1661 in England

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See also:	Other events of 1661

An engraving depicting the execution of Cromwell, Ireton and Bradshaw in 1661.

Events from the year 1661 in England .

Incumbents

• Monarch – Charles II

Events

• 6 January – the Fifth Monarchists unsuccessfully attempt to seize control of London. George Monck's regiment defeats them.
• 30 January – the bodies of Oliver Cromwell, Henry Ireton, John Bradshaw and Thomas Pride are exhumed and subjected to a posthumous execution. ^[1] Oliver Cromwell's head (with the others') is placed on a spike above the Palace of Westminster.
• 14 February – George Monck's regiment becomes The Lord General's Regiment of Foot Guards (which later becomes the Coldstream Guards).
• 15 April – the Savoy Conference of bishops and Presbyterians fails to agree on a new revision of the Prayer Book. ^[1]
• 19 April – the Post Office introduces post marks. ^[2]
• 23 April – Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland is crowned King in Westminster Abbey. ^[3] A new St Edward's Crown is made for the occasion.
• 8 May – first meeting of the Cavalier Parliament. ^[3]
• 5 June – Isaac Newton admitted to Trinity College, Cambridge. ^[2]
• 23 June – Charles II signs a marriage treaty with Portugal. He will marry Catherine of Braganza; as part of the dowry, Portugal cedes Bombay and Tangier to England and grants free trade with Brazil and the East Indies. ^[4]
• 28 June – Lisle's Tennis Court in Lincoln's Inn Fields, London is opened as a playhouse. ^[3]
• 30 July – Acts of Parliament passed:
  • Sedition Act makes it high treason to plot death or injury to, or war against, the king, but requires the evidence of at least two witnesses for a conviction. ^[5]
  • Tumultuous Petitioning Act restricts the number of people who may present a petition to the king or parliament. ^[6]
• 1 October – a yacht race from Greenwich to Gravesend between King Charles and James, Duke of York makes the sport fashionable. ^[1]
• October
  • Collection of a "free and voluntary present" of cash for the King from householders commences.
  • King Charles II appoints Peter Lely as his court painter. ^[3]
• December – convocations at Canterbury and York complete the new Anglican Prayer Book (imposed by law in 1662). ^[1]
• 20 December – Parliament passes the Corporation Act 1661 restricting public office to members of the Church of England. ^[3]

Publications

• Robert Boyle publishes The Sceptical Chymist in London, in which he developed the idea of elements and "corpuscles" (atoms).
• John Evelyn's pamphlet Fumifugium is one of the earliest descriptions of air pollution. ^[7]

Births

• 21 January – Peter Le Neve, herald and antiquary (died 1729)
• 20 February – William Digby, 5th Baron Digby, politician (died 1752)
• 25 February – Anne Lennard, Countess of Sussex, née Palmer or FitzRoy, illegitimate daughter of Charles II (died 1721/2)
• 16 April – Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax, poet and statesman (died 1715)
• 7 May – George Clarke, politician and architect (died 1736)
• 11 August – William Churchill, politician (died 1737)
• 31 August – Charles Granville, 2nd Earl of Bath, diplomat (died 1701)
• 1 October – Sir Matthew Dudley, 2nd Baronet, Member of Parliament (died 1721)
• 22 October – Margaret Holles, Duchess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, noblewoman (d. 1717)
• 28 November – Edward Hyde, 3rd Earl of Clarendon, Governor of New York and New Jersey (died 1723)
• 3 December – Nathaniel Gould, politician (died 1728)
• 5 December – Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Mortimer, statesman (died 1724)
• date unknown
  • Samuel Garth, physician and poet (died 1719)
  • Nicholas Hawksmoor, architect (died 1736)
  • Charles Paulet, 2nd Duke of Bolton, supporter of William III of Orange (died 1722)

Deaths

• 19 January – Thomas Venner, Fifth Monarchist (executed) (year of birth unknown) ^[8]
• 1 March – Richard Zouch, jurist (born 1590)
• 7 April – William Brereton, soldier and politician (born 1604)
• 16 August – Thomas Fuller, churchman and historian (born 1608)
• 19 November – Brian Walton, clergyman and scholar (born 1600)

References

1. Palmer, Alan; Palmer, Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History. London: Century Ltd. pp. 188–189. ISBN   0-7126-5616-2.
2. Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 2006. ISBN   0-14-102715-0.
3. Williams, Hywel (2005). Cassell's Chronology of World History. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. pp.  269–270. ISBN   0-304-35730-8.
4. Wynne, S. M. (2004). "Catherine (1638–1705)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography . Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/4894 . Retrieved 2012-06-04.(subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required)
5. "The Sedition Act 1661". Statutes of the Realm. Vol. 5: 1628-80. 1819. pp. 304–6. Retrieved 2025-10-04– via British History Online.
6. "An Act against Tumults and Disorders upon p[re]tence of p[re]paring or p[re]senting publick Petic[i]ons or other Addresses to His Majesty or the Parliament". Statutes of the Realm. Vol. 5: 1628-80. 1819. p. 308. Retrieved 2025-10-04.
7. The London Encyclopaedia, Ben Weinreb & Christopher Hibbert, Macmillan, 1995, ISBN   0-333-57688-8
8. "Thomas Venner". www.britishmuseum.org. Retrieved 20 November 2022.