1806 in the United Kingdom

Events from the year 1806 in the United Kingdom.

Incumbents

• George III
• Prime Minister – William Pitt the Younger (Tory) (until 23 January); William Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville (Coalition) (starting 11 February)
• Foreign Secretary – Henry Phipps, 1st Earl of Mulgrave (until 7 February) Charles James Fox (from 7 February) Charles Grey, Viscount Howick (from 24 September)

Events

• 5 January – The body of Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, lies in state in the Painted Hall of Greenwich Hospital, London.
• 8 January – Battle of Blaauwberg: British infantry force troops of the Batavian Republic in the Dutch Cape Colony to withdraw.
• 9 January
  • The Dutch commandant of Cape Town surrenders to British forces. On 10 January, formal capitulation is signed under the Treaty Tree in Papendorp (modern-day Woodstock).
  • the Prince of Wales.^[1]
• 18 January – The Dutch Cape Colony capitulates to British forces, the origin of its status as a colony within the British Empire.
• 23 January – William Pitt the Younger dies aged 46 at Bowling Green House on Putney Heath of a gastrointestinal tract complaint and is succeeded as wartime Prime Minister by his cousin Lord Grenville.
• 6 February – Battle of San Domingo: The British Royal Navy gains a victory over the French off Santo Domingo.
• 11 February – Ministry of All the Talents formed by Grenville.
• 20 March – Construction begins of
  prisoners of war.^[2]
• 8 April – Proceedings for the
  Admiralty begin; he will be acquitted in the last impeachment trial ever held in the House of Lords
  .
• 4 July – Battle of Maida in Calabria: British forces defeat the French.
• 7 July – Start of the first Gentlemen v Players cricket match (discontinued in 1963).^[3][4]
• 10 July –
  British East India Company
  .
• 23 July – British invasions of the River Plate: A British expeditionary force of 1,700 men lands on the left bank of the Río de la Plata and invades Buenos Aires.
• 18 August – English seal hunter Abraham Bristow discovers the Auckland Islands.^[5][6]
• 7 October – Carbon paper patented by Ralph Wedgwood.^[2]
• 20 October – HMS Athenienne (1800) is wrecked in the Strait of Sicily with the loss of 347 of the 488 onboard.
• 29 October to 17 December – a
  Grenville
  continue as Prime Minister.
• November –
  Continental Blockade
  against Britain.

Undated

• Supposedly secret 'Delicate Investigation' by senior statesmen into the life of Caroline of Brunswick, the Prince of Wales's estranged wife, finds "no foundation" for allegations against her morals.^[7]
• Annual British iron production reaches 260,000 tons.

Ongoing

• Anglo-Spanish War, 1796–1808
• Napoleonic Wars, 1803–1815

Publications

• Maria Eliza Rundell) published in London by John Murray
  .
• The Star" ("Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star").^[8][9][10]