| |
Date |
Event(s) |
| 1 | 1700 | - 1700—1799:
SA - VOC slave trading in Mozambique; Zanzibar and Madagascar
|
| 2 | 1711 | - 1711—1711:
Incorporation of South Sea Company, in London
- 11 Aug 1711—11 Aug 1711:
First race meeting at Ascot
|
| 3 | 1712 | - 1712—1712:
Imposition of Soap Tax (abolished 1853)
- 1712—1712:
Last trial for witchcraft in England (Jane Wenham)
- 1712—1712:
Toleration Act passed - first relief to non-Anglicans
|
| 4 | 1713 | - 1713—1713:
By this year there are some 3,000 coffee houses in London
- 1713—1713:
SA - Smallpox epidemic in the Cape, introduced from India, decimates Hottentots, kills many whites.
|
| 5 | 1714 | - 1714—1714:
Longitude Act: prize of ?20,000 offered to the inventor of a workable method of
determining a ship's longitude (won by John Harrison in 1773 for his chronometer).
- 1714—1714:
Schism Act, prevents Dissenters from being schoolmasters in England
- 1714—1714:
Landholders forced to take the Oath of Allegiance and renounce Roman Catholicism
- 1 Aug 1714—1 Aug 1714:
Queen Anne Stuart dies - George I Hanover becomes king (1714-1727).
|
| 6 | 1715 | - 1715—1715:
Second Jacobite rebellion in Scotland, under the Old Pretender ('The Fifteen')
- 1 Aug 1715—1 Aug 1715:
Riot Act passed
|
| 7 | 1716 | - 1716—1716:
The Septennial Act of Britain leads to greater electoral corruption - general elections
now to be held once every 7 years instead of every 3 (until 1911)
- 1716—1716:
Climate: Thames frozen so solid that a spring tide lifted the ice bodily 13ft without
interrupting the frost fair
|
| 8 | 1717 | - 1717—1717:
SA - System of freehold title to land ends, by which time about 400 farms granted.
- 1717—1717:
First Masonic Lodge opens in London
- 1717—1717:
Value of the golden guinea fixed at 21 shillings
|
| 9 | 1719 | - 1719—1719:
Third abortive Jacobite rising
|
| 10 | 1720 | - 1720—1749:
SA - Western Cape Khoekhoe reduced to labouring class
- 1720—1720:
South Sea Bubble, a stock-market crash on Exchange Alley - government assumes
control of National Debt
- 1720—1720:
Manufacturing towns start to increase in population - rise of new wealth
- 1720—1720:
Wallpaper becomes fashionable in England
|
| 11 | 1721 | - 2 Apr 1721—2 Apr 1721:
Robert Walpole (Whig) becomes first Prime Minister (to 1742)
|
| 12 | 1722 | - 1722—1722:
SA - Groot Constantia is built.
- 1722—1722:
Last trial for witchcraft in Scotland
- 1722—1722:
Knatchbull's Act, poor laws
|
| 13 | 1723 | - 1723—1723:
Excise tax levied for coffee, tea, and chocolate
- 1723—1723:
The Waltham Black Acts add 50 capital offences to the penal code - people could be
sentenced to death for theft and poaching - repealed in 1827
- 1723—1723:
The Workhouse Act or Test - to get relief, a poor person has to enter Workhouse
|
| 14 | 1724 | - 1724—1724:
Rapid growth of gin drinking in England
- 1724—1724:
Longman's founded (Britain's oldest publishing house)
|
| 15 | 1726 | - 1726—1726:
First circulating library opened in Edinburgh
- 1726—1726:
Invention of the chronometer by John Harrison
|
| 16 | 1727 | - 1727—1727:
Board of Manufacturers established in Scotland
- 11 Jun 1727—11 Jun 1727:
George I dies - George II Hanover becomes king
|
| 17 | 1729 | - 9 Nov 1729—9 Nov 1729:
Treaty of Seville signed between Britain, France and Spain - Britain maintained
control of Port Mahon and Gibraltar
|
| 18 | 1730 | - 1730—1730:
SA - The VOC imports slaves from Mozambique and Zanzibar. First Boers reach George area, trek inland into Langkloof.
