1772 in Great Britain
Encyclopedia
.svg.png) 1772 in Great Britain: |
| Other years |
| 1770 1770 in Great Britain Events from the year 1770 in Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George III*Prime Minister - Duke of Grafton, Whig , Lord North, Tory-Events:... | 1771 1771 in Great Britain Events from the year 1771 in the Kingdom of Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George III*Prime Minister - Lord North, Tory-Events:* 22 January - Spain cedes the Falkland Islands to Britain.... | 1772 | 1773 1773 in Great Britain Events from the year 1773 in Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George III*Prime Minister - Lord North, Tory-Events:* 17 January - Captain James Cook becomes the first European explorer to cross the Antarctic Circle.... | 1774 1774 in Great Britain Events from the year 1774 in Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George III*Prime Minister - Lord North, Tory-Events:* 31 March - American Revolutionary War: Britain orders the port of Boston, Massachusetts closed in the Boston Port Act.* 17 April - The first avowedly Unitarian congregation,... |
| Sport |
| 1772 English cricket season 1772 English cricket season The 1772 English cricket season was notable in English cricket history because it is from then that surviving scorecards are common. There are three scorecards from 1772, all recording matches that were organised by the Hambledon Club... |
Events from the year 1772 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...
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Incumbents
- Monarch - King George IIIGeorge III of the United KingdomGeorge III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...
- Prime Minister - Lord NorthFrederick North, Lord NorthFrederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford, KG, PC , more often known by his courtesy title, Lord North, which he used from 1752 until 1790, was Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1770 to 1782. He led Great Britain through most of the American War of Independence...
, ToryToryToryism is a traditionalist and conservative political philosophy which grew out of the Cavalier faction in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It is a prominent ideology in the politics of the United Kingdom, but also features in parts of The Commonwealth, particularly in Canada...
Events
- 24 March - Royal Marriages Act 1772Royal Marriages Act 1772The Royal Marriages Act 1772 is an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain which prescribes the conditions under which members of the British Royal Family may contract a valid marriage, in order to guard against marriages that could diminish the status of the Royal House...
requires the monarch's consent for the marriage of all members of the royal family. - 28 May - Staffordshire and Worcestershire CanalStaffordshire and Worcestershire CanalThe Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal is a narrow navigable canal in the English Midlands, passing through the counties of Staffordshire and Worcestershire....
open for traffic throughout from a junction with the Trent and Mersey CanalTrent and Mersey CanalThe Trent and Mersey Canal is a in the East Midlands, West Midlands, and North West of England. It is a "narrow canal" for the vast majority of its length, but at the extremities—east of Burton upon Trent and west of Middlewich—it is a wide canal....
to the River SevernRiver SevernThe River Severn is the longest river in Great Britain, at about , but the second longest on the British Isles, behind the River Shannon. It rises at an altitude of on Plynlimon, Ceredigion near Llanidloes, Powys, in the Cambrian Mountains of mid Wales...
at Stourport. Engineered by James BrindleyJames BrindleyJames Brindley was an English engineer. He was born in Tunstead, Derbyshire, and lived much of his life in Leek, Staffordshire, becoming one of the most notable engineers of the 18th century.-Early life:...
, this is the first British trunk canalCanals of the United KingdomThe canals of the United Kingdom are a major part of the network of inland waterways in the United Kingdom. They have a colourful history, from use for irrigation and transport, through becoming the focus of the Industrial Revolution, to today's role for recreational boating...
completed and its dimensions determine the size of boat used throughout the narrow canal network (72 feet (21.9 m) by 7 feet (2.1 m)). - June - Honourable East India Company threatened with bankruptcy following a financial crisis in Scotland.
- 22 June - Somersett's CaseSomersett's CaseR v Knowles, ex parte Somersett 20 State Tr 1 is a famous judgment of the English Court of King's Bench in 1772 which held that slavery was unsupported by law in England and Wales...
: Lord MansfieldWilliam Murray, 1st Earl of MansfieldWilliam Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, SL, PC was a British barrister, politician and judge noted for his reform of English law. Born to Scottish nobility, he was educated in Perth, Scotland before moving to London at the age of 13 to take up a place at Westminster School...
