Anne to George III
A quick overview of the Kings and Queens of England from Queen Anne in 1702 to George III in 1760.
Queen Anne 1702-1714 to King George III 1760-1820
© Peter Tarleton, Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.
The Royal Pavilion in Brighton, begun in 1787 for George, Prince of Wales, King George III’s son. It captures Britain’s love for India, a love which King George’s grand-daughter Victoria cherished perhaps more than any other of our monarchs.
Introduction
This post is number 11 in the series Kings and Queens of England
Below is a brief overview of the Kings of England from Queen Anne in 1702, the last of the Stuarts and the first ruler of Great Britain, to the reign of George III and the upheavals of the French Revolution in 1789 and American independence in 1776.
EARLY in Anne’s reign, the crowns of Scotland and England, each inherited separately from her great-grandfather James VI and I, were combined into one, and the Scottish Parliament was merged with Westminster’s. Thus when she died without issue in 1714, her second cousin George, Elector of Hanover in Germany, became King George I of Great Britain.
The Act of Settlement in 1701 had disqualified James Stuart, son of James II, and Anne’s half-brother, because he was a Catholic. Rebellions by his supporters, the Jacobites, in 1715 and 1745, stirred much romantic feeling, but had little effect.
George II’s son Frederick died before inheriting the crown; but Frederick’s son George III came to the throne in 1760 with Britain enjoying an unprecedented prosperity: her Industrial Revolution was gaining momentum, and trade with India’s princes was almost a monopoly. The loss of the American colonies to independence in 1776, however, and the news of a bloodthirsty republican revolution in France in 1789, left Britain shaken and on edge.
Next in series: George III to Victoria
