1781 in Great Britain

Events from the year 1781 in Great Britain.

1781 in Great Britain:
Other years
1779 | 1780 | 1781 | 1782 | 1783
Countries of the United Kingdom
Scotland
Sport
1781 English cricket season

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

Events
  • 1 January – Industrial Revolution: The Iron Bridge opens across the River Severn.[2]
  • 3 February – Fourth Anglo-Dutch War: Capture of Sint Eustatius – British forces led by General John Vaughan and Admiral George Rodney take the Dutch Caribbean island of Sint Eustatius, with only a few shots fired. On 26 November it is retaken by Dutch-allied French forces.
  • 5 January – American Revolutionary War: Richmond, Virginia, is burned by British naval forces led by Benedict Arnold.
  • 6 January – Battle of Jersey: British troops prevent the French from occupying Jersey in the Channel Islands.
  • 17 January – American Revolutionary War: the American Continental Army under Daniel Morgan decisively defeats British forces at the Battle of Cowpens in South Carolina.[3]
  • January – William Pitt the Younger, later Prime Minister, enters Parliament, aged 21.
  • 3 February – American Revolutionary War and Fourth Anglo-Dutch War: The Dutch Caribbean island of Sint Eustatius (which has been supplying the United States) surrenders to Admiral Rodney.[2]
13 March: Uranus discovered [image in false colour].
  • 28 February – foundation of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester.[4]
  • 13 March – Sir William Herschel discovers the planet Uranus.[3] Originally he calls it Georgium Sidus (George's Star) in honour of King George III.
  • 15 March – American Revolutionary War: American General Nathanael Greene loses the Battle of Guilford Court House to British.[3]
  • 1 July – Second Anglo-Mysore War: at the Battle of Porto Novo, the British defeat the Mysore ruler Hyder Ali.[2]
  • 6 July – American Revolutionary War: At the Battle of Green Spring, the British led by Lord Cornwallis defeat the French led by the Marquis de Lafayette.[2]
  • 27 July – French spy François Henri de la Motte executed at Tyburn (London) for high treason.
  • 30 August – American Revolutionary War: French fleet under the Comte de Grasse enters Chesapeake Bay, cutting British General Charles Cornwallis off from escape by sea.
  • 5 September – American Revolutionary War: in the Battle of the Chesapeake, a British fleet under Thomas Graves arrives and fights de Grasse, but is unable to break through to relieve the Siege of Yorktown.[2]
  • 6 September – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Groton Heights – a British force under Benedict Arnold attacks a fort in Groton, Connecticut, achieving a strategic victory.
  • 19 October – American Revolutionary War: following the Siege of Yorktown, General Charles Cornwallis surrenders to General George Washington at Yorktown, Virginia, ending the armed struggle of the American Revolutionary War.[2]
  • 29 November
    • Zong massacre: English slave traders begin to throw approximately 142 slaves taken on in Accra overboard alive from the slave ship Zong in the Caribbean Sea to conserve supplies for the remainder; the Liverpool owners subsequently attempt to reclaim part of their value from insurers.[5]
    • Henry Hurle officially founds the Ancient Order of Druids in London.
  • 3 December – first known building society established, in Birmingham.[6]
  • 12 December – American Revolutionary War: Second Battle of Ushant – the Royal Navy, commanded by Rear Admiral Richard Kempenfelt in HMS Victory, decisively defeats the French fleet in the Bay of Biscay.
  • Last year in which the monarch participates in a regular peacetime meeting of the Cabinet.[7]

Publications

Births
  • 21 February – Bulkeley Bandinel, scholar-librarian (died 1861)
  • 29 May – John Walker, inventor (died 1859)
  • 9 June – George Stephenson, locomotive engineer (died 1848)
  • 6 July – Stamford Raffles, founder of Singapore (died 1826)
  • 8 July – Tom Cribb, bare-knuckle boxer (died 1848)
  • 14 September – James Walker, Scottish civil engineer (died 1862)
  • 3 November – Sarah Elizabeth Utterson, translator and author (died 1851)
  • 6 November – Lucy Aikin, English writer (died 1864)
  • 30 November – Alexander Berry, adventurer and Australian pioneer (died 1873)
  • 11 December – Sir David Brewster, physicist (died 1868)

Deaths
  • 12 January – Richard Challoner, Catholic prelate (born 1691)
  • 21 February – Matchem, racehorse (born 1748)
  • 24 February – Edward Capell, critic (born 1713)
  • 19 April – Elizabeth Raffald, cookery writer and entrepreneur (born 1733)
  • 23 April – James Abercrombie, general (born 1706)
  • 8 May – Richard Jago, poet (born 1715)
  • 17 May – William Aislabie, politician (born 1700)
  • 28 September – William Henry Nassau de Zuylestein, 4th Earl of Rochford, diplomat and statesman (born 1717)
  • 16 October – Edward Hawke, 1st Baron Hawke, naval officer (born 1705)

See also
  • 1781 in Wales

References
  1. "History of Lord Frederick North - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  2. Williams, Hywel (2005). Cassell's Chronology of World History. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. pp. 333–334. ISBN 0-304-35730-8.
  3. Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 2006. ISBN 0-14-102715-0.
  4. "Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society". Manchester Lit and Phil. Archived from the original on 28 April 2009. Retrieved 18 October 2010.
  5. "BBC History British History Timeline". Archived from the original on 9 September 2007. Retrieved 3 September 2007.
  6. Baren, Maurice (1996). How It All Began Up the High Street. London: Michael O'Mara Books. p. 58. ISBN 1-85479-667-4.
  7. "Queen set to attend cabinet meeting in Downing Street". BBC News. 18 December 2012. Retrieved 18 December 2012.
  8. Driscoll, Michael; Hamilton, Meredith; Coons, Marie (2003). A Child's Introduction to Poetry. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers. p. 10. ISBN 1-57912-282-5. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
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