1718 in Great Britain

Events from the year 1718 in Great Britain.

Incumbents

7 January â Religious Worship Act 1718 repeals the Occasional Conformity Act 1711^[1] and Schism Act 1714, restoring some freedoms to dissenters.
21 March â Piracy Act 1717 receives royal assent, providing the punishment of penal transportation (to British North America) as an alternative to a death sentence for lesser crimes.^[2]
30 April â the proper motion of stars is demonstrated by Edmond Halley.^[3]
15 May â James Puckle patents the Puckle Gun.^[4]
2 August â Quadruple Alliance formed between Britain, the Kingdom of France, the Holy Roman Empire and the Dutch Republic.^[5]
11 August â a British fleet under Admiral Byng defeats a Spanish fleet at the Battle of Cape Passaro, a prelude to the War of the Quadruple Alliance.^[3]
17 December â War of the Quadruple Alliance: Britain, the Kingdom of France, the Holy Roman Empire and the Dutch Republic declare war on Spain.

Marrow Controversy, an ecclesiastical dispute in Scotland, begins.^[6]
Greenwich Hospital receives a Royal Charter (revoked in 1829).^[7]
The Hovering Act makes it illegal for vessels under 50 tons to linger offshore, in an attempt to prevent smuggling.

18 February â Robert Henry, historian (died 1790)
4 April â Benjamin Kennicott, churchman and Hebrew scholar (died 1783)
7 April â Hugh Blair, preacher and man of letters (died 1800)
17 May â Robert Darcy, 4th Earl of Holderness, diplomat and politician (died 1778)
23 May â William Hunter, anatomist (died 1783)
30 May â Wills Hill, 1st Marquess of Downshire, politician (died 1793)
5 June â Thomas Chippendale, furniture maker (died 1779)
17 June â George Howard, field marshal (died 1796)
5 July â Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Marquess of Hertford, Viceroy of Ireland (died 1794)
31 July â John Canton, physicist (died 1772)
3 November â John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, statesman (died 1792)

6 January â Richard Hoare, goldsmith and banker (born 1648)
1 February â Charles Talbot, 1st Duke of Shrewsbury, politician (born 1660)
17 February â Charlotte Lee, Countess of Lichfield, heiress (born 1664)
18 February â Peter Anthony Motteux, dramatist and editor, probably murdered (born 1663 in France)
30 July â William Penn, Quaker and founder of the Pennsylvania colony (born 1644)
26 September â William Okeden, politician (born 1662)
22 November â Blackbeard, pirate, killed in action (born c. 1680)
6 December â Nicholas Rowe, poet laureate and dramatist (born 1674)