Events from the year 1732 in Great Britain.

Incumbents

Monarch A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority ...

–

George II George II or 2 may refer to: People * George II of Antioch (seventh century AD) * George II of Armenia (late ninth century) * George II of Abkhazia (916–960) * Patriarch George II of Alexandria (1021–1051) * George II of Georgia (1072–1089) * ...

Regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

– Caroline, Queen Consort (starting 7 June, until 26 September) *

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

–

Robert Walpole Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, (26 August 1676 – 18 March 1745; known between 1725 and 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole) was a British statesman and Whig politician who, as First Lord of the Treasury, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Leader ...

( Whig)

Events

* 14 February – first performance of Henry Fielding's comedy '' The Modern Husband'', at the Royal Theatre on Drury Lane in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. * 3 March – Captain Charles Gough rediscovers

Gough Island upright=1.3, Map of Gough island Gough Island ( ), also known historically as Gonçalo Álvares, is a rugged volcanic island in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a dependency of Tristan da Cunha and part of the British overseas territory of Sain ...

in the

South Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

. * 30 March – MPs John Birch and Denis Bond are expelled from the House of Commons after using their positions on the Commission for Forfeited Lands to make fraudulent sales. * April–May – first performances of

George Frideric Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque music, Baroque composer well known for his opera#Baroque era, operas, oratorios, anthems, concerto grosso, concerti grossi, ...

oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is mus ...

'' Esther'', in London. * 9 June –

James Oglethorpe James Edward Oglethorpe (22 December 1696 – 30 June 1785) was a British soldier, Member of Parliament, and philanthropist, as well as the founder of the colony of Georgia in what was then British America. As a social reformer, he hoped to re ...

is granted a

royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, bu ...

for the colony of Georgia. * 7 December – the original Theatre Royal,

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...

, London (predecessor of the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Op ...

) is opened by

John Rich John Rich (born January 7, 1974) is an American country music singer-songwriter. From 1992 to 1998, he was a member of the country music band Lonestar, in which he played bass guitar and alternated with Richie McDonald as lead vocalist. After d ...

Undated

* Act provides that any man after 24 June 1733 charged on oath with being the father of an

illegitimate child Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of a child born to parents who are legally married to each other, and of a child conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce. Conversely, ''illegitimacy'', also known as ''b ...

should be imprisoned until he provides a financial bond to indemnify the parish from liability for it under the Poor Law. *

Secession Church The First Secession was an exodus of ministers and members from the Church of Scotland in 1733. Those who took part formed the Associate Presbytery and later the United Secession Church. They were often referred to as seceders. The underlying ...

formed in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. * Trinity House moors the world's first lightship at the

Nore The Nore is a long bank of sand and silt running along the south-centre of the final narrowing of the Thames Estuary, England. Its south-west is the very narrow Nore Sand. Just short of the Nore's easternmost point where it fades into the cha ...

in the

Thames Estuary The Thames Estuary is where the River Thames meets the waters of the North Sea, in the south-east of Great Britain. Limits An estuary can be defined according to different criteria (e.g. tidal, geographical, navigational or in terms of salini ...

Births

* February – Charles Churchill, satirist and poet (died 1764) * 19 February –

Richard Cumberland Richard Cumberland may refer to: * Richard Cumberland (philosopher) (1631–1718), bishop, philosopher * Richard Cumberland (dramatist) (1732–1811), civil servant, dramatist * Richard Cumberland (priest) (1710–1737), Archdeacon of Northa ...

, dramatist (died 1811) * April – George Colman the Elder, dramatist and essayist (died 1794) * 13 April – Frederick North, Lord North,

(died 1792) * 15 August – Maria Coventry, Countess of Coventry, society beauty (died 1760) * 6 October – Nevil Maskelyne, Astronomer Royal (died 1811) * 6 December –

Warren Hastings Warren Hastings (6 December 1732 – 22 August 1818) was a British colonial administrator, who served as the first Governor of the Presidency of Fort William (Bengal), the head of the Supreme Council of Bengal, and so the first Governor-Genera ...

, colonial administrator (died 1818) * 23 December –

Richard Arkwright Sir Richard Arkwright (23 December 1732 – 3 August 1792) was an English inventor and a leading entrepreneur during the early Industrial Revolution. He is credited as the driving force behind the development of the spinning frame, known as t ...

, inventor (died 1792)

Deaths

* 12 January – John Horsley, archaeologist (born c. 1685) * 22 January –

Louis de Sabran Louis de Sabran or Lewis Sabran (1 March 1652 – 22 January 1732) was a French Jesuit. He was associated with the court of James II of England and engaged in vigorous theological debates with both Anglican and Puritan spokesmen. Early life and ...

, theologian (born 1652) * 6 February –

Anne Scott, 1st Duchess of Buccleuch Anne Scott, 1st Duchess of Buccleuch (11 February 1651 – 6 February 1732) was a wealthy Scottish peeress. After her father died when she was a few months old, and her sisters by the time she was 10, she inherited the family's titles. She was ma ...

, wealthy Scottish peeress (born 1651) * 7 February – William Hiseland, soldier, reputed supercentenarian (born 1620) * 22 February –

Francis Atterbury Francis Atterbury (6 March 1663 – 22 February 1732) was an English man of letters, politician and bishop. A High Church Tory and Jacobite, he gained patronage under Queen Anne, but was mistrusted by the Hanoverian Whig ministries, and ban ...

, bishop and man of letters (born 1663) * 20 May –

Thomas Boston Thomas Boston (17 March 167620 May 1732) was a Scottish Presbyterian church leader, theologian and philosopher. Boston was successively schoolmaster at Glencairn, and minister of Simprin in Berwickshire, and Ettrick in Selkirkshire. In additio ...

, Scottish church leader (born 1676) * 30 May – John King, churchman (born 1652) * 1 June – Benedict Leonard Calvert, Governor of Maryland (born 1700) * 16 July – Woodes Rogers, privateer and first Royal Governor of the Bahamas (born c. 1679) * 6 October – George Duckett, politician (born 1684) * 26 November –

Charles Sergison Charles Sergison (11 January 1655 – 26 November 1732) was an English Royal Navy administrator and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1698 to 1702. Sergison became a clerk in one of the Royal Naval dockyards in 1671 and by 1685 was ...

, politician (born 1655) * 4 December –

John Gay John Gay (30 June 1685 – 4 December 1732) was an English poet and dramatist and member of the Scriblerus Club. He is best remembered for ''The Beggar's Opera'' (1728), a ballad opera. The characters, including Captain Macheath and Polly Peac ...

, poet and dramatist (born 1685)

References