# UK Constitution and Government/House of Hanover


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!House of Stuart and the
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`<big>`{=html}`<big>`{=html}The House of Hanover
(1714-1901)`</big>`{=html}`</big>`{=html}

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## George I

!King George I George, Duke
and Elector of Hanover became King George I in 1714. His claim was
opposed by the Jacobites, supporters of the deposed King James II. Since
James II had died, his claim was taken over by his son, James Francis
Edward Stewart, the \"Old Pretender.\" In 1715, there was a Jacobite
rebellion, but an ill James could not lead it. By the time he recovered,
it was too late, and the rebellion was suppressed.

King George was not deeply involved in British politics; instead, he
concentrated on matters in his home, Germany. The King could not even
speak English, earning the ridicule of many of his subjects. George,
furthermore, spent much time in his native land of Hanover. Meanwhile, a
ministerial system developed in Great Britain. George appointed Sir
Robert Walpole as *First Lord of the Treasury*. Walpole was George\'s
most powerful minister, but he was not termed \"Prime Minister\"; that
term came into use in later years. Walpole\'s tenure began in 1721;
other ministers held office at his, rather than the King\'s, pleasure.
George\'s lack of involvement in politics contributed greatly to the
development of the modern British political system.

George died in 1727 from a stroke while in Germany. He was succeeded by
his son, who ruled as George II.

## George II

George II was naturalised as a British citizen in 1705; his reign began
in 1727. Like his father, George transferred political power to Sir
Robert Walpole, who served until 1742. Walpole was succeeded by Spencer
Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmington, who served until 1743, and then by
Henry Pelham, who served until his death in 1754. During Pelham\'s
service, the nation experienced a second Jacobite Rebellion, which was
almost successful in putting Bonnie Prince Charlie---son of the Old
Pretender, himself called the Young Pretender---on the throne. The
rebellion began in 1745 and was ended in 1746 when the King\'s forces
defeated the Jacobites at the Battle of Culloden, the last battle ever
to be fought on British soil.

Before George II\'s death in 1760, he was served by two other Prime
Ministers: Henry Pelham\'s elder brother the Duke of Newcastle, and the
Duke of Devonshire. George II\'s eldest son, Frederick, had predeceased
him, so George was succeeded by his grandson, also named George.

## George III

George III attempted to reverse the trend that his Hanoverian
predecessors had set by reducing the influence of the Prime Minister. He
appointed a variety of different people as his Prime Minister, on the
basis of favouritism rather than ability. The Whig Party of Robert
Walpole declared George an autocrat and compared him to Charles I.

George III\'s reign is notable for many important international events.
In 1763, Great Britain defeated France in the Seven Years\' War, a
global war that also involved Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands and
was fought in Europe, America and India. As a result of the Treaty of
Paris, New France (the French territory in North America, including
Quebec and land east of the Mississippi) was ceded to Britain, as was
Spanish Florida. Spain, however, took New Orleans and Louisiana, the
vast French territory on the west of the Mississippi. Great Britain came
to be recognised as the world\'s pre-eminent colonial power, displacing
France. The nation, however, was left deeply in debt. To overcome it,
British colonies in America were taxed, much to their distaste.
Eventually, Britain lost its American colonies during the American War
of Independence, which lasted from 1776 to 1783. Elsewhere, however, the
British Empire continued to expand. In India, the British East India
Company took control of many small nation-states nominally headed by
their own princes. The island of Australia was also occupied, and
Canada\'s population increased with the number of British Loyalists who
left the newly formed United States of America.

In 1801, Parliament passed the Act of Union, uniting Great Britain and
Ireland into the United Kingdom. Ireland was allowed to elect 100
Members of Parliament to the House of Commons and 22 representative
peers to the House of Lords. The Act originally provided for the removal
of restrictions from Roman Catholics, but George III refused to agree to
the proposal, arguing that doing so would violate his oath to maintain
Protestantism.

George was the last British monarch to claim the Kingdom of France. He
was persuaded to abandon the meaningless claim dating to the Plantagenet
days in 1801 by the French ruler Napoleon.

