Chronology

Full chronology version

1710

Parliament passes the Copyright Act of 1709, the first copyright act which allowed for copyright to be regulated by the government rather than private parties.

St Paul's from the south west in 1896.

1710

Christopher Wren's son places the final stone on the cathedral. The total cost of building the new cathedral was £850,000.

1712

The Stamp Act places duty on newspapers and advertisements.

1713

Daniel Brown is elected Master of Stationers' Company.

1714

John Baskett is elected Master of Stationers' Company. He is re-elected in the following year.

Detail of a portrait of George I of Great Britain

1714

George I becomes King on 1 August and is crowned on 20 October.

1716

Nicholas Boddington is elected Master of Stationers' Company. He is re-elected the following year and so is Richard Mount.

1718

Richard Mount is re-elected Master of Stationers' Company for this and the following year.

1720

John Sprint is elected Master of Stationers' Company. He is re-elected the following year.

1722

John Knaplock is elected Master of Stationers' Company. He is re-elected in 1723 and 1724.

1723

Nathaniel Cole is appointed Clerk to Stationers' Company.

1725

John Walthoe is elected Master of Stationers' Company. He is re-elected the following year.

1727

James Knaptin is elected Master of Stationers' Company. He is re-elected in 1728, 1742, 1742 and 1744.

1727

George II becomes King on 22 (11 O.S.) October and is crowned on the same day.

1729

James Roberts is elected Master of Stationers' Company. He is elected to the post successively until 1732.

Page from english 18th. C. magzaine Gentleman's magazine.

1731

The Gentleman's Magazine is first published in England, known as the first modern, general interest magazine. Its run continues until 1922.

1732

John Barber, a member of Stationers' Company, is elected Lord Mayor of London.

1732

The Theatre Royal is opened in Covent Garden by John Rich.

1733

William Mount is elected Master of Stationers' Company. He is re-elected in 1734 and 1735.

1736

Samuel Ashurt is elected Master of Stationers' Company. He is re-elected the following year.

1737

Prohibited any original plays to go on peBRFormance without the direct approval of the Lord Chamberlain. The passing of the bill in Parliament is reported by the Daily Post on 23 May: 'We hear that a Bill is ordered into Parliament for suppressing the great Number of Play-Houses or Plays of Interlude, so justly complained of...'

1738

Samuel Buckley is elected Master of Stationers' Company. He is re-elected the following year.

1740

James Round is elected Master of Stationers' Company. He is re-elected the following year.

1745

Thomas Brewer is elected Master of Stationers' Company. He is re-elected the following year.

1747

William Innys is elected Master of Stationers' Company. He is re-elected the following year.

1748

The Court Room is added to Stationers' Hall.

1749

Stephen Theodore Janssen is elected Master of Stationers' Company. He is re-elected in 1750.

1752

Thomas Ridge is elected Master of Stationers' Company. He is re-elected the following year.

1752

Parliament passes the Disorderly Houses Act meaning that any theatre which is deemed important does not need a license and that London magistrates could regulate theatres.

1753

Thomas Page is elected Master of Stationers' Company.

Montagu House, Bloomsbury, London (later the British Museum) from the north by James Simon, c.1715.

1753

The British Museum Act combines the Cottonian, Harleian and Sloane collections of various objects, creating the British Museum.

1754

(Baronet) Sir Stephen Theodore Janssen, a member of Stationers' Company, is elected Lord Mayor of London.

1754

The current Master Thomas Page announces that he will not stand for a second term and proposes that no one should hold office for more than one year. This proposal was passed by the Court of Assistants in July.

1754

Samuel Richardson is elected Master of Stationers' Company.

1755

John March is elected Master of Stationers' Company.

1756

Francis Gosling is elected Master of Stationers' Company.

1757

Thomas Wotton is elected Master of Stationers' Company.

1758

Charles Hitch is elected Master of Stationers' Company.

1759

Jacob Tonson is elected Master of Stationer's Company.

1759

John Partridge is appointed Clerk to Stationers' Company.

1760

John Clarke is elected Master of Stationers' Company.

1760

George III begins his reign in 1760.

1761

George III is crowned King on 22 Sep 1761.

1761

Allington Wilde is elected Master of Stationers' Company.

1762

Journeymen are formally debarred from the livery.

1762

John Coles is elected Master of Stationers' Company.

1763

Edward Say is elected Master of Stationers' Company.

1764

Richard Brooke is elected Master of Stationers' Company.

1765

Richard Manby is elected Master of Stationers' Company.

1766

Henry Woodfall is elected Master of Stationer's Company.

1767

John Vowell is elected Master of Stationer's Company.

1768

James Bailey is elected Master of Stationer's Company.

1769

Matthew Jennour is elected Master of Stationer's Company.

1770

Paul Vaillant is elected Master of Stationer's Company.

1771

Thomas Gamull and John Vowell are elected Master of Stationer's Company.

1772

Joshua Jennour is elected Master of Stationers' Company.

1772

A patent is issued for the making of coloured inks.

1772

The Morning Post is founded: A London-based newspaper with a conservative leaning.

1773

John Beecroft is elected Master of Stationers' Company.

1774

William Strahan is elected Master of Stationers' Company.

1775

John Rivington is elected Master of Stationers' Company.

1775

The Stationers’ Company loses its monopoly over the printing of almanacs after a heated legal case with the printer Thomas Carnan. The judges rule that the Company and the English Stock’s grant only covers approved almanacs and that not only could such copyright not last in perpetuity, but that they could not be granted exclusively.

1775

On May 29, the Court of Common Pleases decides that the King has no power to confine the publishing of all almanacks to one organisation.

1776

Robert Browne is elected Master of Stationers' Company.

1776

Joseph Baldwin is appointed Clerk to Stationers' Company.

1777

Thomas Wright is elected Master of Stationer's Company.

1778

Daniel Richards is elected Master of Stationer's Company.

1779

Lockyer Davis is elected Master of Stationer's Company.

1780

William Gill is elected Master of Stationer's Company.