, the Lord Chief JusticeLord Chief Justice of England and WalesThe Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales is the head of the judiciary and President of the Courts of England and Wales. Historically, he was the second-highest judge of the Courts of England and Wales, after the Lord Chancellor, but that changed as a result of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005,...
delivers the decision that leads to the end of slaverySlaverySlavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
. - 13 July - Navigator James CookJames CookCaptain James Cook, FRS, RN was a British explorer, navigator and cartographer who ultimately rose to the rank of captain in the Royal Navy...
sets out from PlymouthPlymouthPlymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
on HMS Resolution for a second Pacific voyage. - 12 September - Daniel RutherfordDaniel RutherfordDaniel Rutherford was a Scottish physician, chemist and botanist who is most famous for the isolation of nitrogen in 1772.Rutherford was the uncle of the novelist Sir Walter Scott.-Early life:...
demonstrates the method of distinguishing nitrogenNitrogenNitrogen is a chemical element that has the symbol N, atomic number of 7 and atomic mass 14.00674 u. Elemental nitrogen is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, and mostly inert diatomic gas at standard conditions, constituting 78.08% by volume of Earth's atmosphere...
from other gases. - 21 September - Birmingham Canal NavigationsBirmingham Canal NavigationsBirmingham Canal Navigations is a network of navigable canals connecting Birmingham, Wolverhampton, and the eastern part of the Black Country...
main line open for traffic, linking BirminghamBirminghamBirmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
to the River Severn via the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal. - 2 November - The Morning Post newspaper published for the first time.
Births
- 19 April - David RicardoDavid RicardoDavid Ricardo was an English political economist, often credited with systematising economics, and was one of the most influential of the classical economists, along with Thomas Malthus, Adam Smith, and John Stuart Mill. He was also a member of Parliament, businessman, financier and speculator,...
, economist (d. 18231823 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1823 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George IV*Prime Minister - Lord Liverpool, Tory-Events:...
) - 22 April - George CockburnGeorge CockburnAdmiral of the Fleet Sir George Cockburn, 10th Baronet GCB was a British naval commander of the late 18th through the mid-19th centuries. He held important commands during the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812 and eventually rose to become Admiral of the Fleet and First Sea Lord.-Naval...
, naval commander (d. 18531853 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1853 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — Lord Aberdeen, Peelite-Events:* 20 January — The United Kingdom annexes Lower Burma ending the Second Anglo-Burmese War....
) - 20 May - William CongreveWilliam Congreve (inventor)Sir William Congreve, 2nd Baronet was an English inventor and rocket artillery pioneer distinguished for his development and deployment of Congreve rockets.-Biography:...
, rocket pioneer (d. 18281828 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1828 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George IV*Prime Minister - Lord Goderich, Tory , Duke of Wellington, Tory-Events:...
) - 21 October - Samuel Taylor ColeridgeSamuel Taylor ColeridgeSamuel Taylor Coleridge was an English poet, Romantic, literary critic and philosopher who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets. He is probably best known for his poems The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla...
, poet and philosopher, (d. 18341834 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1834 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King William IV*Prime Minister - Earl Grey, Whig , Lord Melbourne, Whig , Duke of Wellington, Tory, , Robert Peel, Tory...
)
Deaths
- 8 February - Augusta of Saxe-Gotha, Princess of Wales (b. 17191719 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1719 in Great Britain.-Events:* April - Bank rate set at 5%, at which it will remain for more than a century.* 28 April - A Peerage Bill, proposed by Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland, to prevent the creation of peers in the House of Lords is defeated in the House of...
) - 22 March - John CantonJohn CantonJohn Canton FRS was an English physicist.Canton was born in Middle Street Stroud, Gloucestershire, the son of a weaver John Canton and Esther He had only a common education, after which he was put apprentice to a broadcloth weaver, but his leisure hours were devoted to mathematical studies, and...
, physicist (b. 17181718 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1718 in Great Britain.-Events:* 7 January - Occasional Conformity Act repealed.* 15 May - James Puckle patents the Puckle Gun, an early form of machine gun....
) - 31 August - William BorlaseWilliam BorlaseWilliam Borlase , Cornish antiquary, geologist and naturalist, was born at Pendeen in Cornwall, of an ancient family . From 1722 he was Rector of Ludgvan and died there in 1772.-Life and works:...
, English naturalist (b. 16951695 in EnglandEvents from the year 1695 in the Kingdom of England.-Events:* 13 January - Princess Anne returns to court to act as royal hostess.* April - Parliament decides not to renew the statutes requiring press censorship....
) - 30 September - James BrindleyJames BrindleyJames Brindley was an English engineer. He was born in Tunstead, Derbyshire, and lived much of his life in Leek, Staffordshire, becoming one of the most notable engineers of the 18th century.-Early life:...
, canal builder (b. 17161716 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1716 in Great Britain.-Events:* January - The Duke of Argyll disperses the remainder of the Jacobite troops.* 10 February - The pretender James Francis Edward Stuart flees to France...
)