1777 in Great Britain explained

Events from the year 1777 in Great Britain.

Incumbents

• Monarch – George III
• Prime Minister – Frederick North, Lord North (Tory)^[1]

Events

• 3 January – American Revolution: American general George Washington defeats British general Charles Cornwallis at the Battle of Princeton.^[2]
• 1 May – legal case of Goodright v. Stevens decides that the declaration of either parent cannot be accepted to prove that a child born in wedlock is a bastard.
• 8 May – first performance of Richard Brinsley Sheridan's comedy of manners The School for Scandal at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London.^[3]
• May – completion of the Trent and Mersey Canal.^[4]
• 21 July – Holmfirth Flood in the Holme Valley of West Yorkshire: three drowned.
• 16 August – American Revolution: at the Battle of Bennington British and Brunswicker forces are decisively defeated by American troops.^[3]
• 8 September – inauguration of Bath and West of England Society for the Encouragement of Agriculture, Arts, Manufactures and Commerce.^[5]
• 11 September – American Revolution: Battle of Brandywine is a major victory for British in Chester County, Pennsylvania.
• 19 September – American Revolution: first Battle of Saratoga^[3] /Battle of Freeman's Farm/Battle of Bemis Heights.
• 4 October – American Revolution: at the Battle of Germantown, troops under George Washington are repelled by British troops under Sir William Howe.^[3]
• 17 October – American Revolution: American victory at the Battle of Saratoga.^[3]
• 24 December – Kiritimati discovered by James Cook.

Undated

• William Bass establishes the Bass Brewery at Burton upon Trent.

Publications

• Encyclopædia Britannica Second Edition begins publication.
• Laws Respecting Women, as they Regard Their Natural Rights is published by Joseph Johnson.
• John Howard's study The State of the Prisons in England and Wales.
• Clara Reeve’s Gothic novel The Champion of Virtue (anonymously), later known as The Old English Baron.^[6]

Births

• 22 January – Joseph Hume, doctor and politician (died 1855)
• 3 February – John Cheyne, physician (died 1836)
• 16 February – Benjamin D'Urban, general and colonial administrator (died 1849)
• 1 April – William Gell, archaeologist (died 1836)
• 24 June – John Ross, Arctic explorer (died 1856)
• 9 July – Henry Hallam, historian (died 1859)
• 3 November  - Princess Sophia, fifth daughter of King George III (died 1848)

Deaths

• 12 January – Hugh Mercer, soldier and physician, dies in Princeton, New Jersey, United States (born 1726)
• 11 May – George Pigot, Baron Pigot, governor of Madras (born 1719)
• 19 or 27 May – Button Gwinnett, 2nd Governor of Georgia, dies near Savannah, Georgia, United States (born 1735)
• 27 July  - William Hayes, composer (bapt. 1708)
• 7 October  - Simon Fraser, general (born 1729)
• 21 October – Samuel Foote, dramatist and actor (born 1720)
• 26 December – Dolly Pentreath, last-known fluent native speaker of the Cornish language (born 1692)

See also

• 1777 in Wales

Notes and References

1. Web site: History of Lord Frederick North - GOV.UK . www.gov.uk . 1 July 2023 . en.
2. Book: Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 0-14-102715-0. 2006.
3. Book: Williams, Hywel. Cassell's Chronology of World History. registration. London. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. 2005. 0-304-35730-8. 331.
4. Book: Lindsay, Jean. The Trent & Mersey Canal. Newton Abbot. David & Charles. 0-7153-7781-7. 48.
5. Web site: The early history of the Institution . Bath Royal Literary & Scientific Institution . 2010-10-18 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120217015902/http://www.brlsi.org/HISTBLSI.HTM . 2012-02-17 .
6. Book: Leavis, Q. D.. Q. D. Leavis

   . Q. D. Leavis. Fiction and the Reading Public. rev.. London. Chatto & Windus. 1965.