Events from the year 1709 in the Kingdom of Great Britain.

Incumbents

• Monarch - Anne of Great Britain

Events

• January to March - Unusually cold weather (the Great Frost of 1709) brings floating ice into the North Sea.[1]
• 2 February - Alexander Selkirk is rescued from shipwreck on a desert island, inspiring the book Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe.[2]
• 12 April - first edition of society magazine Tatler published.[2]
• 30 July - War of the Spanish Succession: Capture of Tournai by John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene of Savoy.[3]
• 11 September - War of the Spanish Succession: Battle of Malplaquet - Great Britain, Netherlands and Austria led by the Duke of Marlborough defeat France. The song "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" is based on the French song "Marlbrough s'en va-t-en guerre" composed following this battle.[3]
• 9 October - War of the Spanish Succession: British army captures Mons.[1]

Undated

• Enaction of Britain's first copyright law, the Statute of Anne.[3]
• Abraham Darby pioneers the first coke-consuming blast furnace.[3]
• The earliest known match involving county teams played between Kent and Surrey.[4]
• Construction of Marlborough House begins.[1]

Births

• 17 January - George Lyttelton, 1st Baron Lyttelton, politician (died 1773)
• 18 September - Samuel Johnson, writer and lexicographer (died 1784)
• 2 November - Anne, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange, (died 1759)
• John Cleland, English novelist (died 1789)

Deaths

• 24 January - George Rooke, English admiral (born 1650)
• 15 February - John Philips, poet (born 1676)
• 9 March - Ralph Montagu, 1st Duke of Montagu, English diplomat (born c. 1638)
• 30 June - Edward Lhuyd, scientist (born 1660)
• 17 July - Robert Bolling, English settler in Virginia (born 1646)
• 9 October - Barbara Palmer, 1st Duchess of Cleveland, English mistress of Charles II of England (born 1640)
• 23 November - William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland, Favourite of William III of England (born 1649, Netherlands)

References

See also