1711 in Great Britain
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{{Year in Great Britain|1711}}
Events from the year 1711 in Great Britain.
Incumbents
Events
- 24 February – premiere of Rinaldo by George Frideric Handel, the first Italian opera written for the London stage, at the Queen's Theatre, Haymarket.{{cite book|last=Williams|first=Hywel|title=Cassell's Chronology of World History|url=https://archive.org/details/cassellschronolo0000will|url-access=registration|location=London|publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson|year=2005|isbn=0-304-35730-8}}
- 1 March – first edition of the magazine The Spectator published in London, edited by Joseph Addison and Richard Steele.{{cite book|title=Penguin Pocket On This Day|publisher=Penguin Reference Library|isbn=0-14-102715-0|year=2006}}
- 5 April (Easter Sunday) – the central tower of Elgin Cathedral in northeast Scotland collapses.{{cite book|first=David|last=Ross|title=Chronology of Scottish History|publisher=Geddes & Grosset|location=New Lanark|year=2002|isbn=1-85534-380-0}}
- 22 May – Company of Blanket Weavers of Witney in Oxfordshire incorporated by royal charter to regulate the trade.{{cite web|title=The Witney Blanket Weavers' Company|url=http://www.witneyblanketstory.org.uk/wbp.asp?navigationPage=Blanket%20Weavers%20Company|work=Witney Blanket Story|accessdate=2022-07-05}}
- 23 May – Robert Harley made Earl of Oxford.
- 29 May – Harley made Lord High Treasurer.
- 7 August – capture of the galleon San Joaquin: Spanish galleon San Joaquin in a treasure fleet sailing from Cartagena de Indias (modern-day Colombia) to Spain surrenders after an engagement with five British ships.
- 11 August – the first race meeting is held at Ascot Racecourse, "Her Majesty's Plate", attended by Queen Anne.{{cite web|url=http://www.icons.org.uk/theicons/icons-timeline/1700-1750|title=Icons, a portrait of England 1700-1750|accessdate=2007-08-24|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070817164123/http://www.icons.org.uk/theicons/icons-timeline/1700-1750|archivedate=17 August 2007}}
- 22 August – the Quebec Expedition, a British attempt to attack the city of Quebec as part of Queen Anne's War, fails when 8 of its ships are wrecked in the Saint Lawrence River and 850 soldiers drown, one of the worst disasters in British history up to this date.
- 8 September – the South Sea Company receives a Royal Charter.{{cite web|url=http://www.privy-council.org.uk/output/page44.asp|title=Royal Charters, Privy Council website|accessdate=2007-08-24|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070824225331/http://www.privy-council.org.uk/output/Page44.asp|archivedate=24 August 2007|url-status=dead}}
- 12 September – Siege of Bouchain in the War of the Spanish Succession concludes with the last major victory for John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough.
- 14 October – Woodes Rogers returns to England after a successful round-the-world privateering cruise against Spain, carrying loot worth £150,000.
- 5 November – the southwest spire of Southwell Minster in Nottinghamshire is struck by lightning, resulting in a fire that spreads to the nave and tower, destroying roofs, bells, clock and organ.
- 7 December - The Earl of Nottingham successfully proposes an amendment in the House of Lords calling for "No Peace Without Spain".
- 15 December – Occasional Conformity Act, intending to bar nonconformists and Roman Catholics from public office.{{cite book|last=Palmer|first=Alan|last2=Palmer|first2=Veronica|year=1992|title=The Chronology of British History|publisher=Century Ltd|location=London|pages=208–209|isbn=0-7126-5616-2}}
- 25 December – the rebuilding of St Paul's Cathedral in London to a design by Sir Christopher Wren is declared complete by Parliament;{{cite book|last=Campbell|first=James W. P.|year=2007|title=Building St Paul's|location=London|publisher=Thames and Hudson|isbn=978-0-500-34244-2|page=161}} Old St Paul's had been destroyed by the 1666 Great Fire of London.
- 31 December – John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough is replaced by James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde as the Commander-in-Chief of the Forces.
=Undated=
- Commission for Building Fifty New Churches set up under terms of the New Churches in London and Westminster Act 1710 (9 Ann. c. 17).
- John Shore invents the tuning fork.
- Blast furnace for the production of charcoal iron erected at Backbarrow in the north west of England; it will be in production until the 1960s.
Publications
=Prose=
{{further|1711 in literature}}
- Francis Atterbury, Representation of the State of Religion
- Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury, Characteristics of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times
- Daniel Defoe
- The British Visions
- An Essay on the History of Parties
- An Essay on the South-Sea Trade
- The Present State of the Parties in Great Britain (attributed)
- The Secret History of the October Club
- John Dennis, Reflections Critical and Satyrical, Upon a Late Rhapsody call'd, An Essay upon Criticism (Dennis's counterattack on Alexander Pope)
=Poetry and Songs=
{{further|1711 in poetry}}
- Sir Richard Blackmore, published anonymously, The Nature of Man{{cite book|editor=Cox, Michael|title=The Concise Oxford Chronology of English Literature|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2004|isbn=0-19-860634-6|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/conciseoxfordchr00coxm}}
- William King, An Historical Account of the Heathen Gods and Heroes
- Alexander Pope, An Essay on Criticism
- James Watson, editor, Choice Collection of Comic and Serious Scots Poems, Edinburgh[http://www.robertburns.org/encyclopedia/RamsayAllan1686-1758.728.shtml "Ramsay, Allan (1686-1758)"], article, The Burns Encyclopedia, online edition, retrieved July 1, 2009. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100714164232/http://www.robertburns.org/encyclopedia/RamsayAllan1686-1758.728.shtml |date=2010-07-14 }} 2009-07-21.
Births
- 7 May – David Hume, philosopher (died 1776)
- 19 August – Edward Boscawen, admiral (died 1761)
- 1 September – William Boyce, composer (died 1779)
- 22 September – Thomas Wright, astronomer, mathematician, instrument maker, architect, garden designer, antiquary and genealogist (died 1786)
- 26 September – Richard Grenville-Temple, 2nd Earl Temple, politician (died 1779)
- 5 November – Catherine Raftor, later Kitty Clive, actress (died 1785)
Deaths
- 19 March – Thomas Ken, bishop and hymn-writer (born 1637)
- 2 May – Laurence Hyde, 1st Earl of Rochester, statesman (born 1641)
- 6 July – James Douglas, 2nd Duke of Queensberry, politician (born 1662)
- 25 August – Edward Villiers, 1st Earl of Jersey, politician (born c. 1656)