- 1730—1730:
Irish famine
|
| 19 | 1731 | - 1731—1731:
Invention of seed drill by Jethro Tull [others say 1701]
- 1731—1731:
Invention of sextant by John Hadley
|
| 20 | 1732 | - 1732—1732:
SA - Annual rental of a leningplaats doubled to 24 rixdollars. Quitrent system of land tenure introduced.
- 7 Dec 1732—7 Dec 1732:
Covent Garden Opera House opens
|
| 21 | 1733 | - 1733—1733:
Excise crisis: Sir Robert Walpole wanted to add excise tax to tobacco and wine -
Pulteney and Bolingbroke oppose the excise tax
- 1733—1733:
Law forbidding the use of Latin in parish registers generally obeyed - some continued in
Latin for a few years
- 1733—1733:
John Kay invents the flying shuttle, revolutionised the weaving industry
|
| 22 | 1734 | - 1734—1734:
SA - Great Brak River proclaimed eastern boundary of Cape.
- 1734—1734:
Kent's Directory published
|
| 23 | 1737 | - 1737—1743:
SA - Short-lived Moravian mission to Khoekhoe
- 1737—1737:
Licensing Act restricts the number of London theatres and subects plays to censorship
of the Lord Chamberlain (till 1950s)
|
| 24 | 1738 | - 24 May 1738—24 May 1738:
John Wesley has his conversion experience
|
| 25 | 1739 | - 1739—1739:
Wesley and Whitefield commence great Methodist revival
- 7 Apr 1739—7 Apr 1739:
Dick Turpin, highwayman, hanged at York
- 23 Oct 1739—23 Oct 1739:
War of Jenkins' Ear starts: Robert Walpole reluctantly declares war on Spain
|
| 26 | 1741 | - 1741—1741:
Benjamin Ingham founded the Moravian Methodists or Inghamites - Earliest Moravian
registers
|
| 27 | 1742 | - 1742—1742:
England goes to war with Spain - incited by William Pitt the Elder (Earl of Chatham)
for the sake of trade
|
| 28 | 1743 | - 1743—1743:
SA - First recorded Trekboer loan farms in Roggeveld
- 1743—1743:
SA - Dutch Reformed Church congregations founded in Roodezand and Tulbagh.
- 16 Jun 1743—16 Jun 1743:
(June 27 in Gregorian calendar): Battle of Dettingen - last time a British
sovereign (George II) led troops in battle
|
| 29 | 1744 | - 1744—1744:
Tune 'God Save the King' makes its appearance
|
| 30 | 1745 | - 1745—1745:
SA - Dutch Reformed Church congregations founded in Swartland (Malmesbury).
- 1745—1745:
Jacobite rebellion in Scotland ('The Forty-five')
- 19 Aug 1745—19 Aug 1745:
Bonnie Prince Charlie (The Young Pretender) lands in the western Highlands -
raises support among Episcopalian and Catholic clans - The Pretender's army invades Perth,
Edinburgh, and England as far as Derby
|
| 31 | 1746 | - 1746—1746:
SA - Swellendam is founded.
