Baker, Martha

Female Abt 1720 - 1796  (76 years)  


Chart width:      Refresh

Timeline



 
 
 




   Date  Event(s)
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
1721 
  • 2 Apr 1721—2 Apr 1721: Robert Walpole (Whig) becomes first Prime Minister (to 1742)
1722 
  • 1722—1722: Last trial for witchcraft in Scotland
  • 1722—1722: Knatchbull's Act, poor laws
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Black Acts add 50 capital offences to the penal code - people could be sentenced to death for theft and poaching - repealed in 1827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
1724 
  • 1724—1724: Rapid growth of gin drinking in England
  • 1724—1724: Longman's founded (Britain's oldest publishing house)
1726 
  • 1726—1726: First circulating library opened in Edinburgh
  • 1726—1726: Invention of the chronometer by John Harrison
1727 
  • 1727—1727: Board of Manufacturers established in Scotland
  • 11 Jun 1727—11 Jun 1727: George I dies - George II Hanover becomes king
1729 
  • 9 Nov 1729—9 Nov 1729: Treaty of Seville signed between Britain, France and Spain - Britain maintained control of Port Mahon and Gibraltar
1730 
  • 1730—1730: Irish famine
10 1731 
  • 1731—1731: Invention of seed drill by Jethro Tull [others say 1701]
  • 1731—1731: Invention of sextant by John Hadley
11 1732 
  • 7 Dec 1732—7 Dec 1732: Covent Garden Opera House opens
12 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
13 1734 
  • 1734—1734: Kent's Directory published
14 1737 
  • 1737—1737: Licensing Act restricts the number of London theatres and subects plays to censorship of the Lord Chamberlain (till 1950s)
15 1738 
  • 24 May 1738—24 May 1738: John Wesley has his conversion experience
16 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
17 1741 
  • 1741—1741: Benjamin Ingham founded the Moravian Methodists or Inghamites - Earliest Moravian registers
18 1742 
  • 1742—1742: England goes to war with Spain - incited by William Pitt the Elder (Earl of Chatham) for the sake of trade
19 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
20 1744 
  • 1744—1744: Tune 'God Save the King' makes its appearance
21 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
22 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
23 1747 
  • 1747—1747: Abolition of Heritable Jurisdictions in Scotland
  • 1747—1747: Act for Pacification of the Highlands
24 1749 
  • 27 Apr 1749—27 Apr 1749: First performance of Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks (in Green Park, London)
25 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)
26 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
27 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
28 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
29 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
30 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
31 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
32 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
33 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
34 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
35 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'
36 1761 
  • 16 Jan 1761—16 Jan 1761: British capture Pondicherry, India from the French
37 1762 
  • 1762—1762: Cigars introduced into Britain from Cuba
38 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
39 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
40 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)
41 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
42 1767 
  • 1767—1767: Newcomen's steam pumping engine perfected by James Watt
43 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
44 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
45 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
46 1771 
  • 1771—1771: Right to report Parliamentary debates established in England
47 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
48 1774 
  • 13 Sep 1774—13 Sep 1774: Cook arrives on Easter Island
49 1775 
  • 19 Apr 1775—19 Apr 1775: Battle of Lexington: first action in American War of Independence (1775- 1783)
50 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]
51 1777 
  • 1777—1777: Samuel Miller of Southampton patents the circular saw.
52 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
53 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
54 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
55 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)
56 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)
57 1785 
  • 1785—1785: Sunday School Society founded to educate poor children (by 1851, enrols more than 2 million)
  • 1 Jan 1785—1 Jan 1785: John Walter publishes first edition of The Times (called The Daily Universal Register for 3 years)
58 1787 
  • 1787—1787: MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club) established at Thomas Lord's ground in London
59 1788 
  • 1788—1788: First steamboat demonstrated in Scotland
  • 1788—1788: Law passed requiring that chimney sweepers be a minimum of 8 years old (not enforced)
  • 1788—1788: First slave carrying act, the Dolben Act of 1788, regulates the slave trade - stipulates more humane conditions on slave ships
  • 1788—1788: King George III's mental illness occasions the Regency Crisis - Edmund Burke and Charles James Fox attack ministry of William Pitt - trying to obtain full regal powers for the Prince of Wales
  • 1788—1788: Gibbon completes Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'
  • 26 Jan 1788—26 Jan 1788: First convicts (and free settlers) arrive in New South Wales (left Portsmouth 13 May 1787) ? the 'First Fleet'; eleven ships commanded by Captain Arthur Phillip
60 1789 
  • 28 Apr 1789—28 Apr 1789: Mutiny on HMS Bounty - Captain William Bligh and 18 sailors are set adrift and the rebel crew ends up on Pitcairn Island
61 1790 
  • 1790—1790: Forth and Clyde Canal opened in Scotland
62 1791 
  • 1791—1791: John Bell, printer, abandons the long s' (the 's' that looks like an 'f')
  • 1791—1791: Establishment of the Ordnance Survey of Great Britain
  • 4 Dec 1791—4 Dec 1791: First publication of The Observer - world's oldest Sunday newspaper
63 1792 
  • 1792—1792: Repression in Britain (restrictions on freedom of the press) - Fox gets Libel Act through Parliament, requiring a jury and not a judge to determine libel
  • 1792—1792: Boyle's Street Directory published
  • 1792—1792: Coal-gas lighting invented by William Murdock, an Ayrshire Scot
  • 1 Oct 1792—1 Oct 1792: Introduction of Money Orders in Britain
  • 1 Dec 1792—1 Dec 1792: King's Proclamation drawing out the British militia
64 1793 
  • 11 Feb 1793—11 Feb 1793: Britain declares war on France (1793-1802)
  • 15 Apr 1793—15 Apr 1793: ?5 notes first issued by the Bank of England
65 1794 
  • 1794—1794: Abolition of Parish Register duties
  • 6 Oct 1794—6 Oct 1794: The prosecutor for Britain, Lord Justice Eyre, charges reformers with High Treason - he argued that, since reform of parliament would lead to revolution and revolution to executing the King, the desire for reform endangered the King's life and was therefore treasonous
66 1795 
  • 1795—1795: The Famine Year
  • 1795—1795: Foundation of the Orange Order
  • 1795—1795: Speenhamland Act proclaims that the Parish is responsible for bringing up the labourer's wage to subsistence level - towards the end of the eighteenth century, the number of poor and unemployed increased dramatically - price increases during the Napoleonic Wars (1793-1815) far outstripped wage rises - many small farmers were bankrupted by the move towards enclosures and became landless labourers - their wages were often pitifully low
  • 1795—1795: Pitt and Grenville introduce The Gagging Acts' or 'Two Bills' (the Seditious Meetings and Treasonable Practices Bills) - outlawed the mass meeting and the political lecture.
  • 1795—1795: Consumption of lime juice made compulsory in Royal Navy
67 1796 
  • 1796—1796: Pitt's Reign of Terror': More treason trials - leading radicals emigrate
  • 1796—1796: Legacy Tax on sums over ?20 excluding those to wives, children, parents and grandparents
  • 14 May 1796—14 May 1796: Dr Edward Jenner gave first vaccination for smallpox in England