Timeline: Stephen Thurston: Our Family History

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1674 -

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Timeline

Stephen Thurston (1674 - )

	Date	Event(s)
1	1674	10 Nov 1674—10 Nov 1674: Treaty of Westminster - Netherlands cedes New Netherlands (on the eastern coast of North America) to Britain
2	1675	1675—1675: Beginning of Whig party under Shaftsbury 1675—1675: Rebuilding of St Paul's started by Wren (completed 1710) 4 Mar 1675—4 Mar 1675: John Flamsteed appointed first Astronomer Royal of England 10 Aug 1675—10 Aug 1675: Building of Royal Greenwich Observatory started
3	1676	1676—1676: Compton Census, named after its initiator Henry Compton, Bishop of London, was intended to discover the number of Anglican conformists, Roman Catholic recusants and Protestant dissenters in England and Wales from enquiries made in individual parishes
4	1677	1677—1677: Lee's Collection of Names of Merchants in London' published
5	1678	1678—1678: Extension of Test Act to peers
6	1679	1679—1679: Tories first so named 27 May 1679—27 May 1679: Habeas Corpus Act becomes law in England - (later repealed from time to time)
7	1680	1680—1680: William Dockwra(y) begins his London Penny Post 1680—1680: Dodo becomes extinct in Mauritius through over-hunting
8	1681	1681—1681: Second Test Act (against non-conformists) passed by Westminster Parliament 1681—1681: Oil lighting first used in London streets
9	1682	1682—1682: Pennsylvania founded by William Penn 1682—1682: Library of Advocates founded in Edinburgh - later National Library of Scotland 1682—1682: Halley observes the comet which bears his name
10	1683	1683—1683: Wild boar become extinct in Britain 6 Jun 1683—6 Jun 1683: Ashmolean Museum opened at Oxford - first museum in Britain
11	1685	1685—1685: James the Second (1685-1689, died 1701) - Monmouth rebellion and battle of Sedgemoor - British Army raised to 20,000 men 1685—1685: Earl of Argyll's Invasion of Scotland 1685—1685: Judge Jeffreys and the Bloody Assizes - 320 executed, 800 transported
12	1686	1686—1686: Release of all prisoners held for their religious beliefs
13	1687	4 Apr 1687—4 Apr 1687: James II issues the Declaration of Indulgence, suspending laws against Catholics and non-conformists 5 Jul 1687—5 Jul 1687: Newton published his Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica' - written in Latin
14	1688	1688—1688: British Army raised to 40,000 1688—1688: Bill of Rights limits the powers of the monarchy over parliament 1688—1688: Hearth Tax abolished 1688—1688: Mutiny Act Feb 1688—Feb 1688: Edward Lloyd's Coffee House opens - later became Lloyd's of London Nov 1688—Nov 1688: The Glorious Revolution: James II abdicates 5 Nov 1688—5 Nov 1688: William of Orange lands at Torbay Dec 1688—Dec 1688: Siege of Londonderry (began Dec 1688; ended 28 Jul 1689)
15	1689	1689—1689: Devonport naval dockyard established 13 Feb 1689—13 Feb 1689: William III and Mary II, daughter of James II, jointly take the throne (only William, however, has regal power) 12 Mar 1689—12 Mar 1689: Deposed James VII & II flees to Ireland - defeated at the Battle of the Boyne (1 Jul 1690) 24 May 1689—24 May 1689: Toleration Act passed for Protestant non-conformists 27 Jul 1689—27 Jul 1689: Battle of Killiecrankie in Scotland - Jacobites defeated Government troops but at high cost 16 Dec 1689—16 Dec 1689: Bill of Rights passed by Parliament, ending King's divine right to raise taxes or wage war
16	1690	20 May 1690—20 May 1690: England passes Act of Grace, forgiving Roman Catholic followers of James II
17	1692	1692—1692: Land Tax introduced - originally designed as an annual tax on personal estate, public offices and land. For practical purposes, however, assessors tended to avoid assessing items of wealth other than landed property so that it became known as the Land Tax. 1692—1692: French intention to invade England came to nothing 13 Feb 1692—13 Feb 1692: The massacre of Glencoe - Clan Campbell sides with King William and murders members of Clan McDonald
18	1693	4 Aug 1693—4 Aug 1693: Date traditionally ascribed to Dom Pierre P?rignon 's invention of Champagne
