1721 in Great Britain

Great Britain-related events during the year of 1721

1721 in Great Britain:

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Events from the year 1721 in Great Britain.

Incumbents

6 January – The Committee of Inquiry on the collapse of the South Sea Company publishes its findings.
5 February – Lord Stanhope, chief minister, dies a day after collapsing while vigorously defending his government's conduct over the "South Sea Bubble" in Parliament.
9 March – John Aislabie imprisoned in the Tower of London, found guilty of corruption for his part in the collapse of the South Sea Company as Chancellor of the Exchequer.^[2]
c. March – Atterbury Plot to restore the Stuart monarchy begins.
4 April – Robert Walpole becomes the first Prime Minister (although this is more a term of disparagement at this time).^[3]

Lady Mary Wortley Montagu introduces smallpox inoculation to Britain: the Princess of Wales is persuaded to test the treatment and the procedure becomes fashionable.^[2]
Thomas Guy founds Guy's Hospital in London.^[4]
Regular mail service between London and New England is established.^[5]

2 January – John Manners, Marquess of Granby (died 1770)
19 March – Tobias Smollett, physician and author (died 1771)
15 April – Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, military leader (died 1765)
14 July – John Douglas, Anglican bishop and man of letters (died 1807)
4 August – Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford, politician (died 1803)
31 August – George Hervey, 2nd Earl of Bristol, statesman (died 1775)
9 November – Mark Akenside, poet and physician (died 1770)
6 December – James Elphinston, philologist (died 1809)

5 February – James Stanhope, 1st Earl Stanhope, statesman and soldier (born c. 1673)
16 February – James Craggs the Younger, politician (born 1686)
24 February – John Sheffield, 1st Duke of Buckingham and Normanby, statesman and poet (born 1648)
16 March – James Craggs the Elder, politician (born 1657)
28 April – Mary Read, pirate, in Jamaica (born 1685)
11 June – Sir Anthony Deane, naval architect and politician (born 1633)
8 July – Elihu Yale, East India merchant and educationist (born 1649 in Massachusetts)
3 August – Grinling Gibbons, sculptor (born 1648 in Rotterdam)
18 September – Matthew Prior, poet and diplomat (born 1664)
11 October – Edward Colston, merchant and philanthropist (born 1636)
13 December – Alexander Selkirk, sailor (born 1676 in Scotland)
17 December – Richard Lumley, 1st Earl of Scarbrough, statesman (born 1650)

^ "The National Archives - Sir Robert Walpole: Britain's first Prime Minister". The National Archives blog. 1 April 2021. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c Williams, Hywel (2005). Cassell's Chronology of World History. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 0-304-35730-8.
^ "Sir Robert Walpole". 10. HM Government. Archived from the original on 2011-11-01. Retrieved 2011-11-16.
^ "History of Guy's and St Thomas' Charity". Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-03.
^ Clear, Todd R.; Cole, George F.; Resig, Michael D. (2006). American Corrections (7th ed.). Thompson.

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1707–1800

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