GEORGE I. 1714 - 1727
GEORGE I. (George Louis), King of Great Britain, and Elector of Hanover was the son of the Elector Ernest Augustus, by Sophia, daughter of Frederick, elector palatine, and grand-daughter to James I. He was born May 28, 1660, and in 1682 Married, Sophia Dorothea of Zell. ( daughter of George, duke of Brunswick and Zell ) by whom he had two sons and one daughter, whom, in 1694, on account of a suspected intrigue with Count Konigsmark he caused to be imprisoned and kept in confinement for the rest of her life. In 1698 he succeeded his father as elector. He commanded the imperial army in 1707 during the war of the Spanish succession; and ascended the throne of Great Britain on the death of Queen Anne in 1714. The private character of George I. was bad, but he showed much good sense and prudence in government especially of his German dominions. By Sophia Dorothea he had a son, George, afterwards George II. of England, and a daughter, Sophia, the mother of Frederick the Great. He died in 1727.
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DOMINIONS Great Britain and Ireland, with Gibraltar and Minorca,
and the colonial possessions as guaranteed by the Treaty of Utrecht The Electorate
of Hanover. The Duchy of Brunswick-Luneburg had been raised to the status of an electorate by the Emperor in 1692,
and the electoral family had been, as their genealogy shews, zealous supporters of the House of Austria. |
| Born 1660. - Began to reign, 1714. - Reigned 13 years. Died 1727. |
PRINCIPAL EVENTS.
Amongst the notable events
of his reign were the rising of the Scottish Jacobites rebellion
in Scotland, in favour of the Pretender, suppressed 1715 ; A whig
ministry first appointed, Septennial parliaments first established, 1716.The Triple and Quadruple Alliances against Spain (1717 and 1718) ; Two ships sent in search of the north-west passage, and never
return, 1719. The notorious South-sea bubble company formed, 1720, The Lord Chancellor, Macclesfield, convicted
of embezzlement, 1725. Gibraltar besieged by the Spaniards, 1727.
WARS
The efforts of the English government were devoted
to maintaining the settlement of Utrecht, in conjunction with the French Regency and the United Provinces, and
for a time with the Emperor, against the efforts of Spain to recover portions of the old Spanish monarchy. Sweden
and even Russia were in alliance with Spain for a time. In 1718, with no declaration of war, an English fleet defeated
the Spaniards off Cape Passaro in Sicily, and war ensued in name till 1720.In 1727 Spain and the Emperor combined,
and the Spaniards tried to recover Gibraltar with no declaration of war.
In 1715 a Jacobite insurrection broke out in Scotland and England, owing chiefly to the feeling against the Union
m Scotland, and to the proscription of the Tory leaders in England, which seemed to give the Tories no hope of
power under the new dynasty. The English Jacobites, reinforced by a detachment of the Scots under Brigadier McIntosh,
were forced to surrender at Preston, November 13th, and on the same day an indecisive battle was fought between
the Duke of Argyle and the Earl of Mar at Sherrifmuir in Scotland, but the incapacity of Mar led to the rapid collapse
of the insurrection.
In 1719 there was a Jacobite rising in the Highlands, supported by Spanish troops, and a skirmish was fought in
Glenshiel.
In 1715 the Jacobite feeling in Scotland was very strong. Of 46 Scotch Peers 21 were actually "out" or
suspected of sympathy with the cause; of 18 principal Highland chiefs 15 were "out" with an armed following
of between 14000 and 15000 men. An able military commander in Mar's place would have mastered Scotland and overpowered
Argyle, in time to co.-operate with the English Jacobites. In England, nobility and gentry of position and wealth
were actually engaged, and the whole Tory party was sympathetic. Success, for a time at least, was within reach
of the Jacobites, had their king and leaders been capable. The composition of their forces then is worth comparison
with those they had in 1745, when they did so much more with so much less, though they had no prospect then of
real success. France, however, was favourable in 1745, and opposed to them in 1715. A standing army on both occasions
gave an immense advantage to the government
MINISTERS
The age of Cabinet Government had, now definitely set in. The King, ignorant of English, ceased to preside at the
meetings of the Privy Council, except for formal business. A meeting of the principal Minsters, making an informal
Committee of the Council, really directed public affairs.
