This chronology includes some events from the years 1760 to 1840, mostly in England and the other lands where William Courtenay lived or had property.
FR = France / GB = Great Britain / IE = Ireland / UK = United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (union in 1800) / US = United States of America
- 1760 British forces capture Montréal, ending French control of Canada
- George III becomes king of Great Britain and king of Ireland (until 1811/1820)
- 1762 British forces occupy Havana, capital of the Spanish West Indies (until 1763)
- 1763 Peace of Paris ends war between Britain, France and Spain (until 1778)
- 1768 James Cook sails from Plymouth (Devon, GB) on first voyage of exploration (returns 1771)
- German art historian and archaeologist Winckelmann murdered in Trieste (city now in Italy but within Austro-Hungarian empire until 1918)
- William born (GB)
- 1776 Continental Congress declares independence of the Thirteen Colonies (US)
- 1778 France and US form alliance – Britain declares war on France (until 1783)
- 1779 Spain declares war on Britain – combined French & Spanish fleets enter Plymouth Sound but withdraw without a landing or battle (GB)
- 1780 Protestant Association march in London begins Gordon riots (GB)
- 1783 eruption of Lakagígar (Iceland) disrupts climate in Europe & North America
- Peace of Versailles between GB, France, Spain and USA
- 1787 Warren Hastings impeached for maladministration and corruption in India – acquitted in 1795 after seven-year trial by House of Lords (GB)
- British and Irish convicts transported to new colonies in Australia (until 1867)
- ‘Sons of Africa’ begin to campaign for abolition of slavery (GB)
- 1784 general election strengthens government of William Pitt (until 1801, GB/UK)
- 1788 illness of king George III precipitates regency crisis in Great Britain & Ireland
- William succeeds his father as viscount Courtenay (GB)
- 1789 mutiny on the Bounty (British Royal Navy ship in Pacific Ocean)
- revolution in France
- William is ‘presented’ to king George III at Exeter (GB)
- 1790 William takes his seat in the House of Lords at Westminster (GB)
- 1791 revolution in French colony of Saint-Domingue in Caribbean Sea (independent as Haiti 1804)
- new penal code adopted in France – sodomy decriminalised
- 1792 France proclaimed republic (until 1804)
- 1793 France declares war on Britain (until 1815 with intervals in 1802 & 1814)
- British forces occupy but then withdraw from naval base of Toulon (FR)
- 1794 Juries at the Old Bailey (London) acquit Thomas Hardy, John Thelwall and Horne Tooke of high treason (GB)
- 1795 Food riots across England; Staffordshire Militia, stationed at Okehampton (Devon), ‘to a man joined the People’ (GB)
- 1796 French forces arrive in Bantry Bay (County Cork) but are unable to land (IE)
- 1797 mutinies in Royal Navy at Plymouth (Devon) and other home bases (GB)
- 1798 National scheme of ‘Voluntary Contributions’ to the Bank of England ‘for the Defence of the Country’ raises £2million (GB & IE)
- last session of Irish parliament until 1919 opens in Dublin (IE)
- United Irishmen rebel against British rule (IE)
- French forces land at Killala Bay (Mayo) but surrender within a few weeks (IE)
- 1799 Napoléon Bonaparte becomes First Consul of France (until 1804)
- 1800 UK formed from kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland (until 1919/1922) and king George III relinquishes claim to French crown (dating from 1340)
- 1802 Treaty of Amiens – Britain recognises the French Republic – peace between Britain and France (until 1803)
- 1803 France sells vast territories west of Mississippi (‘Louisiana’) to US
- 1804 Haitian Declaration of Independence from France (Haiti, Caribbean Sea)
- Napoléon becomes Emperor of the French (until 1814/15)
- 1805 Napoléon prepares forces to invade GB but abandons plans in August
- 1807 Robert Fulton’s steamship given trial run on the Hudson river from New York (USA)
- 1809 Dartmoor Depot (Devon) holds thousands of prisoners of war (until 1816, GB)
- 1811 George III’s son becomes Prince Regent (until 1820, UK)
