1769 in Great Britain

1769 in Great Britain:

Other years

1767 | 1768 | 1769 | 1770 | 1771

Sport

1769 English cricket season

Events from the year 1769 in Great Britain. This year sees several key events in the Industrial Revolution.

Incumbents

• Monarch - George III
• Prime Minister - Duke of Grafton (Whig)

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.
• 28 June - The Morning Chronicle newspaper begins publication in London.
• 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

• Gordon's London dry gin first produced.^[8]
• Work on Syon House, Middlesex, to the design of Robert Adam, ceases.^[9]
• Opening of the Royal Clarence, England's first hotel.^[10]

Publications

• Authorized King James Version of the Bible in the Oxford standard text edited by Benjamin Blayney.
• Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage first published.^[5]
• Elizabeth Raffald's cookbook The Experienced English Housekeeper.
• William Robertson's The History of the Reign of Charles V.^[11]

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
  • William Henry Clinton, general (died 1846)
  • Martin Archer Shee, portrait painter (died 1850)
• date unknown
  • Maria Bland, singer (died 1838)
  • Elizabeth Conyngham, Marchioness Conyngham, mistress of George IV (died 1861)
  • James Dadford, English canal engineer (year of death unknown)
  • Charles Ewart, soldier (died 1846)
  • Francis Gore, officer and colonial administrator (died 1852)
  • Robert Hetrick, poet (died 1849)
  • William Rae, Member of Parliament (died 1842)
  • Ellen Sharples, painter (died 1849)

Deaths

• 25 February - Henry Flitcroft, architect (born 1697)
• 2 August - Daniel Finch, 8th Earl of Winchilsea, politician (born 1689)
• 29 August - Edmond Hoyle, game expert (born 1672)
• date unknown
  • Matthew Brettingham, architect (born 1699)
  • William Falconer, poet (born 1732)

References

1. Palmer, Alan; Palmer, Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History. London: Century Ltd. pp. 224–225. ISBN 0-7126-5616-2.
2. "Theatre Royal - Tate Wilkinson as Manager". York Guides. Archived from the original on 2012-02-26. Retrieved 2011-02-25.
3. "Cook's Journal: Daily Entries, 13 April 1769". Archived from the original on 20 September 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-10.
4. Patent 913; specification accepted January 5.
5. Williams, Hywel (2005). Cassell's Chronology of World History. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. p. 325. ISBN 0-304-35730-8.
6. Pierce, Patricia (2004). The Great Shakespeare Fraud: the Strange, True Story of William-Henry Ireland. Stroud: Sutton Publishing. ISBN 0-7509-3393-3.
7. Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 2006. ISBN 0-14-102715-0.
8. "Gordon's Gin". Retrieved 2010-11-15.
9. Field, D. M. The World's Greatest Architecture Past & Present. p. 207.
10. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-37809584
11. Birley, Robert (1962). Sunk without Trace: some forgotten masterpieces reconsidered. London: Rupert Hart-Davis.

See also