← 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- - 26
Thomas Mathews12 decades - 27
John Murray, 4th Duke of Athollnot measured- - 28
James Hamilton, 5th Duke of Hamiltonnot measured- - 29
John Bowes, 9th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghornenot measured- - 30
James Murray, 2nd Duke of Athollnot measured- - 31
James Hay, 15th Earl of Errollnot measured- - 32
Edward Wortley Montagunot measured- - 33
John Hamilton, 1st Marquess of Abercornnot measured- - 34
George Douglas, 16th Earl of Mortonnot measured- - 35
John Chetwynd-Talbot, 1st Earl Talbotnot measured- - 36
James Hamilton, 7th Earl of Abercornnot measured- - 37
John West, 2nd Earl De La Warrnot measured- - 38
John Murray, 3rd Duke of Athollnot measured- - 39Thomas Lyon, 8th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghornenot measured-
- 40
William Kerr, 4th Marquess of Lothiannot measured- - 41
Lord Archibald Hamiltonnot measured- - 42
William Kerr, 6th Marquess of Lothiannot measured- - 43
Charles Bruce, 3rd Earl of Ailesburynot measured- - 44
Hugh Montgomerie, 12th Earl of Eglintonnot measured- - 45James Stuart-Mackenzienot measured-
- 46
Lord George Grahamnot measured- - 47Robert Dundasnot measured-
- 48
John Nichollnot 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.