Here is a simple timeline of events during Georgian (or Hanoverian) Britain, from 1714 until Victoria came to the throne in 1837.
1714
German-speaking George, Elector of Hanover, becomes George I, King of Great Britain and Ireland.
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1715
First Jacobite Rising – serious attempt to regain the throne for the Stuarts ends in failure.
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1718
Transportation Act – Britain starts shipping convicts to its American colonies.
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1720
South Sea Bubble – major financial crisis, many lose fortunes.
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1721
Sir Robert Walpole becomes Britain’s first Prime Minister – and also receives 10 Downing Street.
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1723
George Frideric Handel is appointed Composer to the Chapel Royal.
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1738
David Hume publishes his Treatise on Human Nature.
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1739
John Wesley’s first sermon preached in the field – the birth of Methodism.
The War of Jenkins’ Ear – Anglo-Spanish naval war.
Highwayman Dick Turpin is hanged in York.
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1740-48
The War of the Austrian Succession.
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1743
Battle of Dettingen (Germany) – George II is the last reigning British monarch to lead troops into battle.
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1744
First rules of golf are drawn up in Edinburgh.
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1745
2nd Jacobite Rising – the ’45 Rebellion – Bonnie Prince Charlie lands in Scotland to restore the Stuart monarchy. His rebel army gets as far as Derby, sending the government into panic.
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1746
Battle of Culloden – the defeat of Bonnie Prince Charlie’s rebellion and the last pitched battle on British soil. The Government acts harshly to prevent further Stuart/Catholic uprisings.
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1750
Start of the Highland clearances.
The laws of modern cricket are developed at Hambledon Cricket Club, in Hampshire.
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1751
Gin Act – attempts to regulate (and reduce) the sale of spirits.
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1752
Britain adopts the Gregorian Calendar, replacing the old style Julian Calendar. Some protest at their loss of 11 days.
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1753
British Museum established.
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1755
Samuel Johnson publishes A Dictionary of the English Language.
The Hellfire Club is founded.
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1756-63
Seven Years War – truly global conflict with Britain, Prussia and other German states allied against France, Austria, the Holy Roman Empire, Russia, and Sweden.
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1756
The Black Hole of Calcutta – following Bengali capture of a fort, British prisoners are herded into a tiny room, where most died.
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1757
Battle of Plassey – the British East India Company captures Bengal.
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1759
Annus Mirabilis – the Year of Victories – major successes, primarily against the French, including a naval victory in Quiberon Bay preventing a French invasion and the capture of Quebec.
Scots poet Robbie Burns is born this year.
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1761
Opening of the Bridgewater Canal.
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1764
James Watt develops his steam engine.
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1768
The Royal Academy is founded.
Captain James Cook sets off on the first of three voyages of scientific discovery and exploration, to Pacific Islands, New Zealand and Australia.
In Edinburgh, Volume 1 of the Encyclopaedia Britannica is published.
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1769
Richard Arkwright patents his spinning frame.
Wedgwood’s Etruria factory opens in Stoke-on-Trent.
Both the Duke of Wellington and his French adversary, Napoleon Bonaparte, were born this year, on 1 May and 15 August, respectively.
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1771
Richard Arkwright builds Cromford Mill, the world’s first successful water powered cotton mill.
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1772
Milestone court case effectively makes slavery illegal in England and Wales.
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1773
The Boston Tea Party.
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1774
Passing of the draconian Intolerable Acts, causing resentment in the North American Colonies.
Discovery of oxygen in Britain by Joseph Priestly. Some believe it had previously been discovered in Sweden.
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1775
The battles of Lexington and Concord in 1775 mark the start of the American War of Independence, or American Revolutionary war (1775-83).
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1776
Declaration of American Independence.
Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations is published.
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1778
John Paul Jones invades England, landing at Whitehaven.
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1780
The Gordon Riots – an anti-Catholic protest ends up in general violence and looting in London.
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1781
A Colonial-French army defeats Government army at Yorktown, Virginia.
