servants ref1
Seven Years War (1756–63) ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4
Seward, Anna ref1
Shaftesbury, Anthony Ashley Cooper, 3rd earl of: Characteristics ref1
Shakespeare, William: characters sing ref1; Pitt the elder’s love of ref1; Jubilee (1769) ref1; performed ref1; King Lear ref1
sheep ref1, ref2
Sheffield Society for Constitutional Information ref1
Shelburne, William Petty, 2nd earl of (later ref1st marquess of Lansdowne) ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4
Shelley, Percy Bysshe ref1
Sheppard, Jack ref1
Sheridan, Richard Brinsley: content of plays ref1, ref2; reputation ref1; on impeachment of Warren Hastings ref1; welcomes French Revolution ref1; loses party support ref1; on end of Jacobinism ref1; The Critic ref1, ref2; The School for Scandal ref1
shops and shopping ref1
Shrewsbury, Charles Talbot, duke of ref1
Siddons, Sarah ref1
silk mills ref1, ref2, ref3
silver coinage ref1
Simond, Louis ref1
slaves and slavery: and asiento ref1; and sugar consumption ref1; West African ref1; conditions in West Indies ref1; abolition movement ref1; trade ref1; trade abolished (1807) ref1
Sloane, Sir Hans ref1
Smart, Christopher ref1
Smiles, Samuel ref1
Smith, Adam: on union of Scotland and England ref1; on war against Spain ref1; on inventing class ref1; on pin-making ref1; The Wealth of Nations ref1, ref2, ref3
Smollett, Tobias: on South Sea Bubble ref1; plays ref1; The Adventures of Ferdinand, Count Fathom ref1; The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle ref1, ref2; The Adventures of Roderick Random ref1, ref2; The Expedition of Humphry Clinker ref1, ref2
societies for the reformation of manners ref1
Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade ref1
Society of Brothers ref1, ref2
Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce ref1
society, polite ref1
Sons of Liberty (North America) ref1
Sophia, electress of Hanover ref1, ref2
Sophia, queen of George I ref1
South Sea Bubble ref1, ref2
South Sea Company: established (1711) ref1; early success ref1; collapse and rescue by Walpole ref1, ref2
Southey, Robert ref1
Southwell, Sir Robert ref1
Southwell, Robert (artist): ‘The Burning Babe’ (painting) ref1
Spain: in William III’s coalition against France ref1; succession question ref1; and War of Austrian Succession (1739–48) ref1, ref2; Pitt the elder calls for war against ref1; Britain declares war on (1762) ref1; joins alliance against Britain (1778) ref1; attempts to seize British ships ref1; changes sides in Napoleonic wars ref1, ref2; in alliance with Napoleon ref1; treasure ships captured ref1; in Peninsular War ref1, ref2
Spanish Netherlands ref1
Spanish Succession, War of (1701–14) ref1, ref2, ref3
spas ref1, ref2, ref3
Spectator, The (journal) ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6
Speenhamland system ref1
Spithead mutiny (1797) ref1
Sprat, William ref1
Stair, John Dalrymple, 2nd earl of ref1
Stamp Act (1765) ref1, ref2
Stamp Act Congress (North America) ref1, ref2
Stanhope, James, 1st earl ref1
Staverton Mill, Totnes ref1
Stead, William Thomas: The Maiden Tribute of Modern Babylon ref1
steam engines ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4
steel manufacture ref1
Steele, Richard (‘Isaac Bickerstaff’): political writings ref1; opposes Scriblerus ref1; in Kit–Kat Club ref1; The Tender Husband ref1
Steenkerque, battle of (1692) ref1
Stephenson, George ref1
Sterne, Laurence: individuality ref1; The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman ref1, ref2, ref3
Stock-jobbing ref1
Strutt, Jedediah ref1, ref2, ref3
Stuart dynasty: barred from throne under Act of Settlement ref1; continuing hopes of restoration ref1, ref2; see also Jacobites; James II
Stuart, Prince Charles Edward Stuart (‘The Young Pretender’; ‘Bonny Prince Charlie’) ref1
Stuart, Prince James Francis Edward (‘the Old Pretender’): claim to English throne ref1; failed landing in Scotland (1708) ref1; hopes of succession to Anne ref1, ref2; popular support in England ref1; lands in Scotland in 1715 rising ref1; and South Sea Bubble ref1; Atterbury supports ref1
