1778 in Great Britain

File:John Paul Jones seizing the silver plate of Lady Selkirk (1).jpg

John Paul Jones seizes the Silver Plate of Lady Selkirk

Events from the year 1778 in Great Britain.

Incumbents

• Monarch – George III
• Prime Minister – Frederick North, Lord North (Tory)

Events

• 18 January – the third Pacific expedition of James Cook, with ships and , first views Oahu then Kauai in the Hawaiian Islands, which he names the "Sandwich Islands".
• 6 February – American Revolutionary War: Britain declares war on France for aiding the Americans.
• 23 April – American Revolutionary War: John Paul Jones in raids Whitehaven, with limited effect.
• 24 April – American Revolutionary War: North Channel Naval Duel – John Paul Jones in USS Ranger captures in the North Channel.
• May – is commissioned and remains in active service for the following 32 years, most notably at the Battle of Trafalgar (1805).
• 28 May–11 November – American Revolutionary War: In response to the threat of invasion from France, major militia camps are set up at Coxheath Common in Kent and Warley Common near Brentwood, Essex.
• 3 June – Papists Act is the first to provide a measure of Catholic relief.
• 16 June – American Revolutionary War: Spain declares war on Britain.
• 28 June – American Revolutionary War: the Battle of Monmouth in Monmouth, New Jersey, ends inconclusively.
• 3 July – American Revolutionary War: the Wyoming Valley battle and massacre takes place near Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, ending in a defeat of the local colonists.
• 10 July – American Revolutionary War: Louis XVI of France declares war on Great Britain.
• 27 July – American Revolutionary War: First Battle of Ushant – British and French fleets fight to a standoff.
• 7 September – American Revolutionary War: French invasion of Dominica captures the British fort there before the latter is aware that France has entered the war in the Franco-American alliance.
• 22 September – first St. Leger Stakes horse race held under this name and at its continuing location, Town Moor, Doncaster. The winner is Hollandoise.
• 26 November – in the Hawaiian Islands, James Cook becomes the first European to discover Maui.

Undated

• Lord Mansfield decides the landmark case of Da Costa v Jones in English contract law, in relation to the presumption of good faith.
• Joseph Bramah invents a type of flush toilet.
• Flint & Clark, the predecessors of Debenhams, begin trading as drapers in London; their successor will enter liquidation in 2020.
• Fanny Burney's novel Evelina published (anonymously).
• Thomas West's A Guide to the Lakes published.

Ongoing

• American Revolutionary War 1775–1783
• First Anglo-Maratha War 1777–1783

Births

• 1 January – James Grant, major-general (died 1852)
• 4 January – John Manners, 5th Duke of Rutland (died 1857)
• 19 March – Edward Pakenham, general (died 1815)
• 10 April – William Hazlitt, essayist (died 1830)
• 6 May – Henry Phillpotts, Bishop of Exeter (died 1869)
• 18 May
  • Charles Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry, politician (died 1854)
  • Andrew Ure, doctor and writer (died 1857)
• 7 June – Beau Brummell, arbiter of fashion (died 1840)
• 19 September – Henry Peter Brougham, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain (died 1868)
• 25 November
  • Joseph Lancaster, Quaker educationist (died 1838 in the United States)
  • Mary Anne Schimmelpenninck, Christian writer (died 1856)
• 17 December – Humphry Davy, chemist (died 1829)
• 18 December – Joseph Grimaldi, clown (died 1837)

Deaths

• 5 March – Thomas Augustine Arne, composer (born 1710)
• 22 April – James Hargreaves, weaver, carpenter, and inventor (born 1720)
• 11 May – William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, Prime Minister of Great Britain (born 1708)
• 16 May – Robert Darcy, 4th Earl of Holderness, diplomat and politician (born 1718)
• 12 August – Peregrine Bertie, 3rd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven, general and politician (born 1714)

See also

• 1778 in Wales