1760 in Great Britain:

Other years

1758 | 1759 | 1760 | 1761 | 1762

Countries of the United Kingdom

Scotland

Sport

1760 English cricket season

Events from the year 1760 in Great Britain. This year sees a change of monarch.

Incumbents

• Monarch – George II (until 25 October), George III (starting 25 October)
• Prime Minister – Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle (Whig)^[1]
• Parliament – 11th

Events

• 22 January – Seven Years' War: At the Battle of Wandiwash in India, British general Sir Eyre Coote is victorious over the French under Marquis de Bussy-Castelnau.^[2]
• 15 February – HMS Royal Katherine runs aground off Bolt Head, South Devon, with the loss of 699 lives.
• 21–26 February – Seven Years' War: At the Battle of Carrickfergus in the north of Ireland, a force of French troops under the command of privateer François Thurot captures and holds the town and castle of Carrickfergus before retiring; the force is defeated (and Thurot killed) in a naval action in the Irish Sea on 28 February.^[3]
• June – Scottish Presbyterian preacher Dr. James Fordyce moves to London.
• 3 July – a lightning strike causes a major fire at Portsmouth Royal Dockyard; substantial rebuilding follows.^[4][5]
• 31 July – Seven Years' War: At the Battle of Warburg, the British-Hanoverian army of Ferdinand of Brunswick storms Warburg, with a heroic role being played by the British commander Lord Granby.^[6]
• 8 September – Seven Years' War: Jeffery Amherst captures Montreal.^[7]
• 25 October – George III ascends to the throne following the death of his grandfather George II.^[2] He will reign until 29 January 1820. He surrenders the income from the Crown Estate to the government in exchange for a civil list contribution to maintaining the Royal Household.
• Thomas Braidwood establishes Braidwood's Academy for the Deaf and Dumb in Edinburgh, the first school for the deaf in Britain.

Publications

• Geologist John Michell's essay "Conjectures concerning the Cause and Observations upon the Phaenomena of Earthquakes".^[8]
• Fragments of Ancient Poetry collected in the Highlands of Scotland by James Macpherson.^[2]
• The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne.^[2]

Births

• 28 March – Thomas Clarkson, abolitionist (died 1846)^[9]
• 27 October – Sir Richard Strachan, 6th Baronet, Royal Navy Admiral (died 1828)
• probable – Lemuel Francis Abbott, portrait painter (died 1802)

Deaths

• 5 May – Laurence Shirley, 4th Earl Ferrers, murderer (hanged) (born 1720)
• 30 September – Maria Coventry, Countess of Coventry, society beauty (lead poisoning) (born 1732)
• 25 October – King George II of Great Britain (born 1683, Hanover)