1797 in Great Britain
Encyclopedia
.svg.png) 1797 in Great Britain: |
| Other years |
| 1795 1795 in Great Britain Events from the year 1795 in the Kingdom of Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George III*Prime Minister - William Pitt the Younger, Tory-Events:* March - English Benedictine monks expelled from the Priory of St... | 1796 1796 in Great Britain Events from the year 1796 in Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George III*Prime Minister - William Pitt the Younger, Tory-Events:... | 1797 | 1798 1798 in Great Britain Events from the year 1798 in Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George III*Prime Minister - William Pitt the Younger, Tory-Events:* May–September - Irish Rebellion: Irish rebels stage an uprising against British rule.... | 1799 1799 in Great Britain Events from the year 1799 in Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - George III*Prime Minister - William Pitt the Younger, Tory-Events:... |
| Sport |
| 1797 English cricket season 1797 English cricket season In the 1797 English cricket season, MCC enjoyed great success on the field, winning 9 of its 11 matches.- Matches :-First mentions:* John Bennett – played 61 matches from 1797 to 1818... |
Events from the year 1797 in Great Britain
Kingdom of Great Britain
The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...
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Incumbents
- Monarch - King George IIIGeorge III of the United KingdomGeorge III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...
- Prime Minister - William Pitt the YoungerWilliam Pitt the YoungerWilliam Pitt the Younger was a British politician of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He became the youngest Prime Minister in 1783 at the age of 24 . He left office in 1801, but was Prime Minister again from 1804 until his death in 1806...
, ToryToryToryism is a traditionalist and conservative political philosophy which grew out of the Cavalier faction in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It is a prominent ideology in the politics of the United Kingdom, but also features in parts of The Commonwealth, particularly in Canada...
Events
- 3 January - Three of the stones making up StonehengeStonehengeStonehenge is a prehistoric monument located in the English county of Wiltshire, about west of Amesbury and north of Salisbury. One of the most famous sites in the world, Stonehenge is composed of a circular setting of large standing stones set within earthworks...
fall due to heavy frosts. - 15 January - London haberdasherHaberdasherA haberdasher is a person who sells small articles for sewing, such as buttons, ribbons, zips, and other notions. In American English, haberdasher is another term for a men's outfitter. A haberdasher's shop or the items sold therein are called haberdashery.-Origin and use:The word appears in...
John HetheringtonJohn HetheringtonJohn Hetherington was an English haberdasher, often incorrectly credited as the inventor of the top hat, which supposedly caused a riot when he first wore it in public on 15 January 1797.-The story:...
wears the first top hatTop hatA top hat, beaver hat, high hat silk hat, cylinder hat, chimney pot hat or stove pipe hat is a tall, flat-crowned, broad-brimmed hat, predominantly worn from the latter part of the 18th to the middle of the 20th century...
in public and attracts a large crowd of onlookers. He is later fined £50 for causing public nuisancePublic nuisanceIn English criminal law, public nuisance is a class of common law offence in which the injury, loss or damage is suffered by the local community as a whole rather than by individual victims.-Discussion:...
. - 14 February - Battle of Cape St Vincent: The Royal NavyRoyal NavyThe Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
under Admiral Sir John JervisJohn Jervis, 1st Earl of St VincentAdmiral of the Fleet John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent GCB, PC was an admiral in the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom...
defeats a larger SpanishSpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
fleet off Cape St. Vincent, PortugalPortugalPortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
. On 23 May, Jervis is made Earl of St Vincent, and Horatio Nelson made a Knight of the Bath, for their part in the victory. - 18 February - Spanish Governor Chacon peacefully surrenders the colony of Trinidad and TobagoTrinidad and TobagoTrinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...
to a British naval force commanded by Sir Ralph AbercrombyRalph AbercrombySir Ralph Abercromby was a Scottish soldier and politician. He rose to the rank of lieutenant-general in the British Army, was noted for his services during the Napoleonic Wars, and served as Commander-in-Chief, Ireland.He twice served as MP for Clackmannanshire and Kinross-shire, and was...
