Events from the year 1737 in Great Britain.

Incumbents

* Monarch – George II * Regent – Caroline, Queen Consort (until 14 January) * Prime Minister –

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

* January – John Potter appointed as

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

(installed 28 February). * 2 March –

Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709 – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...

and his former pupil

David Garrick David Garrick (19 February 1717 – 20 January 1779) was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of European theatrical practice throughout the 18th century, and was a pupil and friend of Sa ...

leave Lichfield to seek their fortunes in London. * 17 May – construction of the circular

Radcliffe Library The Radcliffe Science Library (RSL) is the main teaching and research science library at the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Being officially part of the Bodleian Libraries, the library holds the Legal Deposit material for the sciences a ...

at the University of Oxford begins. * 28 May – the planet Venus passes in front of

Mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...

. The event is witnessed during the evening by amateur astronomer John Bevis at the

Royal Greenwich Observatory The Royal Observatory, Greenwich (ROG; known as the Old Royal Observatory from 1957 to 1998, when the working Royal Greenwich Observatory, RGO, temporarily moved south from Greenwich to Herstmonceux) is an observatory situated on a hill in G ...

. As of 2006, it is the only such planet/planet occultation to be directly observed. * 21 June – the Licensing Act requires plays to be submitted to the Lord Chamberlain for censorship and reduces the number of legitimate theatres. * 10 October – King George II expels Frederick, Prince of Wales from the royal court for criticising the government. * c. 3 November –

Alexander Cruden Alexander Cruden (31 May 16991 November 1770) was the Scottish author of an early concordance to the Bible, a proofreader and publisher, and self-styled Corrector of the nation's morals. Early life and career Alexander Cruden was born in Aber ...

's '' A Complete Concordance to the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament'' first published. * December –

Bristol Infirmary The Bristol Royal Infirmary, also known as the BRI, is a large teaching hospital situated in the centre of Bristol, England. It has links with the nearby University of Bristol and the Faculty of Health and Social Care at the University of the Wes ...

admits its first patients. This year also Aberdeen Royal Infirmary is founded. * Undated ** Welsh Methodist revival: Religious conversion of William Williams Pantycelyn after hearing

Howel Harris Howell Harris ( cy, Howel Harris, italic=no; 23 January 1714 – 21 July 1773) was a Calvinistic Methodist evangelist. He was one of the main leaders of the Welsh Methodist revival in the 18th century, along with Daniel Rowland and William Wil ...

preach in Talgarth churchyard. **
The Whole Duty of a Woman
' "by a lady" includes a recipe for "a dripping pudding", the first record of

Yorkshire pudding Yorkshire pudding is a baked pudding made from a batter of eggs, flour, and milk or water. A common British side dish, it is a versatile food that can be served in numerous ways depending on its ingredients, size, and the accompanying compone ...

Births

* 29 January – Thomas Paine, pamphleteer, revolutionary, radical and intellectual (died

1809 Events January–March * January 5 – The Treaty of the Dardanelles, between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the Ottoman Empire, is concluded. * January 10 – Peninsular War – French Marshal Jean ...

, New York) * 19 April – John Small, cricketer (died

1826 Events January–March * January 15 – The French newspaper ''Le Figaro'' begins publication in Paris, initially as a weekly. * January 30 – The Menai Suspension Bridge, built by engineer Thomas Telford, is opened between the island o ...

) * 27 April – Edward Gibbon, historian (died

1794 Events January–March * January 1 – The Stibo Group is founded by Niels Lund as a printing company in Aarhus (Denmark). * January 13 – The U.S. Congress enacts a law providing for, effective May 1, 1795, a United States ...

) * 2 May – William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne, Prime Minister (died

1805 After thirteen years the First French Empire abolished the French Republican Calendar in favour of the Gregorian calendar. Events January–March * January 11 – The Michigan Territory is created. * February 7 – King Anouvong become ...

) * 31 July –

Princess Augusta of Great Britain Princess Augusta Frederica of Great Britain (31 July 1737 – 23 March 1813) was a British princess, granddaughter of George II and the only elder sibling of George III. She was Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Princess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüt ...

, member of the Royal Family (died

1813 Events January–March * January 18–January 23 – War of 1812: The Battle of Frenchtown is fought in modern-day Monroe, Michigan between the United States and a British and Native American alliance. * January 24 – T ...

) * 11 August – Joseph Nollekens, sculptor (died

1823 Events January–March * January 22 – By secret treaty signed at the Congress of Verona, the Quintuple Alliance gives France a mandate to invade Spain for the purpose of restoring Ferdinand VII (who has been captured by armed revolutio ...

