1707 in Great Britain

Events 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.^[1]

Incumbents

1 May - The new sovereign state of Great Britain comes into being as a result of the Acts of Union which combines the Kingdoms of England and Scotland into a single united Kingdom^[2], and merges the Parliaments of England and Scotland to form the Parliament of Great Britain.^[3]
29 July–21 August - War of the Spanish Succession: Battle of Toulon - Allies, including British forces under Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell, are obliged to withdraw, but the French fleet is effectively put out of action.
22 October - Scilly naval disaster: Four Royal Navy ships, including HMS Association, run aground in the Scilly Isles because of faulty navigation — Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell and at least 1450 sailors are drowned.
23 October - First sitting of the Parliament of Great Britain, at Westminster.^[3]
5 December - First meeting of the Society of Antiquaries takes place in the Bear Tavern on The Strand, London.^[4]

A new Succession to the Crown Act requires the senior officers of state to proclaim the next Protestant heir as successor to the British throne on the death of Queen Anne, on pain of treason; and provides for the continuance of Parliament on the monarch’s death.
Establishment of the Fortnum & Mason department store in London.^[5]

1 February - Frederick, Prince of Wales (died 1751)
23 March - Henry Scudamore, 3rd Duke of Beaufort (died 1745)
10 April - John Pringle, physician (died 1782)
22 April - Henry Fielding, novelist and dramatist (died 1754)
24 August - Selina Hastings, Methodist leader (died 1791)
5 September - John Forbes, general (died 1759)
18 December - Charles Wesley, Methodist leader, brother of John Wesley (died 1788)
William Hoare, English painter, noted for his pastels (d. 1792)

8 January – John Dalrymple, 1st Earl of Stair, Scottish politician (born 1648)
20 January – Humphrey Hody, English theologian (born 1659)
17 June – Antonio Verrio, painter (born 1639, Italy)
23 June – John Mill, English theologian (born c. 1645)
18 August – William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Devonshire, English soldier and statesman (born 1640)
15 September – George Stepney, English poet and diplomat (born 1663)
September 23 – John Tutchin, radical Whig controversialist, gadfly, journalist and poet (born c. 1661)
22 October – Sir Cloudesley Shovell, English admiral (born 1650)
1 December – Jeremiah Clarke, English composer (born 1674)

^ Hugh F. Kearney, The British Isles: a history of four nations (2006), p. 215
^ Acts of Union 1707 parliament.uk, accessed 31 December 2010
^ ^a ^b Williams, Hywel (2005). Cassell's Chronology of World History. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. pp. 291. ISBN 0-304-35730-8.
^ Sweet, Rosemary (2004). Antiquaries: the Discovery of the Past in Eighteenth-Century Britain. London: Cambridge University Press. p. 84. ISBN 1-85285-309-3. http://books.google.com/books?id=SAKvf9eagicC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false.
^ "Icons, a portrait of England 1700-1750". http://www.icons.org.uk/theicons/icons-timeline/1700-1750. Retrieved 2007-08-24.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w Cox, Michael, editor, The Concise Oxford Chronology of English Literature, Oxford University Press, 2004, ISBN 0-19-860634-6
^ Palmer, Alan & Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History. London: Century Ltd. pp. 205–206. ISBN 0-7126-5616-2.
^ Web page titled "John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester (1647 - 1680)" at the Poetry Foundation website, retrieved April 11, 2009. Archived 2009-05-02.