1714. Earl of Halifax, first Lord of the Treasury, d. May 19, 1715, succeeded by Earl of Carlisle till October
10, 1715. Lord Chancellor; Lord Harcourt, deprived Sept. 21 1714, succeeded by Lord Cowper, afterwards Earl Cowper,
till 1718; Earl of Nottingham, Lord President; Marquis of Wharton, Lord Privy Seal; General, afterwards Earl Stanhope,
and Viscount Townsend, Secretaries of State; Sir Richard Onslow, Chancellor of the Exchequer; Sir Robert Walpole,
Paymaster-General.
1715. Sir Robert Walpole, First Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer, October 10, 1715 to April
15, 1717.
1717. Lord Stanhope, First lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer, till March 1718.
1718. Earl of Sunderland, first lord of the Treasury; Charles Aislabie, Chancellor of the Exchequer; Lord Parker,
afterwards Earl of Macclesfield, Lord Chancellor till 1725; Lord Stanhope, a Secretary of State.
1720. Sir Robert Walpole, Paymaster-General
1721. Sir Robert Walpole, first Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer till 1742; Lord Townshend
and lord Carteret, afterwards Earl Granville, Secretaries of State.
1724. Duke of Newcastle, Secretary of State, vice Lord Carteret, till February 10, 1746, again Feb. 14, 1746 -
1754; The Hon. Henry Pelham, Secretary at War.
1725. Lord King, Lord Chancellor.
ACTS AND DOCUMENTS
1716. Septennial Act to prolong the existence of
Parliament to seven years. (See Triennial Act, Wil. & Mar. 6 & 7, c. 2.) Passed owing to the popular excitement
and the strong Tory feeling manifested in England after the suppression of the rising in 1715, the Government fearing
lest the pending elections should return a House of Commons dangerous to the dynasty. This prolonging of its own
existence by the Parliament was violently objected to, but see the remarks of Hallam, Const. History.. Act l Geo.
I s.2,c.38.
1719. An Act declaring the power of the Parliament of Great Britain to legislate for Ireland, completing the dependence
of the Irish upon the English government Act 6 Geo. 1. C. 5.
1720. A bill was introduced to limit the power of the Crown to add to the Peerage, and so to make the House of
lords a strictly limited class assembly. It was, however, thrown out See Parl. Hist.vii. 589.
The Acts given above are printed in the Statutes.
1717. The Triple Alliance between England, France, and Holland, becoming, by the addition of the Emperor, in
1718, the Quadruple Alliance, to maintain the settlement of Utrecht, but giving Sardinia to the house of Savoy
in place of Sicily.
1725. The Treaty of Vienna was formed between the Emperor and Spain, with secret articles for a marriage between
the families, the recovery of Gibraltar and Minorca for Spain, and the support of the Stewarts. The Czarina Catherine
subsequently adhered to this alliance.
Printed in Dumont viii pt 2, lit
The same year, in consequence, the Treaty of Hanover was made between England, France, and Prussia to counteract
the Treaty of Vienna. It is one of the points of "Hanoverian policy" which was zealously attacked in
Parliament but the attacks were made in ignorance of the secret clauses of the Treaty of Vienna, which the King
knew, and communicated to Townshend and Walpole. Holland and Sweden subsequently adhered to the Treaty of Hanover,
and the Emperor abandoned the Spanish alliance, 1727.
The Suppression of Convocation (see on the Church and the Non-jurors, William III.). The antagonism between the
Whig bishops and the Tory lower clergy had led to the suspension of Convocation from 1689 - 1700, and to continual
conflicts since, In 1717 the determination of the Lower House to censure Dr. Hoadley, Bishop of Bangor, for Broad
Church sermons, led to the suspension of Convocation. It met formally till 1741, but then ceased to be summoned
at all till 1861. The "Bangorian controversy" is principally important now as having called forth the
answers of Dr. Law to Bishop Hoadley, which embody the views of the Tractarian party of the present century, and
may be said to have preserved the continuity of Anglican doctrines in the Church.
