1742 in Great Britain

	1742 in Great Britain:
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	1740 \| 1741 \| 1742 \| 1743 \| 1744
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	Sport
	1742 English cricket season

Last updated March 01, 2024

Incumbents

Monarch – George II
Prime Minister – Robert Walpole (Whig) (until 11 February); Spencer Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmington (Whig) (starting 16 February)^[1]

Events

January – the House of Commons votes on the alleged rigging of the Chippenham by-election. It becomes a motion of no confidence which leads to the resignation of Robert Walpole.^[2]
9 January – Robert Walpole made Earl of Orford and resigns as First Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer.^[3] On his formally relinquishing office five days later, he will have served 20 years and 314 days as Prime Minister, the longest single term ever, and also longer than the accumulated terms of any other British Prime Minister.
14 January – Edmond Halley dies at Greenwich aged 85; he is succeeded as Astronomer Royal by James Bradley.
12 February – John Carteret, 2nd Lord Carteret becomes Secretary of State for the Northern Department.
16 February – Spencer Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmington becomes Prime Minister of Great Britain.^[4]
18 February – British attack La Guayra.
13 April – George Frideric Handel's oratorio The Messiah is first performed in Dublin.
6 May – 150 houses in the Northamptonshire town of Stony Stratford are consumed by a fire, the second in 6 years.^[5]
28 May – opening in London of first known British bagnio to offer a swimming pool.^[6]
7 July – War of Jenkins' Ear: British troops defeat those of Spain in the Battle of Bloody Marsh in the Province of Georgia.
14 July – William Pulteney is created 1st Earl of Bath.
19 August – A British fleet led by Commodore William Martin enters the harbor of Naples with three warships, two frigates, and four bomb vessels, and sends a message giving the King Charles VII of Naples (the future King Charles III of Spain) 30 minutes to agree to withdraw Neapolitan troops from the Spanish Army. Don Carlos agrees and ends the threat of a Spanish foothold in Italy.^[7]
27 August – George Anson, captain of HMS Centurion, arrives with his seriously ill crew at the island of Tinian (in the Northern Mariana Islands).^[8]
16 September – construction starts on the Foundling Hospital in London.^[9]

Publications

Henry Fielding's novel Joseph Andrews (published anonymously, 22 February).^[3]
Charles Jervas' translation of Don Quixote (published posthumously under the name "Jarvis").
Edward Young's poetry The Complaint, or, Night-Thoughts on Life, Death and Immortality (first three parts; published anonymously).^[10]^[11]

Births

1 January – Isaac Reed, Shakespearean editor (died 1807)
8 January – Philip Astley, circus organiser (died 1814)
15 March (bapt.) – John Stackhouse, Cornish-born botanist (died 1819)
25 March – William Combe, born William Combes, writer, poet and adventurer (died 1823)
28 April – Henry Dundas, statesman (died 1811)
26 December (bapt.) – George Chalmers, Scottish-born antiquarian (died 1825)

Deaths

1 January – Peregrine Bertie, 2nd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven, statesman (born 1686)
14 January – Edmond Halley, astronomer (born 1656)
22 February – Charles Rivington, publisher (born 1688)
2 April – James Douglas, physician and anatomist (born 1675)
18 June – John Aislabie, politician (born 1670)
27 June – Nathan Bailey, philologist and lexicographer (year of birth unknown)
9 July – John Oldmixon, historian (born 1673)
14 July – Richard Bentley, scholar and critic (born 1662)
19 July – William Somervile, poet (born 1675)

Related Research Articles

1742 (MDCCXLII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar, the 1742nd year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 742nd year of the 2nd millennium, the 42nd year of the 18th century, and the 3rd year of the 1740s decade. As of the start of 1742, the Gregorian calendar was 11 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923.

George II was King of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (Hanover) and a prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire from 11 June 1727 (O.S.) until his death in 1760.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Walpole</span> Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1721 to 1742

Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford,, known between 1725 and 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole, was a British statesman and Whig politician who, as First Lord of the Treasury, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Leader of the House of Commons, is generally regarded as the de facto first Prime Minister of Great Britain.

Henry Pelham was a British Whig statesman who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1743 until his death in 1754. He was the younger brother of Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle, who served in Pelham's government and succeeded him as prime minister. Pelham is generally considered to have been Britain's third prime minister, after Robert Walpole and the Earl of Wilmington.

John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville, 7th Seigneur of Sark,, commonly known by his earlier title Lord Carteret, was a British statesman and Lord President of the Council from 1751 to 1763 and worked extremely closely with the Prime Minister of the country, Spencer Compton, Earl of Wilmington, in order to manage the various factions of the Government. He was Seigneur of Sark from 1715 to 1720, when he sold the fief. He held the office of Bailiff of Jersey from 1715 to 1763.

William Pulteney, 1st Earl of Bath, was an English Whig politician and peer who sat in the British House of Commons from 1707 to 1742 when he was raised to the peerage as the Earl of Bath by George II of Great Britain. He is sometimes represented as having served as First Lord of the Treasury and Prime Minister of Great Britain as part of the short-lived ministry in 1746, although most modern sources do not consider him to have held the office.

