1777 in Great Britain

Other years

* 1775
* 1776
* 1777
* 1778
* 1779

Countries of the United Kingdom

* Scotland
* Wales

Sport
1777 English cricket season
Political cartoon etching depicting an elderly England attempting to control his American children

Events from the year 1777 in Great Britain.

## Incumbents

[edit]

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

## Events

[edit]

* 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 the British in Chester County, Pennsylvania.
* 19 September – American Revolution: First Saratoga: Battle of Freeman's Farm – British forces under General Burgoyne win the field but with serious casualties[3]
* 4 October – American Revolution: at the Battle of Germantown, troops under George Washington are repelled by British troops under Sir William Howe.[3]
* 7 October – American Revolution: Second Saratoga: Battle of Bemis Heights – the Americans are victorious.
* 17 October – American Revolution: Saratoga campaign ends with Burgoyne's surrender to the Americans.[3]
* 24 December – Kiritimati (Christmas Island) visited by James Cook.
* Undated – William Bass establishes the Bass Brewery at Burton upon Trent.

## Publications

[edit]

* 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

[edit]

* 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

[edit]

* 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

[edit]

* 1777 in Wales

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "History of Lord Frederick North - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
2. ^ Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 2006. ISBN 0-14-102715-0.
3. ^ a b c d e Williams, Hywel (2005). Cassell's Chronology of World History. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. p. 331. ISBN 0-304-35730-8.
4. ^ Lindsay, Jean. The Trent & Mersey Canal. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. p. 48\. ISBN 0-7153-7781-7.
5. ^ "The early history of the Institution". Bath Royal Literary & Scientific Institution. Archived from the original on 2012-02-17. Retrieved 2010-10-18.
6. ^ Leavis, Q. D. (1965). Fiction and the Reading Public (rev. ed.). London: Chatto & Windus.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Annual Register...1777, London: J. Dodsley, 1785

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1777 in Europe

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