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You are here: UK History > Royal History > House of Hanover > George I | The first of the Hanovarians
The Settlement Act of 1701 meant that after the death of Queen Anne, the British crown passed to the descendants of her great aunt, Sophia the Electress of Hanover, which ushered in a new royal era: the Hanovarians. The first of which was George I, who, despite being a German prince, did have British heritage, his mother was the granddaughter of King James I.
Born: 28th May 1660, Hanover, Brunswick-Lüneburg, Holy Roman Empire (modern day Germany)
Died: 22nd June 1727, Schloss Osnabrück, Osnabrück, Holy Roman Empire
Reign: 1st August 1714 – 11th June 1727
Parents: Sophia of Palatinate and Ernest Augustus, Elector of Hanover
Predecessor: Queen Anne (second cousin)
Successor: George II (son)
Spouse: Sophia Dorothea of Celle
Children: George II of Great Britain; Sophia Dorothea of Hanover; plus 3 illegitimate daughters
Royal House: Hanover
George I became the King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1st August 1714 and the ruler of the Duchy of the Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg, (the former name for the region of Hanover, which at the time, was part of the Holy Roman Empire) after the death of his father in January 1698. He held both titles, as well as other inherited lands and titles, until his death in 1727.
George was born in late May 1660 in the city of Hanover. At this time, Hanover was part of the Holy Roman Empire and sat within the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneberg, which was under the leadership of his father, Ernest Augustus.
In the 1600s in this part of the world, the law only allowed the male line to inherit titles and property, as George was the first child of a new generation, on his arrival, he was the sole heir of not only his father's titles, but also those of his uncles. For Ernest Augustus and his wife, Sophia, their line would benefit greatly from Ernest's brothers not having children of their own. Being the heir to so many titles and his mother's relationship with King James I and VII of England and Scotland, George was raised as a member of the nobility.
When he was a year old, George's younger brother Frederick was born. As they were so close in age, the pair were brought up together and were close until a falling out in adulthood. With their parents busy, the brothers were mostly left under the care of their tutors. During their early childhood, their mother Sophia was largely absent from their lives, but would write regularly and was said to have taken a keen interest in their schooling and wellbeing. George and Frederick would later be joined by four younger brothers and a younger sister.
In 1675, one of George's uncles died, this inspired the others to quicky begin looking for wives and having legitimate heirs. As this would effect George's inheritance, this caused some strife among the family. To prepare his son for making his own way in the world, rather than relying on the initial expected inheritance, Ernest Augustus began to train George in military matters. This training included being taken on military campaigns, which would allow him to earn a living in the army. George's first recorded foray in the army was during the Franco-Dutch War.
During his training, another of George's uncles died, again without an heir. Ernest Augustus inherited his lands and titles, including the Duchy of Calenberg Gottingen. At this point, the Principle of Primogeniture came into play, meaning that George would inherit all territories and would not have to share any of the wealth, land or titles with his siblings. Though George was made aware of this, his siblings were not, which eventually led to a breakdown in the relationship between Ernest and his other children and George and Frederick, who up until then, had been close. Frederick, had assumed that he and his other brothers would receive some inheritance, as Ernest and his brothers had all received titles and land when they inherited. George and Frederick never spoke again over this issue, Frederick died in battle in 1690 without them reconciling.
As was tradition among royals and noble families, George was part of an arranged marriage. He was married to his cousin, Sophia Dorothea of Celle in 1679. The union was arranged to secure additional incomes for his father's Duchy and to unite the states of Hanover and Celle, however it wasn't a happy one. Sophia was left alone during her first pregnancy while George was sent off to fight in the Great Turkish War and the pair were estranged following the birth of their second child. There were no other pregnancies, but both George and Sophia took lovers.
George’s mistress, Melusine von de Schulenburg, would give him three more children and travelled with him to Britain when he ascended the British throne. Sophia took Count Philip Christoph von Königsmarak as a lover. The Hanovarian court, threatened with the scandal of the couple eloping with their respective lovers, urged them to desist and to show a united front, but neither did. The Count was later killed, probably with George’s knowledge by four of his father’s courtiers. His body was thrown in the River Leine weighted down with stones. George was never implicated, as doing so would have threatened his ability to run his territories. The marriage was eventually dissolved, though not on the grounds of adulltry - instead, on the grounds that Sophia Dorothea had abandoned her husband. George had her imprisoned at Ahiden House in her native Celle, with her father’s permission. She remained under house arrest until her death. During this time, she was denied access to her children or other family members, was forbidden to remarry and only allowed to walk without supervision around the grounds. Once Sophia Dorothea was captive, George openly continued his courtship with Melusine von de Schulenburg, who acted as his hostess until his death.
