1766 in Great Britain

none September 2026 December 2012 1766 yes Events from the year 1766 in Great Britain. Incumbents Monarch – George III Prime Minister – Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham (Whig) (until 30 July); William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham (Whig) (starting 30 July)Bryant Christopher Parliament: The Biography 2014 Doubleday 978-0-85752-224-5 https://books.google.com/books?id=XzKtCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA379 en thumb|upright|William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham Events 1 January – Charles Edward Stuart ("Bonnie Prince Charlie") becomes the new Stuart claimant to the throne of Great Britain as King Charles III and figurehead for Jacobitism, on the death of his father James Francis Edward Stuart, Pretender since 1701. However, the papacy does not recognise his claim, leading to an improvement in British relations with the Holy See. 5 February – an observer in Wilmington, North Carolina, reports to the Edinburgh newspaper Caledonian Mercury that three ships have been seized by British Men of War on the charge of carrying official documents without stamps. The strict enforcement causes seven other ships to leave Wilmington for other ports. 20 February – the Pennsylvania Gazette reports that a British sloop outside of Wilmington, North Carolina seized one sloop sailing from Philadelphia and one sloop sailing from Saint Christopher on the charge of carrying official documents without stamps. In response, local residents threaten to burn a Royal Man of War attempting to deliver stamps to Wilmington, forcing the ship to return to the mouth of the Cape Fear River. February – American Revolution: Parliament repeals the Stamp Act which is very unpopular in the British colonies.Williams Hywel Cassell's Chronology of World History https://archive.org/details/cassellschronolo0000will/page/323 registration London Weidenfeld & Nicolson 2005 0-304-35730-8 323–324 The persuasion of Benjamin Franklin is considered partly responsible. 18 March – the Declaratory Act asserts the right of Britain to make laws binding in the colonies. 29 May – Henry Cavendish presents his paper "On Factitious Airs". This is generally credited to show the discovery of hydrogen, since it describes the density of 'inflammable air', which forms water on combustion. 30 May – opening of Theatre Royal, Bristol. Also this year, the surviving Georgian Theatre (Stockton-on-Tees) opens as a playhouse. 26 July – construction of the Trent and Mersey Canal begins to connect the River Trent and River Mersey.Charles Hadfield Charles Hadfield (historian) The Canals of the West Midlands 2nd Newton Abbot David & Charles 1969 0-7153-4660-1 27 30 July – Marquess of Rockingham dismissed as Prime Minister by King George III and is succeeded by William Pitt the Elder.http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/Page164.asp PMs in history, Marquess of Rockingham 2007-08-10 https://web.archive.org/web/20070807205447/http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/Page164.asp 7 August 2007 September – "Bread and butter riots": civil unrest across England following a poor harvest.David Cox The 'Bread And Butter Riots' of 1766 http://www.blackcountrysociety.co.uk/articles/b&briots1.htm Civil Unrest in the Black Country 1750–1837 Black Country Society 2002 2014-05-22 https://web.archive.org/web/20160304112741/http://www.blackcountrysociety.co.uk/articles/b%26briots1.htm 4 March 2016 usurped 6 September – Prince William, Duke of Gloucester, marries the illegitimately-born Maria Walpole, Dowager Countess of Waldegrave at her home in Pall Mall, London, an event kept secret from his brother the King until after passage of the Royal Marriages Act 1772. October – Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, completed. 27 November – an observer in New York City reports to the Pennsylvania Gazette that a British sloop of war is searching all vessels passing near Cape Lookout, North Carolina, and that some vessels have been seized. 5 December – James Christie holds the first sale at Christie's auction house in London. Undated Lord Mansfield decides the landmark case of Carter v Boehm in English contract law, establishing the duty of utmost good faith (uberrima fides) in insurance contracts. The first golf club in England opens, at Blackheath in Kent.Palmer Alan Palmer Veronica 1992 The Chronology of British History Century Ltd London 224–225 0-7126-5616-2 Publications James Fordyce's collected Sermons to Young Women. Oliver Goldsmith's novel The Vicar of Wakefield. John Gwynn's proposals London and Westminster Improved. George Stubbs' study The Anatomy of the Horse. Births 15 January – Nathan Drake, essayist and physician (died 1836) 12 February – William Howley, archbishop of Canterbury (died 1848) 14 February – Thomas Malthus, demographer and economist (died 1834) 11 May – Isaac D'Israeli, author (died 1848) 3 August – Jeffry Wyattville, architect and garden designer (died 1840) 6 August – William Hyde Wollaston, chemist (died 1828) 6 September – John Dalton, chemist and physicist (died 1844) 21 October – Peter Durand, merchant (died 1822) 29 December – Charles Macintosh, Scottish chemist (died 1843)Day Lance McNeil Ian Biographical Dictionary of the History of Technology 11 September 2002 Routledge 978-1-134-65019-4 786 https://books.google.com/books?id=FmoTeX3aGl4C&dq=Charles+Macintosh+29+december+1766&pg=PA786 en Deaths 1 January – James Francis Edward Stuart, "The Old Pretender" (born 1688) 9 January – Thomas Birch, English historian (born 1705) 21 January – James Quin, English actor (born 1693) 4 April – John Taylor, English classical scholar (born 1704) 8 May – Samuel Chandler, English non-conformist minister (born 1693) 13 August – Margaret Fownes-Luttrell, English heiress and painter (born 1726) 3 September – Archibald Bower, Scottish historian (born 1686) 13 September – Benjamin Heath, English classical scholar (born 1704) 23 September – John Brown, English essayist (born 1715) 29 November – John Wyatt, English inventor (born 1700) See also 1766 in Wales References 1766 Category:Years in the Kingdom of Great Britain Category:1766 by country Category:1766 in Europe Category:1760s in Great Britain