1700-1714 Queen Anne

On 16th September 1701 King James II of England Scotland and Ireland (age 67) died at Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Yvelines. He was buried in the Church of the English Benedictines.

John Evelyn's Diary. 2nd September 1701. The death of King James (age 67), happening on the 15th of this month, N. S., after two or three days' indisposition, put an end to that unhappy Prince's troubles, after a short and unprosperous reign, indiscreetly attempting to bring in Popery, and make himself absolute, in imitation of the French, hurried on by the impatience of the Jesuits; which the nation would not endure.

On 8th March 1702 King William III of England, Scotland and Ireland (age 51) died. His first cousin Anne (age 37) succeeded I Queen England Scotland and Ireland. She, Anne, being the sister of his wife Mary Stewart II Queen England Scotland and Ireland.

John Evelyn's Diary. 8th March 1702. The King (age 51) had a fall from his horse, and broke his collar bone, and having been much indisposed before, and aguish, with a long cough and other weakness, died this Sunday morning, about four o'clock.

In 1702 Thomas Coke (age 27) was elected MP Derbyshire at the 1702 General Election.

On 23rd April 1702 Queen Anne of England Scotland and Ireland (age 37) was crowned I Queen England Scotland and Ireland at Westminster Abbey [Map] by Archbishop Thomas Tenison (age 65).

On 20th August 1702 William Bowes of Streatlam (age 45) was elected MP Durham during the Parliament 1702.

In 1702 at the commencement of the War of the Spanish Succession the Allied Army commanded by John Churchill 1st Duke of Marlborough (age 51) captured Venlo, Roermond, Stevensweert and Liège.

John Evelyn's Diary. 1st December 1702. After the excess of honor conferred by the Queen (age 37) on the Earl of Marlborough (age 52), by making him a Knight of the Garter and a Duke, for the success of but one campaign, that he should desire £5,000 a year to be settled on him by Parliament out of the Post Office, was thought a bold and unadvised request, as he had, besides his own considerable estate, above £30,000 a year in places and employments, with £50,000 at interest. He had married one daughter (age 21) to the son (age 24) of my Lord Treasurer Godolphin (age 57), another (age 19) to the Earl of Sunderland (age 27), and a third (age 15) to the Earl of Bridgewater (age 21). He is a very handsome person, well-spoken and affable, and supports his want of acquired knowledge by keeping good company.

August 1702. The Aug 1702 West Indies Action was a naval engagement between the English West-Indies Fleet commanded by Vice Admiral John Benbow (age 49) and the French Fleet commanded by Admiral Jean du Casse (age 55). The action lasted five days during with the English eventually being beaten off and Vice Admiral John Benbow being mortally wounded. The action was notable for a number of English ships refusing to engage with the French. Following the action the English Fleet returned to Port Royal where a number of captains were court-martialed for cowardice and disobedience. Found guilty Captains Richard Kirkby and Copper Wade were returned to Plymouth, Devon [Map] where they were shot aboard Bristol in the presence of other officers. Captain Constable was cleared of the charge of cowardice, but was convicted on other charges and cashiered. Captain Hudson died before he could be tried. Captains Fogg and Vincent were charged with having signed a paper with the other captains of the squadron, stating they would not fight, but they represented this as a device to keep Captain Kirkby from deserting; Benbow testifying in their favour, they were merely suspended.

Benbow's leg was amputated; but a fever developed. On 4th November 1702 he died.

John Evelyn's Diary. 1st January 1703. News of Vice-Admiral Benbow's conflict with the French fleet in the West Indies, in which he gallantly behaved himself, and was wounded, and would have had extraordinary success, had not four of his men-of-war stood spectators without coming to his assistance; for this, two of their commanders were tried by a Council of War, and executed; a third was condemned to perpetual imprisonment, loss of pay, and incapacity to serve in future. The fourth died.

On 23rd October 1702 the Battle of Vigo Bay was a naval engagement at which the English fleet captured or sank the Spanish Treasure fleet.

John Evelyn's Diary. 1st December 1702. The expectation now is, what treasure will be found on breaking bulk of the galleon brought from Vigo by Sir George Rooke (age 52), which being made up in an extraordinary manner in the hold, was not begun to be opened till the fifth of this month, before two of the Privy Council, two of the chief magistrates of the city, and the Lord Treasurer (age 57).

On 26th May 1703 Samuel Pepys (age 70) died.

