1740 in Great Britain

Events from the year 1740 in Great Britain.

Incumbents

Thomas Coram, painted by William Hogarth, 1740

January and February – the "Great Frost" continues; this will be the coldest known year (and coldest twelve-month period) by average annual temperature across central England for which reliable records are known.[1]
8 April – War of the Austrian Succession: Three Royal Navy ships capture the Spanish ship of the line Princesa off Cape Finisterre and takes her into British service as HMS Princess.
26 June – War of Jenkins' Ear – Siege of Fort Mose: A Spanish column of 300 regular troops, free black militia and Indian auxiliaries storms Britain's strategically crucial position of Fort Mose, Florida.
1 August – The patriotic song "Rule, Britannia!" is first performed in an open-air performance at Cliveden, the country home of Frederick, Prince of Wales[2] as part of the masque Alfred with music by Thomas Arne to a lyric by Scottish-born poet James Thomson; the original tenor soloist is probably Thomas Salway.
8 September – Hertford College, Oxford, is founded for the first time.[3]
21 August – First issue of grog in the Royal Navy.[4]
18 September – George Anson sets out on his voyage around the world from Spithead.[2]
6 November – Samuel Richardson’s popular and influential epistolary novel Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded is published in London.

By an act of the Parliament, alien immigrants (including Huguenots and Jews) in the colonies) receive British nationality.
Henry Hindley invents a device to cut the teeth of clock wheels.[2]
William Hogarth paints a portrait of Captain Thomas Coram (pictured).[2]
A subsequently-discredited account by William Stukeley asserts that Stonehenge was built by druids.[5]
Thomas Witherby establishes his stationery business in London, specializing in printing and publishing for the marine insurance industry. By the end of the first decade of the 21st century, as Witherby Seamanship, it will claim to be the oldest independent publisher in the English speaking world.
James Whatman establishes his paper mill in Maidstone, specializing in quality paper. It will remain in production until 2014.[6]

10 January – Princess Elizabeth of Great Britain, member of the Royal Family (died 1759)
27 June – James Woodforde, clergyman and diarist (died 1803)
17 September – John Hamilton Mortimer, painter (died 1779)
29 October – James Boswell, author (died 1795)
24 November – John Bacon, sculptor (died 1799)
c. December – Francis Light, founder of the British colony of Penang (died 1794)
date unknown
- Margaret Bingham, Countess of Lucan, portrait painter and writer (died 1814)
- Thomas White, cricketer (died 1831)
- Christopher Wyvill, cleric, landowner and political reformer (died 1822)
- William Yalden, cricketer (died 1824)

23 April – Thomas Tickell, writer (born 1685)
6 June – Alexander Spotswood, governor of Virginia Colony (born 1676)
17 June – Sir William Wyndham, politician (born 1687)
20 December – Richard Boyle, 2nd Viscount Shannon, military officer and statesman (born 1675)

"Monthly Mean Central England Temperature". Retrieved 3 December 2014.
Williams, Hywel (2005). Cassell's Chronology of World History. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. pp. 308. ISBN 0-304-35730-8.
Hamilton, Sidney Graves (1903). Hertford College. University of Oxford college histories. London: Robinson.
Pack, A. J. (1982). Nelson's Blood: the story of naval rum. Havant: K. Mason. ISBN 0-85937-279-0.
"Icons, a portrait of England 1700–1750". Archived from the original on 17 August 2007. Retrieved 24 August 2007.
Chalmers, Mark (September 2016). "Whatman – Springfield Paper Mill, Maidstone". Archive. Witney: Lightmoor Press (91): 52–65.

1740 in Europe
Sovereign states	Andorra Austria Denmark–Norway Denmark Norway France Great Britain Holy Roman Empire Hungary Ireland Malta Monaco Netherlands Ottoman Empire Papal States Portugal Prussia Russia San Marino Spain Sweden Switzerland
Dependencies, colonies and other territories	Guernsey Isle of Man Jersey