Radicals & Reform · event 7 of 10

1852

The first public library. Manchester opens the first library in the country under the Public Libraries Act — free, lending, and open to anyone. Dickens and Thackeray both speak at the opening.

The Radicals & Reform era

  1. 1819
  2. 1821
  3. 1839
  4. 1844
  5. 1845
  6. 1846
  7. 1852
  8. 1868
  9. 1903
  10. 1918

See the full timeline or read the history of Manchester.