19	1694	1694—1694: National Debt came into effect in England 1694—1694: Stamp Duties introduced into Britain from Holland 1694—1694: Mary II death leaves William III as sole ruler 1694—1694: Triennial Act, new Parliamentary elections every three years 1694—1694: Scotland: Poll Tax imposed on all over sixteen, except the destitute and insane (-1699) 27 Jul 1694—27 Jul 1694: Bank of England founded by William Paterson (a Scot)
20	1695	1695—1695: Freedom of Press in England granted 1695—1695: Bank of Scotland founded 1695—1695: Act of Parliament imposes a fine on all who fail to inform the parish minister of the birth of a child (repealed 1706) 1695—1695: Start of Dissenters' lists in parish registers - children born but not christened in the parish church - some were named 'Papist' and others 'Protestants'
21	1697	2 Dec 1697—2 Dec 1697: Official opening of St Paul's Cathedral
22	1698	1698—1698: Invention of steam engine by Capt Thomas Savery 1698—1698: Darien Expedition: a disastrous attempt to establish a Scots settlement in Panama 1698—1698: Duties (taxes) on entries in parish registers - repealed after five years 4 Jan 1698—4 Jan 1698: Most of the Palace of Whitehall in London destroyed by fire 14 Nov 1698—14 Nov 1698: Eddystone Lighthouse (Henry Winstanley's) first lit; completed 10 days earlier
23	1700	1700—1700: Population in England and Scotland approx 7.5 million
24	1701	1701—1701: Act of Settlement bars Catholics from the British throne 23 May 1701—23 May 1701: After being convicted of piracy and murdering William Moore, Captain William Kidd hanged in London
25	1702	8 Mar 1702—8 Mar 1702: Anne Stuart becomes Queen 11 Mar 1702—11 Mar 1702: First English daily newspaper The Daily Courant (till 1735)
26	1703	4 Aug 1703—4 Aug 1703: British take Gibraltar 24 Nov 1703—24 Nov 1703: Climate: Most violent storms of the millennium cause vast damage across southern England - about a third of Britain's merchant fleet lost, and Eddystone lighthouse destroyed on 27 November (Nov 24 - Dec 2)
27	1704	1704—1704: Penal Code enacted - Catholics barred from voting, education and the military 13 Aug 1704—13 Aug 1704: Battle of Blenheim
28	1705	1705—1705: First workable steam pumping engine devised by Thomas Newcomen (some say c1710 or 1711) 1705—1705: Isaac Newton knighted (for his work at the Royal Mint)
29	1706	1706—1706: First evening newspaper The Evening Post' issued in London
30	1707	16 Jan 1707—16 Jan 1707: Union with Scotland - Scots agree to send 16 peers and 45 MPs to English Parliament in return for full trading privileges - Scottish Parliament meets for the last time in March 1 May 1707—1 May 1707: English and Scottish Parliaments united by an Act of the English Parliament - The Kingdom of Great Britain established - largest free-trade area in Europe at the time
31	1708	1708—1708: First Jacobite rising in Scotland 1708—1708: Earliest Artillery Muster Rolls
32	1709	1709—1709: Second Eddystone lighthouse completed 1709—1709: First Copyright Act pass 1709—1709: Bad harvests throughout Europe - bread riots in Britain 2 Feb 1709—2 Feb 1709: Alexander Selkirk rescued from shipwreck on a desert island, inspiring the book Robinson Crusoe (published in 1719) by Daniel Defoe
33	1710	1710—1710: Tax on Apprentice Indentures introduced
34	1711	1711—1711: Incorporation of South Sea Company, in London 11 Aug 1711—11 Aug 1711: First race meeting at Ascot
35	1712	1712—1712: Imposition of Soap Tax (abolished 1853) 1712—1712: Last trial for witchcraft in England (Jane Wenham) 1712—1712: Toleration Act passed - first relief to non-Anglicans
36	1713	1713—1713: By this year there are some 3,000 coffee houses in London
37	1714	1714—1714: Longitude Act: prize of ?20,000 offered to the inventor of a workable method of determining a ship's longitude (won by John Harrison in 1773 for his chronometer). 1714—1714: Schism Act, prevents Dissenters from being schoolmasters in England 1714—1714: Landholders forced to take the Oath of Allegiance and renounce Roman Catholicism 1 Aug 1714—1 Aug 1714: Queen Anne Stuart dies - George I Hanover becomes king (1714-1727).