When Ernest Augustus died in January 1698, all but one of his territories became George’s and he took the titles of Duke and Prince Elector. Shortly after his father’s death, the news came that Prince William, the Duke of Gloucester, the nephew of the British monarch William of Orange and the next in line for the throne had died. By the terms of the English Act of Settlement, George’s mother was designated heir in the event that William had no more children through remarriage or that Anne, his sister in law, died without issue. The succession was designed to keep any Catholics from inheriting the British throne and Sophia, and by extension, George, were the nearest protestant relatives to the English and Scottish royal families.
In August 1701, George was invested with the Order of the Garter, one of the highest British orders. Within six weeks of his induction, the former King of England, Ireland and Scotland James II died and William III, his successor, died the following March. Queen Anne, took the throne, but she also had no surviving children, making Sophia officially the heir presumptive. Sophia was 71 at the time and despite being fit and healthy, no one truly believed that she would be able to ascend the British throne. Instead, she spent her time making sure to secure the succession for her son. To be fair to George, he is said to have researched the complexities of English politics and law and personally arranged for the changes that needed to be made to ensure a smooth succession following Anne’s death.
Shortly after inheriting the Duchy and being made Elector, the War of the Spanish Succession broke out over the right for Philip, the grandson of King Louis of France, to succeed the Spanish throne as laid out in the will of Charles of Hapsburg. The Holy Roman Empire, United Dutch Provinces and both England and Hanover, were involved, opposing his right to succeed. The fear among the other European states was that France would become too powerful if they also controlled Spain. George was heavily involved in the war, contributing to several battles and invading any neighbours who were pro-France. He served as Field Marshall for three years in the army but after 1709, never saw active service again. The war ended with a treaty allowing Philip to succeed the Spanish throne, but excluding him from the French line. Issues surrounding the treaty arose after George became King of Great Britain and Ireland.
George’s mother died on 28th May 1714 at the age of 83, leaving George as the heir to Queen Anne of Great Britain and Ireland. George swiftly negotiated with the British parliament and revised the membership of a Regency Council that would govern in the interim period between Anne’s death and George’s coronation. Anne’s ill health was known throughout Europe and by getting a council in place, George was able to suppress politicians around the continent who were vying for power.
Anne died in August 1714 and George was announced as the new king. He had the support of the Whigs, which would become the modern equivelant of the Libral Democrats, however, the Tory members of parliament felt that the succession should include a closer relative and restore the Stuart line. Despite this, George was officially declared king and set out for England, but after being stuck at sea due to bad weather, was delayed and didn't arrive until 18th September. His coronation was delayed until October of that year, with over twenty towns across England reporting mass rioting on the day.
After his coronation, George mainly lived in England, but did make regular trips to Hanover, most notably in 1716, 1719, 1720, 1723 and 1725.
In total, he spent a fifth of his reign in Germany, initially, this was most likely because of a clause in the Act of Settlement that forbade the British monarch to leave the country without the permission of parliament. He had this part of the act repealed two years after being named King.
Despite his son, also George, being officially titled as the Prince of Wales, George preferred to have his period of absences from Britain administrated by the Regency Council, something that caused tension between father and son, something that last throughout both their lives.
Within a year of succession, there was a General Election where the Whigs won an overwhelming majority. Fifteen prominent Tories who lost their seats became involved in a Jacobite rebellion which attempted to overthrow George and return the throne to James II’s son. They were easily defeated and George acted to moderate the government’s response, showing leniency. Though there were some executions, many of the captured rebels had their lands taken from them and the funds from these were used to pay for schools in Scotland, gaining the loyalty of the country. Remaining funds helped pay off the National Debt.
Unlike Anne, who was more favourable to the Tories, George was a supporter of the Whigs and under his reign, their dominance grew so great that the Tories didn’t return to power for nearly fifty years. After gaining a huge majority in government, the Whigs implemented a bill extending the maximum duration of parliament to seven years, allowing more time to see policy proposals enacted. Where Anne was heavily involved in politics and was engaged with parliament, George rarely attended meetings and only took an interest in foreign policy, leaving the rest of government policy to parliament. This was a contrast to how things worked in George's other territories, in Hanover and other places in the Holy Roman Empire, the ruler was an absolute ruler, allowing them control over every aspect of governance. In Britain, the king had to rule through an elected parliament. Some historians believe that this took a little getting used to, but as George mainly stayed out of parliament's way and took the time to learn as much as he could about British culture prior to his coronation, it is likely that this belief stemmed from his unpopularity at being a foreign king.
After becoming King of Great Britain, George’s relationship with his son, which had always been poor, worsened. The Prince of Wales, George Augustus, the future George II, encouraged opposition to his father’s policies, including measures to increase religious freedoms.
Tensions between the two grew after the birth of Prince George’s son. The king arranged for the Lord Chamberlain, as was custom, to sponsor the child at the christening. However, the prince disliked the Lord Chamberlain and verbally insulted him, which was misinterpreted as an invitation to duel. George ordered his son to leave St James’ Palace, the official royal residence, and took custody of his grandchildren. The prince set up a base at Leicester House, where he encouraged and entertained his father’s political opponents.
Eventually, an intervention held by Robert Walpole, a leading politician, led to a reconciliation. Prince George's wife was also keen for the pair to repair their relationship, as she was made to leave the royal residence with her husband and wanted to be reunited with her children, who had been taken into the custody of the king. Though they presented a united front in public and were civil in each other's presence, they remained distant and dismissive of each other.
One of the biggest problems that arose during George's reign was the management of the National Debt. At the time, speculation was rife and to help combat this, the government brought in the Bubble Act as a way to suppress various money making schemes. Though it worked, it did also halt the market, which led to an economic crash and in turn, saw many leading nobles being completely ruined. George had been in Hanover when the economy crashed and had to be recalled by parliament, the whole incident made both king and parliament incredibly unpopular and many of the leading ministers resigned.
Robert Walpole, acting as the de facto Prime Minister, stepped up and managed the crisis, helping the country return to financial stability. Walpole wasn’t formally Prime Minister, officially, his titles included First Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer, though he is often considered to be Britain's first Prime Minister as we know it today. Through his management, the king managed to avoid being directly implicated in any speculation schemes. Some historians claim that there is evidence to suggest that during this time, George was accepting bribes, but others say that receipts kept in the Royal Archive show that he paid for all parts of his participation in the scheme and had actually lost personal finances in the crash. Again, the negative views could have been part of his unpopularity as many were against a German king sitting on the English throne.
After Walpole had established himself as a competent minister, George used his powers to revive the Order of the Bath, which would allow the parliament, and particularly Walpole, to reward or gain political supporters. This made him more popular with parliament and George became increasingly reliant on Walpole for the rest of his reign. It is said though, that as George still had the ultimate power to replace ministers whenever he wanted, that Walpole was constantly alert to the fact that he could be removed at any time.
George died during a trip to Hanover, his sixth since becoming king. He suffered a stroke while travelling and was taken to a palace in Osnabrück, where he died on 11th June 1727. He was buried in the chapel of Leine Palace in Hanover, but his remains and those of his ancestors, were moved during the Second World War as Leine Palace was completely destroyed in air raids.
George was succeeded by his son, Prince George who became George II. It was well known that George II held very different political allegiences to his father and on his ascension it was widely assumed that he would remove Walpole from office as his first act as monarch. However, Walpole commanded a substantial majority, so George II allowed him to stay in order to avoid political instability.
History hasn’t been particularly kind to George, his British subjects widely ridiculed him, with many believing him to be unintelligent and wooden in public. Many people believed that he didn’t speak English, but documents from the later part of his reign showed that he understood, spoke and wrote English well. Like many people of his class, he spoke fluent French and Latin, as well as being fluent in German, Italian and Dutch. Reports from the time shows that the British believed him to be too German and disapproved of his treatment of his wife, which to be fair, was pretty poor.
However, more recent analysis of historical records show that he was a reserved and temperate ruler, who was financially prudent and felt uncomfortable in the public eye. He was a supporter of the enlightenment movement and allowed critical publications without censorship. Certainly, his aversion to the spotlight painted him in a poor light, instead of being seen at public and social events, like the Royal Opera, which the public expected from their monarch, he would travel incognito to the homes of his friends to play cards. Personal writings show that he was genial and affectionate with his family, and it is likely that his dull persona in public was because of social anxiety.
Whatever the truth, he managed to ascend a precarious throne and hold onto power, successfully securing the Hanovarian line and keeping a stable parliament. Whether this was through intelligence, political savvy or pure luck continues to be debated. Despite his perceived unpopularity, it is generally accepted that he was a better alternative to James II’s son and the Jacobite movement.
Greenwich Pier, London
George arrived in London via Greenwich followng the death of Queen Anne.
Hampton Court Palace, London
Hanover Square, London
Named for George's royal house.
St George's Church, Bloomsbury, London
A statue of George can be seen here.
St James’ Palace, London
Tower of London
The crown jewels here feature those worn by George.
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