John Evelyn's Diary. 26th May 1703. This day died Mr. Samuel Pepys (age 70), a very worthy, industrious and curious person, none in England exceeding him in knowledge of the navy, in which he had passed through all the most considerable offices, Clerk of the Acts and Secretary of the Admiralty, all which he performed with great integrity. When King James II went out of England, he laid down his office, and would serve no more; but withdrawing himself from all public affairs, he lived at Clapham with his partner, Mr. Hewer (age 61), formerly his clerk, in a very noble house and sweet place, where he enjoyed the fruit of his labors in great prosperity. He was universally beloved, hospitable, generous, learned in many things, skilled in music, a very great cherisher of learned men of whom he had the conversation. His library and collection of other curiosities were of the most considerable, the models of ships especially. Besides what he published of an account of the navy, as he found and left it, he had for divers years under his hand the History of the Navy, or Navalia, as he called it; but how far advanced, and what will follow of his, is left, I suppose, to his sister's son, Mr. Jackson (age 30), a young gentleman, whom Mr. Pepys had educated in all sorts of useful learning, sending him to travel abroad, from whence he returned with extraordinary accomplishments, and worthy to be heir. Mr. Pepys had been for near forty years so much my particular friend, that Mr. Jackson sent me complete mourning, desiring me to be one to hold up the pall at his magnificent obsequies; but my indisposition hindered me from doing him this last office.

On 1st August 1704 Admiral George Rooke (age 54) attacked Gibraltar both by sea and by land (commanded by Prince George of Hesse Darmstadt (age 35)). After the three days of fighting the Spanish surrendered.

On 13th August 1704 John Mordaunt (age 23) fought losing his left-arm at Blenheim during the Battle of Blenheim.

Major Richard Creed was killed in action.

John Evelyn's Diary. 7th September 1704. This day was celebrated the thanksgiving for the late great victory, with the utmost pomp and splendor by the Queen (age 39), Court, great Officers, Lords Mayor, Sheriffs, Companies, etc. The streets were scaffolded from Temple Bar, where the Lord Mayor presented her Majesty with a sword, which she returned. Every company was ranged under its banners, the city militia without the rails, which were all hung with cloth suitable to the color of the banner. The Lord Mayor, Sheriffs, and Aldermen were in their scarlet robes, with caparisoned horses; the Knight Marshal on horseback; the Foot-Guards; the Queen in a rich coach with eight horses, none with her but the Duchess of Marlborough (age 44) in a very plain garment, the Queen full of jewels. Music and trumpets at every city company. The great officers of the Crown, Nobility, and Bishops, all in coaches with six horses, besides innumerable servants, went to St. Paul's, where the Dean preached. After this, the Queen went back in the same order to St. James's. The city companies feasted all the Nobility and Bishops, and illuminated at night. Music for the church and anthems composed by the best masters. The day before was wet and stormy, but this was one of the most serene and calm days that had been all the year.

On 24th August 1704 the largest naval of the War of the Spanish Sucession was fought at Vélez Málaga a week after the capture of Gibraltar by the British.

On 2nd July 1704 John Mordaunt (age 23) fought at Donauwörth during the Battle of Schellenberg.

On 1705 Samuel Garrard 4th Baronet (age 55) was elected MP Amersham in the 1705 General Election.

In 1705 Thomas Coke (age 30) was elected MP Derbyshire at the 1705 General Election.

On 22nd October 1707 Rear-Admiral Cloudesley Shovell (age 56) drowned.

The 1707 Scilly Naval Disaster was the loss of four warships of a Royal Navy fleet off the Scilly Isles [Map] in severe weather on 22nd October 1707. Around 1,700 sailors lost their lives; one of the worst maritime disasters in British naval history.

Between 14th September 1705 and 19th October 1705 a multinational Grand Alliance army led by Lord Peterborough (age 47) captured the city of Barcelona [Map] from its Spanish defenders, most of whom then joined the Grand Aliance army.

On 13th September 1705 Prince George of Hesse Darmstadt (age 36) was killed.

On 31st December 1705 Catherine of Braganza Queen Consort England (age 67) died at the Bemposta Palace some twenty years after the death of her husband King Charles II of England Scotland and Ireland. She was buried at Monastery of São Vicente de Fora.

On 23rd May 1706 Arnold Keppel 1st Earl Albermarle (age 36) and Harry Trelawny 5th Baronet (age 19) were present at Ramilles during the Battle of Ramilles.

