1739 in Great Britain
Encyclopedia
.svg.png) 1739 in Great Britain: |
| Other years |
| 1737 1737 in Great Britain Events from the year 1737 in Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George II*Prime Minister - Robert Walpole, Whig-Events:... | 1738 1738 in Great Britain Events from the year 1738 in Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - George II of the United Kingdom*Prime Minister - Robert Walpole, Whig-Events:... | 1739 | 1740 1740 in Great Britain Events from the year 1740 in Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George II*Prime Minister - Robert Walpole, Whig-Events:... | 1741 1741 in Great Britain Events from the year 1741 in Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George II*Prime Minister - Robert Walpole, Whig-Events:* 30 April–11 June... |
| Sport |
| 1739 English cricket season 1739 English cricket season In the 1739 English cricket season, there were again very few match reports. The first Kent versus All-England games are a sign of very important matches to come.The earliest known cricket picture was first displayed this year... |
Events from the year 1739 in Great Britain
Kingdom of Great Britain
The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...
.
Incumbents
- Monarch - George II of the United Kingdom
- Prime Minister - Robert WalpoleRobert WalpoleRobert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, KG, KB, PC , known before 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole, was a British statesman who is generally regarded as having been the first Prime Minister of Great Britain....
, WhigBritish Whig PartyThe Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...
Events
- 14 January - Britain and Spain sign the Convention of Pardo.
- 16 January - First performance of George Frideric HandelGeorge Frideric HandelGeorge Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born in 1685, in a family indifferent to music...
's oratorio SaulSaul (Handel)Saul is an oratorio in three acts written by George Frideric Handel with a libretto by Charles Jennens. Taken from the 1st Book of Samuel, the story of Saul focuses on the first king of Israel’s relationship with his eventual successor, David; one which turns from admiration to envy and hatred,...
in LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. - 4 April - First performance of Handel's Israel in Egypt.
- 12 May - John WesleyJohn WesleyJohn Wesley was a Church of England cleric and Christian theologian. Wesley is largely credited, along with his brother Charles Wesley, as founding the Methodist movement which began when he took to open-air preaching in a similar manner to George Whitefield...
lays the foundation stone of the New Room, BristolNew Room, BristolThe New Room is a historic building in Broadmead, Bristol, England.It was built in 1739 by John Wesley and is the oldest Methodist chapel in the world. Above the chapel are the rooms in which Wesley and other preachers stayed. The chapel includes a double decker pulpit, which was common at the...
, the world's first Methodist meeting house. - 17 October - The Foundling HospitalFoundling HospitalThe Foundling Hospital in London, England was founded in 1741 by the philanthropic sea captain Thomas Coram. It was a children's home established for the "education and maintenance of exposed and deserted young children." The word "hospital" was used in a more general sense than it is today, simply...
is created in LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
by Thomas Coram. - 23 October - Britain declares war on SpainSpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. This becomes known as the War of Jenkins' EarWar of Jenkins' EarThe War of Jenkins' Ear was a conflict between Great Britain and Spain that lasted from 1739 to 1748, with major operations largely ended by 1742. Its unusual name, coined by Thomas Carlyle in 1858, relates to Robert Jenkins, captain of a British merchant ship, who exhibited his severed ear in...
. - 21 November - The British capture the South AmericaSouth AmericaSouth America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
n silver exporting town of Porto Bello from the Spanish. - December to February 17401740 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1740 in Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George II*Prime Minister - Robert Walpole, Whig-Events:...
- The 'Great Frost': unusually harsh winter in southern England.
Births
- 6 January - David DaleDavid DaleDavid Dale was a Scottish merchant and businessman, known for establishing the influential weaving community of New Lanark, in South Lanarkshire, Scotland and is credited along with his son in law Robert Owen of being a founder of utopian socialism and a founding father of socialism-Early...
, philanthropist (died 18061806 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1806 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.-Incumbents:*Monarch - George III*Prime Minister - William Pitt the Younger, Tory , Lord Grenville coalition-Events:...
) - 26 January - George Spencer, 4th Duke of MarlboroughGeorge Spencer, 4th Duke of MarlboroughGeorge Spencer, 4th Duke of Marlborough KG, PC, FRS , styled Marquess of Blandford until 1758, was a British courtier and politician...
(died 18171817 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1817 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George III*Prime Minister - Lord Liverpool, Tory-Events:* February - Last major Luddite attack, against lace-making machines in Loughborough....
