1720 in Great Britain
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Events from the year 1720 in Great Britain.
Incumbents
- Monarch – George I
- Parliament – 5th
Events
- 10 February – Edmond Halley is appointed Astronomer Royal by George I
- 17 February – Treaty of The Hague signed between Britain, France, Austria, the Dutch Republic and Spain ending the War of the Quadruple Alliance.[1]
- April – "South Sea Bubble": A scheme for the South Sea Company to take over most of Britain's unconsolidated government debt massively inflates share prices;[1] they rise to a peak in August.
- 15 April – Ralph Allen of Bath is appointed to farm Cross and Bye Posts (i.e. to manage mail not going via London), leading to his reform of the system.[2][3]
- September – "South Sea Bubble": share prices, led by those of the South Sea Company, collapse.[1]
- 16 November – pirate captain "Calico Jack" Rackham is brought to trial at Spanish Town in Jamaica; he is hanged at Port Royal two days later.
- 29 December – Haymarket Theatre opens in London.
Births
- 13 January – Richard Hurd, bishop and writer (died 1808)
- 27 January (bapt.) – Samuel Foote, dramatist and actor (died 1777)
- 9 March – Philip Yorke, 2nd Earl of Hardwicke, politician (died 1790)
- 8 May - William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire, Prime Minister (died 1764)
- 18 July – Gilbert White, naturalist and cleric (died 1793)
- 18 August – Laurence Shirley, 4th Earl Ferrers, murderer (died 1760)
- 30 August – Samuel Whitbread, brewer and politician (died 1796)
- 31 December – Charles Edward Stuart, pretender to the British throne (died 1788)
Deaths
- 31 January – Thomas Grey, 2nd Earl of Stamford, privy councillor (born c. 1645)
- 20 April – George Gordon, 1st Earl of Aberdeen, Lord Chancellor of Scotland (born 1637)
- 5 August – Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea, English poet (born 1661)
- 9 August – Simon Ockley, orientalist (born 1678)
- 18 August – Matthew Aylmer, 1st Baron Aylmer, admiral (born c. 1650)
- 18 November – Calico Jack, pirate (born c. 1682)
References
- ^ a b c Williams, Hywel (2005). Cassell's Chronology of World History. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. pp. 297–298. ISBN 0-304-35730-8.
- ^ Blake, Richard. The Book of Postal Dates, 1635–1985. Caterham: Marden. p. 3.
- ^ "Ralph Allen Biography". Bath Postal Museum. Archived from the original on 2009-06-07. Retrieved 2009-08-21.