Timeline: Mercy Parsons: The genealogy of the Selwyn and related families.

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1705 - 1777 (72 years)

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Timeline

Mercy Parsons (1705 - 1777)

	Date	Event(s)
1	1705	1705—1705: First workable steam pumping engine devised by Thomas Newcomen (some say c1710 or 1711) 1705—1705: Isaac Newton knighted (for his work at the Royal Mint)
2	1706	1706—1706: First evening newspaper The Evening Post' issued in London
3	1707	16 Jan 1707—16 Jan 1707: Union with Scotland - Scots agree to send 16 peers and 45 MPs to English Parliament in return for full trading privileges - Scottish Parliament meets for the last time in March 1 May 1707—1 May 1707: English and Scottish Parliaments united by an Act of the English Parliament - The Kingdom of Great Britain established - largest free-trade area in Europe at the time
4	1708	1708—1708: First Jacobite rising in Scotland 1708—1708: Earliest Artillery Muster Rolls
5	1709	1709—1709: Second Eddystone lighthouse completed 1709—1709: First Copyright Act pass 1709—1709: Bad harvests throughout Europe - bread riots in Britain 2 Feb 1709—2 Feb 1709: Alexander Selkirk rescued from shipwreck on a desert island, inspiring the book Robinson Crusoe (published in 1719) by Daniel Defoe
6	1710	1710—1710: Tax on Apprentice Indentures introduced
7	1711	1711—1711: Incorporation of South Sea Company, in London 11 Aug 1711—11 Aug 1711: First race meeting at Ascot
8	1712	1712—1712: Imposition of Soap Tax (abolished 1853) 1712—1712: Last trial for witchcraft in England (Jane Wenham) 1712—1712: Toleration Act passed - first relief to non-Anglicans
9	1713	1713—1713: By this year there are some 3,000 coffee houses in London
10	1714	1714—1714: Longitude Act: prize of ?20,000 offered to the inventor of a workable method of determining a ship's longitude (won by John Harrison in 1773 for his chronometer). 1714—1714: Schism Act, prevents Dissenters from being schoolmasters in England 1714—1714: Landholders forced to take the Oath of Allegiance and renounce Roman Catholicism 1 Aug 1714—1 Aug 1714: Queen Anne Stuart dies - George I Hanover becomes king (1714-1727).
11	1715	1715—1715: Second Jacobite rebellion in Scotland, under the Old Pretender ('The Fifteen') 1 Aug 1715—1 Aug 1715: Riot Act passed
12	1716	1716—1716: The Septennial Act of Britain leads to greater electoral corruption - general elections now to be held once every 7 years instead of every 3 (until 1911) 1716—1716: Climate: Thames frozen so solid that a spring tide lifted the ice bodily 13ft without interrupting the frost fair
13	1717	1717—1717: First Masonic Lodge opens in London 1717—1717: Value of the golden guinea fixed at 21 shillings
14	1719	1719—1719: Third abortive Jacobite rising
15	1720	1720—1720: South Sea Bubble, a stock-market crash on Exchange Alley - government assumes control of National Debt 1720—1720: Manufacturing towns start to increase in population - rise of new wealth 1720—1720: Wallpaper becomes fashionable in England
16	1721	2 Apr 1721—2 Apr 1721: Robert Walpole (Whig) becomes first Prime Minister (to 1742)
17	1722	1722—1722: Last trial for witchcraft in Scotland 1722—1722: Knatchbull's Act, poor laws
18	1723	1723—1723: Excise tax levied for coffee, tea, and chocolate 1723—1723: The Waltham Black Acts add 50 capital offences to the penal code - people could be sentenced to death for theft and poaching - repealed in 1827 1723—1723: The Workhouse Act or Test - to get relief, a poor person has to enter Workhouse
19	1724	1724—1724: Rapid growth of gin drinking in England 1724—1724: Longman's founded (Britain's oldest publishing house)
20	1726	1726—1726: First circulating library opened in Edinburgh 1726—1726: Invention of the chronometer by John Harrison
21	1727	1727—1727: Board of Manufacturers established in Scotland 11 Jun 1727—11 Jun 1727: George I dies - George II Hanover becomes king
22	1729	9 Nov 1729—9 Nov 1729: Treaty of Seville signed between Britain, France and Spain - Britain maintained control of Port Mahon and Gibraltar
