1720 in Great Britain
From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
.svg){kind=small} 1720 in Great Britain: |
| Other years |
| 1718 | 1719 | 1720 | 1721 | 1722 |
| Sport |
| 1720 English cricket season |
Events from the year 1720 in Great Britain.
Incumbents
- Monarch - George I
Events
- 17 February - Treaty of The Hague signed between Britain, France, Austria, the Dutch Republic and Spain ending the War of the Quadruple Alliance.[1]
- April - "South Sea Bubble": A scheme for the South Sea Company to take over most of Britain's unconsolidated government debt massively inflates share prices;[1] they rise to a peak in August.
- 15 April - Ralph Allen of Bath is appointed to farm Cross and Bye Posts (i.e. to manage mail not going via London), leading to his reform of the system.[2][3]
- September - "South Sea Bubble": share prices, led by those of the South Sea Company, collapse.[1]
- 16 November - Pirate captain "Calico Jack" Rackham is brought to trial at Spanish Town in Jamaica; he is hanged at Port Royal two days later.
- 29 December - Haymarket Theatre opens in London.
Births
- 13 January - Richard Hurd, bishop and writer (died 1808)
- 27 January (bapt.) - Samuel Foote, dramatist and actor (died 1777)
- 9 March - Philip Yorke, 2nd Earl of Hardwicke, politician (died 1790)
- 18 July - Gilbert White, naturalist and cleric (died 1793)
- 18 August - Laurence Shirley, 4th Earl Ferrers, murderer (died 1760)
- 30 August - Samuel Whitbread, brewer and politician (died 1796)
- 31 December - Charles Edward Stuart, pretender to the British throne (died 1788)
Deaths
- 31 January - Thomas Grey, 2nd Earl of Stamford, privy councillor (born c. 1645)
- 20 April - George Gordon, 1st Earl of Aberdeen, Lord Chancellor of Scotland (born 1637)
- 5 August - Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea, English poet (born 1661)
- 9 August - Simon Ockley, orientalist (born 1678)
- 18 August - Matthew Aylmer, 1st Baron Aylmer, admiral (born c. 1650)
- 18 November - Calico Jack, pirate (born c. 1682)
