← Fame through time1700-1799
The 18th century
Whose working lives fell in the 18th century. Books are measured from 1800 and readers from 2015, so for this period we can say who lived then, not who was talked about then.
Lived then
The most notable people whose working lives fell in the 18th century, ranked where coverage and readership agree.
- 1
William Pitt the Younger3 decades - 2
Robert Walpole22 decades - 3
George IV of the United Kingdomnot measured- - 4
William Wilberforce22 decades - 5
Robert Clive22 decades - 6
Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallisnot measured- - 7
Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Greynot measured- - 8
Spencer Perceval22 decades - 9
William Bligh16 decades - 10
Warren Hastings22 decades - 11
Calico Jack1 decades - 12
William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portlandnot measured- - 13
Charles James Fox22 decades - 14
William Blackstone22 decades - 15
Spencer Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmingtonnot measured- - 16
George Grenville22 decades - 17
Henry Pelham22 decades - 18
Banastre Tarleton5 decades - 19
William Hamilton22 decades - 20
Sir Thomas Picton10 decades - 21
Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouthnot measured- - 22
Maria Fitzherbert0 decades - 23
James Abercrombie13 decades - 24
Alexander Gordon, 4th Duke of Gordonnot measured- - 25
Charles Douglas, 3rd Duke of Queensberrynot measured-
How to read these rankings
- Attention, not reputation. A place on these lists reflects the attention a person still draws in the public record. It is not a judgement on the life.
- Fame in print. The curves show how often a name appeared in the books of each decade from 1800 to 2019, drawn from the Google Books Ngram corpus.
- Gaps are left as gaps. Where the record is too thin to be fair, we would rather show nothing than guess.