1751 in Great Britain
Encyclopedia
.svg.png) 1751 in Great Britain: |
| Other years |
| 1749 1749 in Great Britain Events from the year 1749 in Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George II*Prime Minister - Henry Pelham, Whig-Events:* February - Admiralty revises the command structure of the Royal Navy and issues new Fighting Instructions.... | 1750 1750 in Great Britain Events from the year 1750 in Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George II*Prime Minister - Henry Pelham, Whig-Events:* 17 January - John Canton reads a paper before the Royal Society on a method of making artificial magnets.... | 1751 | 1752 1752 in Great Britain Events from the year 1752 in the Kingdom of Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George II*Prime Minister - Henry Pelham, Whig-Events:... | 1753 1753 in Great Britain Events from the year 1753 in Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George II*Prime Minister - Henry Pelham, Whig-Events:* 29 January - After a month's absence, Elizabeth Canning returns to her mother's home in London and claims that she was abducted... |
Events from the year 1751 in Great Britain
Kingdom of Great Britain
The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...
.
Incumbents
- Monarch - King George II
- Prime Minister - Henry PelhamHenry PelhamHenry Pelham was a British Whig statesman, who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain from 27 August 1743 until his death in 1754...
, WhigBritish Whig PartyThe Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...
Events
- 31 March - Frederick, Prince of WalesFrederick, Prince of WalesFrederick, Prince of Wales was a member of the House of Hanover and therefore of the Hanoverian and later British Royal Family, the eldest son of George II and father of George III, as well as the great-grandfather of Queen Victoria...
dies and is succeeded by his son the future George III of the United KingdomGeorge III of the United KingdomGeorge III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...
as Prince of Wales. - April - The Gin ActGin Act 1751The Sale of Spirits Act 1750 was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain which was enacted in order to reduce the consumption of spirits, a popular pastime that was regarded as one of the primary causes of crime in London...
requires government inspection of distilleries and restricts sale to licenced premises. - 31 August - Robert CliveRobert Clive, 1st Baron CliveMajor-General Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive, KB , also known as Clive of India, was a British officer who established the military and political supremacy of the East India Company in Bengal. He is credited with securing India, and the wealth that followed, for the British crown...
takes the IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n town of Arcot from the FrenchFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. - 20 October - Charles, Duke of BoltonCharles Powlett, 3rd Duke of BoltonLieutenant-General Charles Powlett , 3rd Duke of Bolton KG PC was a British nobleman and politician....
, marries celebrated actress Lavinia FentonLavinia FentonLavinia Powlett, Duchess of Bolton , known by her stagename as Lavinia Fenton, was an English actress.She was probably the daughter of a naval lieutenant named Beswick, but she bore the name of her mother's husband. She was thought to have been born in Charring Cross, and had been a child...
, already the mother of his three children.
Undated
- A British settlement is founded in GeorgetownGeorgetown, Washington, D.C.Georgetown is a neighborhood located in northwest Washington, D.C., situated along the Potomac River. Founded in 1751, the port of Georgetown predated the establishment of the federal district and the City of Washington by 40 years...
in North America. - ParliamentParliament of Great BritainThe Parliament of Great Britain was formed in 1707 following the ratification of the Acts of Union by both the Parliament of England and Parliament of Scotland...
passes the Calendar ActCalendar (New Style) Act 1750The Calendar Act 1750 is an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain...
introducing the Gregorian CalendarGregorian calendarThe Gregorian calendar, also known as the Western calendar, or Christian calendar, is the internationally accepted civil calendar. It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the calendar was named, by a decree signed on 24 February 1582, a papal bull known by its opening words Inter...
, correcting the eleven day difference and making 1 January New Year's Day from 1752. - William HogarthWilliam HogarthWilliam Hogarth was an English painter, printmaker, pictorial satirist, social critic and editorial cartoonist who has been credited with pioneering western sequential art. His work ranged from realistic portraiture to comic strip-like series of pictures called "modern moral subjects"...
engravesEngravingEngraving is the practice of incising a design on to a hard, usually flat surface, by cutting grooves into it. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an intaglio printing plate, of copper or another metal, for printing...
the prints Gin Lane, Beer Street and The Four Stages of CrueltyThe Four Stages of CrueltyThe Four Stages of Cruelty is a series of four printed engravings published by English artist William Hogarth in 1751. Each print depicts a different stage in the life of the fictional Tom Nero....
.
Publications
- 15 February - Thomas GrayThomas GrayThomas Gray was a poet, letter-writer, classical scholar and professor at Cambridge University.-Early life and education:...
's Elegy Written in a Country Church-Yard (anonymously). - Henry FieldingHenry FieldingHenry Fielding was an English novelist and dramatist known for his rich earthy humour and satirical prowess, and as the author of the novel Tom Jones....
's novel AmeliaAmelia (novel)Amelia is a sentimental novel written by Henry Fielding and published in December 1751. It was the fourth and final novel written by Fielding, and it was printed in only one edition while the author was alive, although 5,000 copies were published of the first edition. Amelia follows the life of...
. - Eliza HaywoodEliza HaywoodEliza Haywood , born Elizabeth Fowler, was an English writer, actress and publisher. Since the 1980s, Eliza Haywood’s literary works have been gaining in recognition and interest...
's novel The History of Miss Betsy Thoughtless. - David HumeDavid HumeDavid Hume was a Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist, known especially for his philosophical empiricism and skepticism. He was one of the most important figures in the history of Western philosophy and the Scottish Enlightenment...
