1760 in Great Britain
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Events from the year 1760 in Great Britain. This year sees a change of monarch.
Incumbents
- Monarch â George II (until 25 October), George III (starting 25 October)
- Prime Minister â Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle (Whig)[1]
Events
- 22 January â Seven Years' War: At the Battle of Wandiwash in India, British general Sir Eyre Coote is victorious over the French under Marquis de Bussy-Castelnau.[2]
- 15 February â HMS Royal Katherine runs aground off Bolt Head, South Devon, with the loss of 699 lives.
- 21â26 February â Seven Years' War: At the Battle of Carrickfergus in the north of Ireland, a force of French troops under the command of privateer François Thurot captures and holds the town and castle of Carrickfergus before retiring; the force is defeated (and Thurot killed) in the naval Battle of Bishops Court in the Irish Sea on 28 February.[3]
- June â Scottish Presbyterian preacher Dr. James Fordyce moves to London.
- 3 July â a lightning strike causes a major fire at Portsmouth Royal Dockyard; substantial rebuilding follows.[4][5]
- 31 July â Seven Years' War: At the Battle of Warburg, the British-Hanoverian army of Ferdinand of Brunswick storms Warburg, with a heroic role being played by the British commander Lord Granby.[6]
- 8 September â Seven Years' War: Jeffery Amherst captures Montreal.[7]
- 25 October â George III ascends to the throne following the death of his grandfather George II.[2] He will reign until 29 January 1820. He surrenders the income from the Crown Estate to the government in exchange for a civil list contribution to maintaining the Royal Household.
- Thomas Braidwood establishes Braidwood's Academy for the Deaf and Dumb in Edinburgh, the first school for the deaf in Britain.
Publications
- James Macpherson's Fragments of Ancient Poetry collected in the Highlands of Scotland.[2]
- Geologist John Michell's essay "Conjectures concerning the Cause and Observations upon the Phaenomena of Earthquakes".[8]
- Laurence Sterne's comic metafictional novel The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman (books 1â2, dated this year but published in December 1759).[2]
Births
- 28 March â Thomas Clarkson, abolitionist (died 1846)[9]
- 27 October â Sir Richard Strachan, 6th Baronet, Royal Navy Admiral (died 1828)
- probable â Lemuel Francis Abbott, portrait painter (died 1802)
Deaths
- 5 May â Laurence Shirley, 4th Earl Ferrers, murderer (hanged) (born 1720)
- 30 September â Maria Coventry, Countess of Coventry, society beauty (lead poisoning) (born 1732)
- 25 October â King George II of Great Britain (born 1683, Hanover)