23	1730	1730—1730: Irish famine
24	1731	1731—1731: Invention of seed drill by Jethro Tull [others say 1701] 1731—1731: Invention of sextant by John Hadley
25	1732	7 Dec 1732—7 Dec 1732: Covent Garden Opera House opens
26	1733	1733—1733: Excise crisis: Sir Robert Walpole wanted to add excise tax to tobacco and wine - Pulteney and Bolingbroke oppose the excise tax 1733—1733: Law forbidding the use of Latin in parish registers generally obeyed - some continued in Latin for a few years 1733—1733: John Kay invents the flying shuttle, revolutionised the weaving industry
27	1734	1734—1734: Kent's Directory published
28	1737	1737—1737: Licensing Act restricts the number of London theatres and subects plays to censorship of the Lord Chamberlain (till 1950s)
29	1738	24 May 1738—24 May 1738: John Wesley has his conversion experience
30	1739	1739—1739: Wesley and Whitefield commence great Methodist revival 7 Apr 1739—7 Apr 1739: Dick Turpin, highwayman, hanged at York 23 Oct 1739—23 Oct 1739: War of Jenkins' Ear starts: Robert Walpole reluctantly declares war on Spain
31	1741	1741—1741: Benjamin Ingham founded the Moravian Methodists or Inghamites - Earliest Moravian registers
32	1742	1742—1742: England goes to war with Spain - incited by William Pitt the Elder (Earl of Chatham) for the sake of trade
33	1743	16 Jun 1743—16 Jun 1743: (June 27 in Gregorian calendar): Battle of Dettingen - last time a British sovereign (George II) led troops in battle
34	1744	1744—1744: Tune 'God Save the King' makes its appearance
35	1745	1745—1745: Jacobite rebellion in Scotland ('The Forty-five') 19 Aug 1745—19 Aug 1745: Bonnie Prince Charlie (The Young Pretender) lands in the western Highlands - raises support among Episcopalian and Catholic clans - The Pretender's army invades Perth, Edinburgh, and England as far as Derby
36	1746	16 Apr 1746—16 Apr 1746: Battle of Culloden - last battle fought in Britain - 5,000 Highlanders routed by the Duke of Cumberland and 9,000 loyalists Scots - Young Pretender Charles flees to Continent, ending Jacobite hopes forever - the wearing of the kilt prohibited
37	1747	1747—1747: Abolition of Heritable Jurisdictions in Scotland 1747—1747: Act for Pacification of the Highlands
38	1749	27 Apr 1749—27 Apr 1749: First performance of Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks (in Green Park, London)
39	1750	Feb 1750—Feb 1750: Series of earthquakes in London and the Home Counties cause panic with predictions of an apocalypse (Feb/Mar) 16 Nov 1750—16 Nov 1750: Original Westminster Bridge opened (replaced in 1862 due to subsidence)
40	1751	Mar 1751—Mar 1751: Chesterfield's Calendar Act passed - royal assent to the bill was given on 22 May 1751 - decision to adopt Gregorian Calendar in 1752: In and throughout all his
41	1752	1752—1752: Benjamin Franklin invents the lightning conductor 1 Jan 1752—1 Jan 1752: Beginning of the year 1752 [Scotland had adopted January as the start of the year in 1600, and some other countries in Europe had adopted the Gregorian calendar as early as 1582] 3 Sep 1752—3 Sep 1752: Julian Calendar dropped and Gregorian Calendar adopted in England and Scotland, making this Sep 14
42	1753	1753—1753: Private collection of Sir Hans Sloane forms the basis of the British Museum 1 May 1753—1 May 1753: Publication of ?Species Plantarum' by Linnaeus and the formal start date of plant taxonomy
43	1754	1754—1754: Hardwicke Act (1753): Banns to be called, and Printed Marriage Register forms to be used - Quakers & Jews exempt 1754—1754: In the General Election, the Cow Inn at Haslemere, Surrey caused a national scandal by subdividing the freehold to create eight votes instead of one 1754—1754: First British troops not belonging to the East India Company despatched to India
44	1755	1755—1755: Publication of Dictionary of the English Language' by Dr Samuel Johnson 1755—1755: Period of canal construction began in Britain (till 1827) 2 Dec 1755—2 Dec 1755: Second Eddystone Lighthouse destroyed by fire
