1788 in Great Britain
Events from the year 1788 in the Kingdom of Great Britain.
Incumbents
Events
- 1 January - First edition of The Times published under this title (previously The Daily Universal Register).[1]
- 9 January - Association for Promoting the Discovery of the Interior Parts of Africa founded.[2]
- 18 January - Captain Arthur Phillip's ship arrives at Botany Bay.
- 26 January - Eleven ships of First Fleet from Botany Bay led by Arthur Phillip land in what would become Sydney, Australia. Britain establishes the prison colony of New South Wales, the first permanent European settlement on the continent.
- 31 January - Henry Benedict Stuart becomes the new Stuart claimant to the throne of Great Britain as King Henry IX and the figurehead of Jacobitism.
- 13 February - Former Governor-General of India Warren Hastings impeached by the House of Lords for misconduct.
- 17 February - The uninhabited Lord Howe Island is discovered by the brig HMS Supply, commanded by Lieutenant Ball, who is on his way from Botany Bay to Norfolk Island with convicts to start a penal settlement there.
- 14 March - The Edinburgh Evening Courant carries a notice of £200 reward for capture of William Brodie, town councillor doubling as a burglar.
- 20 May - Marylebone Cricket Club publishes revised Laws of Cricket, establishing their position as the final arbiter of the rules of the game.[2]
- 13 August - The Triple Alliance is formed between Britain, Prussia and the Dutch Republic.[3]
- 22 August - Britain signs a treaty with the chiefs of Sierra Leone allowing the creation of a settlement for freed slaves.[4]
- 27 August - Trial of William Brodie begins in Edinburgh. He is sentenced to death by hanging.
- 1 October - William Brodie hanged at the Tolbooth in Edinburgh.
- 14 October - William Symington demonstrates a paddle steamer on Dalswinton Loch near Dumfries.[5][6]
- November–February 1789 - A period of a mental instability for the King, George III, causes a regency crisis only averted by his sudden recovery the following year.[7]
- December - Gilbert White publishes The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne, in the County of Southampton (dated 1789).
Undated
Births
Deaths
- 31 January - Charles Edward Stuart, claimant to the British throne (born 1720)
- 2 February - James Stuart, archaeologist, architect and artist (born 1713)
- 18 February - John Whitehurst, clockmaker and scientist (born 1713)
- 29 March - Charles Wesley: Co-founder (with brother, John Wesley) of the religious movement now known as Methodism (born 1707)
- 15 April - Mary Delany, bluestocking, artist, and writer (born 1700)
- 18 June - Adam Gib, religious leader (born 1714)
- 2 August - Thomas Gainsborough, painter (born 1727)
- 15 October - Samuel Greig, admiral (born 1736)
- 6 December - Jonathan Shipley, bishop and politician (born 1714)
- 22 December - Percivall Pott, surgeon (born 1714)
References
- ↑ Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 2006. ISBN 0-14-102715-0.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Palmer, Alan; Palmer, Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History. London: Century Ltd. pp. 230–231. ISBN 0-7126-5616-2.
- ↑ Williams, Hywel (2005). Cassell's Chronology of World History. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. p. 340. ISBN 0-304-35730-8.
- ↑ Elihu Lauterpacht, C. J. Greenwood (1971). International Law Reports. Cambridge University Press. p. 14. Retrieved 2008-02-28.
- ↑ Harvey, W. S.; Downs-Rose, G. (1980). William Symington, Inventor and Engine Builder. London: Northgate Publishing. ISBN 0-85298-443-X.
- ↑ Macleod, Innes; Neil, James (1988). The Dalswinton steamboat 1788–1988. Dumfries: Farries. ISBN 0-948278-08-0.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "BBC History British History Timeline". Archived from the original on 9 September 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-03.
- ↑ "Robert Burns - Auld Lang Syne". BBC. Retrieved 2012-01-26.
See also