As currently constituted, this page, taken together with the three companion pages covering the years 1625-1658, 1659-1700, and 1747-1800, represents a fairly extensive chronological account of key historical and literary events between the years 1625 and 1800. A few of the historical entries, and more of the literary ones, are "linked" to primary texts in electronic form.

Historical entries are listed, on a year-by-year basis, in a somewhat arbitrary order of "importance". Literary entries are roughly sorted in the following order:

• General literary history, including important births, deaths, and cultural and literary events, especially as these latter relate to censorship or government control of the press.

• The publication of poetry.

• The publication of "prose fiction," somewhat arbitrarily defined, but including novels and "romances."

• The publication of very diverse varieties of prose nonfiction, including history, criticism, philosophy, science, polemic, and periodical literature.

• Performance dates for key plays.

Find the year in which you are interested in the menu below.

Table of Contents

• The Act of Succession establishes the Hanoverians as rightful successors to the Stuart dynasty, effectively debarring the claim of James II.
• James II dies in France, and his son (the "Old Pretender") is recognized as James III by Louis XIV.

• Death of Sir Charles Sedley.
• Publication of Defoe's defence of William III, The True-born Englishman and of John Philips' mock-Miltonic poem The Splendid Shilling.
• Uncle Toby (in the fourth year of his confinement) is restless. Corporal Trim proposes that they go to the country and build fortifications. Operations begin on the bowling green. Toby stays with the Widow Wadman, who falls in love with him (Tristram Shandy, Vol. II, Ch. 5)

• Death of William III following a riding accident; Queen Anne succeeds to the throne, instituting a sharp shift in the nation's politics: Anne is conservative, very "High Church" Anglican, and favours the Tories, who are quickly in power.
• Beginning of the War of the Spanish Succession, with England engaged in a continental alliance against the French.

• Death of Samuel Pepys. Defoe is arrested for his Shortest Way, imprisoned and pilloried.
• Publication of Sarah Fyge (Egerton)'s Poems on Several Occasions.
• Publication of Newton's Optics.
• Performance of Nicholas Rowe's The Fair Penitent.

• John Churchill, the Duke of Marlborough, defeats the French in the Battle of Blenheim.
• Gibraltar is captured by the English.
• "Queen Anne's Bounty" established, as a fund to be employed in relieving the wants of the poorer members of the clergy.

• Deaths of John Locke, Tom Browne, and Roger L'Estrange.
• Publication of Swift's Tale of a Tub (with The Battle of the Books).

	Jonathan Swift. Reproduced from William Makepeace Thackeray, The Four Georges. The English Humourists of the Eighteenth Century (London: Smith, Elder, & Co., 1869).
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Publication of John Dennis' The Grounds of Criticism in Poetry.
• Defoe begins to issue The Review.
• Performance of Cibber's Careless Husband.
• Trim's brother Tom is taken by the Spanish Inquisition (Tristram Shandy, Vol. IV, Ch. 4, and Vol VIII, Chs. 9-10).

• Birth of Stephen Duck.
• Publication of Addison's The Campaign and John Philips' Blenheim, both in celebration of the Duke of Marlborough's victory over the French.

	Joseph Addison. Reproduced from William Makepeace Thackeray, The Four Georges. The English Humourists of the Eighteenth Century (London: Smith, Elder, & Co., 1869).
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• Performance of Centlivre's Love at a Venture.

• Marlborough defeats the French at Ramillies.

• Deaths of John Evelyn and Charles Sackville, Earl of Dorset.
• Publication of Defoe's Apparition of Mrs. Veal.
• Performance of Farquhar's The Recruiting Officer.
• Le Fever Sr. dies (Tristram Shandy, Vol. VI, Chs. 6-10).

• The Act of Union abolishes Scotland's Parliament, and, effectively, its independence; Queen Anne now rules a "United Kingdom."

• Death of George Farquhar. Birth of Henry Fielding.
• Publication of pirated edition of Matthew Prior's Poems on Several Occasions.
• Performance of Farquhar's The Beaux Stratagem.

