3 January – first known arrest of a fugitive achieved through use of the new electric telegraph when murderer John Tawell is arrested after being followed by a detective alerted prior to Tawell's arrival at London Paddington station.
26 March – Sisterhood of the Holy Cross ('Park Village Community') established as the first Anglican sisterhood, to minister to the poor of St Pancras, London.[4]
20 May – the last fatal duel between Englishmen on English soil takes place near Gosport.[7]James Alexander Seton is shot and dies twelve days later from his wound. His opponent, Royal Marine Lieutenant Charles Lawes Pym, is tried for murder a year later, but acquitted.
31 May – launch of the first English lake steamer Lady of the Lake for Windermere.[8]
31 October–1 November – an emergency meeting of the Cabinet (summoned on 15 October by Sir Robert Peel, the Prime Minister) votes against Peel on the distribution of famine relief in Ireland, considering it would call the Corn Laws into question.[13][14]
9–10 November – Peel orders the secret purchase of £100,000 worth of maize and meal from the United States for distribution in Ireland.[13][15][16]
20 November – Anglo-French blockade of the Río de la Plata: Battle of Vuelta de Obligado: the Anglo-French fleet narrowly defeats the Argentine Confederation on the waters of the Paraná River but the victors suffer serious damage to their ships and Argentina attracts political support in South America.
5 December – unable to persuade his Cabinet to repeal the Corn Laws in the face of the Great Famine in Ireland, Peel tenders his resignation as Prime Minister[15] to the Queen but is reinstated days later when Lord John Russell is unable to form a government.[13]