1784 The tax on tea was reduced from 119% to 25%
India Act
March: a General election gave Pitt a working majority
1785 Pitt proposed a motion for parliamentary reform which was
defeated
The Times was founded
1786
Sinking Fund was established
Vergennes/Eden Treaty was signed
Britain took Penang as her first colony in the Malay peninsula
1787 Warren Hastings was impeached
Hovering Act was passed
Window Tax was increased
1788 The Triple Alliance (Britain, Holland, Prussia)
was signed, to guarantee European peace
George III became ill and precipitated the Regency Crisis
1789 Regency Bill was passed; the king recovered
14 July: Fall of the Bastille (France)
1790 General election: Pitt continued as PM
1791 Canada Act. Canada was divided into Upper and
Lower Canada
Pitt announced Britain's neutrality towards events in France and Europe
1792 (Fox's) Libel Act
1793 February: France declared war on Britain so Pitt
reciprocated
The Board of Agriculture was founded with Arthur Young as its first secretary.
Enclosures were encouraged
A Catholic Relief Act was passed allowing Catholics to vote
Aliens Act
1794 Suspension of Habeas Corpus (until 1801)
1795 Treasonable Practices Act
Seditious Meetings Act
1797 Taxes on printed matter were increased enormously in an attempt to force
radical literature off the streets
Suspension of cash payments by the Bank of England: Britain went onto
a paper currency
Introduction of Income Tax for the period of the French Wars
1799 Combination Acts were passed
1800 Act of Union creating the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Related Material
Recommended Reading
John Erhman, The Younger Pitt. 3 vols. London, Constable, 1969.
Robin Reilly, Pitt the Younger 1759-1806. London, Cassell, 1978.
J. D. Jarrett, Pitt the Younger. London, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1974.
Last modified 4 January 2006