1775 in Great Britain

Events from the year 1775 in Great Britain.

1775 in Great Britain:
Other years
1773 | 1774 | 1775 | 1776 | 1777
Countries of the United Kingdom
Scotland
Sport
1775 English cricket season

Incumbents
  • Monarch – George III
  • Prime Minister – Frederick North, Lord North (Tory)[1]

Events
  • 17 January – first performance of Richard Brinsley Sheridan's comedy of manners The Rivals at the Covent Garden Theatre in London.
  • 9 February – American Revolution: British Parliament declares Massachusetts in rebellion.
  • 22 March – American Revolution: Edmund Burke's speech before the British Parliament on conciliation with the American colonies.
  • 3 April – Muzio Clementi makes his London debut as a harpsichordist.
  • 19 April – the American Revolutionary War begins with the Battles of Lexington and Concord.[2]
  • 10 May – American Revolution: Capture of Fort Ticonderoga by Patriot forces.[3]
  • 12 May – American Revolution: Battle of Crown Point.
  • 12 June – American Revolution: British forces offer a pardon to all colonists who would lay down their arms.
  • 16 June – American Revolution: Battle of Bunker Hill.[2]
  • 5 July – American Revolution: the Continental Congress sends the Olive Branch Petition to King George III, hoping for a reconciliation.
  • 30 July – second voyage of James Cook: HMS Resolution (1771) anchors at Spithead, Captain Cook having completed the first eastabout global circumnavigation.
  • 12 August–3 November – American Revolution: Battle of Fort St. Jean.
  • 23 August – American Revolution: refusing even to look at the Olive Branch Petition, King George issues a Proclamation of Rebellion against the American colonies.
  • 24 September – American Revolution: Battle of Longue-Pointe.
  • 9 December – American Revolution: Battle of Great Bridge – victory by the Virginia's Second Regiment and the Culpeper (Virginia) Minuteman Battalion, leads to withdrawal of the British from the port of Norfolk Borough.
  • 30–31 December – American Revolution: Battle of Quebec – British forces repulse an attack by the American Continental Army.
  • 1775–76 Winter – Unusually deadly influenza epidemic in London kills nearly 40,000.[4]

Undated
  • Industrial Revolution
    • John Wilkinson (industrialist) invents and patents a new kind of boring machine.
    • The 1769 Watt steam engine patent is extended to June 1800 by Act of Parliament and the first engines are built under it.[5][6]
    • Josiah Wedgwood introduces jasperware pottery.
  • Actress Sarah Siddons makes her debut at the Drury Lane Theatre as Portia in The Merchant of Venice but is not well received.[3]

Publications
  • Samuel Johnson's A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland.[3]
  • Augustus Toplady's hymn "Rock of Ages" (first version, in The Gospel Magazine, October).

Births
  • 24 January – John Buonarotti Papworth, architect (died 1847)
  • 30 January – Walter Savage Landor, writer (died 1864)
  • 10 February
    • Charles Lamb, writer (died 1834)
    • James Smith, author (died 1839)
  • 12 February – Louisa Adams, First Lady of the United States (died 1852 in the United States)
  • 12 March – Joseph Chitty, lawyer and legal writer (died 1841)
  • 23 April – J. M. W. Turner, painter (died 1851)
  • 13 May – Henry Crabb Robinson, man of letters, lawyer and diarist (died 1867)
  • 5 July – William Crotch, composer (died 1847)
  • 31 August – Agnes Bulmer, poet (died 1836)
  • 25 November – Charles Kemble, actor (died 1854)
  • 14 December – Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald, admiral (died 1860)
  • 16 December – Jane Austen, novelist (died 1817)

Deaths
  • 8 January – John Baskerville, printer (born 1707)
  • 6 February – William Dowdeswell, politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (born 1721)
  • 7 March – Thomas Nuthall, politician and attorney
  • 28 May – Barlow Trecothick, merchant and politician (born c. 1719)
  • 17 June – Major John Pitcairn, marine (killed in battle) (born 1722)
  • 16 September – Allen Bathurst, 1st Earl Bathurst, privy councillor (born 1684)
  • 21 November – John Hill, botanist and writer (born c. 1716)
  • 7 December – Charles Saunders, admiral (born c. 1715)

See also
  • 1775 in Wales

References
  1. "History of Lord Frederick North - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  2. Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 2006. ISBN 0-14-102715-0.
  3. Williams, Hywel (2005). Cassell's Chronology of World History. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. pp. 329. ISBN 0-304-35730-8.
  4. Rabon, John (2020-04-21). "London's Pandemic History". Londontopia. Retrieved 2021-05-15.
  5. Scherer, F. M. (1965). "Invention and Innovation in the Watt-Boulton Steam-Engine Venture". Technology and Culture. 6: 165–87. JSTOR 3101072.
  6. "The Invention of the Steam Engine: The Life of James Watt. Part 4: The Steam Engine Gains Popularity". About.com Inventors. Archived from the original on May 25, 2012. Retrieved 2011-02-25.

Further reading
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