1758 in Great Britain
Events from the year 1758 in Great Britain.
Incumbents
- Monarch - George II
- Prime Minister - Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Whig
Events
- 15 April - Samuel Johnson begins publishing the series of essays The Idler (1758–1760) in the Universal Chronicle.
- 21 April - Thomas Secker enthroned as Archbishop of Canterbury.
- 24 April - Robert Dodsley and his brother James sign a contract with Edmund Burke to launch The Annual Register.
- 29 April - Seven Years' War: Battle of Cuddalore: A British fleet under George Pocock engages the French fleet of Anne Antoine d'Aché indecisively near Madras.
- 23 June - Seven Years' War: Battle of Krefeld: Anglo-Hanoverian forces under Ferdinand of Brunswick defeat the French.
- 8 July - French and Indian War: Battle of Carillon: French forces hold Fort Carillon against British at Ticonderoga, New York.[1]
- 3 August - Seven Years' War: At the Battle of Negapatam off the coast of India, Admiral Pocock again engages d'Aché's French fleet, this time with more success.
- 14 September - French and Indian War: At the Battle of Fort Duquesne, a British attack on Fort Duquesne is defeated.
- 27 October - The ship Dublin Trader (Captain White) leaves Parkgate, Cheshire, for Dublin, and founders in the Irish Sea; she carries 70,000 Irish pounds in money and £80,000 in goods, while among the 60 passengers lost are Edward, fifth Earl of Drogheda, Theophilus Cibber, the actor, and (probably) the Irish mezzotint engraver Michael Ford.[2]
- 25 November - French and Indian War: French forces abandon Fort Duquesne to the British who then name the area Pittsburgh.
Births
- 9 January - George Leveson-Gower, 1st Duke of Sutherland (died 1833)
- 24 January - Frederick Ponsonby, 3rd Earl of Bessborough (died 1844)
- 4 February - George Thicknesse, 19th Baron Audley (died 1818)
- 12 February - David Ochterlony, general (died 1825)
- 17 February - John Pinkerton, antiquarian (died 1826)
- 23 February - Francis Napier, 8th Lord Napier (died 1823)
- 4 April - John Hoppner, English portrait-painter (died 1810)
- 23 April
- April - Herod, racehorse (died 1780)
- 15 May - Thomas Taylor, translator (died 1835)
- 17 May - Sir John St Aubyn, 5th Baronet, fossil collector (died 1839)
- 30 June - James Stephen, lawyer (died 1832)
- 25 July - Elizabeth Hamilton, writer (died 1816)
- August - Thomas Picton, soldier (died 1815)
- 24 August - Edward James Eliot, politician (died 1797)
- 25 August - Israel Pellew, naval officer (died 1832)
- 1 September - George Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer, Whig politician (died 1834)
- 9 September - Alexander Nasmyth, portrait and landscape painter (died 1840)
- 29 September - Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, admiral (died 1805)
- 28 October - John Sibthorp, botanist (died 1796)
- 5 December - George Beauclerk, 4th Duke of St Albans (died 1787)
- 9 December - Richard Colt Hoare, antiquarian and archaeologist (died 1838)
- date unknown
Deaths
- 7 January - Allan Ramsay, poet (born 1686 in Scotland)
- 17 January - James Hamilton, 6th Duke of Hamilton, peer (born 1724)
- 10 February - Thomas Ripley, architect (born 1683)
- 6 March - Henry Vane, 1st Earl of Darlington, politician (born c. 1705)
- 18 March - Matthew Hutton, Archbishop of Canterbury (born 1693)
- 22 March - Richard Leveridge, bass and composer (born 1670)
- 6 July - George Howe, 3rd Viscount Howe, general (killed in battle) (born c. 1725)
- 18 July - Duncan Campbell, soldier (year of birth unknown)
- 2 August - George Booth, 2nd Earl of Warrington (born 1675)
- 12 October - Richard Molesworth, 3rd Viscount Molesworth, field marshal (born 1680)
- 14 October - Francis Edward James Keith, soldier and field marshal (born 1696)
- 20 October - Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough, politician (born 1706)
- c.27/8 October - Theophilus Cibber, actor (born 1703)
- 12 November - John Cockburn, Scottish politician
- 22 November - Richard Edgcumbe, 1st Baron Edgcumbe, politician (born 1680)
- 15 December - John Dyer, poet (born 1699)
- 25 December - James Hervey, clergyman and writer (born 1714)
- date unknown - Philip Southcote, landscape gardener (born 1698)
References
Further reading
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1758 in Great Britain: