1769 in Great Britain
Events from the year 1769 in Great Britain. This year sees several key events in the Industrial Revolution.
Incumbents
Events
- 21 January - First of the Letters of Junius, criticising the government, appears in the Public Advertiser.[1]
- February–April - John Wilkes is expelled from Parliament three times.
- 8 April - The Theatre Royal, York, reopens under this title having been granted a Royal Patent.[2] (The manager, Tate Wilkinson, also obtains a patent for his theatre in Hull.)
- 13 April - First voyage of James Cook: James Cook arrives in Tahiti on the ship HM Bark Endeavour, preparing to observe the transit of the planet Venus, which takes place on 3 June.[3] After the voyage, the data is found to be inaccurate in determining the distance between the Sun and Earth.
- 25 April–27 May - First Royal Academy summer exhibition held.
- 29 April - James Watt is granted a British patent for "A method of lessening the consumption of steam in steam engines" – the separate condenser,[4] a key improvement (first devised by Watt in 1765) which stimulates the Industrial Revolution.[1]
- 3 & 29 May - Eclipse runs his first races, giving rise to the phrase "Eclipse first and the rest nowhere."
- 13 June - Josiah Wedgwood opens his Etruria Works for the manufacture of pottery.
- 3 July - Richard Arkwright patents a spinning frame able to weave fabric mechanically.[5]
- 5–7 September - Actor-manager David Garrick stages a Shakespeare Jubilee festival in Stratford-upon-Avon, disrupted by rain and with no performances of Shakespeare's works.[6]
- 7 October - James Cook reaches New Zealand.[1]
- 19 November - Blackfriars Bridge across the River Thames in London opens to the public.[7]
Undated
Publications
Births
- 6 January - Lord Charles Townshend, Member of Parliament (died 1796)
- 2 March - Walter Fawkes, writer and Member of Parliament (died 1825)
- 23 March - William Smith, geologist and cartographer (died 1839)
- 3 April - Josiah Wedgwood II, Member of Parliament (died 1843)
- 5 April - Sir Thomas Hardy, 1st Baronet, naval officer (died 1839)
- 13 April - Thomas Lawrence, painter (died 1830)
- 1 May - Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, general and Prime Minister (died 1852)
- 2 May - John Malcolm, soldier, statesman and historian (died 1833)
- 21 May - John Hookham Frere, diplomat and author (died 1846)
- 18 June - Viscount Castlereagh, statesman, diplomat, and soldier (died 1822)
- 14 August - Richard Barry, 7th Earl of Barrymore, noble (died 1793)
- 10 September - Charles Bullen, admiral (died 1853)
- 19 September - George Raper, naval officer and illustrator (died 1797)
- 28 September - John Jackson, boxer (died 1845)
- 6 October - Isaac Brock, general and administrator (died 1812)
- 23 October - James Ward, painter and engraver (died 1859)
- 7 November - William Sturges Bourne, politician (died 1845)
- 12 November - Amelia Opie, author (died 1853)
- 13 December - James Scarlett Abinger, judge (died 1844)
- 23 December
- date unknown
Deaths
References
- 1 2 3 Palmer, Alan; Palmer, Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History. London: Century Ltd. pp. 224–225. ISBN 0-7126-5616-2.
- ↑ "Theatre Royal - Tate Wilkinson as Manager". York Guides. Retrieved 2011-02-25.
- ↑ "Cook's Journal: Daily Entries, 13 April 1769". Archived from the original on 20 September 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-10.
- ↑ Patent 913; specification accepted January 5.
- 1 2 Williams, Hywel (2005). Cassell's Chronology of World History. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. p. 325. ISBN 0-304-35730-8.
- ↑ Pierce, Patricia (2004). The Great Shakespeare Fraud: the Strange, True Story of William-Henry Ireland. Stroud: Sutton Publishing. ISBN 0-7509-3393-3.
- ↑ Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 2006. ISBN 0-14-102715-0.
- ↑ "Gordon's Gin". Retrieved 2010-11-15.
- ↑ Field, D. M. The World's Greatest Architecture Past & Present. p. 207.
- ↑ Birley, Robert (1962). Sunk without Trace: some forgotten masterpieces reconsidered. London: Rupert Hart-Davis.
See also
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1769 in Great Britain: