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George I

First Hanoverian King of Britain

Feb 19, 2009 Barry Vale

In 1714 George the Elector of Hanover became King of Great Britain after the death of Queen Anne. He was the great grandson of James I (VI).

Unknown German Protestant made King

In 1688 the English Parliament had instigated the Glorious Revolution so that William of Orange could overthrow the Roman Catholic James II. On the death of William of Orange in 1702 the throne had gone to his sister-in-law Anne. As Anne's health declined and due to none of her children-surviving Parliament started looking for a suitable Protestant heirs to the British throne. Above all else they did not want James II's son James Stuart taking over and threatening the restoration of Roman Catholicism. Therefore it was decided that George, Elector of Hanover should be made king, his Protestant faith being more important than the fact there were fifty seven people with a better claim to the throne, or that he could not speak English.

The New King versus the Old Pretender

The decision to make George the new king was not supported throughout the whole of Great Britain and Ireland. Indeed in large areas of Scotland and Ireland there was strong allegiance to the claims of James Stuart becoming James III (VIII of Scotland). James Stuart landed in Scotland during 1715 determined to reclaim the crowns lost by his father in 1688. Momentarily the presence of the Old Pretender induced panic in London yet in the end the Jacobite rising was doomed to failure. James Stuart and his small band of followers in the end proved to be no match for the British army whilst the Royal Navy prevented the Jacobites receiving any help from the French. The British establishment was happy to keep George I on the throne rather risk the end of the Protestant ascendancy.

The Emergence of Prime Ministers

Before George I came to the throne British monarchs had still been greatly involved in the running of the country. Despite the Bill of Rights confirming the political domination of Parliament the monarch had retained powers via the royal prerogatives.

However through a combination of personal apathy and an inability to speak English George I was content to allow the politicians to rule the country and make use of the royal prerogatives to do so. George I was lucky that he had Sir Robert Walpole to govern Great Britain as the first person to be given the title of Prime Minister. Walpole proved to be a highly capable minister and even strengthened his position after he effectively dealt with the consequences of the bursting of the South Seas Bubble. George I was never regarded with any affection by his British subjects and he died in 1727.

Bibliography

Crystal D (1998) Chambers’ Biographical Encyclopedia, 2nd edition, Edinburgh

Holmes R, (2007) Battlefield, Oxford University Press, Oxford

Gardiner & Wenborn (1995) The History Today Companion to British History, Little, Brown & Co, London

Lenman B, (2004) Chambers Dictionary of World History, Edinburgh

The copyright of the article George I in Historical Biographies is owned by Barry Vale. Permission to republish George I in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.