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There seem to have been no fireworks in London at the coronation of either Anne or the first two Georges, although on the former occasion rockets appear to have been fired from the Fleet at Spithead.

The Peace Rejoicings of 1713 were the occasion of another display on the Thames off Whitehall, the erection being about 400 feet long on barges chained together in the stream. A feature of this display was the water fireworks, described as: “1,500 small and large water Rockets; 5 large water Pyramids; 4 water fountains; 13 Pumps; 21 standing Rockets, with lights all swimming on the water; 84 of Coll Borgards; large and small Bees swarms, half of which were set with lights to swim on the water.”

The next event to be celebrated by firework displays on a large scale was the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle; these were given at Paris, The Hague, London, and St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin. The Duke of Richmond was responsible for a display on the Thames off Whitehall, the official display taking place in Green Park, and was on a scale unequalled in this country until well into the last century. It was conducted by the famous pyrotechnist Gaetano Ruggieri, who came over from France for the purpose, assisted by Gioseppe Sarti, under the direction of the Board of Ordnance.