1702 in England explained

Events from the year 1702 in England. This year sees a change of monarch.

Incumbents

• Monarch – William III (until 8 March), Anne (starting 8 March)

Events

• 20 February – William III falls from his horse, Sorrel, in Richmond Park after it stumbles on a molehill and breaks his clavicle.^[1]
• 8 March (19 March N.S.) – William III dies at Kensington Palace of complications following his accident; his sister-in-law Anne Stuart, Princess of Denmark, becomes Queen Anne of England.^[2]
• 11 March (22 March N.S.) – the first regular English language national newspaper, The Daily Courant, is published for the first time^[2] in Fleet Street in the City of London by Elizabeth Mallet; it covers only foreign news.
• 23 April – coronation of Queen Anne in Westminster Abbey.^[3]
• 4 May (14 May N.S.) – War of the Spanish Succession: England, the Dutch Republic and the Holy Roman Empire declare war on France as part of the Grand Alliance.^[4]
• 8 May – Lord Godolphin becomes Lord High Treasurer at the urging his friend and political ally John Churchill, Earl of Marlborough establishing the Godolphin–Marlborough ministry which will remain in power until 1710.^[5]
• June – War of the Spanish Succession: Queen Anne's Captain-General Marlborough forces the surrender of Kaiserswerth on the Rhine.
• July – general election results in victory for the Tories.^[3]
• September – War of the Spanish Succession: Churchill forces the surrender of Venlo on the River Meuse.
• 27 October – English troops plunder St. Augustine in Florida.^[4]
• October – War of the Spanish Succession: George Rooke fails to take Cádiz, but captures a Spanish treasure fleet and destroys French and Spanish warships.
• 23 October – War of the Spanish Succession:
  • Churchill forces the surrender of Liège.^[4]
  • At the Battle of Vigo Bay, the Anglo-Dutch fleet defeats that of France and Spain.
• December – Daniel Defoe publishes his satiric pamphlet The Shortest Way with the Dissenters (anonymously).
• 14 December – John Churchill is created Duke of Marlborough.

Undated

• Castle Howard in Yorkshire completed, to the design of John Vanbrugh and Nicholas Hawksmoor.^[3]
• George Sorocold erects machinery at Cotchetts' silk spinning mill in Derby, making it one of the earliest examples of a factory.^[6]
• Richard Bentley at Cambridge introduces the first written (as opposed to oral) competitive examinations in a Western university.^[7]
• Ripon Obelisk designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor, triggering a fashion for obelisks in Britain.
• John Kersey publishes A New English Dictionary; or, a complete collection of the most proper and significant words, commonly used in the language.

Births

• 4 March – Jack Sheppard, burglar and escapee (died 1724)
• 26 June – Philip Doddridge, religious leader (died 1751)
• 5 November – Edward Stone, polymath (died 1768)
• Undated – Benjamin Stillingfleet, botanist (died 1771)

Deaths

• 8 March – King William III (born 1650 in The Hague, Netherlands)
• 23 April – Margaret Fell, Quaker leader (born 1614)
• 28 September – Robert Spencer, 2nd Earl of Sunderland, statesman (born 1640)
• 15 October – Frances Stewart, Duchess of Richmond, courtier (born 1647)
• 4 November – John Benbow, admiral (born 1653)

Notes and References

1. Web site: History of King William III of England. Outline of Great Books. 1. 2003. 2012-10-27.
2. Book: Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 0-14-102715-0. 2006.
3. Book: Palmer, Alan. Palmer. Veronica. 1992. The Chronology of British History. Century Ltd. London. 201–202. 0-7126-5616-2.
4. Book: Williams, Hywel. Cassell's Chronology of World History. registration. London. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. 2005. 0-304-35730-8. 290.
5. Frances Harris. The General in Winter: The Marlborough-Godolphin Friendship and the Reign of Anne. 2017. p.108-110
6. Web site: K. R.. Fairclough. Sorocold, George (c.1668–1738?). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Online. Oxford University Press. September 2004. 10.1093/ref:odnb/47971. 2010-07-05.
7. Book: Ball, W. W. Rouse. W. W. Rouse Ball

   . W. W. Rouse Ball. 1889. A History of the Study of Mathematics at Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. 193.