1686 in England
Events from the year 1686 in England.
Incumbents
Events
- 21 June – judgement in the case of Godden v. Hales affirms the king's power to exercise his dispensing powers granting exemptions from anti-Catholic legislation. Heneage Finch is dismissed as [Solicitor General for Kingdom of England|England and Wales|Solicitor General] for his refusal to defend the king's case.
- 10 July – Court of Ecclesiastical Commission created.
- 17 July – King James appoints four Catholics to the Privy Council of England.
- 5 November – Bar Convent in York established, making it the oldest surviving active Catholic convent in England.
Undated
- A group of conspirators meet at Charborough House in Dorset to plan the overthrow of James II by Parliamentarians and the Dutch Stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau.
Publications
- Edmond Halley presents a systematic study of the trade winds and monsoons and identifies solar heating as the cause of atmospheric motions.
- John Playford publishes The Delightful Companion, containing the first publication of Henry Purcell's arrangement of "Lillibullero"; Thomas Wharton composes lyrics.
- Robert Plot publishes The Natural History of Staffordshire.
Births
- 6 March – Christopher Packe, medical doctor and geologist
- 9 April – James Craggs the Younger, politician
- 29 April – Peregrine Bertie, 2nd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven, statesman
- 5 June – Edward Howard, 9th Duke of Norfolk, aristocrat
- 12 August – John Balguy, philosopher
- 19 August – Eustace Budgell, writer
- 30 November – Richard Lumley, 2nd Earl of Scarbrough, [British British Whig Party|Whig Party|Whig] politician
Unknown dates
- Thomas Carte, historian
- George Clinton, naval officer, colonial governor and politician
- Giles Jacob, legal writer and literary critic
- William Law, clergyman
Deaths
- 14 January – Sir Thomas Abdy, 1st Baronet, lawyer and landowner
- 19 January – Simon Digby, 4th Baron Digby, politician
- 10 February – Sir William Dugdale, antiquary
- 15 April – Sir Joseph Ashe, 1st Baronet, Whig politician and merchant
- 21 April – John Dolben, Archbishop of York
- 28 May – Paskah Rose, butcher, executioner and burglar
- 23 June – Sir William Coventry, statesman
- 10 July – John Fell, Bishop of Oxford
- 16 July – John Pearson, theologian and scholar
- 28 July – Thomas Watson, nonconformist Puritan preacher and author
- 26 October – John Egerton, 2nd Earl of Bridgewater, nobleman
- November – Jack Ketch, executioner employed by King Charles II
- ca. November – John Playford, bookseller and music publisher