38	1715	1715—1715: Second Jacobite rebellion in Scotland, under the Old Pretender ('The Fifteen') 1 Aug 1715—1 Aug 1715: Riot Act passed
39	1716	1716—1716: The Septennial Act of Britain leads to greater electoral corruption - general elections now to be held once every 7 years instead of every 3 (until 1911) 1716—1716: Climate: Thames frozen so solid that a spring tide lifted the ice bodily 13ft without interrupting the frost fair
40	1717	1717—1717: First Masonic Lodge opens in London 1717—1717: Value of the golden guinea fixed at 21 shillings
41	1719	1719—1719: Third abortive Jacobite rising
42	1720	1720—1720: South Sea Bubble, a stock-market crash on Exchange Alley - government assumes control of National Debt 1720—1720: Manufacturing towns start to increase in population - rise of new wealth 1720—1720: Wallpaper becomes fashionable in England
43	1721	2 Apr 1721—2 Apr 1721: Robert Walpole (Whig) becomes first Prime Minister (to 1742)
44	1722	1722—1722: Last trial for witchcraft in Scotland 1722—1722: Knatchbull's Act, poor laws
45	1723	1723—1723: Excise tax levied for coffee, tea, and chocolate 1723—1723: The Waltham Black Acts add 50 capital offences to the penal code - people could be sentenced to death for theft and poaching - repealed in 1827 1723—1723: The Workhouse Act or Test - to get relief, a poor person has to enter Workhouse
46	1724	1724—1724: Rapid growth of gin drinking in England 1724—1724: Longman's founded (Britain's oldest publishing house)
47	1726	1726—1726: First circulating library opened in Edinburgh 1726—1726: Invention of the chronometer by John Harrison
48	1727	1727—1727: Board of Manufacturers established in Scotland 11 Jun 1727—11 Jun 1727: George I dies - George II Hanover becomes king
49	1729	9 Nov 1729—9 Nov 1729: Treaty of Seville signed between Britain, France and Spain - Britain maintained control of Port Mahon and Gibraltar
50	1730	1730—1730: Irish famine
51	1731	1731—1731: Invention of seed drill by Jethro Tull [others say 1701] 1731—1731: Invention of sextant by John Hadley
52	1732	7 Dec 1732—7 Dec 1732: Covent Garden Opera House opens
53	1733	1733—1733: Excise crisis: Sir Robert Walpole wanted to add excise tax to tobacco and wine - Pulteney and Bolingbroke oppose the excise tax 1733—1733: Law forbidding the use of Latin in parish registers generally obeyed - some continued in Latin for a few years 1733—1733: John Kay invents the flying shuttle, revolutionised the weaving industry
54	1734	1734—1734: Kent's Directory published
55	1737	1737—1737: Licensing Act restricts the number of London theatres and subects plays to censorship of the Lord Chamberlain (till 1950s)
56	1738	24 May 1738—24 May 1738: John Wesley has his conversion experience
57	1739	1739—1739: Wesley and Whitefield commence great Methodist revival 7 Apr 1739—7 Apr 1739: Dick Turpin, highwayman, hanged at York 23 Oct 1739—23 Oct 1739: War of Jenkins' Ear starts: Robert Walpole reluctantly declares war on Spain
58	1741	1741—1741: Benjamin Ingham founded the Moravian Methodists or Inghamites - Earliest Moravian registers
59	1742	1742—1742: England goes to war with Spain - incited by William Pitt the Elder (Earl of Chatham) for the sake of trade
60	1743	16 Jun 1743—16 Jun 1743: (June 27 in Gregorian calendar): Battle of Dettingen - last time a British sovereign (George II) led troops in battle
61	1744	1744—1744: Tune 'God Save the King' makes its appearance
62	1745	1745—1745: Jacobite rebellion in Scotland ('The Forty-five') 19 Aug 1745—19 Aug 1745: Bonnie Prince Charlie (The Young Pretender) lands in the western Highlands - raises support among Episcopalian and Catholic clans - The Pretender's army invades Perth, Edinburgh, and England as far as Derby
63	1746	16 Apr 1746—16 Apr 1746: Battle of Culloden - last battle fought in Britain - 5,000 Highlanders routed by the Duke of Cumberland and 9,000 loyalists Scots - Young Pretender Charles flees to Continent, ending Jacobite hopes forever - the wearing of the kilt prohibited