. - 22 February - The Last invasion of BritainLast invasion of BritainThe Battle of Fishguard was a military invasion of Great Britain by Revolutionary France during the War of the First Coalition. The brief campaign, which took place between 22 February and 24 February 1797, was the most recent effort by a foreign force that was able to land on Britain, and thus is...
begins: French forces under the command of American Colonel William Tate land near FishguardFishguardFishguard is a coastal town in Pembrokeshire, south-west Wales, with a population of 3,300 . The community of Fishguard and Goodwick had a population of 5043 at the 2001 census....
in WalesWalesWales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
. - 25 February - Tate surrenders at Fishguard.
- 26 February - Start of "restriction period" during which, by Government order, Bank of EnglandBank of EnglandThe Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694, it is the second oldest central bank in the world...
notes are inconvertible to gold. The Bank issues the first one-pound and two-pound notes (the former denomination remains in issue until 11 March 1988). - 16 April to 30 June - Spithead and Nore mutiniesSpithead and Nore mutiniesThe Spithead and Nore mutinies were two major mutinies by sailors of the Royal Navy in 1797. There were also discontent and minor incidents on ships in other locations in the same year. They were not violent insurrections, being more in the nature of strikes, demanding better pay and conditions...
: Two mutinies in the Royal Navy spark fears of a revolution. - 17 April - Sir Ralph AbercrombyRalph AbercrombySir Ralph Abercromby was a Scottish soldier and politician. He rose to the rank of lieutenant-general in the British Army, was noted for his services during the Napoleonic Wars, and served as Commander-in-Chief, Ireland.He twice served as MP for Clackmannanshire and Kinross-shire, and was...
unsuccessfully invades San Juan, Puerto RicoSan Juan, Puerto RicoSan Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...
in what would be one of the largest British attacks on Spanish territories in the western hemisphere and one of the worst defeats of the navy for years to come. - 24 July - Horatio Nelson is wounded at the Battle of Santa CruzBattle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (1797)The Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife was an amphibious assault by the Royal Navy on the Spanish port city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the Canary Islands. Launched by Rear-Admiral Horatio Nelson on 22 July 1797, the assault was heavily defeated, and on 25 July the remains of the landing party ...
, causing the loss of his right arm. - August - The Home OfficeHome OfficeThe Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...
sends an agent to Nether StoweyNether StoweyNether Stowey is a large village in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, South West England. It sits in the foothills of the Quantock Hills , just below Over Stowey...
in SomersetSomersetThe ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
to investigate the poets Samuel Taylor ColeridgeSamuel Taylor ColeridgeSamuel Taylor Coleridge was an English poet, Romantic, literary critic and philosopher who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets. He is probably best known for his poems The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla...
and William WordsworthWilliam WordsworthWilliam Wordsworth was a major English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with the 1798 joint publication Lyrical Ballads....
who are suspected of being French spies. - 11 October - Battle of CamperdownBattle of CamperdownThe Battle of Camperdown was a major naval action fought on 11 October 1797 between a Royal Navy fleet under Admiral Adam Duncan and a Dutch Navy fleet under Vice-Admiral Jan de Winter...
: Royal Navy defeats the FrancoFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
-DutchNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
fleet. - 18 October - Treaty of Campo FormioTreaty of Campo FormioThe Treaty of Campo Formio was signed on 18 October 1797 by Napoleon Bonaparte and Count Philipp von Cobenzl as representatives of revolutionary France and the Austrian monarchy...
ends the First CoalitionFirst CoalitionThe War of the First Coalition was the first major effort of multiple European monarchies to contain Revolutionary France. France declared war on the Habsburg monarchy of Austria on 20 April 1792, and the Kingdom of Prussia joined the Austrian side a few weeks later.These powers initiated a series...
, leaving Britain fighting alone against FranceFrench First RepublicThe French First Republic was founded on 22 September 1792, by the newly established National Convention. The First Republic lasted until the declaration of the First French Empire in 1804 under Napoleon I...
