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William Penn

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William Penn

by John Hall, after Pierre Eugene Du Simitiere, after Silvanus (Sylvanus) Bevan
line engraving, 1773 (October 1770)
14 in. x 9 1/8 in. (357 mm x 233 mm) plate size; 19 1/8 in. x 12 7/8 in. (485 mm x 327 mm) paper size
Given by Margaret Julia Maria Hubbard (née Grubbe), 1957
Reference Collection
NPG D40139

Sitterback to top

  • William Penn (1644-1718), Quaker and founder of Pennsylvania. Sitter in 5 portraits.

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Events of 1773back to top

Current affairs

Tea Act grants the struggling East India Company a monopoly on the North American tea trade.
Brokers who meet to do business in Jonathan's coffee house in Threadneedle Street, London decide to call themselves the Stock Exchange.
General Turnpike Act regulates the system of road tolls.

Art and science

Samuel Johnson and James Boswell undertake a journey together to the western islands of Scotland.
Oliver Goldsmith's play She Stoops to Conquer debuts in London's Covent Garden Theatre.

International

Captain James Cook becomes the first European explorer to cross the Antarctic Circle.
Boston Tea Party demonstrates opposition in the colonies to the import duty on tea. Some fifty colonists, disguised as Indians, tip a valuable cargo of tea into Boston harbour as a protest against the British tax.
Responding to pressure from the Catholic monarchs of Europe, Clement XIV abolishes the Jesuit Order.

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