) - 4 February - John RobisonJohn Robison (physicist)John Robison FRSE was a Scottish physicist and mathematician. He was a professor of philosophy at the University of Edinburgh....
, physicist (died 18051805 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1805 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. This is the year of the Battle of Trafalgar.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George III*Prime Minister - William Pitt the Younger, Tory-Events:...
) - 25 March - Prince Edward, Duke of York and Albany (died 17671767 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1767 in Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George III*Prime Minister - William Pitt the Elder, Whig-Events:...
) - 16 May - Henry Howard, 12th Earl of SuffolkHenry Howard, 12th Earl of SuffolkHenry Howard, 12th Earl of Suffolk, 5th Earl of Berkshire, KG, PC was a British politician, styled Viscount Andover from 1756 to 1757....
(died 17791779 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1779 in Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George III*Prime Minister - Lord North, Tory-Events:* 9 January - First Anglo-Maratha War: British troops surrender to the Marathas in Wadgaon, India, and are forced to return all terrorities acquired since 1773.* 11 February -...
) - 5 November - Hugh Montgomerie, 12th Earl of EglintonHugh Montgomerie, 12th Earl of EglintonSir Hugh Montgomerie, 12th Earl of Eglinton KT was a Scottish peer, politician, and composer. He was the grandfather of Archibald Montgomerie, 13th Earl of Eglinton....
(died 18191819 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1819 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — King George III*Prime Minister — Lord Liverpool, Tory-Events:...
) - 4 December - Henry Temple, 2nd Viscount PalmerstonHenry Temple, 2nd Viscount PalmerstonHenry Temple, 2nd Viscount Palmerston FRS was a British politician.-Life:He succeeded to the peerage in 1757, and was educated at Clare College, Cambridge from 1757 to 1759...
(died 18021802 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1802 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George III*Prime Minister - Henry Addington, Tory-Events:...
)
Deaths
- 7 April - Dick TurpinDick TurpinRichard "Dick" Turpin was an English highwayman whose exploits were romanticised following his execution in York for horse theft. Turpin may have followed his father's profession as a butcher early in life, but by the early 1730s he had joined a gang of deer thieves, and later became a poacher,...
, highwayman (hanged) (born 17051705 in EnglandEvents from the year 1705 which occurred in the Kingdom of England.-Events:* 16 April - Isaac Newton knighted by Queen Anne.* May - General election results in no clear majority for either political faction in Parliament....
) - 19 April - Nicholas SaundersonNicholas SaundersonNicholas Saunderson was an English scientist and mathematician. According to one leading historian of statistics, he may have been the earliest discoverer of Bayes theorem.-Biography:...
, scientist and mathematician (born 16821682 in EnglandEvents from the year 1682 in the Kingdom of England.-Events:* 11 March - The Royal Hospital Chelsea for old soldiers is founded in London.* 25 August - Following the Bideford witch trial, three women become the last known to be hanged for witchcraft in England, at Exeter.* September - Halley's...
) - 10 August - William Craven, 3rd Baron CravenWilliam Craven, 3rd Baron CravenWilliam Craven, 3rd Baron Craven was an English nobleman.He inherited his father's title and estates at the age of only eleven and made his home at Hamstead Marshall in Berkshire. Unfortunately, his great palace there burnt down in 1718 and his dreams of rebuilding it came to nothing. He...
, nobleman. (born 17001700 in EnglandEvents from the year 1700 in the Kingdom of England.-Events:*27 February - The island of New Britain is discovered by William Dampier in the western Pacific....
) - 4 September - George LilloGeorge LilloGeorge Lillo was an English playwright and tragedian. He was a jeweler in London as well as a dramatist. He produced his first stage work, Silvia, or The Country Burial, in 1730. A year later, he produced his most famous play, The London Merchant...
, playwright (born 16931693 in EnglandEvents from the year 1693 in the Kingdom of England.-Incumbents:*Co-Monarchs - William and Mary-Events:* March - William Congreve's first play, the comedy The Old Bachelor, is performed at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane....
) - 21 October - William Montagu, 2nd Duke of ManchesterWilliam Montagu, 2nd Duke of ManchesterWilliam Montagu, 2nd Duke of Manchester, KB was the son of Charles Montagu, 1st Duke of Manchester.He married Lady Isabella Montagu, daughter of John Montagu, 2nd Duke of Montagu, on 16 April 1723....
(born 17001700 in EnglandEvents from the year 1700 in the Kingdom of England.-Events:*27 February - The island of New Britain is discovered by William Dampier in the western Pacific....
)