• Victory by Marlborough over the French at Oudenarde.
• Tories temporarily out of favour with Anne, who supports the Whig Junto into power.

• Publication of John Philips' quasi-georgic Cyder: A Poem in Two Books.
• Swift's An Argument against Abolishing Christianity. Swift's "Bickerstaff Papers" metaphorically obliterate the astrologer Partridge.

• Victory by Marlborough over the French at Malplaquet.
• The "Sacheverell Crisis" begins: Henry Sacheverell, a High Church Anglican divine, preaches two highly inflammatory sermons against the Revolution Settlement, and nonconformity in general; despite much popular support, he is impeached by the government, and forbidden from preaching for three years.

	Alexander Pope. Reproduced from William Makepeace Thackeray, The Four Georges. The English Humourists of the Eighteenth Century (London: Smith, Elder, & Co., 1869).
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• Steele commences publication of The Tatler; the issue for 28 April, 1709 (The Tatler 9) prints Jonathan Swift's "A Description of the Morning."

	Richard Steele. Reproduced from William Makepeace Thackeray, The Four Georges. The English Humourists of the Eighteenth Century (London: Smith, Elder, & Co., 1869).
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• The trial of Sacheverell.
• Fall of the Whig Junto; the Tories return to power.

• Power struggles between Whigs and Tories lead to the victory of the latter, and the dismissal of the Duke of Marlborough; the Tories begin seeking an acceptable means of withdrawing from the War of the Spanish Succession.
• Robert Harley (soon to be Earl of Oxford) is appointed Lord High Treasurer.
• The Act of Occasional Conformity is passed, in an attempt to prevent nonconformists from taking Anglican communion merely in order to retain eligibility for public office; the act, however, is largely ineffective.
• Incorporation of the South Sea Company, a speculative venture to trade (chiefly in slaves) with South America.

• Birth of David Hume.
• Publication of Pope's Essay on Criticism, and Swift's Miscellanies in Prose and Verse. Publication of the Third Earl of Shaftesbury's Characteristicks. Steele concludes The Tatler, and joins with Joseph Addison in launching The Spectator.

• The last execution for witchcraft in England occurs.

• Publication of first version of Pope's Rape of the Lock and of John Arbuthnot's political satire, John Bull.

• The Treaty of Utrecht ends the War of the Spanish Succession: the treaty is, however, highly controversial, and Whigs accuse the Tory administration of granting the French too many concessions.

• Handel arrives in England. Formation of the Scriblerus Club. Death of Thomas Rymer, Thomas Sprat, and the Third Earl of Shaftesbury. Birth of Laurence Sterne.
• Publication of Pope's Windsor Forest, Countess Winchilsea's Miscellany Poems, and John Gay's Rural Sports.

	John Gay. Reproduced from William Makepeace Thackeray, The Four Georges. The English Humourists of the Eighteenth Century (London: Smith, Elder, & Co., 1869).
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• Performance of Addison's Whiggish play Cato, which, however, is noisely lauded by both Whigs and Tories.
• Mr. Walter Shandy moves to the country. Uncle Toby's nine month seige of Widow Wadman.
Treaty of Utrecht ends the War of the Spanish Succession; fortifications of Dunkirk are demolished. Trim and Brigit become an item. Operations on the bowling green end (Tristram Shandy, Vol. VI, Chs. 6 and 39; Vol. III, Ch. 24 and Vol. VI, Chs. 30-35).

• The Schism Act is passed, preventing nonconformists from keeping or teaching school; it is largely ineffective.
• Queen Anne dies, and, in the wake of a great deal of political maneuvring, the Tory government falls. Last minute plotting by Jacobites is insufficient to prevent the Hanoverian Succession, as George I ascends to the Crown. Henry St. John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke, and powerful Tory minister, escapes to France to avoid impeachment.

• Four Tory ministers are impeached by the new Whig government.
• The "Fifteen," a Jacobite uprising in England and Scotland, breaks out. The English Jacobites are defeated at Preston.
• Death of Louis XIV.

