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