1810 Sweden appoint Lars Augustin Mannerheim the first ever Ombudsman to ensure that laws and statutes were observed by public authorities.Although there was no formal requirement for an Ombudsman to be a lawyer in practice all but Lars Augustin Mannerheim have had legal training.The most extreme recourse allows an Ombudsman to act as a special prosecutor and bring charges against the official for malfeasance or some other irregularity. This very rarely happens, but the mere awareness of this possibility means a great deal for the Ombudsmen's authority.

1941 Sweden rescind the rule that an Ombudsman must be a man. (Thus paving the way for people like Tony Redmond and Jerry White to become Ombudsmen.)

1957 The Swedish Parliamentary Ombudsmen was also given the power to monitor local government authorities.

1967 Parliamentary Ombudsman introduced in the UK.

1974 Local Government Ombudsmen introduced in the UK.

1989 Local Government Ombudsmen empowered to issue advice on good administrative practice in local government.

1985 Patricia Thomas appointed English Local Government Ombudsman (York office).

1992 Formation of Ombudsman Watch (Wales) by Jim McBrearty.

1993 Edward Osmotherly appointed English Local Government Ombudsman (London office).

1995 Jerry White appointed English Local Government Ombudsman (Coventry office).

1995 Sir Geoffrey Chipperfield recommended abolition of Local Government Ombudsmen.

2001 Edward Osmotherly retires after 8 years as a Local Government Ombudsman (London office)

2001 Tony Redmond appointed English Local Government Ombudsman (London office).

2003 Local Government Ombudsman Watch (LGOWatch) website started.

2005 Mr & Mrs Balchins are awarded £200,000 compensation. They suffered 14 years of unnecessary injustice because a Local Government Ombudsman wrongly decided not to investigate their complaint.

2005 Select committee investigation into the Role and Effectiveness of the Local Government Ombudsman.

2005 Patricia Thomas retires after 20 years as an English Local Government Ombudsman (York office).

2006 Local Government Ombudsman Watchers public forum started.

2006 Public Service Ombudsman Watchers (PSOW) website started.

2007 Local Government Ombudsman Watchers start this wiki website.

2007 With retirement of Elwyn Moseley the office of Welsh Ombudsman is rebranded as Public Services Ombudsman (Wales)

2007 Local Government Ombudsmen produce another biased stakeholder survey.

20?? Local Government Ombudsmen abolished. They were replaced with a fair, open, honest and truly independent Tribunal whose decisions can be appealed and enforced. Ex local authority staff were excluded from being Tribunal members or officers. Findings of maladministration jumped from 1.6% to 50% in the first year, and two university departments offering Ombudsman studies were closed down.