Colonel James Gardiner (age 18) was shot through the mouth and nearly killed by a French soldier who had returned to plunder the dead. However, Gardiner was spared after being mistaken for a French soldier.

On 1708 Samuel Garrard 4th Baronet (age 58) was elected MP Amersham in the 1708 General Election.

In 1708 Thomas Coke (age 33) was elected MP Derbyshire at the 1708 General Election.

On 11th July 1708 Arnold Keppel 1st Earl Albermarle (age 38) was present at Oudenaarde during the Battle of Oudenarde.

John Wallop 1st Earl Portsmouth (age 18) fought as a volunteer.

After 11th July 1708 Arnold Keppel 1st Earl Albermarle (age 38) distinguished himself at Lille during the Siege of Lille.

On 11th September 1709 at the Battle of Maplaquet Colonel Edmund Revett and John Murray (age 25) were killed.

In 1710 Robert Furnese 2nd Baronet (age 22) was elected MP New Romney during the 1710 General Election.

In 1710 Thomas Frankland 3rd Baronet (age 25) was elected MP Harwich during the 1710 General Election.

In 1710 Thomas Coke (age 35) was elected MP Grampound at the 1710 General Election.

On 9th December 1710 the Battle of Briheuga was concluded at Brihuega, Guadalajara. The British rearguard under Lord Stanhope (age 37) was surrounded in Brihuega by a Franco-Spanish army under Duc de Vendôme (age 56). James Stanhope 1st Earl Stanhope surrendered once Vendôme's men had breached the town. The British troops were released and returned home in Oct 1711.

In 1711 William Henry Osborne (age 21) died of smallpox in Utrecht.

In 1711 Joseph I Holy Roman Emperor (age 32) died of smallpox. His brother Charles (age 25) succeeded VI Holy Roman Emperor.

On 14th April 1711 Louis "Le Grand Dauphin" Bourbon Duke Burgundy (age 49) died of smallpox. Louis Bourbon Duke Burgundy (age 28) was appointed Duke Burgundy and Dauphin.

On 17th May 1711 William Henry Granville 3rd Earl of Bath (age 19) died of smallpox. Earl Bath, Baron Granville of Kilkhampton and Biddeford extinct.

On 12th February 1712 Maria Adelaide Savoy (age 26) died of measles at Versailles.

On 18th February 1712 Louis Bourbon Duke Burgundy (age 29) died of measles contracted when nursing his wife Maria Adelaide Savoy who had died six days previously.

On 8th March 1712, their eldest son, heir to the throne, Louis Bourbon Duke Brittany (age 5) died of measles.

The heir to the French throne their only remaining son Louis (age 1), aged two, great-grandson of the reigning monarch Louis "Sun King" XIV King France (age 73) succeeded his great-grandfather three years later in 1715.

On 15th November 1712 Charles Mohun 4th Baron Mohun Okehampton (age 37) duelled with James Hamilton Duke Hamilton, 1st Duke Brandon (age 54) at Hyde Park [Map] over a legal dispute about the estate and inheritance of the late Earl Macclesfield. Mohun had married Charlotte Orby Baroness Mohun Okehampton grand-daughter of Charles Gerard 1st Earl Macclesfield. James Hamilton Duke Hamilton, 1st Duke Brandon had married Elizabeth Gerard Duchess Brandon (age 32). The two seconds, Macartney and Colonel Hamilton, were both charged as accessories to murder. Hamilton gave himself up, Macartney fled into exile in Hanover. Colonel Hamilton was found guilty of manslaughter.

James Hamilton Duke Hamilton, 1st Duke Brandon died from wounds received duelling. His son James (age 9) succeeded 5th Duke Hamilton, 2nd Duke Brandon of Suffolk, 2nd Baron Dutton of Cheshire.

Charles Mohun 4th Baron Mohun Okehampton died from wounds received duelling; his father had also been killed in a duel. Baron Mohun Okehampton and Baronet Mohun of Boconnoc in Cornwall extinct.

On 22nd August 1713 Leonard Smelt (age 30) was elected MP Northallerton during the 1713 General Election.

On 22nd August 1713 Thomas Frankland 3rd Baronet (age 28) was elected MP Thirsk during the 1713 General Election.

In 1713 John Eden 2nd Baronet (age 35) was elected MP County Durham unopposed succeeding his father at the 1713 General Election.

In 1713 John Rushout 4th Baronet (age 27) stood for MP Evesham without success at the 1713 General Election.