Timeline of Lewisham and National events 1700 - 1799
1700s A Victualling Yard was established at Deptford, where ships' stores and provisions were assembled.
1701 Seed Drill invented by Jethro Tull, which began the Agricultural Revolution.
1702 William III dies Anne second daughter of James II succeeds him as Queen [1702 – 1714]
1703 Great Storm destroys Eddystone Lighthouse, 12 Warships and many merchant vessels
1703 St Mary the Virgin, Lewisham registers start
1704 English capture Gibraltar from Spain. Scottish Parliament pass the Act of Security, which gave a separate monarch for Scotland. Sir Christopher Wren’s St Paul’s Cathedral completed.
1704 ‘A black boy from Mr Richard Symes called Johnne was buried’ at St Mary’s, Lewisham [2nd June]
1705 Dick Turpin born [1705 – 1739]
1706 John Evelyn dies [1620 – 1706]
1707 Act of Scottish parliament and England and Scotland were dissolved and became one country.
1710 Peking or Beijing becomes the largest city in the world, taking the lead from Istanbul.
1711 Deptford docks employed 1100 men.
1714 George of Hanover, Germany succeeds Queen Anne to the Throne [1714 – 1727]
1715 First Jacobite uprising and Riot Act passed due to riots in a number of towns.
1716 Pirate Edward Teach or Blackbeard raids shipping in the Caribbean. Fire at Wapping destroys 150 houses
1717 First ballet performed in England by dancer John Weaver
1718 Transportation Act courts could transport those convicted of certain crimes to the North American Colonies for 7 or 14 years.
1718 New Cross tollgate established on Clifton Rise by New Cross Turnpike Trust (became known as New Cross Gate, New Cross after an inn and Gate after toll.
1719 First Silk throwing Mill erected at Derby by Mr Lombe
1720 South Sea Scheme, failed.
1721 Sir Robert Walpole becomes England’s first Prime Minister
1722 Jakob Roggeveen a Dutch Admiral lands on Easter Island. Kangxi dies after the longest reign in Chinese History. His son Yinzhen [Yongzheng] succeeded him. Thomas Guy founded Guy’s Hospital
1723 State of Georgia founded. Workhouse Act allowed Overseer’s to make relief subject to entry to the workhouse.
1724 Blenheim Palace is completed a gift for the Duke of Marlborough. China expels foreign missionaries. Philosopher Immanuel Kant born [1724 – 1804]
1725 Peter the Great dies. Treaty of Hanover signed between England, France and Prussia. Black Watch Regiment founded in Scotland. Fire in Wapping destroys 70 houses
1726 Charter granted to the East India Company for Madras, Bombay and Calcutta. Jonathan Swift publishes Gulliver’s travels.
1727 George I died George II became King of England (1727 – 1760) and epidemics of Influenza and small pox spread through the country. Spain at war with England and France (until 1729). Royal Bank of Scotland founded by Royal Charter. Palheta smuggles coffee seeds into Brazil, coffee empire begins
1728 John Gay’s Beggar’s Opera premiered to great popularity. Captain and explorer James Cook born [1728 – 1779]. Scottish born Architect Robert Adam born [1728 – 1792]
1729 Treaty of Seville settled England’s dispute with Spain, colonial trade grew. Fire in Istanbul destroys 12000 houses and kills 7000 people.
1730s Tiger Head pub built by Lee Green. John Wesley came to the Limes, Lewisham many times. Many founders of Methodism such as John and Charles Wesley and George Whitefield were friendly with the owners of the Limes. [Plaque – Maroon 171 Lewisham High Street [site of]].
1730 St Paul church Deptford was completed by Thomas Archer
1731 Daniel Defoe dies. 10 Downing Street built. By the Treaty of Vienna the Holy Roman Emperor dissolved the Ostend Company, England’s trading rival in cotton, spices and saltpetre in the East and West Indies
1732 George Washington born. Original Covent Garden [now Royal Opera House] opens. Cobalt is discovered and Isolated by Georg Brandt.
1732 ‘Mary a Negro from Mrs Frere’ was buried at St Mary’s, Lewisham [2nd September]
1733 Walpole introduced excise on tobacco and wine. The Serpentine, Hyde Park laid out. England prohibited trade between America and the West Indies by the Molasses Act.
1733 Joseph Pilgrim [c. 1691 – 6 January 1733] dies; he was Chief Justice for the Court of Common Pleas in Barbados. He has a monumental inscription in St Margaret’s, Lee.
1735 William Pitt the Elder enters Parliament. Granville Sharp born [1735 – 1813]. Ship building begins in Mumbai [Bombay]
1736 Porteous Riots - Captain John Porteous tried to control a mob during riots, 6 people were killed. He was charged with murder. He was lynched after crowds drag him out of his prison cell.
1737 Queen Caroline Dies. The war of `Jenkins’ Ear between England and Spain over trading rights in the Spanish Colonies brought to end a period of peace, lasts until 1741.
1738 First Cuckoo Clock produced in Black Forest
1739 First Camellias arrive in Europe from the Far East.
1740 Crucible method of making steel by heating scrap iron was founded in England.
1740 Sir Francis Baring (1740 -1810) Bart MP. Founder of Baring bank. Bought Manor House, Lee in 1796 and became Lord of the Manor 1798. [Maroon Plaque – Manor House Library.
