1698 in England
Events from the year 1698 in England.
Incumbents
Events
- 4 January – the Palace of Whitehall is destroyed by fire.
- 11 January-21 April – Czar Peter I of Russia visits England as part of his Grand Embassy, making a particular study of shipbuilding.
- March – Jeremy Collier's pamphlet A Short View of the Immorality and Profaneness of the English Stage is published.
- 24 June – abolition of the Royal African Company's monopoly is confirmed under terms of the Trade with Africa Act 1697, opening the slave trade to any merchant.
- 25 July – engineer Thomas Savery obtains a patent for a steam pump.
- July-August – general election results in victory for the New Country Tories.
- 11 October – Treaty of the Hague signed between France, England and Holland.
- 14 November – first Eddystone Lighthouse illuminated.
Undated
- Piracy Act passed.
- Popery Act enforces penalties against Roman Catholic priests.
- Reverend Thomas Bray founds the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.
- Thermal springs discovered at Matlock Bath in Derbyshire.
- The widow Bourne sets up the business which becomes Berry Brothers and Rudd in London. They will still be operating as wine merchants in the 21st century.
- Shepherd Neame Brewery established under this name in Faversham.
Births
- 10 January? – Richard Savage, poet
- 8 May – Henry Baker, naturalist
- 26 September – William Cavendish, 3rd Duke of Devonshire
- 24 December – William Warburton, critic and Bishop of Gloucester
Deaths
- 24 January – William Holder, music theorist
- 7 February – Richard Adams, theologian
- 29 April – Charles Cornwallis, 3rd Baron Cornwallis, First Lord of the Admiralty
- 25 August – Fleetwood Sheppard, courtier and literary wit
- 3 September – Sir Robert Howard, playwright, poet and politician
- 13 September – John Huddleston, Benedictine priest
- 1 October – Richard Frankland, dissenter
- Unknown date – Nicholas Barbon, economist