1756 in Great Britain

Events from the year 1756 in Great Britain.

Incumbents

Monarch - George II
Prime Minister - Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (Whig) (until 16 November), William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire (Whig) (starting 16 November)

16 January - Treaty of Westminster signed between Britain and Prussia guaranteeing the neutrality of Hanover, the German province controlled by King George II.^[1]
12 April - Seven Years' War: The French invade Minorca, at this time under British control.
17 May - Seven Years' War: The Seven Years' War formally begins when Britain declares war on France.^[1]
20 May - Seven Years' War: Battle of Minorca: The British fleet under John Byng is defeated by the French under Roland-Michel Barrin de La Galissonière.
20 June - A garrison of the British Army in India is imprisoned in the Black Hole of Calcutta.^[1]
25 June - Foundation of The Marine Society in London, the world's oldest seafarers' charity.^[2]
29 June - Seven Years' War - Siege of Fort St Philip at Port Mahon: The British garrison in Minorca surrenders to the French after two months' siege by Armand de Vignerot du Plessis.
16 November - Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne resigns as Prime Minister. His successor is William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire.^[3]
4 December - William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham becomes Secretary of State for the Southern Department.^[3]
Undated - Completion of William Edwards' Old Bridge, Pontypridd. With a 140 ft (43 m) span it becomes (by 10 ft) the longest single-span bridge in Great Britain, remaining so for 40 years.^[4]^[5]

3 March - William Godwin, writer (died 1836)
4 March - Henry Raeburn, painter (died 1823)
April - William Gifford, satirist (died 1826)
13 June - Edmund Lodge, writer (died 1839)
21 September - John Loudon McAdam, highway engineer (died 1836)
13 November - Edward Rushton, abolitionist and pioneer of education for the blind (died 1814)
18 November - Thomas Burgess, Bishop, author and philosopher (died 1837)
22 November - Gilbert Wakefield, scholar (died 1801)

25 February - Eliza Haywood, actress and writer (born 1693)
24 July - George Vertue, engraver and antiquary (born 1684)
31 August - John Dandridge, distinguished colonel, planter (born 1700)
28 October - Charles Somerset, 4th Duke of Beaufort (born 1709)
8 December - William Stanhope, 1st Earl of Harrington, statesman and diplomat (born c. 1690)

1 2 3 Williams, Hywel (2005). Cassell's Chronology of World History. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. p. 318. ISBN 0-304-35730-8.
↑ "History of the Marine Society". Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-09-03.
1 2 3 Everett, Jason M., ed. (2006). "1756". The People's Chronology. Thomson Gale.
↑ Ruddock, Ted (2008). "The Theory of Arches and Pontypridd". Arch Bridges and their Builders 1735–1835. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-09021-6. Retrieved 2009-01-19.
↑ Skempton, A. W.; Chrimes, Mike (2002). A Biographical Dictionary of Civil Engineers in Great Britain and Ireland: 1500 to 1830. Thomas Telford. pp. 217–18. ISBN 0-7277-2939-X.