) * 14 August – Charles Hutton, mathematician (died

) * 1 October – Charles Towneley, antiquary (died

) * ''date unknown'' ** Frances Abington, actress (died

1815 Events January * January 2 – Lord Byron marries Anna Isabella Milbanke in Seaham, county of Durham, England. * January 3 – Austria, Britain, and Bourbon-restored France form a secret defensive alliance treaty against Prussi ...

) ** Richard Watson, bishop and academic (died

1816 This year was known as the ''Year Without a Summer'', because of low temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere, possibly the result of the Mount Tambora volcanic eruption in Indonesia in 1815, causing severe global cooling, catastrophic in s ...

)

Deaths

* 24 January – William Wake,

(born

1657 Events January–March * January 8 – Miles Sindercombe and his group of disaffected Levellers are betrayed, in their attempt to assassinate Oliver Cromwell, by blowing up the Palace of Whitehall in London, and arrested. * Febru ...

) * 29 January – George Hamilton, 1st Earl of Orkney, soldier (born

1666 This is the first year to be designated as an ''Annus mirabilis'', in John Dryden's 1667 poem so titled, celebrating England's failure to be beaten either by the Dutch or by fire. It is the only year to contain each Roman numeral once in de ...

) * 1 February –

Hew Dalrymple, Lord North Berwick Sir Hew Dalrymple, Lord North Berwick (1652–1737) was a Scottish judge and politician. The third son of James Dalrymple, 1st Viscount of Stair, he was Commissary of Edinburgh; Commissioner to the Parliament of Scotland for New Galloway burgh f ...

, Lord President of the Court of Session (born

1652 Events January–March * January 8 – Michiel de Ruyter marries the widow Anna van Gelder and plans retirement, but months later becomes a vice-commodore in the First Anglo-Dutch War. * February 4 – At Edinburgh, the parl ...

) * 14 February – Charles Talbot, 1st Baron Talbot of Hensol, Lord Chancellor (born

1685 Events January–March * January 6 – American-born British citizen Elihu Yale, for whom Yale University in the U.S. is named, completes his term as the first leader of the Madras Presidency in India, administering the colony ...

) * 20 February –

Elizabeth Rowe Elizabeth Singer Rowe (née Singer, 1674–1737) was an English poet, essayist and fiction writer called "the ornament of her sex and age" and the "Heavenly Singer". She was among 18th-century England's most widely read authors. She wrote ma ...

, poet and novelist (born

1674 Events January–March * January 2 – The French West India Company is dissolved after less than 10 years. * January 7 – In the Chinese Empire, General Wu Sangui leads troops into the Giuzhou province, and soon takes cont ...

) * 4 May –

Eustace Budgell Eustace Budgell (19 August 1686 – 4 May 1737) was an English writer and politician. Life and Death Born in St Thomas near Exeter, he was the son of Gilbert Budgell, D.D. by his first wife Mary, only daughter of Bishop William Gulston of Bris ...

, writer (born

1686 Events January–March * January 3 – In Madras (now Chennai) in India, local residents employed by the East India Company threaten to boycott their jobs after corporate administrator William Gyfford imposes a house tax on res ...

) * 27 September – John Sidney, 6th Earl of Leicester, privy councillor (born

1680 Events January–March * January 2 – King Amangkurat II of Mataram (located on the island of Java, part of modern-day Indonesia), invites Trunajaya, who had led a failed rebellion against him until his surrender on December ...

) * 29 September – Joseph Adams, chief factor of the Hudson's Bay Company. (born

1700 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 19), where then Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 11 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 17 ...

) * 20 November –

Caroline of Ansbach , father = John Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach , mother = Princess Eleonore Erdmuthe of Saxe-Eisenach , birth_date = , birth_place = Ansbach, Principality of Ansbach, Holy Roman Empire , death_date = , death_place = St James's Pala ...

, queen of George II of Great Britain (born 1683, Ansbach) * 11 December – John Strype, historian and biographer (born

1643 Events January–March * January 21 – Abel Tasman sights the island of Tonga. * February 6 – Abel Tasman sights the Fiji Islands. * March 13 – First English Civil War: First Battle of Middlewich – Roundheads ...

) * 27 December – William Bowyer, printer (born

1663 Events January–March * January 10 – The Royal African Company is granted a Royal Charter by Charles II of England. * January 23 – The Treaty of Ghilajharighat is signed in India between representatives of the Mughal ...

)

References

{{Year in Europe, 1737 Years in the Kingdom of Great Britain 1737 by country 1737 in Europe 1730s in Great Britain

Incumbents

Events

Births

Deaths

See also

References