Stubs, Pete ref1
sugar ref1, ref2
Sunday Monitor ref1
superstitions ref1
Sweden: in coalition against Napoleon ref1
Swift, Jonathan: on Queen Anne ref1; on union with Scotland ref1; political writings ref1, ref2; on Marlborough ref1; and Scriblerus Club ref1; literary style ref1; satirizes Walpole ref1; and Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera ref1; satirizes scientific societies ref1; The Conduct of the Allies ref1, ref2; Gulliver’s Travels ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8; The Tale of a Tub ref1
Talavera, battle of (1809) ref1
Talleyrand, Charles-Maurice de ref1
Tate, Nahum ref1
Tatler (magazine) ref1
taxation ref1
Taylor, Jasper ref1
tea ref1
Tea Act (1773) ref1, ref2
technology: development ref1
Teignmouth ref1
Telford, Thomas ref1
Temple of Nature, The (anonymous poem) ref1
Temple, Sir William ref1
textile industry ref1
Thackeray, William Makepeace ref1
Theatre Royal, Covent Garden ref1, ref2
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane ref1
theatres: in provinces ref1; restrictions imposed ref1, ref2; popularity and influence ref1; and acting ref1
Thelwall, John ref1
Thiébault, Paul ref1
‘Thing, The’ (or ‘Old Corruption’) ref1
Thurlow, Edward, 1st baron ref1
Tilsit, treaty of (1807) ref1
Times, The (newspaper) ref1
Tofts, Mary ref1
Toleration Act (1689) ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4
Tooke, John Horne ref1, ref2
Tories: differences with Whigs ref1, ref2, ref3; as ‘country party’ ref1; scorn Bank of England ref1; dislike moneyed interests ref1; favour restoration of Stuarts ref1, ref2; gain majority (1702) ref1; oppose Marlborough’s wars ref1, ref2; election victory and government (1710) ref1, ref2; and succession to Anne ref1; George I dislikes and persecutes ref1; view of Walpole ref1
Torrington, Arthur Herbert, 1st earl of ref1
Toulon ref1, ref2
towns ref1, ref2, ref3
Townshend, Charles, 2nd Viscount (‘Turnip’) ref1
Townshend, Charles (chancellor of exchequer) ref1
Toynbee, Arnold ref1, ref2
trade: importance ref1; and the market ref1; at end of Seven Years War ref1; and British Empire ref1; under Pitt ref1
trade unions ref1
Trafalgar, battle of (1805) ref1
transport: improvements ref1
Triple Assessment (tax) ref1
Tucker, Josiah, dean of Gloucester ref1
Tull, Jethro ref1
Turner, Thomas ref1
Turner, James Mallord William: studies at Royal Academy ref1; Limekiln at Coalbrookdale (painting) ref1
Turnham Green ref1
‘Two Acts’ (‘Gagging Acts’, 1795) ref1
United Irishmen ref1, ref2
Ure, Andrew: The Philosophy of Manufactures ref1
Utrecht, treaty of (1713) ref1, ref2
Valmy, battle of (1792) ref1
Vanbrugh, Sir John ref1, ref2, ref3
Vauxhall Gardens, London ref1
Venice ref1
Vienna: Napoleon captures ref1
Vil
lars, Marshal Claude Louis Hector, duc de ref1, ref2
Vimeiro, battle of (1808) ref1
Virginia: tobacco from ref1; protests against British rule ref1, ref2
Voltaire, François Marie Arouet: on execution of Admiral Byng ref1; on war in Canada ref1; Letters Concerning the English Nation ref1, ref2
wages and prices ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4
Wagram, battle of (1809) ref1
Walcheren expedition (1809) ref1
Waldegrave, James, 2nd earl ref1, ref2
walks (leisure) ref1
Wallis, Henry ref1
Walpole, Horace: on Frau von Kielmannsegge ref1; on gambling ref1; encounter with highwayman ref1; on elder Pitt’s eloquence ref1; on crime and violence ref1; on earthquake fears ref1; congratulates elder Pitt on victories ref1; on death of George II ref1; praises George III ref1; on general election (1761) ref1; on elder Pitt’s resignation and pension ref1; on Britain at end of Seven Years War ref1; on Lord North ref1; on natural sciences ref1; on ballooning ref1
