Events from the year 1748 in Great Britain.
Incumbents
Events
- 28 March – a fire in the City of London causes over a million pounds worth of damage.[2]
- April – first uniforms of the Royal Navy introduced for commissioned officers and midshipmen.
- August – Admiral Edward Boscawen commands a Royal Navy siege of Pondicherry.[3]
- 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.[4]
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.[3]
- John Fothergill's pamphlet Account of the Sore Throat attended with Ulcers contains the first description of diphtheria.[3]
- Holywell Music Room, Oxford, the first purpose-built concert hall in Europe, is opened.[5]
Publications
- While in debtor's prison, John Cleland writes the erotic novel Fanny Hill (Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure), the first part of which is published anonymously on 21 November.
- David Hume's philosophical treatise An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding.
- Samuel Richardson's anonymous epistolary novel Clarissa.[3]
- Tobias Smollett's anonymous picaresque novel The Adventures of Roderick Random.[3]
- James Thomson's poem The Castle of Indolence, shortly before his death.[3]
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)
- August – James Sayers, caricaturist (died 1823)
- 14 December – William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire (died 1811)
Unknown date
- George Dixon, sea captain and explorer (died 1796)
- Matchem, racehorse (died 1781)
Deaths
- 14 March – George Wade, military leader (born 1673 in 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 in Scotland)
- 6 September – Edmund Gibson, Bishop of London and scholar (born 1669)
- 12 September – Anne Bracegirdle, actress (born c.1671)
- 21 September – John Balguy, philosopher (born 1686)
- 26 October – Donald Cameron of Lochiel, exiled Jacobite clan chief (born 1700 in Scotland)
- 25 November – Isaac Watts, hymn writer (born 1674)
- 2 December – Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset, politician (born 1662)
See also
References
- ^ "History of Henry Pelham - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
- ^ Weinreb, Ben; Hibbert, Christopher (995). The London Encyclopaedia. Macmillan. p. 287. ISBN 0-333-57688-8.
- ^ a b c d e f "1748." The People's Chronology. Ed. Jason M. Everett. Thomson Gale, 2006.
- ^ Williams, Hywel (2005). Cassell's Chronology of World History. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. pp. 312–313. ISBN 0-304-35730-8.
- ^ Tyack, Geoffrey (1998). Oxford: An architectural guide. Oxford University Press. pp. 187–188. ISBN 0-14-071045-0.