64	1747	1747—1747: Abolition of Heritable Jurisdictions in Scotland 1747—1747: Act for Pacification of the Highlands
65	1749	27 Apr 1749—27 Apr 1749: First performance of Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks (in Green Park, London)
66	1750	Feb 1750—Feb 1750: Series of earthquakes in London and the Home Counties cause panic with predictions of an apocalypse (Feb/Mar) 16 Nov 1750—16 Nov 1750: Original Westminster Bridge opened (replaced in 1862 due to subsidence)
67	1751	Mar 1751—Mar 1751: Chesterfield's Calendar Act passed - royal assent to the bill was given on 22 May 1751 - decision to adopt Gregorian Calendar in 1752: In and throughout all his
68	1752	1752—1752: Benjamin Franklin invents the lightning conductor 1 Jan 1752—1 Jan 1752: Beginning of the year 1752 [Scotland had adopted January as the start of the year in 1600, and some other countries in Europe had adopted the Gregorian calendar as early as 1582] 3 Sep 1752—3 Sep 1752: Julian Calendar dropped and Gregorian Calendar adopted in England and Scotland, making this Sep 14
69	1753	1753—1753: Private collection of Sir Hans Sloane forms the basis of the British Museum 1 May 1753—1 May 1753: Publication of ?Species Plantarum' by Linnaeus and the formal start date of plant taxonomy
70	1754	1754—1754: Hardwicke Act (1753): Banns to be called, and Printed Marriage Register forms to be used - Quakers & Jews exempt 1754—1754: In the General Election, the Cow Inn at Haslemere, Surrey caused a national scandal by subdividing the freehold to create eight votes instead of one 1754—1754: First British troops not belonging to the East India Company despatched to India 1754—1763: The French and Indian War
71	1755	1755—1755: Publication of Dictionary of the English Language' by Dr Samuel Johnson 1755—1755: Period of canal construction began in Britain (till 1827) 2 Dec 1755—2 Dec 1755: Second Eddystone Lighthouse destroyed by fire
72	1756	15 May 1756—15 May 1756: The Seven Years War with France (Pitt's trade war) begins Jun 1756—Jun 1756: Black Hole of Calcutta - 146 Britons imprisoned, most die according to British sources
73	1757	1757—1757: The foundation laid for the Empire of India 14 Mar 1757—14 Mar 1757: Admiral Byng shot at Portsmouth for failing to relieve Minorca 23 Jun 1757—23 Jun 1757: The Nawab of Bengal tries to expel the British, but is defeated at the battle of Plassey (Palashi, June 23) - the East India Company forces are led by Robert Clive
74	1758	1758—1758: India stops being merely a commercial venture - England begins dominating it politically - The East India Company retains its monopoly although it ceased to trade
75	1759	1759—1759: Wesley builds 356 Methodist chapels 15 Jan 1759—15 Jan 1759: British Museum opens to the public in London 16 Oct 1759—16 Oct 1759: Third Eddystone Lighthouse (John Smeaton's) completed
76	1760	1760—1760: Carron Iron Works in operation in Scotland 5 May 1760—5 May 1760: First use of hangman's drop 25 Oct 1760—25 Oct 1760: George II dies - George III Hanover, his grandson, becomes king. The date conventionally marks the start of the so-called first Industrial Revolution'
77	1761	16 Jan 1761—16 Jan 1761: British capture Pondicherry, India from the French
78	1762	1762—1762: Cigars introduced into Britain from Cuba
79	1763	1763—1763: Treaty of Paris - gives back to France everything Pitt fought to obtain - (Newfoundland [fishing], Guadaloupe and Martininque [sugar], Dakar [gum]) - but English displaces French as the international language
80	1764	1764—1764: Lloyd's Register of shipping first prepared 1764—1764: Practice of numbering houses introduced to London 1764—1764: James Hargeaves invents the Spinning Jenny (but destroyed 1768) 1764—1764: Mozart produces his first symphony at age eight
81	1765	1765—1765: The potato becomes the most popular food in Europe 22 Mar 1765—22 Mar 1765: Stamp Act passed - imposed a tax on publications and legal documents in the American colonies (repealed the following year)