. - undated - "Cartwheel" twopence coinCoinA coin is a piece of hard material that is standardized in weight, is produced in large quantities in order to facilitate trade, and primarily can be used as a legal tender token for commerce in the designated country, region, or territory....
s pressed, for the only time, at BoultonMatthew BoultonMatthew Boulton, FRS was an English manufacturer and business partner of Scottish engineer James Watt. In the final quarter of the 18th century the partnership installed hundreds of Boulton & Watt steam engines, which were a great advance on the state of the art, making possible the...
and WattJames WattJames Watt, FRS, FRSE was a Scottish inventor and mechanical engineer whose improvements to the Newcomen steam engine were fundamental to the changes brought by the Industrial Revolution in both his native Great Britain and the rest of the world.While working as an instrument maker at the...
’s Soho MintSoho MintSoho Mint was created by Matthew Boulton in 1788 in his Soho Manufactory in Handsworth, West Midlands, England. A mint was erected at the manufactory containing eight machines, driven by steam engine, each capable of striking 70 to 84 coins per minute....
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Ongoing
- Anglo-Spanish WarAnglo-Spanish War (1796–1808)The Anglo-Spanish War between 1796 and 1802, and again from 1804 to 1808, was a part of the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. The war ended in a alliance....
, 1796–1808. - French Revolutionary WarsFrench Revolutionary WarsThe French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...
, First CoalitionFirst CoalitionThe War of the First Coalition was the first major effort of multiple European monarchies to contain Revolutionary France. France declared war on the Habsburg monarchy of Austria on 20 April 1792, and the Kingdom of Prussia joined the Austrian side a few weeks later.These powers initiated a series...
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Births
- 6 January - Edward Turner BennettEdward Turner BennettEdward Turner Bennett was an English zoologist and writer. He was the elder brother of the botanist John Joseph Bennett. Bennett was born at Hackney and practiced as a surgeon, but his chief pursuit was always zoology...
, zoologist and writer (died 18361836 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1836 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King William IV*Prime Minister - Viscount Melbourne, Whig-Events:* 2 March - First organised point-to-point horse race held, at Madresfield, Worcester....
) - 14 January - George Agar-Ellis, 1st Baron DoverGeorge Agar-Ellis, 1st Baron DoverGeorge James Welbore Agar-Ellis, 1st Baron Dover PC FRS FSA was a British politician and man of letters. He was briefly First Commissioner of Woods and Forests under Lord Grey between 1830 and 1831.-Background and education:...
, man of letters (died 18331833 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1833 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King William IV*Prime Minister - Earl Grey, Whig-Events:* 3 January - British forces re-establish British rule on the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic....
) - 29 April - George DonGeorge DonGeorge Don was a Scottish botanist.George Don was born at Doo Hillock, Forfar, Angus, Scotland on 29 April 1797. His father, also named George Don, was Superintendent of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh in 1802 and his mother was Caroline Clementina Stuart. George was the elder brother of David...
, botanist (died 18561856 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1856 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — Lord Palmerston, Liberal-Events:...
) - 9 August - Charles Robert MaldenCharles Robert MaldenCharles Robert Malden , was a nineteenth century British naval officer, surveyor and educator. Discoverer of Malden Island in the central Pacific, which is named in his honour. Founder of the Windlesham House School at Brighton, England.Malden was born in Putney, Surrey, son of Jonas Malden, a...
, explorer (died 18551855 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1855 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:* Monarch — Queen Victoria* Prime Minister — Earl of Aberdeen, Peelite , Viscount Palmerston, Liberal-Events:...
) - 30 August - Mary Wollstonecraft ShelleyMary ShelleyMary Shelley was a British novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, and travel writer, best known for her Gothic novel Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus . She also edited and promoted the works of her husband, the Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley...
, writer (died 18511851 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1851 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — Lord John Russell, Liberal-Events:...
) - 16 October - James Brudenell, 7th Earl of CardiganJames Brudenell, 7th Earl of CardiganLieutenant General James Thomas Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan, KCB , was an officer in the British Army who commanded the Light Brigade during the Crimean War...
, military commande (died 18681868 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1868 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — Earl of Derby, Conservative , Benjamin Disraeli, Conservative , William Ewart Gladstone, Liberal...