• The Scottish Jacobite rising is defeated.

• Death of William Wycherley. Birth of Thomas Gray.
• Publication of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu's mock-pastoral Town Eclogues (with Gay), and of Gay's quasi-georgic tour of London, Trivia.
• Walter Shandy commences work on his dissertation on the subject of the name "Tristram" (Tristram Shandy, Vol. I, Ch. 19).

• Internal dissension leads to a split within the Whig party; Robert Walpole resigns from office.
• Proceedings of the impeachment of the Earl of Oxford are halted.

• France and England declare war upon Spain.

• Death of Nicholas Rowe; Lawrence Eusden becomes Poet Laureate. Foundation of The Society of Antiquaries.
• Performance of Centlivre's Bold Stroke for a Wife.
• Tristram Shandy is conceived on the first Sunday in March and is born in early November. Mrs. Shandy chooses a midwife (Tristram Shandy, Vol. I, Chs.4 and 7, and Vol. III, Ch. 8).
March 25th (Lady Day): Walter Shandy goes to London to take Tristram's elder brother Bobby to school, and returns approximately May 15 (Tristram Shandy, Vol. I, Ch. 4).

• The Occasional Conformity and Schism Acts are repealed; both were ineffective attempts to suppress nonconformity.
• An abortive Jacobite rebellion is easily defeated.

• Death of Joseph Addison and Samuel Garth.
• Publication of Defoe's Robinson Crusoe.
• Walter Shandy inherits £1,000 from Aunt Dinah (Tristram Shandy, Vol. IV, Ch. 31).
Tristram's brother Bobby dies (Tristram Shandy, Vol. V, Ch. 2).

• The South Sea Company offers to assume a large portion of the National Debt, and is accepted by Parliament; the company's stocks soar, as stock-market fever sweeps the nation. The "South Sea Bubble" bursts, however, and share prices tumble, ruining many investors. The ensuing political scandal and crisis topples the government.
• Birth of Charles Edward Stuart, "Bonnie Prince Charlie" or "the Young Pretender."
• From about this time, gin drinking in London begins to increase exponentially, with low corn prices facilitating the production of cheap gin.

• Robert Walpole, a former Whig minister, assumes control of the government in the wake of the South Sea Bubble, and, through astute management, restores calm.

• Atterbury's plot, a failed Jacobite conspiracy led by Francis Atterbury, Bishop of Rochester, is revealed and crushed. Atterbury flees to France. Walpole, now Prime Minister, uses the plot to discredit the Tories, effectively consolidating his grip on power.
• William Wood buys from the Duchess of Kendal (mistress of George I) a patent to issue a new copper half-pence in Ireland; the Irish parliament is not consulted, and a political crisis develops in the face of fears that the coins are debased.

• Henry St. John, Viscount Bolingbroke, returns from exile.

• Deaths of Susannah Centlivre, Sarah Fyge (Egerton), and Thomas D'Urfey.
• Publication of first volume of Gilbert Burnet's History of My Own Time (publication completed in 1735).
• Susannah drops the window sash, with unfortunate results (Tristram Shandy, Vol. V, Ch. 17).

• Publication of Daniel Defoe's Roxana.
• Publication of the first volume of Daniel Defoe's Tour through Great Britain (publication completed in 1726).
Swift's Drapier Letters galvanize opposition to Wood's Half-pence.

• Publication of first volume of Pope's translation of The Odyssey (publication completed in 1726.
Publication of first four parts of Edward Young's Universal Passion.

• Famine strikes Ireland, causing great hardship, and lasting until 1729.

• Deaths of Jeremy Collier, Sir John Vanbrugh, and William Wotton.
• Publication of John Dyer's Grongar Hill and James Thomson's first version of Winter.
• Publication of Swift's Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World (i.e., Gulliver's Travels).

• Death of George I; George II ascends to the throne.

