Bradbury Bennet is born

Bradbury Bennet is born at The Larches, Somerset.

Alaric Thorne is born

Alaric Thorne is born in Manchester.

Bennet at Trinity College

Bennet attends Trinity College, Cambridge, studying Natural Philosophy.

Bennet begins his first journal

Bennet begins his first journal — the earliest volume in the discovered collection.

Adelaide Mably is born

Adelaide Mably is born in London.

Rise of the Mechanics' Institutes

Mechanics' Institutes provide technical education to working men across Britain.

Stockton and Darlington Railway opens

Opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway — early public steam railway.

Bennet digs pools to save amphibians

During a severe summer drought Bennet digs pools in a dry creek bed to save local amphibians — a formative naturalist experience.

Thorne's apprenticeship

Alaric Thorne undergoes apprenticeship in civil engineering and architecture in Manchester.

Liverpool and Manchester Railway opens

Opening of the Liverpool & Manchester Railway, an event that profoundly influences industrial engineers like Thorne.

Second voyage of HMS Beagle

Charles Darwin's second voyage on HMS Beagle, a landmark in natural history.

Thorne marries Lydia Chadwick

Alaric Thorne marries Lydia Chadwick.

Great Reform Act

The Great Reform Act restructures the British electoral system.

Lydia Thorne dies

Lydia Thorne dies of fever in Manchester; Thorne begins his solitary 'night walks.'

Adelaide Mably marries Dr. Alistair Finch

An arranged marriage links Adelaide Mably with Dr. Alistair Finch.

Victoria becomes Queen

Queen Victoria ascends to the throne, starting the Victorian era.

Chartist movement begins

The Chartist movement advocates for universal male suffrage; Chartist rallies are prominent in industrial towns.

Daguerre's photographic process

Louis Daguerre introduces his photographic process.

Bennet publishes monograph

Bennet publishes a privately printed 'Monograph on the Coleoptera of the Mendip Hills'.

Bennet meets Adelaide Finch

Bennet attends a mesmerism lecture and meets Mrs. Adelaide Finch — the beginning of their correspondence.

Early telegraph lines

The first telegraph lines are established, transforming communication.

Thorne publishes on metal fatigue

Alaric Thorne publishes 'On the Logic of Metal Fatigue.'

The epistolary triangle forms

Bennet, Thorne and Finch form an epistolary connection — the 'Night Walkers' exchange ideas and letters.

Bennet observes meteor shower

On August 11 Bennet observes an annual meteor shower and reflects on celestial order versus spiritualist claims.

Herbarium census

Bennet conducts a census of his herbarium and decides to begin a systematic survey amid the 'Pteridomania'.

Year of Revolutions

European revolutions and publication of The Communist Manifesto; social upheaval reflected on in correspondence.

Notes on seed dispersal

Bennet publishes 'Notes on the Dispersal of Seeds by Avian Means' in a provincial-naturalist periodical.

Great Exhibition

The Great Exhibition at the Crystal Palace; engineers and naturalists travel to London to study technological spectacle.

Bennet sits for calotype portrait

Reluctantly sits for a calotype portrait in Taunton — the only known likeness of Bennet.

Daguerreotype of Adelaide Finch

Bennet receives a daguerreotype portrait of Adelaide Finch inscribed 'A record of light from a salon full of shadows.'

Acoustic Pest Repeller

Bennet constructs an 'Acoustic Pest Repeller' — an eccentric practical device.

Summer drought memory

A summer drought recalls Bennet's youthful intervention in 1826.

John Snow and cholera

John Snow links a cholera outbreak to a contaminated pump, marking progress in epidemiology.

Crimean War

The Crimean War affects public sentiment and industrial demand.

Indian Mutiny (Sepoy Rebellion)

The Indian Mutiny (1857) reverberates across British public opinion.

The Great Stink & Bazalgette

The 'Great Stink' leads to Bazalgette's sewer works in London — an engineering landmark.

Darwin publishes Origin

Charles Darwin publishes 'On the Origin of Species', provoking sustained reflection among the correspondents.

American Civil War & Cotton Famine

The American Civil War and the Lancashire Cotton Famine have economic and social impacts in Manchester.

Last year of main Bennet diaries

1862 marks the last year of the main collection of Bennet's discovered diaries.

London Underground opens (first section)

The opening of the first section of the London Underground.

Suez Canal opens

The opening of the Suez Canal, an engineering and global-trade milestone.

Rise of women's suffrage movement

Growth of the women's suffrage movement in Britain.

Bell patents the telephone

Alexander Graham Bell patents the telephone.

Adelaide Finch dies

Adelaide Finch dies in London, aged approximately 61; correspondence becomes more somber.

Alaric Thorne dies

Alaric Thorne dies in Manchester, aged about 74.

Bradbury Bennet dies

Bradbury Bennet dies at The Larches, aged 84.

Archival silence

Bennet's diaries and papers are sealed and hidden in The Larches library.

Discovery of deed box

A stonemason discovers the deed box containing Bennet's archive during a survey.

Project begins

Dr. Evelyn Reed begins transcription and publication of The Bennet Diaries Project.