Events from the year 1741 in Great Britain. Incumbents Monarch – George II Prime Minister – Robert Walpole (Whig) Parliament – 8th (until 27 April), 9th (starting 25 June) Events 13 February – Robert Walpole, the Prime Minister, introduces the term "balance of power" in a speech in Parliament. 14 February – Irish-born actor Charles Macklin makes his London stage debut as Shylock in The Merchant of Venice at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, pioneering a psychologically realistic style with Shakespeare's text revived, replacing George Granville's melodramatic adaptation The Jew of Venice. March – Lancelot "Capability" Brown joins Lord Cobham's gardening staff at Stowe, Buckinghamshire. 13 March – The Royal Navy brings 180 warships, frigates and transport vessels, led by Admiral Edward Vernon, to threaten Cartagena, Colombia, with more than 27,000 crew against the 3,600 defenders. 13 April – The Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, is established to train officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. 9 May – War of Jenkins' Ear: Battle of Cartagena de Indias – Spain's defenders in New Grenada, under the command of General Blas de Lezo, defeat Vernon's Royal Navy force, leading to a British retreat to Jamaica. 14 May – HMS Wager, one of the vessels of George Anson's voyage around the world is wrecked on the coast of Chile, killing most of the surviving crew. 21 May – George II orders the British Army to prepare for an invasion of Prussia to defend his Electorate of Hanover. 11 June – 1741 British general election, begun on 30 April, concludes with Prime Minister Robert Walpole's Whigs retaining their majority in the House of Commons but losing control of a number of rotten and pocket boroughs with 44 seats lost to candidates who have defected to the new Patriot Whigs to oppose Walpole's policies. 18 July – War of Jenkins' Ear: Invasion of Cuba – Admiral Edward Vernon arrives at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba. 4/5 August–9 December – Vernon captures Guantánamo Bay and renames it Cumberland Bay. His troops hold it but are resisted by local guerrilla forces and withdraw. 22 August–14 September – George Frideric Handel composes the oratorio Messiah in London to a libretto compiled by Charles Jennens, completing the "Hallelujah Chorus" on 6 September. It receives a private rehearsal in Chester in November while Handel is en route to Dublin. 12 October – George II, as Elector of Hanover, signs the