• Death of Sir Isaac Newton.
• Publication of final version of Dyer's Grongar Hill, and of first volume of John Gay's Fables (completed in 1750). Pope, Swift and Arbuthnot publish first part of their Miscellanies. Thomson publishes Summer.

• Irish Catholics are deprived of the right to vote.

• Birth of Thomas Warton, Jr.
• Publication of the first three books of Pope's The Dunciad, and of Thomson's Spring. Publication of the third part of the Swift-Pope-Arbuthnot Miscellanies. Publication of a new edition of Allan Ramsay's Poems.
• Publication of Defoe's Captain Carleton.
• Publication of Swift's A Short View of the State of Ireland.
• Performances of Gay's The Beggar's Opera, Cibber's Provok'd Husband, and Henry Fielding's Love in Several Masques.
• Toby preaches universal good, and lets a fly escape unharmed (Tristram Shandy, Vol. II, Ch. 7).

• The "Oxford Methodist Society" is founded by Charles Wesley.
• First bill passed to control the consumption of gin, but proves largely ineffective.

• Death of Richard Steele, William Congreve, and Richard Blackmore. Births of Edmund Burke, Thomas Percy, and Clara Reeve.
• Pope publishes revised edition of The Dunciad. Publication of Richard Savage's The Wanderer, and of Thomson's Britannia.
• Publication of Swift's A Modest Proposal.

• Publication of Thomson's The Seasons in full, including the new "Autumn."
• Performances of many plays by Fielding, including The Author's Farce, Rape upon Rape, and Tom Thumb.
Performance of Thomson's Sophonisba.

• Captain Jenkins, a British seaman, is captured and "mistreated" by the Spanish: popular anti-Spanish feeling begins to develop.

• Death of Daniel Defoe. Birth of William Cowper, Erasmus Darwin, and Charles Churchill.
• Publication of Pope's Epistle on Taste (Moral EssayIV).
• The Gentleman's Magazine commences publication.
• Performances of an expanded version of Fielding's Tom Thumb, and of George Lillo's George Barnwell, or the London Apprentice.

• Political opposition to Robert Walpole coheres as "The Patriots."

• Death of John Gay and Francis Atterbury. Birth of George Colman, Sr. and Richard Cumberland.
• Publication of Pope's The Use of Riches (Moral Essay III), and of Richard Bentley's edition of Milton's Paradise Lost. Publication of Robert Dodsley's A Muse in Livery: or, The Footman's Miscellany.
• The London Magazine commences publication.
• Performance of several plays by Fielding, including The Covent Garden Tragedy.

• Walpole's attempt to extend the excise tax through his Excise Bill provokes a furor of popular and political opposition.
• A second act to control consumption of gin passed, but proves ineffectual.

• Death of Bernard Mandeville. Birth of Joseph Priestley.
• Pope publishes his Essay on Man, First Satire of the Second Book of of Horace Imitated, and Epistle on the Characters of Men (Moral Essay I).
Publication of Swift's Life and Genuine Character of Dr. Swift.

• Death of the famous cattle thief and extortionist Robert MacGregor (or Campbell), popularly known as "Rob Roy."

• Death of John Dennis.
• Publication of Pope's Second Satire of the Second Book of Horace, Imitated.
• Publication of Lewis Theobald's edition of Shakespeare.
• Performance of Henry Carey's Chrononhotonthologos and Fielding's Don Quixote in England.

• Death of John Arbuthnot. Birth of James Beattie.
• Pope publishes Epistle to Arbuthnot, his "translation" of The Satires of John Donne, and The Characters of Women (Moral Essay II). Publication of Thomson's Liberty (parts I, II, and III), and of The Works of Jonathan Swift, in four volumes.
• Samuel Johnson publishes his translation of Father Lobo's A Voyage to Abyssinia.
Publication of Edmund Curll's pirated edition of Pope's Letters, and of first four volume of Swift's Collected Works.