Spencer Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmington, was a British Whig statesman who served continuously in government from 1715 until his death in 1743. He sat in the English and British House of Commons between 1698 and 1728, and was then raised to the peerage and sat in the House of Lords. He served as the prime minister of Great Britain from 1742 until his death in 1743. He is considered to have been Britain's second prime minister, after Robert Walpole, but worked closely with the Secretary of State, Lord Carteret, in order to secure the support of the various factions making up the government.

Richard Temple, 1st Viscount Cobham was a British soldier and Whig politician. After serving as a junior officer under William III during the Williamite War in Ireland and during the Nine Years' War, he fought under John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, during the War of the Spanish Succession. During the War of the Quadruple Alliance Temple led a force of 4,000 troops on a raid on the Spanish coastline which captured Vigo and occupied it for ten days before withdrawing. In Parliament he generally supported the Whigs but fell out with Sir Robert Walpole in 1733. He was known for his ownership of and modifications to the estate at Stowe and for serving as a political mentor to the young William Pitt.

The Carteret ministry was the Whig government of Great Britain that held office from 1742 to 1744, following the defeat of the Walpole ministry by a margin of one vote. The nominal head of the ministry was Spencer Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmington, until his death in 1743. He was succeeded in the role of prime minister by Henry Pelham.

John Hay, 4th Marquess of Tweeddale, was a Scottish nobleman.

Events from the year 1738 in Great Britain.

Events from the year 1735 in Great Britain.

Events from the year 1743 in Great Britain.

Events from the year 1720 in Great Britain.

Events from the year 1722 in Great Britain.

Events from the year 1737 in Great Britain.

Events from the year 1740 in Great Britain.

Events from the year 1741 in Great Britain.

Colonel Robert Walpole was an English Whig politician and militia officer who served as a member of parliament for the borough of Castle Rising from 1689 to 1700. He is best known for being the father of Robert Walpole, the first British Prime Minister. Walpole is the ancestor of all the Barons Walpole and Earls of Orford, of all creations, and of the present Marquess of Cholmondeley, owner of Houghton Hall. He is also the Guinness World Records holder for having the world's longest overdue public library book.

The Cobhamite faction were an 18th-century British political faction built around Richard Temple, 1st Viscount Cobham and his supporters. Among its members, the group included the future Prime Ministers William Pitt and George Grenville. They had a general Whig philosophy and were at first supporters of Prime Minister Sir Robert Walpole but later became opponents of his administration.

References

↑ Bryant, Christopher (2014). Parliament: The Biography. Doubleday. p. 379. ISBN 978-0-85752-224-5.
↑ "A dozen Downing Street departures". BBC News. 9 May 2007. Archived from the original on 23 August 2007. Retrieved 14 July 2007.
1 2 Williams, Hywel (2005). Cassell's Chronology of World History . London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. p. 309. ISBN 0-304-35730-8.
↑ "Earl of Wilmington, PMs in history". Archived from the original on 5 July 2007. Retrieved 14 July 2007.
↑ The British Chronologist. 1789.
↑ Gordon, Ian; Inglis, Simon (2009). Great Lengths: the historic indoor swimming pools of Britain. Swindon: English Heritage. p. 21. ISBN 978-1-90562-452-2.
↑ Leadam, I. S. (1909). The Political History of England: The history of England from the accession of Anne to the death of George II, 1702-1760. London: Longmans, Green and Co. p. 372.
↑ Parker, Keith A. (1996). "Anson, George". In Olson, James S.; Shadle, Robert (eds.). Historical Dictionary of the British Empire. Greenwood Publishing. p. 68.
↑ Weinreb, Ben; Hibbert, Christopher (1995). The London Encyclopaedia. Macmillan. pp. 300–301. ISBN 0-333-57688-8.
↑ Cox, Michael, ed. (2004). The Concise Oxford Chronology of English Literature . Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-860634-6.
↑ Birley, Robert (1962). Sunk without Trace: some forgotten masterpieces reconsidered . London: Rupert Hart-Davis.

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[1] Bryant, Christopher (2014). Parliament: The Biography. Doubleday. p. 379. ISBN 978-0-85752-224-5.

[2] "A dozen Downing Street departures". BBC News. 9 May 2007. Archived from the original on 23 August 2007. Retrieved 14 July 2007.

[Cassell's_Chronology-3] 1 2 Williams, Hywel (2005). Cassell's Chronology of World History . London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. p. 309. ISBN 0-304-35730-8.

[4] "Earl of Wilmington, PMs in history". Archived from the original on 5 July 2007. Retrieved 14 July 2007.

[5] The British Chronologist. 1789.

[6] Gordon, Ian; Inglis, Simon (2009). Great Lengths: the historic indoor swimming pools of Britain. Swindon: English Heritage. p. 21. ISBN 978-1-90562-452-2.

[7] Leadam, I. S. (1909). The Political History of England: The history of England from the accession of Anne to the death of George II, 1702-1760. London: Longmans, Green and Co. p. 372.

[8] Parker, Keith A. (1996). "Anson, George". In Olson, James S.; Shadle, Robert (eds.). Historical Dictionary of the British Empire. Greenwood Publishing. p. 68.

[9] Weinreb, Ben; Hibbert, Christopher (1995). The London Encyclopaedia. Macmillan. pp. 300–301. ISBN 0-333-57688-8.

[10] Cox, Michael, ed. (2004). The Concise Oxford Chronology of English Literature . Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-860634-6.

[11] Birley, Robert (1962). Sunk without Trace: some forgotten masterpieces reconsidered . London: Rupert Hart-Davis.

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