) - 14 November - Charles LyellCharles LyellSir Charles Lyell, 1st Baronet, Kt FRS was a British lawyer and the foremost geologist of his day. He is best known as the author of Principles of Geology, which popularised James Hutton's concepts of uniformitarianism – the idea that the earth was shaped by slow-moving forces still in operation...
, geologist (died 18751875 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1875 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — Benjamin Disraeli, Conservative-Events:...
) - unknown date - William BantingWilliam BantingWilliam Banting , was a formerly obese English undertaker who was the first to popularise a weight loss diet based on limiting intake of refined and easily digestible carbohydrates. He undertook his dietary changes at the suggestion of Dr...
, undertaker and dietician (died 18781878 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1878 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — Benjamin Disraeli, Conservative-Events:* January — Cleopatra's Needle arrives in London....
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Deaths
- 2 March - Horace Walpole, politician and writer (born 17171717 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1717 in Great Britain.-Events:* 1 January - Count Carl Gyllenborg, the Swedish ambassador, is arrested in London over a plot to assist the Pretender James Francis Edward Stuart....
) - 26 March - James HuttonJames HuttonJames Hutton was a Scottish physician, geologist, naturalist, chemical manufacturer and experimental agriculturalist. He is considered the father of modern geology...
, geologist (born 17261726 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1726 in Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - George I of Great Britain*Prime Minister - Robert Walpole, Whig-Undated:* Completion of St Martin-in-the-Fields church in London as designed by James Gibbs....
) - 31 March - Olaudah EquianoOlaudah EquianoOlaudah Equiano also known as Gustavus Vassa, was a prominent African involved in the British movement towards the abolition of the slave trade. His autobiography depicted the horrors of slavery and helped influence British lawmakers to abolish the slave trade through the Slave Trade Act of 1807...
Nigerian ex-slave and slavery abolitionist in Britain (born 1745, Nigeria) - 25 May - John Griffin Whitwell, 4th Baron Howard de WaldenJohn Griffin Whitwell, 4th Baron Howard de WaldenField Marshal John Griffin Whitwell, 4th Baron Howard de Walden, 1st Baron Braybrooke, KB was a British nobleman and soldier.-Military career:...
, field marshal (born 17191719 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1719 in Great Britain.-Events:* April - Bank rate set at 5%, at which it will remain for more than a century.* 28 April - A Peerage Bill, proposed by Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland, to prevent the creation of peers in the House of Lords is defeated in the House of...
) - 3 August - Jeffrey Amherst, military commander (born 1717)
- 29 August - Joseph Wright of DerbyJoseph Wright of DerbyJoseph Wright , styled Wright of Derby, was an English landscape and portrait painter. He has been acclaimed as "the first professional painter to express the spirit of the Industrial Revolution"....
, painter (born 17341734 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1734 in Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George II*Prime Minister - Robert Walpole, Whig-Events:* November - General election results in Robert Walpole winning his third victory as Prime Minister.-Undated:...
) - 10 September - Mary WollstonecraftMary WollstonecraftMary Wollstonecraft was an eighteenth-century British writer, philosopher, and advocate of women's rights. During her brief career, she wrote novels, treatises, a travel narrative, a history of the French Revolution, a conduct book, and a children's book...
, writer, philosopher and feminist (born 17591759 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1759 in Great Britain. The year was dubbed an Annus Mirabilis due to a succession of military victories in the Seven Years' War against French-led opponents.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George II...
) - 11 December - Richard BrocklesbyRichard BrocklesbyRichard Brocklesby , an English physician, was born at Minehead, Somerset.He was educated at Ballitore, in Ireland, where Edmund Burke was one of his school fellows, studied medicine at Edinburgh, and finally graduated at Leiden in 1745...
, physician (born 17221722 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1722 in Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - George I of Great Britain*Prime Minister - Robert Walpole, Whig-Events:...
) - 26 December - John WilkesJohn WilkesJohn Wilkes was an English radical, journalist and politician.He was first elected Member of Parliament in 1757. In the Middlesex election dispute, he fought for the right of voters—rather than the House of Commons—to determine their representatives...
, politician and journalist (born 17251725 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1725 in Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - George I of Great Britain*Prime Minister - Robert Walpole, Whig-Events:* 18 May - The Order of the Bath founded by King George I....
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