- William emigrates from UK to US (until 1814)
- Luddite movement begins with protests in Nottinghamshire (until 1817, GB)
- Great Comet visible to the naked eye for 260 days
- 1812 US declares war on UK (until 1814 peace treaty of Ghent, ratified in 1815)
- French armies retreat from Moscow (Russia)
- 1813 Portuguese, Spanish and UK forces invade France from south
- Austrian forces and Prussian forces invade France from east
- 1814 UK forces set fire to public buildings in Washington DC (US)
- Napoléon abdicates and is exiled to Elba (island in Mediterranean Sea)
- William leaves US and settles in France (until 1835)
- 1815 US victory over UK at battle of New Orleans (US)
- Napoléon returns to France but is exiled after battle of Waterloo to St Helena (island in South Atlantic Ocean) where he dies in 1821
- eruption of Tambora (east of Java) disrupts climate of Northern Hemisphere
- 7 American prisoners of war killed by British soldiers at Dartmoor Depot [see 1809] during unsuccessful attempt at mass escape (GB)
- 1818 Seventh Coalition withdraws occupation armies from France
- 1819 11 demonstrators killed by militia in ‘Peterloo’ massacre at Manchester (GB)
- 1820 George III dies – Prince Regent becomes king George IV (until 1830, UK)
- mass protests in support of Queen Caroline during her trial by House of Lords (UK)
- 1821 Captain Rock agrarian rebellion in province of Munster (until 1824, IE)
- 1829 Relief Act brings emancipation for (Roman) Catholics in GB & Ireland (UK)
- 1830 king George IV dies and his brother becomes king William IV (until 1837, UK)
- French forces capture Algiers and begin occupation of Algeria (until 1962)
- revolution in France – Louis-Philippe becomes king (until revolution of 1848)
- Captain Swing agrarian riots in England (GB)
- mass petitions and protests demanding reform of parliament (UK)
- 1831 mass campaign against payment of tithes to Church of Ireland (until 1836, IE)
- first Canut revolt by silkworkers in Lyon (FR)
- rebellion by slaves in British colony of Jamaica (Caribbean Sea)
- 1832 cholera epidemic spreads into UK, France and USA
- June Rebellion – republican insurrection in Paris (FR)
- 1834 Tolpuddle (Dorset) trade union members sentenced to transportation (GB)
- second Canut revolt in Lyon suppressed with mass deportations (FR)
- soldiers protecting tithe-collectors kill 3 men at Mahoonagh (County Limerick, IE)
- UK government pays compensation to slaveowners but not to slaves when slavery is abolished in most areas of the British Empire
- workhouses established across England and Wales by New Poor-law (until 1948, GB)
- Westminster Houses of Parliament destroyed by accidental fire (GB)
- Robert Peel, incoming Conservative prime minister, issues the ‘Tamworth Manifesto’ (UK)
- 1835 William dies in Paris (FR)
- James Pratt and John Smith tried in London and executed – the last men to be hanged in England for sodomy (GB)
- 1836 Charles Darwin returns to Britain after circumnavigation in HMS Beagle
- 1837 king William IV dies and Victoria becomes queen of UK (until 1901)
- 1838 the People’s Charter for electoral reform launched in Glasgow (UK)
- Irish Poor Law Act establishes system of workhouses (until 1925, IE)
- 1840 Napoléon Bonaparte’s remains brought from St Helena [see 1815] and reburied at Les Invalides in Paris (FR)
Images
The illustrations are from woodcuts by Thomas Bewick (1753-1828).
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Woodcuts_by_Thomas_Bewick
Page history
- 2018 May 30: first published online.
- 2020 April 1: reviewed; at 1815, ‘Waterloo’ amended to ‘battle of Waterloo’.
- 2020 April 10: 1800 and 1802 entries amended to mention English/British claim to French crown and recognition of French Republic.
- 2020 April 23: new entries at 1794 (treason trials) and 1798 (Voluntary Contributions).
- 2020 April 27: new entry at 1795 (food riots).
- 2020 May 14: new entry at 1768 (Winckelmann).
- 2022 June 18: new entries at 1789 (William’s presentation) and 1790 (William and House of Lords).
- 2023 April 10: more images added.
- 2023 April 25: new entry at 1807.
William Courtenay (1768-1835) 