1724 in Great Britain

Events from the year 1724 in the Kingdom of Great Britain.

Incumbents

*Monarch - George I of Great Britain
*Prime Minister - Robert Walpole, Whig

Events

* 20 February - premiere of "Julius Caesar in Egypt", an Italian opera by George Frideric Handel, takes place in London. [cite book |title= The Hutchinson Factfinder |publisher= Helicon |year= 1999 |isbn= 1-85986-000-1 ]
* 6 April - Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne becomes Secretary of State for the Southern Department; Henry Pelham becomes Secretary at War.citebook|last=Williams|first=Hywel|title=Cassell's Chronology of World History|publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson|year=2005|isbn=0-304-35730-8]
* 16 November - Jack Sheppard is hanged in London. (His partner-in-crime, highwayman Joseph "Blueskin" Blake, was similarly executed five days earlier.)

Unknown dates

* Blenheim Palace construction is completed. It is presented as a gift to the Duke of Marlborough for his involvement in the Battle of Blenheim in 1704.
* Longman, the oldest publishing house in England, is founded.

Publications

* Jonathan Swift's "The Drapier's Letters".
* Daniel Defoe's "A tour thro' the Whole Island of Great Britain".

Births

* 24 January - Frances Brooke, writer (died 1789)
* 28 February - George Townshend, 1st Marquess Townshend, field marshal (died 1807)
* 29 April - John Michell, scientist and geologist (died 1793)
* 19 May - Augustus Hervey, 3rd Earl of Bristol, admiral and politician (died 1779)
* 3 June - John Gregory, physician, medical writer and moralist (died 1773)
* 8 June - John Smeaton, civil engineer (died 1792)
* 25 August - George Stubbs, painter (died 1806)
* 3 September - Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester, soldier and Governor of Quebec (died 1808)
* 31 October - Christopher Anstey, writer (died 1805)
* 12 December - Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood, admiral (died 1816)

Deaths

* 12 February - Elkanah Settle, writer (born 1648)
* 21 May - Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Mortimer, statesman (born 1661)
* 15 June - Henry Sacheverell, churchman and politician (born 1674)
* 29 October - William Wollaston, philosophical writer (born 1659)
* 11 November - Joseph Blake (alias Blueskin), highwayman (executed) (born c. 1700)
* 16 November - Jack Sheppard, criminal (executed) (born 1702)
* 27 December - Thomas Guy, philanthropist (born 1644)

References

ee also