's book An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of MoralsAn Enquiry Concerning the Principles of MoralsAn Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals is a book by Scottish enlightenment philosopher David Hume. In it, Hume argues that the foundations of morals lie with sentiment, not reason....
. - Tobias SmollettTobias SmollettTobias George Smollett was a Scottish poet and author. He was best known for his picaresque novels, such as The Adventures of Roderick Random and The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle , which influenced later novelists such as Charles Dickens.-Life:Smollett was born at Dalquhurn, now part of Renton,...
's novel The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle.
Births
- 2 May - John AndréJohn AndréJohn André was a British army officer hanged as a spy during the American War of Independence. This was due to an incident in which he attempted to assist Benedict Arnold's attempted surrender of the fort at West Point, New York to the British.-Early life:André was born on May 2, 1750 in London to...
, soldier (died 17801780 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1780 in Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - George III of the United Kingdom*Prime Minister - Frederick North, Lord North, Tory-Events:* 16 January - American Revolutionary War: British victory at the Battle of Cape St...
) - 11 July - Caroline Matilda of WalesCaroline Matilda of WalesCaroline Matilda of Great Britain was Queen of Denmark and Norway from 1766 to 1772 and a member of the British Royal Family.-Early life:...
, posthumously-born daughter of Frederick, Prince of WalesFrederick, Prince of WalesFrederick, Prince of Wales was a member of the House of Hanover and therefore of the Hanoverian and later British Royal Family, the eldest son of George II and father of George III, as well as the great-grandfather of Queen Victoria...
and later queen consort of Denmark (died 17751775 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1775 in Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George III*Prime Minister - Lord North, Tory-Events:* 17 January - First performance of Richard Brinsley Sheridan's play The Rivals at the Covent Garden Theatre in London.* 9 February - American Revolution: British Parliament...
) - date unknown - Thomas SheratonThomas SheratonThomas Sheraton was a furniture designer, one of the "big three" English furniture makers of the 18th century, along with Thomas Chippendale and George Hepplewhite.-Biography:...
, furniture designer (died 18061806 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1806 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.-Incumbents:*Monarch - George III*Prime Minister - William Pitt the Younger, Tory , Lord Grenville coalition-Events:...
)
Deaths
- 20 January - John Hervey, 1st Earl of BristolJohn Hervey, 1st Earl of BristolJohn Hervey, 1st Earl of Bristol was an English politician.John Hervey was born in Bury St Edmunds, the son of Sir Thomas Hervey. He was educated in Bury and at Clare College, Cambridge...
, politician (born 16651665 in EnglandEvents from the year 1665 in the Kingdom of England.-Events:* 4 March - Beginning of the Second Anglo-Dutch War.* 6 March - Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society begins publication....
) - 29 March - Thomas Coram, sea captain and philanthropist (born c.16681668 in EnglandEvents from the year 1668 which occurred in England.-Events:* 28 January - England signs the Triple Alliance with the United Provinces and Sweden....
) - 31 March
- Frederick, Prince of WalesFrederick, Prince of WalesFrederick, Prince of Wales was a member of the House of Hanover and therefore of the Hanoverian and later British Royal Family, the eldest son of George II and father of George III, as well as the great-grandfather of Queen Victoria...
(born 17071707 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1707 in Great Britain, created in this year as a result of the 1706 Treaty of Union and its ratification by the 1707 Acts of Union.-Events:...
) - Robert Walpole, 2nd Earl of OrfordRobert Walpole, 2nd Earl of OrfordRobert Walpole, 2nd Earl of Orford , was a British peer, styled as The Lord Walpole from 1723 to 1745.-Family:He was the eldest son of the King's First Minister, now regarded as the first Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole , and his first wife Catherine...
(born 1701)
- Frederick, Prince of Wales
- 2 October - Thomas MathewsThomas MathewsThomas Mathews was a British officer of the Royal Navy, who rose to the rank of admiral.Mathews joined the navy in 1690 and saw service on a number of ships, including during the Nine Years' War and the War of the Spanish Succession. He interspersed periods spent commanding ships with time at home...
, Welsh admiral (born 167617th century in WalesThis article is about the particular significance of the century 1600 - 1699 to Wales and its people.-Princes of Wales:*Henry Stuart *Charles Stuart *Charles Stuart...
) - 26 October - Philip Doddridge, religious leader (born 17021702 in EnglandEvents from the year 1702 in the Kingdom of England.-Events:* 8 March - William III dies; Princess Anne Stuart becomes Queen Anne of England....
) - 12 December - Henry St John, 1st Viscount BolingbrokeHenry St John, 1st Viscount BolingbrokeHenry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke was an English politician, government official and political philosopher. He was a leader of the Tories, and supported the Church of England politically despite his atheism. In 1715 he supported the Jacobite rebellion of 1715 which sought to overthrow the...
, statesman and philosopher (born 16781678 in EnglandEvents from the year 1678 in the Kingdom of England.-Events:* 31 May - The Godiva Procession, a commemoration held in honour of Lady Godiva's legendary naked ride on horseback through the streets of Coventry in protest against her husband's treatment of the citizens, begins.* 6 September - Titus...
) - 17 December - Sir William Gooch, 1st Baronet, Governor of Virginia (born 16811681 in EnglandEvents from the year 1681 in the Kingdom of England.-Events:* 18 January - 'Exclusion Bill Parliament' dissolved.* 14 March - William Penn receives a royal charter to establish a sectarian colony in the Americas....
)