Stuarts


Key Events of the Period
Date Event
24th March 1603 King James VI of Scotland becomes King James I of England. The Stuart period of reign starts.
25th July 1603 King James I is crowned King James I of England at Westminster Abbey.
20th May 1604 The first meeting between the five conspirators of the Gunpowder Plot takes place.
9th June 1604 Thomas Percy gets a home in London working for the Early of Northumberland.
25th March 1605 The plotters purchased the undercroft (cellar) under the Palace of Westminster.
20th July 1605 35 barrels of gunpowder are now stored in the cellars under the Palace of Westminster.
26th October 1605 Lord Monteagle receives a letter warning him to stay away from the state opening of Parliament.
5th November 1605 The cellars under Parliament are searched and Guy Fawkes is discovered with the gunpowder and is arrested. The other plotters flee from London.
6th November 1605 Guy Fawkes is tortured in the Tower of London.
7th November 1605 The remaining plotters shelter at Holbeche House (in Staffordshire) but cause a fire.
8th November 1605 The Sheriff of Worcester arrives and smokes the plotters out. Robert Catesby and Thomas Percy are killed. The others are arrested.
January 1606 The Observance of 5th November Act 1605 is passed, making services and sermons commemorating the stopping of the Gunpowder Plot and an annual event.
30th January 1606 The plotters are: hung, drawn and quartered.
31st January 1606 The plotters are: hung, drawn and quartered.
12th April 1606 The flag of Britain is introduced.
14th May 1607 English colonists choose Jamestown Island for their first settlement in North America, as it is a site that can be easily defended.
1611 The new English translation of the Bible is first published, known as the Authorised King James Version.
3rd November 1620 Men on the Mayflower ship sign the Mayflower Compact.
19th December 1620 Passengers on the Mayflower ship choose where to build their new colony, Plymouth.
Autumn 1621 The colonists in Plymouth celebrate their first harvest with a thanksgiving feast.
27th March 1625 King James I of England dies and Charles I becomes King of Great Britain and Ireland.
1628 William Harvey publishes his theory about the circulation of blood around the body.
1634 Ship money started being collected to pay for the building of new ships for the navy.
1634 The Sedan chair appears for hire in London.
4th January 1642 King Charles I busts into the House of Commons with 400 soldiers to arrest five members of Parliament he accused of treason.
23rd October 1642 The first major battle of the Civil War takes place at Edgehill, near Birmingham.
6th January 1645 The New Model Army is established by the Roundheads (supports of Parliament and led by Oliver Cromwell).
May 1646 King Charles I surrenders to the Scots.
30th January 1649 King Charles I is executed as a ‘Tyrant, Traitor, Murderer and a public enemy’. The Council of State are appointed to lead the government.
6th February 1649 King Charles II is proclaimed King of Great Britain and Ireland but Parliament decide that this is unlawful.
December 1653 Oliver Cromwell becomes the Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland.
3rd September 1658 Richard Cromwell becomes the Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland when his father, Oliver Cromwell, dies.
25th May 1659 Richard Cromwell abdicates and the Council of State return to lead the government.
30th May 1660 King Charles II returns to London and all legal documents are back-dated as if he had succeeded his father as king in 1649. This is the restoration of the monarchy.
1665 The Great Plague occurs in London, killing 100,000 people.
August 1665 The village of Eyam, Derbyshire is quarantined when the plague arrives.
2nd September 1666 The Great Fire of London begins in Pudding Lane.
6th September 1666 The Great Fire of London is put out.
1668 Isaac Newton invents the refracting telescope.
1677 The Monument column - built to commemorate the Great Fire of London - is completed.
6th February 1685 King James II becomes King of Great Britain and Ireland.
5th July 1687 Isaac Newton publishes his theory of gravity.
11th December 1688 King James II tries to flee to France, thus ending his reign.
13th February 1689 William III and Mary II become King and Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland.
28th December 1694 Queen Mary II dies.
8th March 1702 King William III dies and is succeeded by Queen Anne.
11th March 1702 The world's first regular daily newspaper, The Daily Courant, is first published.
1705 Edmond Halley works out that a bright comet, now named Halley's Comet, returns according to its orbit.
1st May 1707 The Acts of Union 1707 take place, officially creating the United Kingdom of Great Britain.
20th October 1708 Work on rebuilding St Paul's Cathedral in London is completed.
1st August 1714 Queen Anne dies, ending the Stuart Period of reign.