1709 in Great Britain

Events from the year 1709 in Great Britain.

Incumbents

January to March - Unusually cold weather (the Great Frost of 1709) brings floating ice into the North Sea.^[1]
10 January - Abraham Darby I successfully produces cast iron using coke fuel at his Coalbrookdale blast furnace in Shropshire.^[2]^[3]^[4]
1 February - During his first voyage, Captain Woodes Rogers encounters marooned privateer Alexander Selkirk and rescues him after four years living on one of the Juan Fernández Islands, inspiring Defoe's book Robinson Crusoe.^[5]^[6] After sacking Guayaquil, he and Selkirk will visit the Galapagos Islands.^[7]
12 April - First edition of society magazine Tatler published.^[5]
30 July - War of the Spanish Succession: Capture of Tournai by John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene of Savoy.^[4]
11 September - War of the Spanish Succession: Battle of Malplaquet - Great Britain, Netherlands and Austria led by the Duke of Marlborough defeat France. The song "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" is based on the French song "Marlbrough s'en va-t-en guerre" composed following this battle.^[4]
9 October - War of the Spanish Succession: British army captures Mons.^[1]

Enactment of Britain's first copyright law, the Statute of Anne, coming into effect on 10 April 1710.^[4]
Influx of German refugees from the Rhenish Palatinate, mostly Protestants en route to the New World colonies.^[8]
The earliest known cricket match involving county teams played is between Kent and Surrey.^[9]
Construction of Marlborough House begins.^[1]
The second Eddystone Lighthouse, erected by John Rudyerd, is completed.^[10]
Publication of the first modern edition of Shakespeare, edited by Nicholas Rowe.
Publication of An English-Saxon Homily on the Birth-day of St. Gregory by Ælfric of Eynsham, translated from Old English by Elizabeth Elstob.

24 January - George Rooke, English admiral (born 1650)
15 February - John Philips, English poet (born 1676)
9 March - Ralph Montagu, 1st Duke of Montagu, English diplomat (born c. 1638)
30 June - Edward Lhuyd, scientist (born 1660)
17 July - Robert Bolling, English settler in Virginia (born 1646)
9 October - Barbara Palmer, 1st Duchess of Cleveland, English mistress of Charles II of England (born 1640)
23 November - William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland, favourite of William III (born 1649, Netherlands)

^ ^a ^b ^c Palmer, Alan; Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History. London: Century Ltd. pp. 207–208. ISBN 0-7126-5616-2.
^ Mott, R. A. (5 January 1957). "The earliest use of coke for ironmaking". The Gas World, coking section supplement 145: 7–18.
^ Raistrick, Arthur (1953). Dynasty of Ironfounders: the Darbys and Coalbrookdale. London: Longmans, Green. p. 34.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Williams, Hywel (2005). Cassell's Chronology of World History. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. pp. 292. ISBN 0-304-35730-8.
^ ^a ^b Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 2006. ISBN 0-14-102715-0.
^ Ober, Frederick A. (1912). Our West Indian Neighbors: the Islands of the Caribbean Sea. New York: James Pott & Company. p. 11.
^ Jackson, Michael H. (1993). Galapagos: a Natural History. University of Calgary Press. ISBN 1-895176-07-7.
^ Gardiner, Juliet; Wenborn, Neil (ed.) (1995). The History Today Companion to British History. London: Collins & Brown. p. 577. ISBN 1-85585-178-4.
^ "Icons, a portrait of England 1700-1750". http://www.icons.org.uk/theicons/icons-timeline/1700-1750. Retrieved 2007-08-24.
^ Majdalany, Fred (1959). The Red Rocks of Eddystone. London: Longmans. p. 86.