1756 in Great Britain

1756 in Great Britain:

Other years

1754 | 1755 | 1756 | 1757 | 1758

Sport

1756 English cricket season

Events from the year 1756 in Great Britain.

Incumbents

• Monarch – George II
• Prime Minister – Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle (Whig) (until 16 November); William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire (Whig) (starting 16 November)
• Parliament – 11th

Events

• 16 January – Treaty of Westminster signed between Britain and Prussia guaranteeing the neutrality of Hanover, the German province controlled by King George II.[1]
• 12 April – Seven Years' War: The French invade Menorca, at this time under British control.
• 17 May – Seven Years' War: The Seven Years' War formally begins when Britain declares war on France.[1]
• 20 May – Seven Years' War: Battle of Minorca: The British fleet under John Byng is defeated by the French under Roland-Michel Barrin de La Galissonière.
• 20 June – a garrison of the British Army in India is imprisoned in the Black Hole of Calcutta.[1]
• 25 June – foundation of The Marine Society in London, the world's oldest seafarers' charity.[2]
• 29 June – Seven Years' War – Siege of Fort St Philip at Port Mahon: The British garrison in Menorca surrenders to the French after two months' siege by Armand de Vignerot du Plessis.
• 6 October - Hurricane hits Great Britain causing large crop losses, mainly corn. [3]
• 16 November – Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne resigns as Prime Minister. His successor is William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire.[4]
• 4 December – William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham becomes Secretary of State for the Southern Department.[4]
• Undated – completion of William Edwards' Old Bridge, Pontypridd. With a 140 ft (43 m) span it becomes (by 10 ft) the longest single-span bridge in Great Britain, remaining so for 40 years.[5][6]

Publications

• Edmund Burke's (anonymous) A Vindication of Natural Society.[4]

Births

• 3 March – William Godwin, writer (died 1836)
• 4 March – Henry Raeburn, painter (died 1823)
• April – William Gifford, satirist (died 1826)
• 13 June – Edmund Lodge, writer (died 1839)
• 21 September – John Loudon McAdam, highway engineer (died 1836)
• 13 November – Edward Rushton, abolitionist and pioneer of education for the blind (died 1814)
• 18 November – Thomas Burgess, Bishop, author and philosopher (died 1837)
• 22 November – Gilbert Wakefield, scholar (died 1801)

Deaths

• 25 February – Eliza Haywood, actress and writer (born 1693)
• 24 July – George Vertue, engraver and antiquary (born 1684)
• 31 August – John Dandridge, distinguished colonel, planter (born 1700)
• 28 October – Charles Somerset, 4th Duke of Beaufort (born 1709)
• 8 December – William Stanhope, 1st Earl of Harrington, statesman and diplomat (born c. 1690)

References

1. Williams, Hywel (2005). Cassell's Chronology of World History. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. p. 318. ISBN 0-304-35730-8.
2. "History of the Marine Society". Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-09-03.
3. Urban, Sylvanus., ed. (1756). The Gentleman's Magazine. D. Henry & R. Cave. p. 462.
4. Everett, Jason M., ed. (2006). "1756". The People's Chronology. Thomson Gale.
5. Ruddock, Ted (2008). "The Theory of Arches and Pontypridd". Arch Bridges and their Builders 1735–1835. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-09021-6. Retrieved 2009-01-19.
6. Skempton, A. W.; Chrimes, Mike (2002). A Biographical Dictionary of Civil Engineers in Great Britain and Ireland: 1500 to 1830. Thomas Telford. pp. 217–18. ISBN 0-7277-2939-X.

See also