- 16 Apr 1746—16 Apr 1746:
Battle of Culloden - last battle fought in Britain - 5,000 Highlanders routed by
the Duke of Cumberland and 9,000 loyalists Scots - Young Pretender Charles flees to
Continent, ending Jacobite hopes forever - the wearing of the kilt prohibited
|
| 32 | 1747 | - 1747—1747:
Act for Pacification of the Highlands
- 1747—1747:
Abolition of Heritable Jurisdictions in Scotland
|
| 33 | 1749 | - 27 Apr 1749—27 Apr 1749:
First performance of Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks (in Green Park,
London)
|
| 34 | 1750 | - Feb 1750—Feb 1750:
Series of earthquakes in London and the Home Counties cause panic with
predictions of an apocalypse (Feb/Mar)
- 16 Nov 1750—16 Nov 1750:
Original Westminster Bridge opened (replaced in 1862 due to subsidence)
|
| 35 | 1751 | - Mar 1751—Mar 1751:
Chesterfield's Calendar Act passed - royal assent to the bill was given on 22
May 1751 - decision to adopt Gregorian Calendar in 1752: In and throughout all his
|
| 36 | 1752 | - 1752—1752:
Benjamin Franklin invents the lightning conductor
- 1 Jan 1752—1 Jan 1752:
Beginning of the year 1752 [Scotland had adopted January as the start of the year
in 1600, and some other countries in Europe had adopted the Gregorian calendar as early as
1582]
- 3 Sep 1752—3 Sep 1752:
Julian Calendar dropped and Gregorian Calendar adopted in England and
Scotland, making this Sep 14
|
| 37 | 1753 | - 1753—1753:
Private collection of Sir Hans Sloane forms the basis of the British Museum
- 1 May 1753—1 May 1753:
Publication of ?Species Plantarum' by Linnaeus and the formal start date of plant
taxonomy
|
| 38 | 1754 | - 1754—1754:
Hardwicke Act (1753): Banns to be called, and Printed Marriage Register forms to be
used - Quakers & Jews exempt
- 1754—1754:
In the General Election, the Cow Inn at Haslemere, Surrey caused a national scandal by
subdividing the freehold to create eight votes instead of one
- 1754—1754:
First British troops not belonging to the East India Company despatched to India
- 1754—1754:
SA - First recorded Xam San resistance to Roggeveld Trekboers
|
| 39 | 1755 | - 1755—1755:
Publication of Dictionary of the English Language' by Dr Samuel Johnson
- 1755—1755:
Period of canal construction began in Britain (till 1827)
- 1755—1755:
SA - Smallpox epidemic in the Cape. Foundation stone of Old Town House in Cape Town is laid.
- 2 Dec 1755—2 Dec 1755:
Second Eddystone Lighthouse destroyed by fire
|
| 40 | 1756 | - 15 May 1756—15 May 1756:
The Seven Years War with France (Pitt's trade war) begins
- Jun 1756—Jun 1756:
Black Hole of Calcutta - 146 Britons imprisoned, most die according to British
sources
|
| 41 | 1757 | - 1757—1757:
The foundation laid for the Empire of India
- 14 Mar 1757—14 Mar 1757:
Admiral Byng shot at Portsmouth for failing to relieve Minorca
- 23 Jun 1757—23 Jun 1757:
The Nawab of Bengal tries to expel the British, but is defeated at the battle of
Plassey (Palashi, June 23) - the East India Company forces are led by Robert Clive
|
| 42 | 1758 | - 1758—1758:
India stops being merely a commercial venture - England begins dominating it
politically - The East India Company retains its monopoly although it ceased to trade
|
| 43 | 1759 | - 1759—1759:
Wesley builds 356 Methodist chapels
- 15 Jan 1759—15 Jan 1759:
British Museum opens to the public in London
- 16 Oct 1759—16 Oct 1759:
Third Eddystone Lighthouse (John Smeaton's) completed
|
| 44 | 1760 | - 1760—1760:
Carron Iron Works in operation in Scotland
- 1760—1760:
SA - Jansz; Coetse with Klaas Barends and others cross Gariep River
- 5 May 1760—5 May 1760:
First use of hangman's drop
- 25 Oct 1760—25 Oct 1760:
George II dies - George III Hanover, his grandson, becomes king. The date conventionally marks the start of the so-called first Industrial Revolution'
|
| 45 | 1761 | - 1761—1762:
SA - Hendrik Hop travels to Gariep River
- 16 Jan 1761—16 Jan 1761:
British capture Pondicherry, India from the French
|
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