1679 in England

Incumbents

• Monarch – Charles II

Events

• 24 January – King Charles II dismisses the Cavalier Parliament after nearly 18 years in an attempt to avoid the impeachment of Lord Danby by the House of Commons.
• 6 March-27 May – Charles II's third parliament meets and is led by the Privy Council Ministry.
• 15 May – Exclusion Crisis: The supporters of Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury, introduce an Exclusion Bill into the House of Commons with the aim of excluding the king's brother, the Catholic James, Duke of York, from the succession to the English throne.
• 27 May – Parliament passes the Habeas Corpus Act "for the better securing the liberty of the subject" and is then prorogued.
• 22 June – Battle of Bothwell Bridge in Scotland: Royal forces led by the Duke of Monmouth and John Graham of Claverhouse subdue the Scottish Covenanters.
• 12 July – Exclusion Crisis: the "Habeas Corpus Parliament" is dissolved while in recess by Royal prerogative to prevent it passing the Exclusion Bill.
• 24 July – Charles II's fourth parliament is summoned, but prorogued until 1680.
• September – Charles II forces the Duke of Monmouth, his illegitimate son, into exile in the Dutch Republic.
• 17 November – The Green Ribbon Club, a predecessor of the Whigs, organises a procession to burn an effigy of the Pope in London.
• 27 November – The Duke of Monmouth returns from exile and is greeted in London by widespread celebration from those who consider him a potential Protestant heir to the throne.
• Undated – Bristol Baptist College, the world's first Baptist College, is founded by local merchant Edward Terrill.
• Approximate date – first bagnio opens in London.

Births

• 18 March – Matthew Decker, merchant and writer
• 21 March – Benedict Calvert, 4th Baron Baltimore, politician
• 23 June – Sir Cholmeley Dering, 4th Baronet, politician
• 29 September – Thomas Chubb, Deist

Deaths

• 3 January – George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle, soldier and politician
• 24 January – William Ireland, martyr
• 23 February – Anne Conway, Viscountess Conway, philosopher
• 27 February – Joan Carlile, professional portrait painter
• 3 May – James Sharp, archbishop
• 2 June – Hannah Ayscough, mother of Isaac Newton
• 11 July – William Chamberlayne, poet
• 17 July – James Duport, scholar
• 19 July – John Plessington, martyr
• 6 August – John Snell, royalist
• 22 August
• * John Kemble, priest and martyr
• * John Wall, priest and martyr
• September – John Mayow, chemist and physiologist
• 2 September – Thomas Modyford, colonial governor
• 29 September – John Manners, 8th Earl of Rutland, Earl
• 12 October – William Gurnall, writer
• 26 October – Roger Boyle, 1st Earl of Orrery, soldier, statesman and dramatist
• 4 December – Thomas Hobbes, philosopher
• 26 December – Thomas Blount, lexicographer
• Late December – Praise-God Barebone, Fifth Monarchist
• William Goffe, parliamentarian and regicide, in New England
• John Hayls, portrait painter