Catholic emancipation Reaction against this led to riots in Scotland in 1779 and then the Gordon Riots in London on June 2, 1780. Further relief was given by an Act of 1782 allowing the establishment of Roman Catholic schools and bishops. The British Roman Catholic Relief Act 1791 was adopted by the Irish Parliament in 1792–93. Since the electoral franchise at the time was largely determined by property, this relief gave the votes to Roman Catholics holding land with a rental value of £2 a year. They also started to gain access to many middle-class professions from which they had been excluded,
HMS Amphion (1780) HMS Amphion (1780) HMS "Amphion" was a Royal Navy 32-gun fifth-rate frigate of the "Amazon" Class built in Chatham in 1780 which blew up on 22 September 1796. On 6 September 1781, a small squadron under the command of the "Amphion's" captain John Bazely, in conjunction with General Benedict Arnold, completely destroyed the town of New London, Connecticut, together with stores and shipping in the harbour. On 3 January 1782 "Amphion" recaptured the British sloop , which the French had captured at the capitulation of Yorktown on 19 October 1781. On 22 September 1796, "Amphion" was completing repairs at Plymouth,