Walpole, Sir Robert: qualities ref1; rescues South Sea Company ref1, ref2; political career and dominance ref1, ref2, ref3; and death of George I ref1; marriage ref1; club membership ref1; good relations with Caroline ref1; reports George I’s death to George II ref1; opinion of George II ref1; opponents ref1, ref2; satirized in The Beggar’s Opera ref1; imposes restrictions on theatre ref1; and parliamentary corruption ref1; attempts to introduce excise duties ref1; anti-war policy ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4; resigns (1742) ref1; created earl of Orford ref1
Walsingham, Francis ref1
War of Jenkins’ Ear (1739–48) ref1
Ward, Edward: Five Travel Scripts ref1
Washington, George ref1, ref2, ref3
Waterloo, battle of (1815) ref1, ref2
Watkinson (master cutler) ref1
Watt, James ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5
Wedgwood, Josiah ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6
Weekly Journal, The ref1
weeping ref1, ref2
Wellesley, Henry, 1st baron Cowley ref1
Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, 1st duke of ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6
Wentworth, Isabella, Lady ref1
Wesley, Charles ref1, ref2
Wesley, John ref1, ref2, ref3
West, Benjamin ref1, ref2
West Indies: trade ref1; British possessions in ref1; slaves ref1; in French revolutionary wars ref1
Whaley, Thomas ref1
wheat: prices ref1
Whigs: differences with Tories ref1, ref2, ref3; William favours ref1; policies ref1; support Marlborough ref1, ref2; attacked by Sacheverell ref1; criticized for financial management ref1; and succession to Anne ref1; favoured by George I ref1; internal divisions ref1; government under George I ref1; encourage trade ref1; hostility to Walpole ref1; and Walpole’s retirement ref1; advocate peace with America ref1; support Burke ref1; and 1793 war with France ref1; join Pitt’s administration (1794) ref1; secessionists in war with France ref1
Whitbread’s brewery ref1
Whitechapel: theatre ref1
Whitefield, George ref1, ref2
Whitworth, Charles, baron ref1
Wilberforce, William ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4
Wild, Jonathan ref1
Wilkes, John: protests and career ref1, ref2, ref3; An Essay on Woman ref1
William III (of Orange), king of England: installed as king ref1, ref2; coronation ref1; qualities ref1, ref2; relations with parliament ref1, ref2; hostility to Louis XIV ref1; war with France ref1, ref2, ref3; campaign in Ireland ref1; maintains coalition against France ref1; favours Whigs ref1; and Mary’s death ref1; recaptures Namur ref1; conspiracy against ref1; Louis XIV recognizes as king ref1, ref2; army curtailed ref1; and Spanish succession ref1; death and achievements ref1; Queen Anne disdains ref1; introduces gin to England ref1
Willis, Thomas: Two Discourses Concerning the Soul of Brutes ref1
Wilmot, Alderman ref1
Wilson, Benjamin ref1, ref2
Wiltshire Outrages ref1
Windham, William ref1, ref2, ref3
Wolfe, Major-General James ref1
women: in industrial labour ref1, ref2, ref3
Wood, John ref1
Wood, William: Survey of Trade ref1
wool industry ref1
Wordsworth, Dorothy ref1
Wordsworth, William: attitude to French Revolution ref1; The Excursion ref1, ref2; ‘Lines Written Above Tintern Abbey’ ref1; Lyrical Ballads (with Coleridge) ref1; The Prelude ref1
Workmen’s Combination Bill (1799) ref1
Wright, Joseph ref1; A Blacksmith’s Shop (painting) ref1; An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump (painting) ref1; An Iron Forge Viewed from Without (painting) ref1; A Philosopher Giving that Lecture on the Orrery, in which a Lamp Is Put in Place of the Sun (painting) ref1
Wrigley, E. A. 219
Wyvill, Christopher ref1
Yale university ref1
York, Frederick Augustus, duke of ref1, ref2
Yorke, Charles ref1, ref2
Yorktown, Virginia: British surrender at (1781) ref1
Young, Arthur: on working class ref1; Annals of Agriculture ref1, ref2; The Northern Tour ref1; Political Arithmetic ref1
Young, Edward: Night Thoughts ref1
1. An inset from the ceiling of the painted hall of the royal naval college at Greenwich, with William III and Mary II in majesty.
