(b. 1720) December 5 – Karunai Prakasar, Spiritual writer and philosopher (b. 1756) December 13 – Guillaume du Tillot, French politician (b. 1711) December 16 Susanne von Klettenberg, German abbess and writer (b. 1723) François Quesnay, French economist (b. 1694) Francis Willoughby, 3rd Baron Middleton, British baron (b. 1726) December 17 – Friedrich Wilhelm, Graf von Wylich und Lottum, Prussian army officer (b. 1716) December 19 – Deborah Read, spouse of Benjamin Franklin (b. 1708) December 20 – Paul Whitehead, British satirist (b. 1710) December 21 – Thomas Broughton, English clergyman, biographer and miscellaneous writer (b. 1704) December 23 – Francesco Maria Preti, architect (b. 1701) December 24 – Peter Fenger, Danish merchant (b. 1719) December 26 Godfrey Bagnall Clarke, British politician (b. 1742) Stephen Fox, 2nd Baron Holland, British politician and peer (b. 1745) December 27 Louis Groston de Saint-Ange de Bellerive, Canadian explorer (b. 1700) Francis Wollaston, English scientist (b. 1694) December 29 Toussaint-Gaspard Taconet, French actor (b. 1730) Maria Weenix, painter from the Northern Netherlands (b. 1697) December 30 – Antoniotto Botta Adorno, high officer (b. 1688) December 31 – Johann Christoph Handke, Czech painter (b. 1694) date unknown Martinez de Pasqually, French freemason Margaret Calderwood, British diarist (b. 1715) Catherine Michelle de Maisonneuve, French writer and publisher References Further reading Norton, Mary Beth. 1774: The Long Year of Revolution (2020) American Revolution online review by Gordon Wood