Events from the year 1718 in Great Britain. Quick Facts 1718 in Great Britain: Other years 1716 | 1717 | 1718 | 1719 | 1720 Sport 1718 English cricket season Close Incumbents Monarch – George I Events 7 January – Religious Worship Act 1718 repeals the Occasional Conformity Act 1711[1] and Schism Act 1714, restoring some freedoms to dissenters. 21 March – Piracy Act 1717 receives royal assent, providing the punishment of penal transportation (to British North America) as an alternative to a death sentence for lesser crimes.[2] 30 April – the proper motion of stars is demonstrated by Edmond Halley.[3] 15 May – James Puckle patents the Puckle Gun.[4] 2 August – Quadruple Alliance formed between Britain, the Kingdom of France, the Holy Roman Empire and the Dutch Republic.[5] 11 August – a British fleet under Admiral Byng defeats a Spanish fleet at the Battle of Cape Passaro, a prelude to the War of the Quadruple Alliance.[3] 24 November – 'Calico Jack' Rackham becomes captain of the pirate sloop Ranger in The Bahamas.[6] 17 December – War of the Quadruple Alliance: Britain, the Kingdom of France, the Holy Roman Empire and the Dutch Republic declare war on Spain. Undated Marrow Controversy, an ecclesiastical dispute in Scotland, begins.[7] Greenwich Hospital receives a Royal Charter (revoked in 1829).[8] The Hovering Act makes it illegal for vessels under 50 tons to linger offshore, in an attempt to prevent smuggling. Births 18 February – Robert Henry, historian (died 1790) 4 April – Benjamin Kennicott, churchman and Hebrew scholar (died 1783) 7 April – Hugh Blair, preacher and man of letters (died 1800) 17 May – Robert Darcy, 4th Earl of Holderness, diplomat and politician (died 1778) 23 May – William Hunter, anatomist (died 1783) 30 May – Wills Hill, 1st Marquess of Downshire, politician (died 1793) 5 June – Thomas Chippendale, furniture maker (died 1779) 17 June – George Howard, field marshal (died 1796) 5 July – Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Marquess of Hertford, Viceroy of Ireland (died 1794) 31 July – John Canton, physicist (died 1772) 3 November – John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, statesman (died 1792) Deaths 6 January – Richard Hoare, goldsmith and banker (born 1648) 1 February – Charles Talbot, 1st Duke of Shrewsbury, politician (born 1660) 17 February – Charlotte Lee, Countess of Lichfield, heiress (born 1664) 18 February – Peter Anthony Motteux, dramatist and editor, probably murdered (born 1663 in France) 30 July – William Penn, Quaker and founder of the Pennsylvania colony (born 1644) 26 September – William Okeden, politician (born 1662) 22 November – Blackbeard, pirate, killed in action (born c. 1680) 6 December – Nicholas Rowe, poet laureate and dramatist (born 1674) See also 1718 in Wales References [1]Palmer, Alan; Palmer, Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History. London: Century Ltd. pp. 210–211. ISBN 0-7126-5616-2. [2]"BBC History British History Timeline". Archived from the original on 9 September 2007. Retrieved 3 September 2007. [3]Williams, Hywel (2005). Cassell's Chronology of World History. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 0-304-35730-8. [4]Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 2006. ISBN 0-14-102715-0. [5]Cates, William L. R. (1863). The Pocket Date Book. Chapman and Hall. [6]Konstam, Angus (19 August 2008). Piracy: the complete history. Osprey Publishing. p. 336. ISBN 978-1-84603-240-0.[permanent dead link] [7]Schaff, Philip. New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge. Vol. VII. Retrieved 3 September 2007. [8]"List of Charters Granted". The Privy Council Office. Retrieved 25 October 2020. Wikiwand - on Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
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