Anniversarial — 2011
1761
16 January 1761, the British first captured the French colonial city of Pondicherry, India (returned two years later under the terms of the Treaty of Paris, which marked the end of the Seven Years' War / French and Indian War in the Americas). On 6 June, a transit of Venus was observed from 120 locations around the Earth. Jeremy Bentham, then 13, wrote to his father six days later: "I cannot help letting you know how by a piece of I hope not unwarrantable boldness I got a sight of Madam Venus in her transit, through the College Telescope" (Friday, 12 June 1761). The difficulty in observing this transit at Oxford is supposed to have led to the founding of the Radcliffe Observatory in 1772. In September, Portugal abolished slavery in mainland Portugal (Britain didn't abolish slavery through the Empire until 1833). The melody for "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" was first published (without words) in Les Amusements d'une Heure et Demy, by M. Bouin (Paris); and the Faber-Castell Company, still one of the world's largest manufacturers of pens, pencils, art and other office supplies, was founded in Nuremberg, Germany.
Here are some of those correspondents whose birth or death is marked in 2011:
Births
- Amherst County, Virginia, justices of (founded c. 1761), American — judge, lawyer
- Baillie, Matthew (born 1761–died 1823), Scottish — physician, anatomist, university teacher, academy member, author
- Baldwin, Simeon (born 1761–died 1851), American — lawyer, legal author
- Beugnot, Jacques Claude (born 1761–died 1835), French — politician, civil servant
- Bourn, Silvanus (born c. 1761–died 1817), American — merchant, consular official
- Brooke, Robert (born c. 1761–died 1800), American — lawyer, governor, army officer, civil servant
- Christie, Thomas (born 1761–died 1796), Scottish — author, political author, journalist, political author
- Decrès, Denis, duc Decrès (born 1761–died 1820), French — navy officer, government minister, naval officer
- Douglas, George, 16th earl of Morton (born 1761–died 1827), Scottish — aristocrat
- Gallatin, Albert (born 1761–died 1849), American — financier, diplomat
- Gallois, Jean Antoine Gauvin (born 1761–died 1828), French — politician, revolutionary
- Graun, Johanna Elisabeth [née Fischer] (born 1761–died 1835), German — home-maker
- Gregory, William (born 1761–died 1803), Scottish — churchman
- Hussey, Reverend John (born 1761), English — churchman, East India Company official
- Johnson, Samuel William (born 1761–died 1846), American — lawyer, politician
- Jordan, Dorothy [née Bland] (born 1761–died 1816), Irish — actor
- Lee, Richard Bland (born 1761–died 1827), American — politician
- Mackenzie, Roderic (born c. 1761–died 1844), Canadian — fur-trader, militia officer, politician, academy member, tradesman
- Matthisson, Friedrich von (born 1761–died 1831), German — poet, tutor
- Maury, Fontaine (born 1761–died 1824), American — landowner, politician, abolitionist
- Mendoza y Ríos, Joseph de (born 1761–died 1816), Spanish — astronomer
- Morse, Jedidiah (born 1761–died 1826), American — churchman, author
- Oliveira, Doctor João Francisco de (born 1761–died 1829), Portuguese — physician, politician
- Parsons, Reverend Doctor John, bishop of Peterborough (born 1761–died 1819), English — churchman, university administrator
- Ponsonby, Henrietta Frances, countess of Bessborough [née Spencer] (born 1761–died 1821), English — aristocrat
- Raynouard, François Juste Marie (born 1761–died 1836), French — politician, historian, linguist
- Rehausen, Gotthard Mauritz von (born 1761–died 1822), Swedish — diplomat
- Roederer, Marie Catherine Adélaïde, comtesse Roederer [née Decrétot] (born 1761–died 1818), French — aristocrat
- Russell, Benjamin (born 1761–died 1845), American — printer, newspaper editor, politician
- The Saint James’s Chronicle (founded 1761), English — newspaper
- Smith, Caroline [née Vernon] (born 1761–died 1833), English — home-maker
- Tierney, George (born 1761–died 1830), English — politician, member of Parliament
- Walker, Joseph Cooper (born 1761–died 1810), Irish — antiquarian, author
- Warton, Charlotte (born 1761–died 1841), English — home-maker
- Welles, Arnold (born 1761–died 1827), American — businessman
- Wickham, William (born 1761–died 1840), English — politician, member of Parliament, spymaster, diplomat, spy, civil servant
- Williams, Sir John (born 1761–died 1830), Welsh — politician, member of Parliament, civil servant
Deaths
- Baulacre, Léonard (born 1670–died 1761), Swiss — churchman, Protestant, librarian, archivist
- Boscawen, Admiral Edward (born 1711–died 1761), unknown nationality — navy officer, naval officer
- Bouveries, Jacob des, Viscount Folkestone (died 1761), English — merchant
- Campbell, Archibald, 3rd duke of Argyll (born 1682–died 1761), Scottish — politician, scholar, classicist
- Caron, Jean François (died 1761), French — notary
- Cawthorn, James (born 1719–died 1761), English — author, poet, school teacher, schoolteacher
- Corsembleu Desmahis, Joseph François Edouard de (born 1722–died 1761), French — author, playwright
- Davies, Reverend Samuel (born 1723–died 1761), American — churchman, missionary, university administrator
- Dewes, Anne [née Granville] (born 1707–died 1761), English — gentlewoman
- Du Bellay Du Resnel, Jean François (born 1692–died 1761), French — churchman, Oratorian, poet, translator, academy member
- Fouquet, Charles Louis Auguste, duc de Belle-Isle (born 1684–died 1761), French — aristocrat, diplomat
- Geree, Reverend John (born 1672–died 1761), English — churchman
- Grymes, Philip (died 1761), American — civil servant
- Gualtieri, Cardinal Luigi (born 1706–died 1761), Italian — churchman
- Hoadly, Benjamin, bishop of Winchester (born 1676–died 1761), English — churchman
- Ingram, Henry, 7th Viscount Irvine (born 1691–died 1761), English — aristocrat, militia officer, politician, member of Parliament
- Meny, Edme Louis (born 1685–died 1761), French — notary, politician
- Montboissier-Beaufort de Canillac, Reverend Claude François de (born 1693–died 1761), French — churchman
- Moreau de Séchelles, Jean (born 1690–died 1761), French — government minister
- Nash, Richard (born 1674–died 1761), English — social celebrity
- Passionei, Cardinal Domenico (born 1682–died 1761), Italian — churchman, scholar, academic
- Petty, John, 1st earl of Shelburne [née FitzMaurice] (born 1706–died 1761), Irish — lawyer, politician, member of Parliament
- Rich, John (born 1692–died 1761), English — pantomime theatre manager
- Richardson, Samuel (born 1689–died 1761), English — author, printer
- Rouillé, Antoine Louis de, comte de Jouy (born 1689–died 1761), French — government minister
- Sade, Joseph David de (born 1692–died 1761), French — army officer
- Salley, Charles Alexandre (died 1761), French — censor, civil servant
- Sallier, Claude (born 1685–died 1761), French — philologist, academy member
- Sherlock, Reverend Thomas, bishop of London (born 1677–died 1761), English — churchman, bishop
- Vaux de Giry, Odet Joseph de, abbé de Saint-Cyr (born 1699–died 1761), French — churchman, academy member
- Wackerbarth, Joseph Anton Gabaleon von, graf von Wackerbarth (born 1685–died 1761), German — army officer, courtier, diplomat, civil servant
- Wortley Montagu, Sir Edward (born 1678–died 1761), English — diplomat, politician, member of Parliament
