British History - c15 to c19

These poems, about people and events from recent British History, make excellent bedtime stories for young children, or fun poems for older children.

You might know some of these stories already, but here, for the first time, are the tales of Great Fire of London and Francis Drake (among others) told in the form of story poems for kids. We hope you enjoy them.

Elizabeth I, by Katie Advani (6)

Francis Drake and the Spanish Armada
Queen Elizabeh's pirate, Francis Drake, was playing bowls by the sea in his home town in England, when the Spanish fleet were spotted on the horizon, coming towards them...

The Great Fire of London
In 1666 a small fire started in a baker's shop in London, and soon it spread, to become the biggest fire anyone had ever seen.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel and the SS Great Britain
Brunel was a great engineer who built many amazing things. This is the true story of one of his greatest creations, the SS Great Britain, the biggest and fastest ship in the world.

Horatio Nelson
Nelson was a great British admiral who fought against the French. This fun poem tells the story as though he were a little boy playing a game with his brothers.

Florence Nightingale
The story of the Lady with the Lamp - the woman who made nursing a respectable profession.

All story poems on history-for-kids are funny, educational, and best of all, free!

As a parent or teacher you may copy or print out any of these poems and read them to your little ones without having to ask permission. Please, however, do not use the poems for any commercial purpose (such as magazines, newspapers, or websites) without contacting us first.

British History poems are added regularly, so please bookmark this site and check back later for more.

British History Timeline

55-54 BC: Julius Caesar and the Romans attack England

43-410 AD: England ruled by the Romans

410AD Romans go home, leaving Britain to be invaded by Angles and Saxons

410-600 : The dark ages

800 : Vikings begin to attack from Scandinavia

878 : King Alfred the Great fights off the Vikings at The Battle of Edington

1013 : King Ethelred the Unready defeated, Vikings rule England

1066 : The Normans invade from France. William the Conqueror becomes king.

1191 : Richard the Lionheart leaves England for the crusades.

1272-1307 : Edward I is king. He defeats the Welsh and the Scots.

1455-1485 : The War of the Roses

1509-1547 : Henry VIII is king. He married six times, fell out with the pope, and ordered the Dissolution of the Monasteries.

1558-1603 : Elizabeth I is queen. The last Tudor monarch.

1642–1651 : The English Civil War. Charles I is executed and Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector

1660 : The Restoration. Charles II becomes king.

1770 : Captain Cook claims Australia for Britain

1780 : The beginning of the Industrial Revolution

1783 : British surrender in America and acknowledge their independence

1803-1815 : Napoleonic Wars, ending in the Battle of Waterloo.

1837-1901 : Victoria is queen. The British Empire expands.

1912 : The sinking of the Titanic

1914-1918 : World War One - against Germany and Austria-Hungary.

1939-1945 : World War Two - against Germany, Italy and Japan.

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