Events Timeline

Orlando includes short event entries, freestanding and embedded in author profiles, about moments and processes relevant to literary history and organized into four categories: Women writers, Writing Climate, Political Climate, and Social Climate. Explore the timelines by searching for date(s) and/or words or phrases associated with them.

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Mary Robinson: 30 April 1778

Women writers item
Author event in Mary Robinson

30 April 1778

MR 's comic opera The Lucky Escape opened at Drury Lane , given for her benefit at its first appearance.
Pascoe differs from the London Stage and from Mann and Garnier as to the exact date.
Robinson, Mary. “Introduction”. Mary Robinson: Selected Poems, edited by Judith Pascoe, Broadview, 2000, pp. 19-64.
59
Mann, David D. et al. Women Playwrights in England, Ireland and Scotland, 1660-1823. Indiana University Press, 1996.
397
The London Stage 1660-1800. Southern Illinois University Press, 1960–1968, 5 vols.
5: 167

Elizabeth Gilding: May 1778

Women writers item
Author event in Elizabeth Gilding

May 1778

Elizabeth Turner (formerly EG ) published one of her handful of poems as Sophronia in the Town and Country Magazine.
Pitcher, Edward W. Signatures and Pseudonyms of the Eighteenth-Century British Magazines: An Annotated Index in Three Volumes. 2004.

Lady Eleanor Butler: 5 May 1778

Women writers item
Author event in Lady Eleanor Butler

5 May 1778

Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby left Sarah's home together for the second time; they now had their maid Mary Carryll with them, and the grudging assent of their relations.
Mavor, Elizabeth. The Ladies of Llangollen. Michael Joseph, 1971.
47

11 May 1778: William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, died one month...

National or international item

11 May 1778

William Pitt, Earl of Chatham , died one month and four days after collapsing dramatically in the House of Lords in the midst of an impassioned harangue opposing the independence of the USA.
Matthew, Henry Colin Gray et al., editors. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. http://www.oxforddnb.com/.

Later 1778: Ann Wilson published her 1600-line poem Teisa,...

Women writers item

Later 1778

Ann Wilson published her 1600-line poem Teisa, describing, with moral reflections, the landscape, towns, antiquities, and history around the course of the River Tees.
Keegan, Bridget. “Eighteenth-Century Laboring-Class Women’s Locodescriptive Poetry: The Case of Ann Wilson’s ’Teisa’”. Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century British Women Writers Conference, Lawrence, KS, 17 Mar. 2001.

Anna Letitia Barbauld: Late May 1778

Women writers item
Author event in Anna Letitia Barbauld

Late May 1778

In Lessons for Children, of Two to Three Years Old, published anonymously, ALB struck out a new line in writing for children.
McCarthy, William et al. “Introduction”. The Poems of Anna Letitia Barbauld, University of Georgia Press, 1994, p. xxi - xlvi.
xliv
McCarthy, William. Anna Letitia Barbauld, Voice of the Enlightenment. The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008.
191

Anna Letitia Barbauld: June 1778

Women writers item
Author event in Anna Letitia Barbauld

June 1778

ALB , still anonymous published the first of two volumes of Lessons for Children, of Three Years Old. The title was entered in the Stationers' Register only ten days after the first book in...

Margaret Holford, the younger : Before 1 June 1778

Women writers item

Before 1 June 1778

Margaret Holford the younger was born at Chester, the eldest of four daughters. This was the date on which she was christened after her mother.
Matthew, Henry Colin Gray et al., editors. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. http://www.oxforddnb.com/.

6 June 1778: The Carlisle Peace Commission, bearing Lord...

National or international item

6 June 1778

The Carlisle Peace Commission , bearing Lord North 's proposals for conciliation with America, arrived in Philadelphia.
Coakley, Robert, and Stetson Conn. The War of the American Revolution. Center of Military History, 1975.
112-3

17 June 1778: The American Congress declined to negotiate...

National or international item

17 June 1778

The American Congress declined to negotiate on Lord North 's proposals without a promise of independence and a treaty of peace and commerce consistent with that already signed with France.
Coakley, Robert, and Stetson Conn. The War of the American Revolution. Center of Military History, 1975.
112-3

Hester Lynch Piozzi: 21 June 1778

Women writers item
Author event in Hester Lynch Piozzi

21 June 1778

Hester Thrale (later HLP ) gave birth to another girl, Henrietta or Harriet, whose sex was a great disappointment to her, since both of her sons had died.
Clifford, James L. Hester Lynch Piozzi (Mrs Thrale). Clarendon Press, 1987.
167

Frances Brooke: 24 June 1778

Women writers item
Author event in Frances Brooke

24 June 1778

FB and Mary Ann Yates ended their reign as managers of the Haymarket Opera House .
Brooke, Frances. “Introduction”. The Excursion, edited by Paula R. Backscheider and Hope D. Cotton, University Press of Kentucky, 1997, p. ix - xlix.
xlix