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1783
The Peace of Paris results in the recognition of an independent United States of America. British loyalists and freed slaves are evacuated, many travelling to Canada.
William Pitt the Younger becomes Britain’s youngest Prime Minister (so far) at the age of 23.
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1784
East India Act increases Government control in India.
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1786
David Dale establishes New Lanark Mills with Richard Arkwright.
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1787
Construction of the Royal Pavilion at Brighton, a seaside retreat for the Prince of Wales, commences.
The first convicts are transported to Australia, sailing from Portsmouth to Botany Bay.
The world’s first iron boat is launched, on the River Severn.
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1789
In a wider context – the start of the French Revolution.
The Mutiny on the Bounty.
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1791
Thomas Paine’s Rights of Man is published.
The official birth date of the Ordnance Survey, Britain’s mapping system.
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1792
Britain establishes Sierra Leone as a home for former slaves.
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1793-1815
Napoleonic Wars
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1795
Mungo Park explores the Gambia and Niger rivers.
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1796
Joseph Turner exhibits his first painting at the Royal Academy, ‘Fishermen at Sea’.
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1798
Introduction of income tax.
Jenner publishes his findings on smallpox.
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1799
Publication of Mungo Park’s ‘Travels in the Interior of Africa’.
Robert Owen, factory owner and social reformer, moved to New Lanark Mills.
The Combination Act prohibits Trades Unions.
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1801
Act of Union between Britain and Ireland and the first Parliament of the United Kingdom.
Britain’s first census.
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1805
Battle of Trafalgar – Nelson beats a combined French and Spanish fleet and establishes Great Britain as the premier naval power for the next 100 years.
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1807
Abolition of the Slave Trade (but not slavery itself).
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1811
Luddite Riots – textile machinery is sabotaged in Lancashire, Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire.
Jane Austen publishes Sense and Sensibility.
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1812-14
War between the USA and Great Britain – the British burn Washington in 1814.
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1814
Walter Scott publishes his first novel, Waverley.
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1815
Introduction of the Corn Laws places tariffs on imported grain.
Battle of Waterloo – British and Prussian armies finally defeat Napoleon.
Humphrey Davy invents the safety lamp.
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1819
Peterloo Massacre – troops kill 11 and injure 500 during a peaceful protest in Manchester.
Stamford Raffles establishes a trading post on the Malay Peninsula, which becomes Singapore.
Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were both born this year, on 24 May and 26 August, respectively.
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1821-23
Famine in Ireland.
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1821
John Constable shows The Hay Wain at the Royal Academy.
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1823
The game of rugby is born when William Web Ellis picks up the ball during a football match and runs with it.
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1824
The RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution) was founded.
The RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution) was founded.
The National Gallery was founded by the British Government.
The RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) was founded.
Imperial weights and measures began with the Weights and Measures Act of 1824.
Britain’s first municipal fire brigade was established in Edinburgh.
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1825
The world’s first steam railway service opens between Stockton and Darlington.
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1828
Burke and Hare are arrested for multiple murders in Edinburgh, their victims being intended for medical dissection. It was easier than digging up freshly buried corpses.
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1829
Catholic emancipation – Catholics no longer banned from holding public office or attending university.
Robert Peel founds the Metropolitan Police.
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1830
Liverpool-Manchester Railway opens.
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1831
Faraday discovers electromagnetic induction.
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1832
Great Reform Act – abolished some rotten boroughs – parliamentary constituencies where few people lived – created new constituencies for the growing urban areas and slightly extended the franchise.
Jeremy Bentham, responsible for the principle of the greatest happiness of the greatest number, dies.
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1833
Factory Act restricts the working hours of women and children.
Slavery Abolition Act abolishes slavery in most of Britain’s colonies.
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1834
The Tolpuddle Martyrs are sentenced to transportation for combining to campaign for better working conditions.
The Poor Law Amendment Act establishes workhouses as the main means of providing welfare.
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1835
Fox Talbot’s first photographic negative.
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1836
Birth of the Chartist Movement, with the aim of political reform and extending the franchise.
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1837
Queen Victoria becomes queen at the age of 18.