1744 in Great Britain

1744 in Great Britain:

Other years

1742 | 1743 | 1744 | 1745 | 1746

Sport

1744 English cricket season

Events from the year 1744 in Great Britain.

Incumbents

• Monarch - George II
• Prime Minister - Henry Pelham, Whig

Events

• 22 February–23 February - War of the Austrian Succession: British fleet defeated by a Franco-Spanish fleet at the Battle of Toulon.^[1]
• 27 February - A planned French invasion of Britain fails when a violent storm partially wrecks the French invasion force.
• 4 March–15 March - War of the Austrian Succession: France declares war on Britain.^[2]
• 3 October - HMS Victory is wrecked on the Casquets in the Channel Islands with the loss of around 900 lives.
• 28 December–8 January 1745 - War of the Austrian Succession: The Quadruple Alliance of Britain, Austria, Saxony-Poland and the United Netherlands is formed against Prussia.^[2]
• Undated - Mineral springs discovered at Thorp Spa in the West Riding of Yorkshire by John Shires.

Publications

• April - Eliza Haywood's monthly The Female Spectator begins publication, the first periodical written for women by a woman.
• Samuel Johnson's biography of Richard Savage.^[2]
• John Newbery's children's book A Little Pretty Pocket-Book.
• Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book, containing the earliest known printed versions of many nursery rhymes.
• William Williams Pantycelyn's first collection of Welsh hymns Aleluia (first part).
• The first known Laws of cricket.^[3]
• First definitive version of the national anthem God Save the King in Thesaurus Musicus.^[3]

Births

• 13 February - David Allan, painter (died 1796)
• 19 May - Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, queen of George III of Great Britain (died 1818)

Deaths

• 14 February - John Hadley, inventor (born 1682)
• 30 May - Alexander Pope, writer (born 1688)
• 9 August - James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos, patron of the arts (born 1673)
• 18 October - Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, friend of Queen Anne (born 1660)

References

See also