
29th October. Visit of Lord Hartington to Wolverhampton.
Wolverhampton constituted a County Borough under the Local Government Act.
Chubb's Lock Manufactory reopened in Wolverhampton.

1890
14th December. Death of Philip Horsman, donor of the Art Gallery etc.

1891
1st January. Annual Dinner to Aged Poor established at the Agricultural Hall. It continued until 1911.
3rd January. Knighthood conferred on Alfred Hickman, M. P.; Baronetcy August 25th, 1903.
5th May. Visit of Henry M. Stanley, African traveller, to Wolverhampton.
28th August 28. Wolverhampton School Board adopts Free Education.
Wolverhampton Burns Club instituted.

1892
11th January. The first presentation of the Freedom of Wolverhampton to Right Hon.
H.H. Fowler, M.P.
5th May. The Chancel of St. Andrew's Church consecrated.
26th May. The Evangelist Brotherhood established in Wolverhampton.
Blakenhall Constitutional Club opened.
The first edition of Alfred Hinde's Wolverhampton Red Book and Directory published.

1893
January. Metallurgical Laboratory at the Free Library opened.
9th January. A gift of land was made to the town by Sir Alfred Hickman, M.P., for East Park.
28th January. 9th Church Institute opened.
2nd March. English Football Association Cup won by Wolverhampton Wanderers.
17th April. St. Barnabas' Mission Church consecrated.
9th October. Butler Bequest of £10,000 to town.
October. Catholic Apostolic Church, Bath Road, opened.

1894
25th June. Wolverhampton's nine hundredth anniversary commemorated.
22nd September. All Saints' School opened.
1st December. The Theatre Royal in Cleveland Road closed for the last time.
10th December. The Grand Theatre in Lichfield Street opened.
Higher Grade School opened. Building cost £16,123.

1895
1st January. Rev. J.T. Jeffcock, Rector of St. Peter's, died. He was interred at Wolstanton.
January. Town first lit by Electricity. Power Station opened by Lord Kelvin
24th March. Great Storm, St. Peter's Church damaged, Lovatt's Factory wrecked, and immense damage all over the town.
22nd April. Walsall Street new Board Schools opened, cost £14,500.
24th April. Rev. A. Penny inducted to St. Peter's Church.
14th June. Queen Victoria Nursing Institution, Bath Road, opened.

1896
27th January. Fire at Beattie's, Victoria Street.
23rd May. Horsman Memorial unveiled.
4th June. Launch of the "H.G. Powell" Life Boat, at the Point of Air, North Wales.
8th July. Conservatory opened in West Park.
21st September. East Park opened.
17th December. Earthquake felt in Wolverhampton at 5.40 a.m.
Silver rosewater dishes presented to the Corporation by C. T. Mander.

1897
29th March. New Post Office in Lichfield Street opened.
24th May. Presentation of the Freedom of the Borough to the Rt. Hon. C. P. Villiers, M.P.
24th May. Presentation of the Freedom of the Borough to Alderman C. T. Mander.
21st June. Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee.
22nd June. General Holiday.
23rd August. Christchurch Schools opened.
16th December. Wrottesley Hall destroyed by fire.

1898
16th January. Rt. Hon. C.P. Villiers died. He had been M.P. for Wolverhampton for 63 years.
15th March. Jubilee of the Incorporation of the Borough.
23rd May. St. George's Churchyard declared an open space and handed over to the town.
September. The Exchange pulled down.
7th September. Electrical Laboratory erected at the Free Library.

1899
31st January. Rev. C.A. Berry, died.
1st May. New Borough Arms adopted.
13th May. Lifeboat Saturday instituted.
29th May. County of Stafford Bank amalgamated with the National Provincial.
26th, 27th July. Staffordshire Agricultural Society's show held at Tettenhall.
12th October. Chubbs' Factory, Railway street, opened by the Earl of Dartmouth.
13th October. New Swimming Baths opened by the Mayor, Alderman Lewis.
St. Andrew's New Schools, Gatis Street, opened.
R.A. Willcock appointed Borough Coroner.
London City and Midland Bank opened in temporary premises in Lichfield Street. Moved to Queen Square on 24th June, 1901.