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Great Britain-related events during the year of 1782
Events from the year 1782 in Great Britain . The American Revolutionary War draws to a close.
Incumbents Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne Events 12 April: Battle of the Saintes . 23 January – planned town of Johnstone , Scotland , inaugurated. 25–26 January: American Revolutionary War – Battle of St. Kitts between French and British fleets. 5 February – Spanish defeat British forces and capture Menorca .[2] 17 February – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Sadras between French and British fleets. 19 March – following a vote of no confidence against the government of Lord North , North resigns as Prime Minister because of recent setbacks in the American Revolutionary War.[3] 27 March – Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham , becomes Prime Minister [4] for the second time. His new Whig administration opens peace talks with the Americans , with Thomas Grenville being sent to Paris to negotiate with Benjamin Franklin .[2] 1 April – Rockingham appoints the first Home Secretary (William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne ) and Foreign Secretary (Charles James Fox ).[3] 12 April – American Revolutionary War: a British fleet under Admiral Sir George Rodney defeats a French fleet under the Comte de Grasse in the West Indies at the Battle of the Saintes .[5] 12 April – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Providien . 17 May 25 May – 12 June: American Revolutionary War – Crawford expedition . 4 July – Shelburne becomes Prime Minister following the death of Rockingham.[7] 6 July – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Negapatam between British and French fleets. 19 August – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Blue Licks . 24 August – David Tyrie, a naval clerk who has traitorously corresponded with the French, becomes the last man in Britain to be hanged, drawn and quartered , on Southsea Common .[8] 29 August – HMS Royal George capsizes at Spithead with the loss of 800 lives. September – Nottingham General Hospital opens to patients.[9] 3 September – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Trincomalee between French and British fleets. 17 September – 1782 Central Atlantic hurricane devastates a Royal Navy fleet off the Grand Banks of Newfoundland with the loss of 3,500 lives. 10 October – Sarah Siddons makes a triumphant return to the Drury Lane Theatre in London in the title role of Garrick 's adaptation of Thomas Southerne 's Isabella, or, The Fatal Marriage . 20 October – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Cape Spartel . 30 November – American Revolutionary War: In Paris , representatives from the United States and Great Britain sign preliminary peace articles (later formalised in the Treaty of Paris ).[2] 12 December – American Revolutionary War: Action of 12 December 1782 – a naval engagement off Ferrol, Spain , in which the British 40-gun fifth rate HMS Mediator (1782) commanded by James Luttrell successfully attacks a convoy of French and American ships attempting to supply the United States. Ongoing events Undated Publications Births Deaths 18 January – John Pringle , physician (born 1707) 27 April – William Talbot, 1st Earl Talbot , politician (born 1710) 20 May – William Emerson , mathematician (born 1701) May – Richard Wilson , painter (born 1714) 14 June – Edward Ligonier, 1st Earl Ligonier soldier and courtier (born 1740) 1 July – Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham , Prime Minister (born 1730)[11] 27 December – Henry Home, Lord Kames , advocate and philosopher (born 1697) See also References