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George I, Elector of Hanover since 1698, became the first ruler of the Georgian era, establishing a dual monarchy that lasted until 1837.

The Hanoverian Succession occurred in 1714 when George I, the Elector of Hanover, succeeded to the thrones of Britain and Ireland following the death of Queen Anne. It marked the end of the Stuart era and the beginning of the Georgian era which would last until 1837. This was in line with the Act of Settlement 1701 which had established a Protestant succession to the childless Anne.

George's mother Sophia of Hanover, who died in earlier that year, had been the prospective heir to the throne through her descent from James I. Fifty others with closer claims to the thrones were barred as Catholics. These included James Francis Edward Stuart, the son of the deposed James II and Anne's half-brother, who was an exile in France and the leader of the Jacobite movement.

George's coronation took place on 20 October at Westminster Abbey. Coronation riots took place across the country. The general election beginning in January 1715, produced a landslide for the governing Whigs who supported the Hanoverian monarchy. A Jacobite rising in Scotland was defeated by government forces. In 1727 George I was succeeded by his son George II.

Background

Royal

George I was descended from James I and the House of Hanover's claim to the throne was based on this as well as their Protestant faith.

Following the War of the Three Kingdoms and the execution of Charles I in 1649, the English Commonwealth was established under Oliver Cromwell's leadership. In 1660 the Restoration brought Charles II to the throne. He ruled for twenty five years, leaving no legitimate heirs, and was followed by his younger brother James II. In June 1688 Mary of Modena, the second wife of James, gave birth to a son who became Prince of Wales and was christened a Catholic. This alarmed the monarch's two Protestant daughters Mary and Anne, and particularly Mary's husband William of Orange, who believed his wife's succession was now threatened. Rumours also circulated that the child James was a "warming pan baby", smuggled in to secure the succession for a Catholic.

In November that year William lead a Dutch invasion force, following an Invitation by seven leading British politicians. The collapse of the English Army and the constitutional settlement that followed, making Mary and William joint rulers, is known as the Glorious Revolution. James II fled to France where, following several attempts to regain his throne, he died in 1701 leaving the thirteen year old James Francis Edward Stuart to be proclaimed as James III. Those who supported the restoration of James II's son were known as Jacobites. Mary had died in 1694 and William III ruled on alone until 1702. He was succeeded by Anne who had lost her only surviving child Prince William, Duke of Gloucester in July 1700.

In 1701 Parliament passed the Act of Settlement, stipulating that the nearest Protestant relative should succeed to the throne. Following William III's death, Anne's heir was her cousin Sophia, Electress of Hanover. Sophia was the daughter of Elizabeth, the sister of Charles I, and had married Ernest Augustus, Elector of Hanover, the ruler of a small but rising German state. Although many of her family were senior to her in precedence, the Act of Settlement barred them due to their Catholic faith. The 1705 English Regency Act set out the process by which the succession would take place after Anne's death. The 1707 Act of Union extended this provision to Scotland as part of the new Kingdom of Great Britain.

Political

Since the late 1670s, British and Irish politics had been divided into a rivalry between Tories and the Whigs. The Tories had emerged as a supporters of traditional monarchy while the Whigs were dominated by leading aristocrats who opposed the supremacy of the crown. Tories staunchly supported James II, despite his Catholic background and their own strong Anglicanism, while Whigs were more more sympathetic to nonconformists. An added factor was the perceived threat from the much larger Catholic France led by Louis XIV just across the channel. During the reign of Charles II, who was a first cousin of Louis, England had been both allied to and an enemy of France.

Fears about the perceived absolutist authoritarianism of James II during his reign from 1685 to 1688 unsettled the Whigs. The 1685 Argyll and Monmouth Rebellions were crushed, but discontent continued. When James's wife gave birth to a son the effect was to push a group of political leaders to invite Dutch assistance. With James overthrown in the Glorious Revolution, the new government contained an uneasy mix of Whig and Tory politicians. The Whig Junto emerged as a particularly influential group. Following the death of William in 1702, the mixed government continued with moderate Tories Lord Godolphin as head of the Treasury and Anne's favourite the Duke of Marlborough as Captain General of the army, while the country engaged in the War of the Spanish Succession against France. From 1704 to 1708 a moderate Whig Robert Harley served as Secretary of State, but hostility from the Whig Junto drove him out of office and led him to join the Tory opposition.

