Events from the year 1759 in Great Britain. This year was dubbed an " Annus Mirabilis" due to a succession of military victories in the Seven Years' War against French-led opponents.

Incumbents

* Monarch – George II * Prime Minister – Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle ( Whig)

Events

* 15 January – the British Museum opens at Montagu House, Bloomsbury in London. * 8 April –

Robert Clive Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive, (29 September 1725 – 22 November 1774), also known as Clive of India, was the first British Governor of the Bengal Presidency. Clive has been widely credited for laying the foundation of the British ...

captures Masulipatam in India from the French. * 1 May – Seven Years' War: British forces capture

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe (; ; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Gwadloup, ) is an archipelago and overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and the ...

from the French. * 4 July – the Royal Navy bombards Le Havre. * 23 July –

Keel laying Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

of at Chatham Dockyard. * 25 July – Seven Years' War ( French and Indian War): In Canada, British forces capture Fort Niagara from French, who subsequently abandon Fort Rouillé. * 26–27 July – Seven Years' War (French and Indian War): Battle of Ticonderoga – At the southern end of Lake Champlain, French forces withdraw from Fort Carillon which is taken by the British under General Amherst and renamed Fort Ticonderoga. * 1 August – Seven Years' War: At the Battle of Minden, British-Hanoverian forces under Ferdinand of Brunswick defeat the French army of the Duc de Broglie, but due to the disobedience of the English cavalry commander Lord George Sackville, the French are able to withdraw unmolested. * 18 August – Seven Years' War: At the Battle of Lagos, the British fleet of Edward Boscawen defeats a French force under Commodore de la Clue off the Portuguese coast. * 10 September – Seven Years' War: Battle of Pondicherry – An inconclusive naval battle is fought off the coast of India between the French Admiral d'Aché and the British under George Pocock. The French forces are badly damaged and return home, never returning to India. * 13 September – Seven Years' War (French and Indian War): Quebec is recaptured by British forces following General Wolfe's victory in the Battle of the Plains of Abraham just outside the city. Both the French Commander (the Marquis de Montcalm) and the British General Wolfe are fatally wounded. * 14 September – "A Journey Through Europe; or, A Play of Geography", the earliest British board game sold. * 16 October – Smeaton's Tower, John Smeaton's Eddystone Lighthouse, is first illuminated. * 20 November – Seven Years' War: At the Battle of Quiberon Bay, the British fleet of

Sir Edward Hawke Edward Hawke, 1st Baron Hawke, KB, PC (21 February 1705 – 17 October 1781), of Scarthingwell Hall in the parish of Towton, near Tadcaster, Yorkshire, was a Royal Navy officer. As captain of the third-rate , he took part in the Battle of T ...

defeats a French fleet under

Marshal de Conflans Hubert de Brienne, Comte de Conflans (1690, in Paris – 27 January 1777, in Paris) was a French naval commander. Early life The son of Henri Jacob marquis de Conflans and Marie du Bouchet, at 15 he was made a knight of the Order of Saint ...

near the coast of Brittany. This is the decisive naval engagement of the War – after this, the French are no longer able to field a significant fleet and a planned French invasion of Britain is abandoned.

Unknown dates

* Clockmaker John Harrison produces his "No. 1 sea watch" ("H4"), the first successful marine chronometer. *

Bank of England £10 note The Bank of England £10 note, also known informally as a tenner, is a sterling banknote. It is the second-lowest denomination of banknote issued by the Bank of England. The current polymer note, first issued in 2017, bears the image of Queen ...

first issued. * Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, created. * The song '' Heart of Oak'' is written by

William Boyce William Boyce may refer to: *William Boyce (composer) (1711–1779), English-born composer and Master of the King's Musick * William Binnington Boyce (1804–1889), English-born philologist and clergyman, active in Australia *William Waters Boyce ( ...

with words by

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 ...

Publications

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 ...

apologue An apologue or apolog (from the Greek ἀπόλογος, a "statement" or "account") is a brief fable or allegorical story with pointed or exaggerated details, meant to serve as a pleasant vehicle for a moral doctrine or to convey a useful lesson ...

'' The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia''. *

Adam Smith Adam Smith (baptized 1723 – 17 July 1790) was a Scottish economist and philosopher who was a pioneer in the thinking of political economy and key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment. Seen by some as "The Father of Economics"——— ...

's '' The Theory of Moral Sentiments'', embodying some of his Glasgow lectures. * Laurence Sterne begins publication of his comic metafictional novel '' The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman''. * Samuel Dunn's instructional manual ''The description and use of the universal planispheres; or, terrestrial and celestial globes in plano''.

Births

* 25 January – Robert Burns, Scottish poet (died 1796) * 26 March – John Mayne, Scottish poet (d. 1836) * 27 April – Mary Wollstonecraft, writer, philosopher and feminist (died 1797) * 28 May – William Pitt the Younger, Prime Minister (died 1806) * 7 August –

William Owen Pughe William Owen Pughe (7 August 1759 – 4 June 1835) was a Welsh antiquarian and grammarian best known for his ''Welsh and English Dictionary'', published in 1803, but also known for his grammar books and "Pughisms" (neologisms)."The Inventio ...

, lexicographer (died 1835) * 12 August – Thomas Andrew Knight, horticulturalist (died 1838) * 24 August – William Wilberforce, abolitionist (died 1833) * 19 September – William Kirby, entomologist (died 1850) * 24 September – Charles Simeon, evangelical clergyman (died 1836) * 13 October – Mary Hays, writer and feminist (died 1843) * 25 October –

William Grenville William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville, (25 October 175912 January 1834) was a British Pittite Tory politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1806 to 1807, but was a supporter of the Whigs (British political pa ...

, Prime Minister (died 1834)

Deaths

* 11 March – John Forbes, general (born 1707) * 14 April –

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, ...

, composer (born 1685 in Saxony-Anhalt) * 7 August – John Kennedy, 8th Earl of Cassilis (born 1700) * 16 August – Eugene Aram, English philologist and murderer, hanged (born 1704) * 13 September – James Wolfe, general (born 1727) * 10 October – Granville Elliott, military officer (born 1713) * 13 October – John Henley, English minister (born 1692)

References

{{Year in Europe, 1759 Years in the Kingdom of Great Britain 1759 by country 1759 in Europe 1750s in Great Britain