Cambridgeshire
& the Isle of Ely
Timeline

1700-1799

Note: All entries in this colour cover other areas as well as Cambridgeshire and the Isle of Ely and can be regarded as general historic information.

Period	Dates	Events
1700-1799	1700	The drainage of the fens deteriorated rapidly after 1700; no area was free from the threat of flooding and much lay permanently under water. In 1695, Celia Fiennes in her horseback tour of England was forced to ride between Ely and Sutton along raised river banks because the fens around were flooded. Attestations at the 1726 enquiry into the Haddenham Level drew comment that the rivers that were meant to drain the fens were higher than the fens themselves.
	8 Mar 1702	William III and Mary II's reign of England ends.
	9 Mar 1702	Anne becomes Queen of Great Britain.
	1703	John Wesley born.
	1707	John Moore made Bishop of Ely Charles Wesley born. Act of Union.
	1709	The Tatler (Magazine) founded.
	1713	Denver Sluice wrecked by a storm; it would be 35 years before it was restored.
	1711	The Spectator (Newspaper) founded.
	1714	William Fleetwood made Bishop of Ely
	1 Aug 1714	Anne's reign of Great Britain ends.
	2 Aug 1714	George I becomes King of Great Britain.
	1717	Freemasons Grand Lodge of England founded.
	3 Apr 1721	Robert Walpole appointed first Prime Minister.
	1723	Thomas Greene made Bishop of Ely
	1727	Repeal of the Corporation Act.
	22 Jun 1727	George I's reign of Great Britain ends.
	23 Jun 1727	George II's becomes King of Great Britain.
	1732	10 Downing Street, London presented by King George II to Sir Robert Walpole as residence for the First Lord of the Treasury (Prime Minister).
	1738	Robert Butts made Bishop of Ely
	1740	Calvanistic Methodists split from Wesleyan Methodists. Disastrous flloding duing the 1740's compelled reconstruction of Denver Sluice and other areas.
	1744	War between Britain and France. First National conference of Methodist ministers. Cambridge's first newspaper, The Cambridge Journal, founded.
	18 Mar 1745	Sir Robert Walpole died.
	1748	Thomas Gooch made Bishop of Ely Thomas Neale counts over 250 windmills in the middle level sited there to lift and move the water.
	1749	Bow Street Runners formed.
	1750	Jockey Club formed to regulate horse racing.
	2 Sep 1752	Gregorian calendar adopted - next day is 14 September.
	1754	Matthias Mawson made Bishop of Ely
	29 Jun 1757	William Pitt becomes Prime Minister.
	Aug 1759	Cambridgeshire Militia raised with a quota of 480 men formed into 8 companies.
	1760-1846	Clarkson, Thomas - British philanthropist. From 1785 he devoted himself to a campaign against slavery. He was one of the founders of the Anti-Slavery Society 1823 and was largely responsible for the abolition of slavery in British colonies 1833.
	1760	Turnpikes improve travelling by road. The new channel of drainage proposed by Charles Kinderley in 1720 was implemented in the 1760's due to massive deterioration. The channel proved hugely successful, lowering waters in the North Level by 6 feet and allowing vessels of 200 tons to once more reach Wisbech to unload. Addenbrooke's Hospital was founded in the 1760's under the will of a Fellow of St. Catharine's.
	25 Oct 1760	George II's reign of Great Britain ends.
	26 Oct 1760	George III becomes King of Great Britain.
	circa 1762	The Chronicle newspaper started up in Cambridge to rival The Cambridge Journal.
	1764	Invention of the spinning jenny by J Hargreaves.
	1769	First Sunday school started by Hannah Ball, Methodist. Arkwright's Waterframe invented
	1770	Tax on distillation of spirits introduced. The first act for the enclosure of a Cambridgeshire parish was 1770. By 1794 three others had also succumbed including Chippenham.
	6 May 1770	Capt. Cook discovers Botany Bay.
	1771	Edmund Keene made Bishop of Ely
	1772	Slavery declared illegal in Britain.
	1774	George Walpole, third Earl of Orford, undertook a historical, pleasure journey through parts of East Anglia which he documented.
	1778	Catholic Relief Act. Cambridgeshire Militia embodied with other regiments as a result of the threat posed by the alliance of the French and the American Colonies. On 26 March 1778 the Lord Lieutenant received his Royal Warrant and the Regiment assembled in Cambridge in April. It left the county for the first time in August, marching to Great Yarmouth, where it remained until November. Its regimental number was 33.
	11 May 1778	Earl of Chatham (William Pitt) died.
	1779	Invention of spinning mule by Samuel Crompton. The Regiment of the Cambridgeshire Militia returned in March 1779. In May it became the 27th Regiment.
	1780	The Regiment of the Cambridgeshire Militia became the 44th Regiment and moved to north London to be in reserve for the riots raging in London.
	1781	James Yorke made Bishop of Ely
	Apr 1781	The Regiment of the Cambridgeshire Militia became the 34th Regiment moving around East Anglia.
	1782	The Home Office established Foundation of the Foreign Office Invention of modern steam engine by James Watt. The Regiment of the Cambridgeshire Militia became the 25th Regiment moving around East Anglia with brief spells garrisoned in Cambridgeshire.
	1783	Peace concluded with America and the Regiment of the Cambridgeshire Militia was disembodied which took place at Ely.
	4 Feb 1783	Parliament proclaims an end to hostilities in America.
	3 Sep 1783	UK, France, Spain, the Netherlands and the US sign the Treaty of Paris.
	1784	John Mortlock III, local merchant and banker, becomes M.P. for Cambridge. He was later mayor of Cambridge 13 times in the following two decades.
	2 Aug 1784	First mail coach runs from Bristol to London.
	1785	The Times founded. First power-driven loom invented by E Cartwright.
	1786	Church of England Sunday School Society started. HMSO founded.
	1787	Transportation of criminals to Botany Bay begins.
	1788	Charles Wesley died. An Improvement Commission established to pave, light and cleanse Cambridge.
	26 Jan 1788	Foundation Day - Australia.
	2 Mar 1791	John Wesley died.
	1791	General Stud Book (Horse Racing) published by the Jocket Club The Ordnance Survey of Great Britain is founded.
	22 Jan 1793	Regiment of the Cambridgeshire Militia embodied as the 11th as as a result of tension between Britain and France.
	1 Feb 1793	France declares war on Britain and the Netherlands.
	1794	Office of Secretary of State for War and the Colonies instituted.
	1795	Methodists secede from Church of England Poor Law devised.
	1796	Discovery of Smallpox vaccine by E Jenner.
	1797	Methodist New Connexion founded.
	1798	Typhus epidemic kills thousands.
	1799	Combination Acts described trade unions as criminal conspiracies Foundation of the Church Missionary Society.
	9 Jan 1799	Parliament passes the first income tax.
	Mar 1799	Regiment of the Cambridgeshire Militia moved to Dublin, rebellion having broken out in Ireland the previous year.

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Cambridgeshire & the Isle of Ely Timeline

1700-1799

Cambridgeshire
& the Isle of Ely
Timeline