28 June 1778: An attack on retreating British troops at...

National or international item

28 June 1778

An attack on retreating British troops at Monmouth, New Jersey, was the last major engagement in the American Revolutionary war in the north.
Coakley, Robert, and Stetson Conn. The War of the American Revolution. Center of Military History, 1975.
113

Jean-Jacques Rousseau: 2 July 1778

Writing climate item
Author event in Jean-Jacques Rousseau

2 July 1778

JJR , philosopher and novelist, died at Ermenonville in France.
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Literature. Clarendon Press, 1954.
454
Josephson, Matthew. Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Harcourt, Brace, 1931.
528

Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire: Summer 1778

Building item

Summer 1778

Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire , organised a corps of Whig ladies to ride daily through the military camp at Coxheath in Kent, all dressed en militaire
Foreman, Amanda. “A politician’s politician: Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, and the Whig party”. Gender in Eighteenth-Century England: Roles, Representations and Responsibilities, edited by Hannah Barker and Elaine Chalus, Longman, 1997, pp. 179-04.
182
.
Foreman, Amanda. “A politician’s politician: Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, and the Whig party”. Gender in Eighteenth-Century England: Roles, Representations and Responsibilities, edited by Hannah Barker and Elaine Chalus, Longman, 1997, pp. 179-04.
182-3
Foreman, Amanda. Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. HarperCollins, 1998.
65

27 July 1778: Hostilities between Britain and France in...

National or international item

27 July 1778

Hostilities between Britain and France in the American Revolutionary war opened with a naval battle off Ushant in Brittany.
Coakley, Robert, and Stetson Conn. The War of the American Revolution. Center of Military History, 1975.
113

From 30 July 1778: George Colman's Bonduca (adapted from a play...

Building item

From 30 July 1778

George Colman 's Bonduca (adapted from a play by Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher ) kept up the tradition of stage representations of this female national hero, better known as Boadicea.
O’Brien, Karen. Women and Enlightenment in Eighteenth-Century Britain. Cambridge University Press, 2009.
124
The London Stage 1660-1800. Southern Illinois University Press, 1960–1968, 5 vols.
5: 185

Harriet Downing: Shortly before 12 August 1778

Women writers item
Author event in Harriet Downing

Shortly before 12 August 1778

Harriet Bourne (later HD ) was born in London; she was baptised on this day at All Hallows Church in Tottenham, which is now a part of the capital.
Ancestry.co.uk. http://www.ancestry.co.uk.

14 August 1778: A Relief Act for Irish Catholics received...

National or international item

14 August 1778

A Relief Act for Irish Catholics received the royal assent: though it granted Catholics far less than full civil rights, it generated fierce popular opposition.
Colley, Linda. Britons: Forging the Nation, 1707-1837. Yale University Press, 1992.
332
Gentleman’s Magazine. Various publishers.
48 (1778): 480, 324, 387

Mary Harcourt: 3 September 1778

Women writers item
Author event in Mary Harcourt

3 September 1778

After about three years as a young widow, Mary Lockhart married William Harcourt , who was a distinguished soldier and held a court position (though he was an inactive member of parliament). He succeeded his...

4 September 1778: The United States signed a treaty of alliance...

National or international item

4 September 1778

The United States signed a treaty of alliance with the Netherlands.
Coakley, Robert, and Stetson Conn. The War of the American Revolution. Center of Military History, 1975.
114

Phebe Gibbes: About September 1778

Women writers item
Author event in Phebe Gibbes

About September 1778

PG published a novel entitled Friendship in a Nunnery; or, The American Fugitive.
Garside, Peter et al., editors. The English Novel 1770-1829. Oxford University Press, 2000, 2 vols.
1: 270

Henry Peter, Baron Brougham: 19 September 1778

Writing climate item

19 September 1778

Henry Peter Brougham , future Whig politician, reformer, and baron, was born in a house at the corner of West Bow and the Cowgate in Edinburgh.
Stephen, Sir Leslie, and Sidney Lee, editors. The Dictionary of National Biography. Smith, Elder, 1908–2026, 22 vols. plus supplements.
Newman, Gerald, editor. Britain in the Hanoverian Age, 1714-1837: An Encyclopedia. Garland, 1997.
78

Elizabeth, Margravine of Anspach: 26 September 1778

Women writers item

26 September 1778

Horace Walpole published at his home-basedStrawberry Hill Press a 75-copy edition of The Sleep-Walker by Lady Craven (later EMA ), a translation and adaptation of Antoine de Fériol de Pont-De-Veyle 's French comedyLa...

Charlotte Lennox: October 1778

Women writers item
Author event in Charlotte Lennox

October 1778

CL 's thirteen-year-old daughter, Harriot Holles, was taken to court, accused of assaulting a woman named Ann Brown. Two months later Brown was in court to answer charges of having launched the first assault.
Isles, Duncan. “The Lennox Collection (Continued)”. Harvard Library Bulletin, Vol.
19
, No. 2, Apr. 1971, pp. 165-86.
175n149
Carlile, Susan. Charlotte Lennox. An Independent Mind. University of Toronto Press, 2018.
305