82	1766	1766—1766: Start of 'composite' national records on rainfall in the UK 5 Dec 1766—5 Dec 1766: Christie's auction house founded in London by James Christie
83	1767	1767—1767: Newcomen's steam pumping engine perfected by James Watt
84	1768	9 Jan 1768—9 Jan 1768: Philip Astley starts his circus in London 6 Dec 1768—6 Dec 1768: The first edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica' published in Edinburgh by William Smellie
85	1769	1769—1769: Arkwright invents water frame (textile production) 1769—1769: Capt James Cook maps the coast of New Zealand 6 Sep 1769—6 Sep 1769: David Garrick organises first Shakespeare festival at Stratford-upon-Avon
86	1770	1770—1770: Clyde Trust created to convert the River Clyde, then an insignificant river, into a major thoroughfare for maritime communications 28 Apr 1770—28 Apr 1770: Capt James Cook lands in Australia (Botany Bay) ? Aug 21: formally claims Australia for Britain
87	1771	1771—1771: Right to report Parliamentary debates established in England
88	1772	1772—1772: First Travellers' Cheques issued by the London Credit Exchange Company 1772—1772: Morning Post' first published (until 1937) 14 May 1772—14 May 1772: Judge Mansfield rules that there is no legal basis for slavery in England
89	1774	13 Sep 1774—13 Sep 1774: Cook arrives on Easter Island
90	1775	19 Apr 1775—19 Apr 1775: Battle of Lexington: first action in American War of Independence (1775- 1783) 19 Apr 1775—3 Sep 1783: American Revolutionary War
91	1776	1776—1776: Somerset House in London becomes the repository of records of population 1776—1776: Watt and Boulton produce their first commercial steam engine 4 Jul 1776—4 Jul 1776: American Declaration of Independence 7 Sep 1776—7 Sep 1776: First attack on a warship by a submarine - David Bushnell's ?Turtle' attacked HMS Eagle in New York harbour. The attack was perhaps spectacular (a charge did detonate beneath the ship) but was nevertheless unsuccessful. 'Turtle' was a one man Affair man-powered [Les Moore]
92	1777	1777—1777: Samuel Miller of Southampton patents the circular saw.
93	1779	1779—1779: Marc Isambard Brunel opens the first steamdriven sawmill at Chatham Dockyard in Kent 1779—1779: First iron bridge built, over the Severn by John Wilkinson 1779—1779: First Spinning Mills operational in Scotland 14 Feb 1779—14 Feb 1779: Capt James Cook killed on Hawaii 23 Sep 1779—23 Sep 1779: Naval engagement between Britain and USA off Flamborough Head
94	1780	1780—1780: Male Servants Tax 1780—1780: The English Reform Movement - until now, only landowners and tenants (freeholders with 40 shillings per year or more) allowed to vote, and in open poll books 1780—1780: Fountain pen invented 1780—1780: About this time the word 'Quiz' entered the language, said to have been invented as a wager by Mr Daly, a Dublin theatre manager 4 May 1780—4 May 1780: First Derby run at Epsom (some say 2nd June) 2 Jun 1780—2 Jun 1780: Jun 2- 8: The Gordon Riots - Parliament passes a Roman Catholic relief measure - for days, London is at the mercy of a mob and destruction is widespread
95	1782	1782—1782: Gilbert's Act establishes outdoor poor relief - the way of life of the poor beginning to alter due to industrialisation - New factories in rapidly expanding towns required a workforce that would adjust to new work patterns 1782—1782: James Watt patents his steam engine
96	1783	1783—1783: Duty payable on Parish Register entries (3d per entry - repealed 1794) - led to a fall in entries! 3 Sep 1783—3 Sep 1783: Treaty of Versailles (Britain/US) 3 Nov 1783—3 Nov 1783: Last public execution at Tyburn in London (John Austin, a highwayman)
97	1784	1784—1784: Pitt's India Act - the Crown (as opposed to officers of the East India Company) has power to guide Indian politics 1784—1784: Wesley breaks with the Church of England 1784—1784: First golf club founded at St Andrews 1784—1784: Invention of threshing machine by Andrew Meikle 2 Aug 1784—2 Aug 1784: First mail coaches in England (4pm Bristol / 8am London)