19 February – Calico Acts repealed, leading to the development and mechanisation of the British cotton industry.[3]
22 February – the legal case of Donaldson v Beckett is decided in the House of Lords, denying the continued existence of a perpetual common law copyright and holding that copyright is a creation of statute and can be limited in its duration.[4] This does permit authors to claim copyright in their own works.
20 April – Life Assurance Act stipulates that people taking out life assurance must have an interest in the life of the insured person, with the intention of eliminating the use of policies as a form of gambling.
5 October–10 November – 1774 British general election. Lord North continues as prime minister. (In Westminster, Ignatius Sancho becomes the first person of African origin eligible to vote in Britain.)
^"History of Lord Frederick North - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
^Harris, J. R. (2004). "Wilkinson, John (1728–1808)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 14 January 2011. (subscription or UK public library membership required)
^Gupta, Bishnupriya. "Cotton textiles and the great divergence: Lancashare, India and shifting of competitive advantage, 1600-1850" (PDF). International Institute of Social History. Department of Economics, University of Warwick. Retrieved 5 December 2016.