page_title: 1856 in the United Kingdom
section_title: Events
hierarchical_section_title: 1856 in the United Kingdom / Events
caption_attribution_description: English: Exterior of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, published in 1828.
context_page_description: Events from the year 1856 in the United Kingdom.
context_section_description: January – the song Glan Rhondda which will become the national anthem of Wales, Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau (Land of My Fathers), is composed by James James with lyrics by his father Evan James, both residents of Pontypridd.
  29 January – Queen Victoria institutes the Victoria Cross.
  4 February – the sailing ship Grand Duke is wrecked off St. Govan's Head in Pembrokeshire with the loss of 29 lives.
  5 March – fire destroys Covent Garden Theatre in London.
  15 March – the Boat Race 1856, first of the annual series rowed between Cambridge and Oxford University Boat Clubs on the River Thames in London; Cambridge wins.
  31 March – the Treaty of Paris is signed, ending the Crimean War.
  19 April – the iron-hulled paddle steamer RMS Persia (launched on the Clyde, 1855) sets out from Liverpool on a 9-day, 16-hour transatlantic crossing at an average 13.11 knots (24.28 km/h) to regain the Blue Riband for the Cunard Line.
  9 July – Natal becomes a Crown Colony.
  15 July – an underground explosion at the Cymmer Colliery in the Rhondda kills 114 men and boys.
  3 September – the Royal British Bank collapses with debts in excess of £500,000.
  22 September – Robert Mushet patents improvements to the Bessemer process for the production of steel.
  8 October
  The Second Opium War between several western powers, including the United Kingdom, and China begins with the Arrow Incident on the Pearl River.
  Free Trade Hall inaugurated in Manchester.
  1 November – Anglo-Persian War: War is declared between Britain and Persia in response to a Persian invasion of Afghanistan with the objective of capturing Herat.
  November – the first known rules of modern croquet are registered by Isaac Spratt in London.
  1 December – under the County and Borough Police Act, in any county or area where a police force has not already been established, the Justices of the Peace must from this date take steps to create one according to nationally defined standards.
  2 December – National Portrait Gallery, London, formally established.
  9 December – Bushehr surrenders to the British.
caption: 5 March: Covent Garden Theatre fire.
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