• The outbreak of the Porteous riots in Edinburgh: crowds protesting the execution of Andrew Wilson, a smuggler, are fired upon by the city guard under the command of Captain John Porteous, and several civilians are killed. Porteous was tried and sentenced to death, but reprieved by Queen Caroline; an angry mob seized Porteous and hung him themselves.
• A third bill passed to control consumption of gin; by this time, London features some 7,000 unlicensed gin or "dram" shops.
• The crime of witchcraft is struck from the books.

• Death of Queen Caroline. Frederick, Prince of Wales, joins the opposition to Walpole's administration.

• In an effort to stem the tide of "seditious" drama, Walpole's administration introduces the Playhouse Act, which requires the strict licensing of all plays by the Lord Chamberlain; the bill closes down all but two of the playhouses, and forces many of the more "radical" dramatists, most notably Henry Fielding, off the stage.
Birth of Edward Gibbon.
• Publication of Imitations of Horace by Pope, including The First Epistle of the Second Book of Horace: To Augustus. Publication of Swift's Poems on Several Occasions. Publication of William Shenstone's Poems upon Various Occasions.
• Performance of Fielding's Historical Register for the Year 1736.

• Publication of Samuel Johnson's London, and of Pope's Epilogue to the Satires. Publication of Jonathan Swift's The Beasts' Confession.
• Publication of the work of political philosophy, The Patriot King by Henry St. John, Viscount Bolingbroke.
• Publication of Swift's Genteel Conversation, a satire on "conduct manuals" and language use in general.

• "War of Jenkin's Ear" breaks out between England and Spain: putatively in response to the mistreatment of Captain Jenkins by the Spanish in 1731, the war in fact represents an attempt by the English to break the Spanish monopoly over South American trade. The war begins well for the English, with the capture of Porto Bello.
• John Welsey begins open-air preaching to Methodists.

• Death of George Lillo.
• Publication of Swift's Verses on the Death of Dr. Swift.
• Publication of William Warburton's Commentary on Pope's Essay on Man.
• Publication of first volume of David Hume's Treatise of Human Nature.

• Beginning of the War of the Austrian Succession on the continent, as France, Bavaria, and Prussia (under the newly crowned Frederick II -- "the Great") challenge the accension of the husband of Maria Theresa of Austria to the imperial title of the Holy Roman Empire. Prussia seizes Silesia from Austrian, and England, although not yet directly involved, begins to prepare for war on the side of Austria.
• Famine strikes Ireland yet again, lasting until 1741.

• Admiral Vernon launches an unsuccessful raid on the Spanish at Cartagena.

• Birth of Hester L. Salusbury (later, Thrale and Piozzi) and Arthur Young.
• Publication by the Scriblerians of The Memoirs of Martinus Scriblerus. Publication of Fielding's Shamela and Richardson's Familiar Letters. Samuel Johnson commences his accounts of debates in Parliament under the title of "Debates in the Senate of Lilliput" (to 1744).
• Performance of David Garrick's The Lying Valet.
• Tristram takes the Grand Tour of Europe with Mr. Noddy's eldest son (Tristram Shandy, Vol. I, Ch. 9).

• Walpole resigns, and his administration is replaced by one led by John Baron Carteret.
• Formation of an allied army under George II, in preparation for an attack against the French.

• Battle of Dettingen: an allied army commanded by George II defeats the French in battle, despite the fact that Britain has not yet officially entered into the conflict.
• A fourth bill is passed to control consumption of gin.

• Carteret resigns as Secretary of State, and his administration is replaced by the "broad bottom" ministry of Henry Pelham and his brother, Thomas Pelham-Holles, Duke of Newcastle.
• Britain officially enters into the War of the Austrian Succession. An invasion scare follows the declaration of war by France on Britain.

• Admiral Vernon blockades the French channel ports in order to prevent any attempt to reinforce the rebels under Charles Stuart. The British are defeated by the French under de Saxe at Fontenoy.

	"The City Trained Bands," a caricature on the London militia dating from 1749, and the aftermath of the "'45." Reproduced from a facsimile in Thomas Wright, Caricature History of the Georges. (London: John Camden Hotten, [1867]) 164.
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