1756 in Great Britain
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Events from the year 1756 in Great Britain.
Incumbents
- Monarch – George II
- Prime Minister – Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle (Whig) (until 16 November); William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire (Whig) (starting 16 November)[1]
Events
- 16 January –
- 12 April – and besiege the British garrison here in a prelude to the Seven Years' War.
- 17 May – Seven Years' War formally begins when Britain declares war on France.[2]
- 20 May – Seven Years' War: Battle of Minorca: The British fleet under John Byng is defeated by the French under Roland-Michel Barrin de La Galissonière.
- 20 June – a garrison of the British Army in India is imprisoned in the Black Hole of Calcutta.[2]
- 25 June – foundation of The Marine Society in London, the world's oldest seafarers' charity.[3]
- 29 June – Seven Years' War: Siege of Fort St Philip at Port Mahón ends when the British garrison in Menorca surrenders to the French under the Duke of Richelieu after two months' siege.
- 6 October – hurricane hits Britain causing large losses of corn and other crops.[4]
- 16 November – Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, resigns as Prime Minister after British failure in the Battle of Minorca. He is succeeded by the Pitt–Devonshire ministry formed by William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire, and William Pitt.[5]
- 4 December – Pitt becomes Secretary of State for the Southern Department.[5]
- Undated – completion of William Edwards' Old Bridge, Pontypridd. With a 140 ft (43 m) span it becomes (by 10 ft) the longest single-span bridge in Great Britain, remaining so for 40 years.[6][7]
Publications
- Edmund Burke's (anonymous) A Vindication of Natural Society.[5]
Births
- Unknown date – Peter William Baker, politician (died 1815)
- 3 March – William Godwin, writer (died 1836)
- 4 March – Henry Raeburn, Scottish painter (died 1823)[8]
- April – William Gifford, satirist, critic, editor, poet, and controversialist(died 1826)
- 13 June – Edmund Lodge, writer (died 1839)
- 21 September – John Loudon McAdam, highway engineer (died 1836)
- 7 October – Jemmy Wood, banker and miser (died 1836)
- 13 November – Edward Rushton, abolitionist and pioneer of education for the blind (died 1814)
- 18 November – Thomas Burgess, Bishop, author and philosopher (died 1837)
- 22 November – Gilbert Wakefield, scholar (died 1801)
Deaths
- 25 February – Eliza Haywood, actress and writer (born 1693)
- 24 July – George Vertue, engraver and antiquary (born 1684)
- 31 August – John Dandridge, distinguished colonel, planter (born 1700)
- 28 October – Charles Somerset, 4th Duke of Beaufort (born 1709)
- 8 December – William Stanhope, 1st Earl of Harrington, statesman and diplomat (born c. 1690)
See also
References
- ISBN 978-0-85752-224-5.
- ^ ISBN 0-304-35730-8.
- ^ "History of the Marine Society". Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-09-03.
- ^ Urban, Sylvanus, ed. (1756), The Gentleman's Magazine, D. Henry & R. Cave, p. 462
- ^ a b c Everett, Jason M., ed. (2006). "1756". The People's Chronology. Thomson Gale.
- ISBN 978-0-521-09021-6. Retrieved 2009-01-19.
- ISBN 0-7277-2939-X.
- ^ "Sir Henry Raeburn (1756-1823)". National Records of Scotland. 31 May 2013. Retrieved 24 June 2022.