30 March – the United Kingdom Census 1851 is the first to include detailed ages, date and place of birth, occupations and marital status of those listed. The population of the UK is revealed to have reached 21 million. 6.3 million live in cities of 20,000 or more in England and Wales and such cities account for 35% of the total English population. Uniquely, this census also counts attendance at places of religious worship. As part of the legacy of the Great Irish Famine, the population of Ireland has fallen to 6,575,000 – a drop of 1.6 million in ten years.[2]
Banker David Salomons attempts to occupy the seat to which he has been elected in the House of Commons but is prevented from doing so since, as a Jew, he is unable to take the oath in the prescribed form.
1 August – Ecclesiastical Titles Act ("An Act to prevent the Assumption of certain Ecclesiastical Titles in respect of Places in the United Kingdom"), passed into law in response to the previous year's recreation of the Roman Catholic hierarchy by the papal bull Universalis Ecclesiae, attempts to prevent the use of English titles by Catholic bishops; it has no practical effect.
22 August – first international challenge for the 100 Guineas Cup yacht race (later known after the winner, America, as the America's Cup) held around the Isle of Wight.[6]
23 October – exiled Hungarian regent-president Lajos Kossuth arrives at Southampton. After a tour of the UK and 6 months in the United States, he will spend 8 years in England.[7]
Admiralty determines that Welsh steam coal is the best suited to its ships, giving a boost to the South Wales industry.[9]
Labouring Classes Lodging Houses Act permits local authorities to appoint commissioners to erect or purchase houses for the working classes, but is little used.[10]
'Lady Maria Clutterbuck' (Catherine Dickens)'s cookbook What Shall We Have for Dinner? Satisfactorily Answered by Numerous Bills of Fare for from Two to Eighteen Persons.[12]
^ abPenguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 2006. ISBN0-14-102715-0.
^Lada, Zsuzsanna (2013). "The Invention of a Hero: Lajos Kossuth in England (1851)". European History Quarterly. 43: 5–26. doi:10.1177/0265691412468309.