1741 Handel completes `the Messiah’
1742 Coloured printing developed in Japan
1742 Edmond Halley, astronomer dies and is buried at St Margaret’s church, Lee. `William son of a negro was baptised’ at St Mary’s Lewisham (8th August)
1744 Anders Celsius dies (1701 – 1744) he devised the Celsius Scale of Temperature, with 0 as the freezing point of water and 100 as the boiling point.
1746 Bonnie Prince Charlie is defeated at the Battle of Culloden.
1746 `John Leeds a Black of Mr Kirk Patricks at Sydenham, aged 19 years was baptised’ at St Mary’s, Lewisham. (11th December)
1750 Halifax Nova Scotia was founded.
1752 Benjamin Franklin proves that lightening is electricity
1753 British Museum opened.
1756 Surajah Dowlah seizes Calcutta and shuts the British residents up in the ‘Black Hole’.
1757 First canal in Britain is completed. England recaptures Calcutta
1759 Sayes Court [John Evelyn’s old house at Deptford] used as a workhouse (until 1848). James Purcell (c. 1716 – 8 July 1759) dies he was Governor of the Virgin Islands [1750 – 1751], there is a monumental inscription to him in St Mary’s church. Lewisham.
1763 Josiah Wedgwood produces a new kind of earthenware.
1763 **Hester Susannah Lynch [c. 1742 – 6 November 1763] dies, she was the wife of Patrick Lynch of Barbados. She has a monumental inscription at St Margaret’s, Lee.
1764 Hargreaves invents the spinning Jenny
1767 Arkwright introduced the spinning frame.
1768 Captain Cook began his first voyage.
1771 ‘Thomas Lee the Indian Black servant of Governor Verelst was baptised’ at St Margaret’s, Lee. [17th July]
c. 1772 The Manor House Lee was built
1773 William Hastings was appointed the first Governor General of India.
1775 Hatcham House rebuilt (on site of old manor house?).
1776 America declares independence from Britain.
1776 The Manor Hose, Lee was sold to Sir Francis Baring, founder of Baring Brothers bank.
1777 British defeated by George Washington at the Battle of Princeton. Dolly Pentreath dies, said to be the last Cornish speaker
1778 3rd Pacific expedition led by Captain James Cook. First Iron bridge built.
1778 Joseph Hardcastle leased Hatcham Park House until 1819. He was an abolitionist. House was situated between Monson Road and Hatcham.
1779 Captain James Cook [1728 – 44] dies on the Sandwich Islands.
1779 Joseph Innes [c. 1745 – 7 September 1779] dies in Jamaica on public duty, there is a monumental inscription to him at St Mary’s church, Lewisham.
1780's Industrial Revolution Begins.
1780s Victualling Yard, Deptford extended by James Arrow
1780 Sunday Schools started to be established and the first Derby was run at Epsom; the winner was Diomed. League of Unarmed Neutrality formed between Denmark, Sweden and Russia. Gordon Riots in London. Mainly Protestant uprising against the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1778 repealed 1780. Great hurricane flattens Barbados, Martinique and St Eustatius, 22,000 killed
1781 Thomas Stamford Raffles founder of Singapore is born (1781 – 1826) and famous hotel there named after him.
1781 Independent, Medway Place Chapel, registers began.
1782 Spain defeat the British at Minorca and conquer Florida. America’s first commercial bank opens, Bank of North America. Bald Eagle chosen as the emblem of the United States. American Privateers attack Luneburg, Nova Scotia. Foot patrols begin in London for public security.
1783 William Pitt the Younger became Chancellor of the Exchequer and Prime Minister. Steam powered cotton mill invented by Sir Richard Arkwright. Last public hanging in England took place when John Austin, a forger, was executed at Tyburn and the first execution took place at Newgate Prison.
1784 First ascent was made in Britain by James Tytler at Edinburgh and Italian aeronaut Vincenzo Lunardi.
1785 The Daily Universal Register London’s Oldest newspaper was first published, renamed The Times in 1788. First aerial crossing of the English Channel by Jean Paul Blanchard and Doctor John Jeffries in a hot air balloon.
1785 Congregational, Butt Lane later High Street, registers began.
1786 Lord Cornwallis sent out as Governor General of India and Mont Blanc [Europe’s tallest peak] was climbed for the first time.
1787 Constitution of the United States of America signed. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart completed Eine Kleine Nachtmusik [A Little Night Music].
1787 Alexander Glenny [c. 1737 – 3 January 1787] dies. He was of the island of Dominica and died at Bromley Hill. There is a monumental inscription to his family at St Mary’s church, Lewisham.
1788 First convict ships are sent to Australia and Joseph Banks [English Botanist] founded the African Association for arousing interest in exploration and trade. British Settlement in Sierra Leone was founded.
1788 Victualling Yard gateway at Deptford built (still standing).
1789- 95 French Revolution
1789 Crew of the Bounty led by Fletcher Christian mutinied against Captain Bligh and the French Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man.
1790 George Washington gives the first State of the Union Address
1790 - 1810 Georgian villas built in Forest Hill: Hill House, White House and Ashberry Cottage.
1791 Semaphore machine unveiled in Paris
1792 First experimental use of the Guillotine in France
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