1720 in Great Britain

Events from the year 1720 in Great Britain.

Incumbents

• Monarch - George I of Great Britain

Events

• 17 February - Treaty of Den Haag signed between Britain, France, Austria, the Dutch Republic and Spain ending the War of the Quadruple Alliance.^[1]
• April–September - "South Sea Bubble", the South Sea Company collapses.^[1]
• 15 April - Ralph Allen of Bath appointed to farm Cross and Bye Posts (i.e. mail not going via London), leading to his reform of the system.^[2][3]
• 16 November - Pirate Calico Jack is brought to trial at St. Jago de la Vega in Jamaica.
• 29 December - Haymarket Theatre opens in London.

Births

• 13 January - Richard Hurd, bishop and writer (died 1808)
• 27 January - Samuel Foote, dramatist and actor (died 1777)
• 9 March - Philip Yorke, 2nd Earl of Hardwicke, politician (died 1790)
• 18 July - Gilbert White, naturalist and cleric (died 1793)
• 18 August - Laurence Shirley, 4th Earl Ferrers, murderer (died 1760)
• 30 August - Samuel Whitbread, brewer and politician (died 1796)
• 31 December - Charles Edward Stuart, pretender to the British throne (died 1788)

Deaths

• 31 January - Thomas Grey, 2nd Earl of Stamford, privy councillor (born c.1645)
• 20 April - George Gordon, 1st Earl of Aberdeen, Lord Chancellor of Scotland (born 1637)
• 5 August - Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea, English poet (born 1661)
• 9 August - Simon Ockley, orientalist (born 1678)
• 18 August - Matthew Aylmer, 1st Baron Aylmer, admiral (born c. 1650)
• 17 November - Calico Jack, pirate (year of birth unknown)

References

See also