page_title: 1897 in the United Kingdom
section_title: Events
hierarchical_section_title: 1897 in the United Kingdom / Events
caption_attribution_description: English: Well now, that surely is a fine display in celebration of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee on Alma Place in Coleraine. Think that J. McQuillan - shop doorway on left behind gaggle (or giggle?) of children - is a Flesher! Not as sinister as it sounds... But with a lot of sharp knives about, wonder if that's Mr McQuillan leaning on the cart with a heavily bandaged hand in a sling? Asked if anyone could cast any light on the triangular "flag" just above the image of Queen Victoria? Upper left quadrant has an apparent upside down ankh, while the upper right has a fish. Turned out that "upside down ankh" was a sword - Coleraine coat of arms. Thanks Niall McAuley and derangedlemur. NLI Ref.: L_CAB_07089
context_page_description: Events from the year 1897 in the United Kingdom. This year was the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria.
context_section_description: 4 January – a British force is ambushed by Chief Ologbosere, son-in-law of the Oba of Benin, leading to a punitive expedition against Benin.
  8 January – Frederick Temple enthroned as Archbishop of Canterbury.
  February – Barrow's Cliff near Tintagel in north Cornwall is donated to the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, its first coastal property.
  18 February – Benin is put to the torch by the British Army's Benin Expedition. The Benin Bronzes are carried back to London.
  29 March – Church of England encyclical replies to the Papal Apostolicae Curiae (1896) defending the validity of Anglican orders.
  10 April – Aston Villa F.C. win the FA Cup with a 3–2 win over Everton in the final at Crystal Palace. Having already sealed the Football League title, they have completed the double.
  17 April – double winners Aston Villa move into their new stadium, Villa Park in Birmingham.
  30 April – J. J. Thomson first announces his discovery of the electron.
  10 May – the Blue Cross animal welfare charity is founded as Our Dumb Friends League in London, a "society for the encouragement of kindness to animals".
  13 May – Guglielmo Marconi sends the first ever wireless communication over open sea when the message "Are you ready" is transmitted across the Bristol Channel from Lavernock Point in South Wales to Flat Holm Island, a distance of 3.7 miles (6.0 km).
  19 May – the Anglo-Irish writer Oscar Wilde is released from prison and goes into exile on the Continent.
  22 May – the Blackwall Tunnel, at this time the longest underwater road tunnel in the world, is opened for traffic beneath the River Thames in the East End of London by the Prince of Wales.
  22 June – Queen Victoria celebrates her accession to the throne in 1837 with her Diamond Jubilee celebrations, centred on London.
  26 June – at the Diamond Jubilee Fleet Review at Spithead, Charles Parsons gives an audacious unscheduled display before the world's navies of the unprecedented speed attainable by his steam turbine-powered Turbinia.
  July – Sir Benjamin Stone establishes the National Photographic Record Association.
  1 July – Workmen's Compensation Act introduces a form of no-fault workman's compensation in dangerous trades.
  2 July – Yorkshire Dialect Society founded, the oldest such society in England.
  21 July – the Tate Gallery opens in London.
  26 July–2 August – Siege of Malakand – British troops besieged by Pashtun tribesmen in Malakand.
  10 August – the Automobile Club of Great Britain (later known as the Royal Automobile Club) founded in London.
  19 August – Bersey electric cabs, the first horseless taxicabs, begin operating in London.
  20 August
  physician Ronald Ross discovers malarial parasites.
  first post-Reformation Roman Catholic pilgrimage to Walsingham.
  10 September – first conviction for drink-driving given, to London taxi driver George Smith.
  12 September – Battle of Saragarhi: 21 Sikhs from the 36th Sikhs regiment of the British Indian Army battle 10,000 Afghans to the death.
  13 October – HMS Canopus, a pre-dreadnought battleship of the Royal Navy, is launched at Portsmouth; she will be deployed widely in World War I.
  16 November – Salomon v A Salomon & Co Ltd, a landmark case in United Kingdom company law, is decided in the House of Lords: creditors of an insolvent company cannot not sue the company's shareholders individually to pay up outstanding debts.
caption: Display in celebration of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in Coleraine (Ulster)
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