© National Portrait Gallery, London
Caroline Wilhelmina of Brandenburg-Ansbach
by John Simon, after Sir Godfrey Kneller, Bt Click on the links below to find out more
13 5/8 in. x 9 3/4 in. (345 mm x 249 mm) plate size
Given by the daughter of compiler William Fleming MD, Mary Elizabeth Stopford (née Fleming), 1931
- John Simon (1675-1751), Mezzotint engraver. Artist associated with 213 portraits.
- Sir Godfrey Kneller, Bt (1646-1723), Portrait painter. Artist associated with 1682 portraits, Sitter associated with 30 portraits.
Failure of the Jacobite rebellion. John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll disperses the remainder of the Jacobite troops. The Pretender, James Stuart, flees to France. Jacobite leaders James Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Derwentwater and William Gordon, 6th Viscount of Kenmure are executed. Septennial Act extends life of parliament from three to seven years.
Art and science
Artist Philip Mercier settles in England from Paris. Physicist and Astronomer Royal Edmond Halley suggests a precise measurement of the distance between the Earth and the Sun by timing the transit of Venus.
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu leaves for Turkey with her husband who takes up the post of Ambassador to Constantinople. While there she writes a series of letters, observing contemporary Turkish life, later to be published as the celebrated Turkish Embassy Letters. Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI has a son, but the child dies within the year.