1662 in England

Events from the year 1662 in England.

Incumbents

17 March – two old women are hanged after being found guilty of witchcraft at the Bury St. Edmunds witch trial.
9 May – Samuel Pepys witnesses a Punch and Judy show in London, the first on record.
14 May – Catherine of Braganza lands at Portsmouth.^[1]
19 May – passage of Act of Uniformity 1662, approval of 1662 Book of Common Prayer
16 May – hearth tax is introduced in England, Wales and Scotland.
21 May – Catherine of Braganza marries Charles II of England at Portsmouth in both a secret Catholic and a public Anglican ceremony the day after they first meet.^[1]
15 July – the Royal Society receives its royal charter.
23 August – an extravagant pageant on the River Thames greets the arrival of Charles II and his new queen Catherine of Braganza on their arrival at the Palace of Whitehall from Hampton Court.^[1]
24 August – the Act of Uniformity is implemented,^[2] making mandatory in the Church of England the forms of worship prescribed in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. This is followed by the Great Ejection of over 2000 clergy who refuse to take the required oath of conformity to the established church.
27 October – Charles II sells Dunkirk to France for £400 000 (2.5 million livres).^[3]

John Graunt, in one of the earliest uses of statistics, publishes information about births and deaths in London.
The second edition of Robert Boyle's New Experiments Physico-Mechanicall, Touching The Spring of the Air, and its Effects is published in Oxford containing Boyle's law.
The Poor Relief Act 1662 ("Settlement and Removal Act") is passed, setting out principles for establishing the parish to which a person belongs (their place of 'settlement'), which would be responsible should they become in need of Poor Relief.
The Licensing of the Press Act is passed, restricting London printers to a total of 24. Books printed abroad are prohibited. Roger L'Estrange is granted a warrant to seize seditious books or pamphlets.

6 January – Robert Sutton, 2nd Baron Lexinton, diplomat (died 1723)
9 January – John Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle (died 1711)
27 January – Richard Bentley, classical scholar (died 1742)
10 March – Francis Pierrepont, politician (died 1693)
9 April – Edward Hawarden, Catholic theologian (died 1735)
30 April – Mary II of England, Scotland and Ireland, queen regnant (died 1694)^[4]
18 May – George Smalridge, Bishop of Bristol (died 1719)
7 June – Celia Fiennes, traveller (died 1741)^[5]
18 June – Charles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Cleveland, illegitimate son of Charles II, courtier (died 1730)
1 July – John Dolben, politician (died 1710)
13 August – Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset, politician (died 1748)
6 October – William Walsh, poet, critic, correspondent and Member of Parliament (died 1708)
17 October – Arthur Rawdon, Member of Parliament (died 1695)
18 October – Matthew Henry, Presbyterian minister (died 1714)
11 November
- John Chesshyre, lawyer (died 1738)
- Alexander Pendarves, politician (died 1726)
26 November – John Hudson, classical scholar (died 1719)
17 December – Samuel Wesley, poet and clergyman (died 1735)
unknown date – Charles Montagu, 1st Duke of Manchester (died 1722)

v t e 1662 in Europe
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