2. Queen Anne. A singularly unhappy and gouty queen.
3. John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough. A great general and a great spendthrift – Blenheim was his shining star.
4. A scene from the Battle of Blenheim. ‘I am very sensible that I take a great deal upon me,’ he wrote before the battle, ‘but should I act otherwise the Empire would be undone . . .’
5. George I of England, who had a very fat mistress, and a very thin mistress. It is almost a limerick.
6. George II was full of bullying, boastfulness and bluster.
7. An animated table at a London coffee house, circa 1700.
8. Robert Walpole. Plump, genial and a master of intrigue. All political strings led to him.
9. William Pitt ‘the Elder’, prime minister twice, with the badly misquoted line ‘unlimited power corrupts the possessor’.
10. The Old Pretender, James Francis Edward Stuart, son of the deposed James II who quite improperly considered himself to be James III.
11. The Young Pretender, Charles Edward Stuart (circa 1740), otherwise known as Bonnie Prince Charlie.
12. Illustration from Hogarth Restored: The Whole Works of the Celebrated William Hogarth. The artist was the Rowlandson and Rembrandt of the age.
13. The spinning jenny, the latest example of industrial torture.
14. The horrors of gin and, at the time, spirituous frenzy.
15. John Dryden, poet, playwright and the first official Poet Laureate.
16. Jonathan Swift, satirist, pamphleteer and progenitor of the famous Gulliver.
17. Alexander Pope, perhaps contemplating ‘this long disease, my life’.
18. Scrofulous and scruffy, Samuel Johnson was the giant of the age.
19. George III: He lost his reason and the American colonies.
20. The Prince Regent, later George IV, was fat, dissolute and entangled with wives. He was the model of a Hanoverian monarch.
21. Joseph Wright’s The Iron Forge, circa 1773.
22. The Ball from ‘Scenes at Bath’. It looks very respectable.
23. From the sublime to the domestic. A teapot, circa 1775.
24. The Boston Tea Party, 16 December 1773. Do you want tea with your water?
25. George Washington, from slave owner to liberator.
26. William Pitt the Younger. Not a chip off the old block, but the old block itself.
27. A disconsolate and melancholy Edmund Burke at the loss of America.
28. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, 1804. He had a glow-worm in his head.
29. Wordsworth, in characteristically reflective mind.
30. A mythological depiction of The Ancient of Days by William Blake.
31. Taking the waters at the pump room in Bath.
32. Ladies in coffee-houses: It was a city of coffee-houses. They had begun life in the 1660s, and before long they were considered to be the most essential component of city life. It was important to be noticed.
33. A modern Belle creeping around Bath like a caterpillar in a chrysalis.
34. The Duchess of Richmond organized a ball for the Duke of Wellington and other famous participants two days before the Battle of Waterloo.
35. The great Battle of Trafalgar.
36. Napoleon in excelsis.
37. The Duke of Wellington at Waterloo. To the victors go the spoils.
BY THE SAME AUTHOR
Non-Fiction
The History of England Vol. I: Foundation
The History of England Vol. II: Tudors
The History of England Vol. III Civil War
London: The Biography
Albion: The Origins of the English Imagination
The Collection: Journalism, Reviews, Essays, Short Stories
Lectures Edited by Thomas Wright
Thames: Sacred River Venice: Pure City
Fiction
The Great Fire of London
The Last Testament of Oscar Wilde
Hawksmoor Chatterton First Light