1748 in Great Britain

Events from the year 1748 in the Kingdom of Great Britain.

Incumbents

*Monarch - George II of the United Kingdom
*Prime Minister - Henry Pelham, Whig

Events

* 28 March - a fire in the City of London causes over a million pounds worth of damage. [cite book |title=The London Encyclopaedia|author=Ben Weinreb & Christopher Hibbert|publisher= Macmillan|year= 1995|isbn =0-333-57688-8|pages=287]
* August - Admiral Edward Boscawen commands a Royal Navy siege of Pondicherry."1748." The People's Chronology. Ed. Jason M. Everett. Thomson Gale, 2006.]
* 18 October - The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle ends the War of the Austrian Succession, by which Madras in India is restored to British rule in exchange for the fortress of Louisbourg in Canada with France.cite book|last=Williams|first=Hywel|title=Cassell's Chronology of World History|publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson|year=2005|isbn=0-304-35730-8|pages=312–313]

Undated

* Adam Smith begins to deliver public lectures in Edinburgh.
* Henry Fielding organises the forerunner of the Bow Street Runners with eight men at first.
* John Fothergill's pamphlet entitled "Account of the Sore Throat attended with Ulcers" contains the first description of diphtheria.

Publications

* Tobias Smollett's novel "The Adventures of Roderick Random".
* Samuel Richardson's novel "Clarissa".
* James Thomson's poem "The Castle of Indolence", shortly before his death.
* "An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding" by philosopher David Hume.

Births

* 15 February - Jeremy Bentham, philosopher and writer (died 1832)
* 5 March - William Shield, violinist and composer (died 1829)
* 10 March - John Playfair, scientist (died 1819)
* 13 April - Joseph Bramah, inventor and locksmith (died 1814)
* 28 May - Frederick Howard, 5th Earl of Carlisle (died 1825)
* 14 December - William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire (died 1811)
* "Date unknown" - James Sayers, caricaturist (died 1823)

Deaths

* 14 March - George Wade, military leader (born 1673, Ireland)
* 12 April - William Kent, architect, landscape architect and furniture designer (born c. 1685)
* 12 May - Thomas Lowndes, astronomer (born 1692)
* 27 August - James Thomson, poet (born 1700)
* 6 September - Edmund Gibson, jurist (born 1669)
* 12 September - Anne Bracegirdle, actress (born c.1671)
* 21 September - John Balguy, philosopher (born 1686)
* 25 November - Isaac Watts, hymn writer (born 1674)
* 2 December - Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset, politician (born 1662)

References

ee also