1703 in England

← 1702 1701 1700 1703 in England → 1704 1705 1706
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See also:	Other events of 1703

Events from the year 1703 in the Kingdom of England.

Incumbents

• Monarch - Anne

Events

• 1 January - The case of Ashby v White is decided in the Court of King's Bench. Concerning the right to vote, it is a leading case in the Constitution of England and English tort law, establishing the principle for every wrong there is a remedy.
• 18 May - War of the Spanish Succession: The Duke of Marlborough captures the cities of Cologne, Bonn, Limbourg, Huy and Guelders.
• 29 July–31 July - Daniel Defoe is placed in a pillory as part of his punishment for the crime of seditious libel, after publishing his politically satirical pamphlet The Shortest Way with the Dissenters (1702) (he is released from Newgate Prison in mid-November).
• 24 November to 2 December - The Great Storm ravages southern England and the English Channel, killing thousands, chiefly at sea.
  • 27 November
    • Royal Navy ships wrecked on the Goodwin Sands include
      • HMS Restoration with loss of all 387 on board.
      • HMS Northumberland with loss of all 220 on board.
      • HMS Mary with loss of all but one of the 270 onboard including Rear admiral Basil Beaumont.
      • HMS Stirling Castle with loss of 206.
    • The Eddystone Lighthouse near Plymouth is destroyed in the storm together with its designer Henry Winstanley.
• 30 November - Isaac Newton is elected president of the Royal Society in London, a position he will hold until his death in 1727.
• 27 December - Portugal and England sign the Methuen Treaty which gives preference to Portuguese imported wines over French wines into England, while Portugal will import woollen goods from England. This leads to the increasing popularity of Port wine in Britain.

Undated

• The case of Coggs v Bernard is decided in the Court of King's Bench. Concerning the duties of a bailee, it is a landmark case in English contract law and property law.
• Imposter George Psalmanazar arrives in London.

Births

• 17 June - John Wesley, founder of Methodism (died 1791)
• 26 November - Theophilus Cibber, actor and writer (died 1758)

Deaths

• 18 February - Thomas Hyde, orientalist (born 1636)
• 3 March - Robert Hooke, scientist (born 1635)
• 20 April - Lancelot Addison, royal chaplain (born 1632)
• 26 May - Samuel Pepys, civil servant and diarist (born 1633)
• 28 October - John Wallis, mathematician (born 1616)