In 1811, George III, who had previously suffered bouts of madness, went
permanantly insane. His son George ruled the country as *Prince Regent*,
and became George IV when the King died in 1820.

## George IV

George IV is often remembered as an unwise and extravagant monarch.
During his Regency, London was redesigned, and funding for the arts was
increased. As King, George was unable to govern effectively; he was
overweight, possibly addicted to a form of opium and showing signs of
his father\'s mental disease. While he ruled, George\'s ministers were
once again able to regain the power that they had lost during his
father\'s reign.

George opposed several popular social reforms. As his father, he refused
to lift several restrictions on Roman Catholics. Upon his death in 1830,
his younger brother began to reign as William IV.

## William IV

Early in William\'s reign, British politics was reformed by the Reform
Act of 1832. At the time, the House of Commons was a disorganised and
undemocratic body, unlike the modern House. The nation included several
*rotten boroughs*, which historically had the right to elect members of
Parliament, but actually had very few residents. The rotten borough of
Old Sarum, for instance, had seven voters, but could elect two MPs. An
even more extreme example is of Dunwich, which could also elect two MPs
despite having no residents, the entire borough having been eroded away
into the North Sea. Other boroughs were called *pocket boroughs* because
they were \"in the pocket\" of a wealthy landowner, whose son was
normally elected to the seat. At the same time, entire cities such as
Westminster (with about 20,000 voters) still had just two MPs.

The House of Commons agreed to the Reform Bill, but it was rejected by
the House of Lords, whose members controlled several pocket boroughs.
The Tory Party, furthermore, opposed the bill actively. William IV
agreed with his Prime Minister, the Earl Grey, to flood the House of
Lords with pro-reform members by creating fifty new peerages; when the
time came, he backed down. The Earl Grey and his Whig Party government
then resigned, but returned to power when William finally agreed to
co-operate. The Reform Act of 1832 gave urban areas increased political
power, but allowed aristocrats to retain effective control of the rural
areas. Over fifty rotten boroughs were abolished, while the
representation of some other boroughs was reduced from two MPs to one.
Though members of the middle class were granted the right to vote, the
Reform Act did not do much to expand the electorate, which amounted
after passage to just three percent of the population.

In 1834, William became the last British monarch to appoint a Prime
Minister who did not have the confidence of Parliament. He replaced the
Whig Prime Minister, the Viscount Melbourne, with a Tory, Sir Robert
Peel. Peel, however, had a minority in the House of Commons, so he
resigned in 1835, and Melbourne returned to power.

In 1837, William died and was succeeded on the British throne by his
niece Victoria, who was just eighteen years old at the time. The union
of the Crowns of Britain and Hanover was then dissolved, since Salic
Law, which applied in Hanover, only allowed males to rule. Therefore,
Hanover passed to William\'s brother Ernest.

## Victoria

!Queen Victoria A few years
after taking power, Victoria married a German Prince, Albert of
Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, who was given the title of *Prince Consort*. Albert
originally wished to actively govern the United Kingdom, but he
acquiesced to his wife\'s requests to the contrary. The extremely happy
marriage ended with Albert\'s death in 1861, following which Victoria
entered a period of semi-mourning that would last for the rest of her
reign. She was often called *the Widow of Windsor*, after Windsor
Castle, a Royal home.

In 1867, Parliament passed another Reform Act. Like its predecessor, the
Reform Act of 1832, true electoral reform was not achieved; the property
qualifications limited the electorate to about eight percent of the
population. Therafter, power was held by two Prime Ministers---Benjamin
Disraeli (a Tory and a favourite of Victoria) and William Ewart
Gladstone (a Liberal whom Victoria disliked)---from 1868 to 1885. In
1876, Disraeli convinced Victoria to take the title of Empress of India.

Many of Victoria\'s daughters married into European Royal Houses, giving
her the nickname *Grandmother of Europe*. All of the current European
monarchs descend from Victoria.

Victoria died in 1901, holding the record for longest serving British
Sovereign. She was succeeded by her son Edward, who became King Edward
VII. Edward was deemed to belong not to his mother\'s House of Hanover,
but instead to his father\'s dynasty, Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.

