George IV.1820 -1830
GEORGE IV. ( George Frederick Augustus ), King of England, son of George III. and the Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg - Strelitz, born in 1762, died June 26, 1830.
PRINCIPAL EVENTS. Riots at Bristol. The Cato-street conspiracy discovered
and defeated, 1820. Death of Napoleon Buonaparte at St. Helena, 1821. Mechanics Institution first established, 1824. A year of bubble companies, 1825. Lotteries rendered
illegal, 1826. The Turkish fleet destroyed at Navarino by the combined
fleets of England, France, and Russia, 1827. The Test Act repealed, 1828. The Catholic Emancipation Act passed, 1829. Riots at Bristol; and breaking out of the cholera
at Sunderland, 1830.
Born 1762. Married Caroline of Brunswick daughter of Charles William, duke of Brunswick, - by whom he had one daughter. Began to reign, 1820. Reigned
10 years. Died 1830.
His dissipated life, his extravagance, his supposed marriage with a Catholic, Mrs. Fitzherbert, alienated from him the affection of his father and the esteem of nation, in 1795 he married the Princess Caroline of Brunswick, from whom he so separated, and who was afterwards tried for adultery in 1820 and acquitted.
When the battle of Waterloo was fought, King George III was still on the throne, but for some years past he had been a king in name only. The madness which had overtaken him once or twice in his reign had now greatly increased, and it had been found necessary to make his son Regent. In 1811 George became regent, the Prime Minister was the Earl of Liverpool; Canning was one of the most important men in the United Kingdom, and the Duke of Wellington, who had served the country so well, not only as a general in the field, but as an ambassador charged with the duty of arranging peace, had perhaps more power and influence than either Lord Liverpool or Canning.
In 1820 George III. died, and was succeeded by his son, George IV.
In 1827 the Earl of Liverpool fell ill, and had to give up his office. He was succeeded as Prime Minister by Canning. In this year was fought the battle of Navarino (1827), which must be mentioned, in the first place, because it is the only sea-battle in which England has taken part since Trafalgar; in the second place, it is remarkable because three great nations which so often ,both before and since, have found themselves enemies, for once fought side by side as friends against a common enemy.
The story of the battle can be shortly told. The Greeks , who had long been trying to free themselves from the
hated rule of the Turks, had risen in insurrection to regain their liberty. The Turks did their best to put them
down with savage cruelty. At last the great Power of Europe could allow the Greeks to be oppressed no longer. They
gave notice to both Turks and Greeks that the quarrel must cease, and that an arrangement must be made .
The Turks refused to listen to them, a combined fleet of British, French, and Russian ships was sent to Navarino,
on the west coast of the Morea. A conflict might perhaps have been avoided, but one of the Turkish ships unwisely
fired a shot. This was the signal for a general action, and after a hard fight the Turkish force was absolutely
destroyed. The independence of Greece was now possible, and Greece, with its capital in the ancient and famous
city of Athens, exists to this day.
At the time of the battle, the Prime Minister of this country was Lord Goderich, for in the month of August Canning had died. Goderich however, was not an able enough man for the high office which he filled, and his ministry only lasted four months. In January, 1828 he was replaced by the Duke of Wellington as Prime Minister. Robed Peel, afterwards known as Sir Robert Peel was appointed to the office of Home Secretary, a post which he had already filled seven years earlier under Lord Liverpool.
One of the most important events was the passing of the Catholic Emancipation Act, by the Wellington ministry, in 1829 George IV. left no descendants, his only daughter, the Princess Charlotte, wife of Leopold of Saxe-Coburg, having died childless in 1817. He was therefore seeded by his brother, William, duke Clarence (William IV. )
