Selborne, in the County of Southampton (dated 1789). A record dry December with only England and Wales Precipitation produces the driest calendar year since records began in 1766, with only of precipitation. Undated – annual British iron production reaches 68,000 tons. Births 21 January – William Henry Smyth, astronomer and admiral (died 1865) 22 January – Lord Byron, poet (died 1824) 5 February – Robert Peel, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (died 1850) 10 March – Edward Hodges Baily, sculptor (died 1867) 22 September – Theodore Hook, author (died 1841) Deaths 31 January – Charles Edward Stuart, claimant to the British throne (born 1720) 2 February – James Stuart, archaeologist, architect and artist (born 1713) 18 February – John Whitehurst, clockmaker and scientist (born 1713) 29 March – Charles Wesley, co-founder (with brother, John Wesley) of the religious movement which becomes known as Methodism (born 1707) 15 April – Mary Delany, bluestocking, artist and writer (born 1700) 14 June – Adam Gib, Scottish Secession Church leader (born 1714) 2 August – Thomas Gainsborough, painter (born 1727) 15 October – Samuel Greig, admiral in the Imperial Russian Navy (born 1736) 6 December – Jonathan Shipley, bishop and politician (born 1714) 22 December – Percivall Pott, surgeon (born 1714) Notes Three non-overlapping twelve-month periods have been drier over England and Wales than calendar year 1788 – August 1784 to July 1785, September 1975 to August 1976 and February 1854 to January 1855. References Years in Great Britain