Marlborough won a string of successes at Blenheim, Ramillies, Oudernarde and Lille before a costly phyrric victory at the Battle of Malplaquet in 1709. War exhaustion was growing across Britain due to the heavy cost of the war in terms of casualties and financial terms.

1710–1714

The 1710 general election produced a Tory landslide. Many of these Tory MPs were members of the October Club who were more sympathetic to a future Jacobite succession to follow Queen Anne. Tory leaders had to balance their own moderate plans with those of the October members.

Succession

James the Jacobite claimant to the throne was considered to be King by his supporters who styled him as James III in England and Ireland and James VIII in Scotland.

Anne died at Kensington Palace on 1 August 1714. Just days earlier she had dismissed her Chief Minister Oxford who was formally replaced by Shrewsbury. Bolingbroke as leader of the Jacobite Tories had hoped to use the ousting

He was disappointed not to be chosen to replace Oxford.

Coronation

Further information: Coronation riots

German depiction of George I's coronation ceremony at Westminster Abbey.

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On 20 October the coronation of George I took place at Westminster Abbey. His long-estranged wife Sophia Dorothea was not present, but his son and daughter-in-law Caroline of Ansbach attended. As the couple had several children, it was the first time since XXX that the crown had two generations of future heirs. The ceremony was performed by the Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Tenison, although the strongly Jacobite Francis Atterbury participated in his role as Dean of Westminster.

General election

Main article: 1715 British general election

The new Whig majority in Parliament began proceedings against several figures they held responsible for the Treaty of Utrecht including the diplomat Matthew Prior. In July Parliament impeached the former chief minister Oxford and he was sent to the Tower of London.

Jacobite rising

Main article: 1715 Jacobite Rebellion

After the Battle of Sheriffmuir in November 1715 the Jacobite rising lost momentum and was defeated the following year.

Aftermath

George I based himself in England but continued to make regular visits to Hanover and the Electorate assumed great importance in British foreign policy.

In 1737 George, Princes of Wales succeeded his father as George II. He was in turn succeeded 1760 by his grandson George III, the first of the dynasty to be born in Britain and after the Hanoverian Succession had taken place. Despite repeated Jacobite attempts to overturn the Hanoverian succession, most notably during the 1745 Jacobite rebellion, support for the exiled Stuarts gradually waned, even in Scotland and Ireland. While some Irish Catholics still hoped for a Jacobite restoration, most moves towards an accommodation with the Hanoverian establishment.

While Prince of Wales George III had associated with the opposition Patriot Whigs and sought to distance himself his predecessor's association with Hanover. In his first speech from the throne he declared "born and educated in this county, I glory in the name of Briton". He had previously referred to "that horrid electorate which has always lived upon the very vitals of this poor country". Although his views became more complex during subsequent decades he never visited Hanover during his long reign. Hanover was elevated to the status of a kingdom in 1814 and the two countries remained in a dynastic union until 1837 when Queen Victoria came to the British throne. Descendants of George I have occupied the British throne to the modern day.

Bibliography

• Gestrich, Andreas & Schaich, Michael (ed.) The Hanoverian Succession: Dynastic Politics and Monarchical Culture. Routledge, 2016.
• Harding, Nick. Hanover and the British Empire, 1700-1837. Boydell & Brewer, 2007.
• Hatton, Ragnhild. George I. Yale University Press, 2001.
• Simms, Brendan. Three Victories and a Defeat: The Rise and Fall of the First British Empire. Penguin Books, 2008.
• Thompson, Andrew C. George II: King and Elector. Yale University Press, 2011.

External links

• www.example.com