1744 in Great Britain
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Events from the year 1744 in Great Britain.
Incumbents
- Monarch â George II
- Prime Minister â Henry Pelham (Whig)[1]
Events
- 10â11 February (22â23 February New Style) â War of the Austrian Succession: British fleet defeated by a Franco-Spanish fleet at the Battle of Toulon[2] with loss of the fire ship HMS Anne Galley and all her crew.
- 27 February â a planned French invasion of Britain fails when a violent storm partially wrecks the French invasion force attempting to cross from Dunkirk to Maldon.
- 4â15 March â War of the Austrian Succession: France declares war on Britain.[3]
- 3 October â HMS Victory (1737) is wrecked on the Casquets in the Channel Islands with the loss of around 900 lives.
- 28 Decemberâ8 January 1745 â War of the Austrian Succession: The Quadruple Alliance of Britain, Austria, Saxony-Poland and the United Netherlands is formed against Prussia.[3]
- Undated
- Northampton General Hospital established as Northampton Infirmary.[4]
- Mineral springs discovered at Thorp Spa in the West Riding of Yorkshire by John Shires.
Publications
- April â Eliza Haywood's monthly The Female Spectator begins publication, the first periodical written for women by a woman.
- Samuel Johnson's biography of Richard Savage.[3]
- John Newbery's children's book A Little Pretty Pocket-Book.
- Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book, containing the earliest known printed versions of many nursery rhymes.
- William Williams Pantycelyn's first collection of Welsh hymns Aleluia (first part).
- The first known Laws of cricket.[5]
- First definitive version of the national anthem God Save the King in Thesaurus Musicus.[5]
Births
- 13 February â David Allan, painter (died 1796)
- 19 May â Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, queen of George III of Great Britain (died 1818)
- 21 May â Samuel Ireland, author and engraver (died 1800)
- 31 May â Richard Lovell Edgeworth, politician, writer and inventor (died 1817)
Deaths
- 14 February â John Hadley, mathematician and inventor (born 1682)
- 4 March â John Anstis, herald (born 1669)
- 30 May â Alexander Pope, writer (born 1688)
- 29 June â John Eames, dissenting tutor (born 1686)
- 9 August â James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos, patron of the arts (born 1673)
- 18 October â Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, friend of Queen Anne (born 1660)