1640 in England
List of events
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Events from the year 1640 in England.
See also:Other events of 1640
Incumbents
Events
- 5 January â Parliament fixes a quorum of 40 for its proceedings to be transacted.[1]
- 12 January â Thomas Wentworth becomes Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland and Earl of Strafford.[2]
- 17 January â John Finch becomes Lord Keeper of the Great Seal.[2]
- 13 April â King Charles I summons the Short Parliament in an attempt to fund the Second Bishops' War against the Scottish Covenanters.[2]
- 17 April â John Pym makes a speech attacking the King in Parliament.[2]
- 4 May â Oliver St John calls on Parliament to outlaw ship money.[2]
- 5 May â the King dismisses the Short Parliament and prepares to attack Scotland.[2]
- 6 May â the Earl of Warwick, Lord Brooke, Lord Saye, John Pym, John Hampden, and Sir Walter Earle arrested.[2]
- 20 August â a Scottish Covenanter army invades Northumberland.[2]
- 28 August â Battle of Newburn: the Covenanter army defeats the English army.[2]
- 26 October â Treaty of Ripon signed between the King and the Covenanters.[2]
- 3 November â the Long Parliament is summoned;[2] it will not be dissolved for 20 years.
- 25 November â the Earl of Strafford imprisoned in the Tower of London.[2]
- 11 December â a crowd of 1,500 Londoners presents the Root and Branch petition to the Long Parliament, calling for the abolition of episcopacy in the Church of England.
- 18 December â Archbishop Laud impeached for treason.[2]
- undated â Habeas Corpus Act ("An Act for the Regulating the Privie Councell and for taking away the Court commonly called the Star Chamber") passed, abolishing the Star Chamber.[3]
Births
- 11 January â Sir Robert Burdett, 3rd Baronet, politician (died 1716)
- 25 January â William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Devonshire, soldier and statesman (died 1707)
- 6 February â William Campion, politician (died 1702)
- 13 February â Richard Edgcumbe, politician (died 1688)
- 29 February â Benjamin Keach, Particular Baptist preacher (died 1704)
- 30 March â John Trenchard, statesman (died 1695)
- 19 June â Thomas Widdrington, politician (died 1660)
- 29 June â Elizabeth Stanhope, Countess of Chesterfield (died 1665)[4]
- 12 October â Sir Roger Twisden, 2nd Baronet (died 1703)
- 18 October â William Stanley, Member of Parliament (died 1670)
- 23 October â Elisabeth Pepys, née de St Michel, wife of Samuel (died 1669)
- 28 October â Streynsham Master, colonial administrator (died 1724)
- 5 November â John Verney, 1st Viscount Fermanagh, politician and merchant (died 1717)
- 17 November â Barbara Palmer, 1st Duchess of Cleveland, née Villiers, a mistress of King Charles II (died 1709)
- 7 December (bapt.) â Fabian Stedman, pioneer of change ringing (died 1713)
- 13 December â Robert Plot, naturalist (died 1696)
- 14 December â Aphra Behn, née Amis, Johnson or Cooper?, author (died 1689)
Deaths
- 14 January â Thomas Coventry, 1st Baron Coventry, lawyer and judge (born 1578)
- 25 January â Robert Burton, scholar (born 1577)
- 17 March â Philip Massinger, dramatist (born 1583)
- 22 March â Thomas Carew, poet (born 1595)
- 28 April (bur.) â William Alabaster, poet and dramatist (born 1567)
- 3 June â Theophilus Howard, 2nd Earl of Suffolk, politician (born 1584)
- 20 October â John Ball, Puritan clergyman (born 1585)
- 13 November â Laurence Chaderton, academic and churchman (born 1536)
- 8 December â Princess Anne, daughter of King Charles I (born 1637)