1711 in Great Britain
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Events from the year 1711 in Great Britain.
Incumbents
[edit]Events
[edit]- 24 February – premiere of Rinaldo by George Frideric Handel, the first Italian opera written for the London stage, at the Queen's Theatre, Haymarket.[1]
- 1 March – first edition of the magazine The Spectator published in London, edited by Joseph Addison and Richard Steele.[2]
- 5 April (Easter Sunday) – the central tower of Elgin Cathedral in northeast Scotland collapses.[3]
- 22 May – Company of Blanket Weavers of Witney in Oxfordshire incorporated by royal charter to regulate the trade.[4]
- 23 May – Robert Harley made Earl of Oxford.
- 29 May – Harley made Lord High Treasurer.
- 7 August – capture of the galleon San Joaquin: Spanish galleon San Joaquin in a treasure fleet sailing from Cartagena de Indias (modern-day Colombia) to Spain surrenders after an engagement with five British ships.
- 11 August – the first race meeting is held at Ascot Racecourse, "Her Majesty's Plate", attended by Queen Anne.[5]
- 22 August – the Quebec Expedition, a British attempt to attack the city of Quebec as part of Queen Anne's War, fails when 8 of its ships are wrecked in the Saint Lawrence River and 850 soldiers drown, one of the worst disasters in British history up to this date.
- 8 September – the South Sea Company receives a Royal Charter.[6]
- 12 September – Siege of Bouchain in the War of the Spanish Succession concludes with the last major victory for John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough.
- 14 October – Woodes Rogers returns to England after a successful round-the-world privateering cruise against Spain, carrying loot worth £150,000.
- 5 November – the southwest spire of Southwell Minster in Nottinghamshire is struck by lightning, resulting in a fire that spreads to the nave and tower, destroying roofs, bells, clock and organ.
- 7 December - The Earl of Nottingham successfully proposes an amendment in the House of Lords calling for "No Peace Without Spain".
- 15 December – Occasional Conformity Act, intending to bar nonconformists and Roman Catholics from public office.[7]
- 25 December – the rebuilding of St Paul's Cathedral in London to a design by Sir Christopher Wren is declared complete by Parliament;[8] Old St Paul's had been destroyed by the 1666 Great Fire of London.
- 31 December – John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough is replaced by James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde as the Commander-in-Chief of the Forces.[1]
Undated
[edit]- Commission for Building Fifty New Churches set up under terms of the New Churches in London and Westminster Act 1710 (9 Ann. c. 17).
- John Shore invents the tuning fork.
- Blast furnace for the production of charcoal iron erected at Backbarrow in the north west of England; it will be in production until the 1960s.
Publications
[edit]Prose
[edit]- Francis Atterbury, Representation of the State of Religion
- Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury, Characteristics of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times
- Daniel Defoe
- The British Visions
- An Essay on the History of Parties
- An Essay on the South-Sea Trade
- The Present State of the Parties in Great Britain (attributed)
- The Secret History of the October Club
- John Dennis, Reflections Critical and Satyrical, Upon a Late Rhapsody call'd, An Essay upon Criticism (Dennis's counterattack on Alexander Pope)
Poetry and Songs
[edit]- Sir Richard Blackmore, published anonymously, The Nature of Man[9]
- William King, An Historical Account of the Heathen Gods and Heroes[9]
- Alexander Pope, An Essay on Criticism[1]
- James Watson, editor, Choice Collection of Comic and Serious Scots Poems, Edinburgh[10]
Births
[edit]- 7 May – David Hume, philosopher (died 1776)
- 19 August – Edward Boscawen, admiral (died 1761)
- 1 September – William Boyce, composer (died 1779)
- 22 September – Thomas Wright, astronomer, mathematician, instrument maker, architect, garden designer, antiquary and genealogist (died 1786)
- 26 September – Richard Grenville-Temple, 2nd Earl Temple, politician (died 1779)
- 5 November – Catherine Raftor, later Kitty Clive, actress (died 1785)
Deaths
[edit]- 19 March – Thomas Ken, bishop and hymn-writer (born 1637)
- 2 May – Laurence Hyde, 1st Earl of Rochester, statesman (born 1641)
- 6 July – James Douglas, 2nd Duke of Queensberry, politician (born 1662)
- 25 August – Edward Villiers, 1st Earl of Jersey, politician (born c. 1656)
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c Williams, Hywel (2005). Cassell's Chronology of World History. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 0-304-35730-8.
- ^ Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 2006. ISBN 0-14-102715-0.
- ^ Ross, David (2002). Chronology of Scottish History. New Lanark: Geddes & Grosset. ISBN 1-85534-380-0.
- ^ "The Witney Blanket Weavers' Company". Witney Blanket Story. Retrieved 2022-07-05.
- ^ "Icons, a portrait of England 1700-1750". Archived from the original on 17 August 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-24.
- ^ "Royal Charters, Privy Council website". Archived from the original on 24 August 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-24.
- ^ Palmer, Alan; Palmer, Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History. London: Century Ltd. pp. 208–209. ISBN 0-7126-5616-2.
- ^ Campbell, James W. P. (2007). Building St Paul's. London: Thames and Hudson. p. 161. ISBN 978-0-500-34244-2.
- ^ a b Cox, Michael, ed. (2004). The Concise Oxford Chronology of English Literature. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-860634-6.
- ^ "Ramsay, Allan (1686-1758)", article, The Burns Encyclopedia, online edition, retrieved July 1, 2009. Archived 2010-07-14 at the Wayback Machine 2009-07-21.