45	1756	15 May 1756—15 May 1756: The Seven Years War with France (Pitt's trade war) begins Jun 1756—Jun 1756: Black Hole of Calcutta - 146 Britons imprisoned, most die according to British sources
46	1757	1757—1757: The foundation laid for the Empire of India 14 Mar 1757—14 Mar 1757: Admiral Byng shot at Portsmouth for failing to relieve Minorca 23 Jun 1757—23 Jun 1757: The Nawab of Bengal tries to expel the British, but is defeated at the battle of Plassey (Palashi, June 23) - the East India Company forces are led by Robert Clive
47	1758	1758—1758: India stops being merely a commercial venture - England begins dominating it politically - The East India Company retains its monopoly although it ceased to trade
48	1759	1759—1759: Wesley builds 356 Methodist chapels 15 Jan 1759—15 Jan 1759: British Museum opens to the public in London 16 Oct 1759—16 Oct 1759: Third Eddystone Lighthouse (John Smeaton's) completed
49	1760	1760—1760: Carron Iron Works in operation in Scotland 5 May 1760—5 May 1760: First use of hangman's drop 25 Oct 1760—25 Oct 1760: George II dies - George III Hanover, his grandson, becomes king. The date conventionally marks the start of the so-called first Industrial Revolution'
50	1761	16 Jan 1761—16 Jan 1761: British capture Pondicherry, India from the French
51	1762	1762—1762: Cigars introduced into Britain from Cuba
52	1763	1763—1763: Treaty of Paris - gives back to France everything Pitt fought to obtain - (Newfoundland [fishing], Guadaloupe and Martininque [sugar], Dakar [gum]) - but English displaces French as the international language
53	1764	1764—1764: Lloyd's Register of shipping first prepared 1764—1764: Practice of numbering houses introduced to London 1764—1764: James Hargeaves invents the Spinning Jenny (but destroyed 1768) 1764—1764: Mozart produces his first symphony at age eight
54	1765	1765—1765: The potato becomes the most popular food in Europe 22 Mar 1765—22 Mar 1765: Stamp Act passed - imposed a tax on publications and legal documents in the American colonies (repealed the following year)
55	1766	1766—1766: Start of 'composite' national records on rainfall in the UK 5 Dec 1766—5 Dec 1766: Christie's auction house founded in London by James Christie
56	1767	1767—1767: Newcomen's steam pumping engine perfected by James Watt
57	1768	9 Jan 1768—9 Jan 1768: Philip Astley starts his circus in London 6 Dec 1768—6 Dec 1768: The first edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica' published in Edinburgh by William Smellie
58	1769	1769—1769: Arkwright invents water frame (textile production) 1769—1769: Capt James Cook maps the coast of New Zealand 6 Sep 1769—6 Sep 1769: David Garrick organises first Shakespeare festival at Stratford-upon-Avon
59	1770	1770—1770: Clyde Trust created to convert the River Clyde, then an insignificant river, into a major thoroughfare for maritime communications 28 Apr 1770—28 Apr 1770: Capt James Cook lands in Australia (Botany Bay) ? Aug 21: formally claims Australia for Britain
60	1771	1771—1771: Right to report Parliamentary debates established in England
61	1772	1772—1772: First Travellers' Cheques issued by the London Credit Exchange Company 1772—1772: Morning Post' first published (until 1937) 14 May 1772—14 May 1772: Judge Mansfield rules that there is no legal basis for slavery in England
62	1774	13 Sep 1774—13 Sep 1774: Cook arrives on Easter Island
63	1775	19 Apr 1775—19 Apr 1775: Battle of Lexington: first action in American War of Independence (1775- 1783)
64	1776	1776—1776: Somerset House in London becomes the repository of records of population 1776—1776: Watt and Boulton produce their first commercial steam engine 4 Jul 1776—4 Jul 1776: American Declaration of Independence 7 Sep 1776—7 Sep 1776: First attack on a warship by a submarine - David Bushnell's ?Turtle' attacked HMS Eagle in New York harbour. The attack was perhaps spectacular (a charge did detonate beneath the ship) but was nevertheless unsuccessful. 'Turtle' was a one man Affair man-powered [Les Moore]
65	1777	1777—1777: Samuel Miller of Southampton patents the circular saw.