Georgian

  • 1745: Charles Edward Stuart lands on Eriskay

    On 23 July 1745, Charles Edward Stuart landed on the Hebridean island of Eriskay. He had come to begin an uprising intended to place his father on the British throne. Charles was the grandson of James II of England and VII of Scotland, who had been removed in 1688. His father, James Francis Edward Stuart,…

  • 1759: William Pitt the Younger is born at Hayes Place

    William Pitt the Younger was born at Hayes Place in Kent on 28 May 1759. He was born into politics. His father, William Pitt the Elder, had already held high office and carried a public reputation that gave the family name weight. That background helps explain why Pitt’s birth belongs in the record, but it…

  • 1760: British forces complete victory at Restigouche

    On 8 July 1760, British forces completed their victory at the Battle of Restigouche. The battle was fought on the Restigouche River, between what is now Quebec and New Brunswick, and formed part of the Seven Years’ War. France had lost Quebec to British forces in 1759, but the war in Canada was not over.…

  • 1791: The Priestley Riots Begin in Birmingham

    On 14 July 1791, political reformers and religious dissenters met at the Royal Hotel in Birmingham. Their dinner marked the second anniversary of the fall of the Bastille and expressed support for the early French Revolution. The diners had left when a crowd gathered outside the hotel. The building was attacked, and the violence soon…

  • 1794: The Royal Navy wins the Glorious First of June

    On 1 June 1794, the Royal Navy fought the French fleet in the Atlantic at the battle later known in Britain as the Glorious First of June. Britain and Revolutionary France were at war. The fighting at sea was not only about ships and honour. It was also about supplies. France needed food, and a…

  • 1798: William Pitt fights George Tierney on Putney Heath

    William Pitt the Younger and George Tierney fought a pistol duel on Putney Heath on 27 May 1798. Pitt was the Prime Minister. Tierney was an opposition MP. Both men fired. Neither was hurt. The quarrel had begun in Parliament. Britain was at war with revolutionary France, and arguments over national defence carried heavy political…

  • 1806: John Stuart Mill is born in London

    John Stuart Mill was born in London on 20 May 1806. The date points forward to one of the central arguments of nineteenth-century British politics: who should be free, who should be represented and who had the right to take part in public life. Mill became one of Victorian Britain’s clearest writers on liberty. His…

  • 1809: First prisoners arrive at Dartmoor Prison

    On 24 May 1809, around 2,500 French prisoners of war arrived at Dartmoor Prison. The prison had been built during the Napoleonic Wars, when Britain needed secure places to hold men captured in the long war with France. Dartmoor did not begin as the civilian prison it later became. Its first purpose was military: large-scale…

  • 1813: HMS Shannon captures USS Chesapeake

    On 1 June 1813, HMS Shannon captured USS Chesapeake off Boston during the War of 1812. The action came at a difficult point for British naval pride. The Royal Navy was still the stronger sea force, but American frigates had already won several single-ship actions. Those defeats challenged Britain’s claim to naval superiority. Shannon’s capture…

  • 1815: Napoleon Surrenders Aboard HMS Bellerophon

    On 15 July 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte boarded HMS Bellerophon off Rochefort and placed himself in the hands of Captain Frederick Maitland. Napoleon had been defeated at Waterloo on 18 June. He returned to Paris, abdicated for a second time and travelled towards the French Atlantic coast. He hoped to sail to the United States, beyond…

  • 1819: Queen Victoria is born at Kensington Palace

    Victoria was born at Kensington Palace, London, on 24 May 1819. She was the daughter of Edward, Duke of Kent, one of George III’s sons. Her birth came at a fragile point for the Hanoverian succession. Two years earlier, Princess Charlotte had died after childbirth. Charlotte had been the only legitimate child of the Prince…

  • 1834: The Slavery Abolition Act comes into force

    On 1 August 1834, the Slavery Abolition Act came into force across most British colonies. Around 750,000 people ceased to be legally classified as slaves, but many did not receive immediate full freedom. Britain had abolished the British slave trade in 1807. That law prohibited British participation in the trade but did not free people…