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Parliament & The Hanoverians

British Colonies

Industrial Revolution

Georgian Chester

The reign of George III ( 1760-1820 ) maybe divided chronologically into three periods: first, 1760-83 to the end of the American War of Independence; second, 1783-1802 to the end of the Revolutionary War, a period during nearly the whole of which the younger Pitt was Prime Minister; third, 1803-20 when occurred the struggle against Napoleon and the subsequent years of distress.

The First of these periods ( 1760-83 ) sees the end of the Seven Years War in 1763, and the Treaty of Paris by which Great Britain obtained Canada . Then followed the series of events beginning with the Stamp Act in 1765, which caused the American War of Independence ( 1775 - 83 ); after three years France, and, later still, Spain and Holland combined in the war against Great Britain, and finally the latter had to recognize the independence of the colonies. The war had great influence upon the relations between Great Britain and Ireland, and enabled the Irish, under Grattan's leadership, to secure the independence of their Parliament and the abolition of the restrictions upon their trade In India this period saw the reforms of Clive during his third visit to India ( 1765-7 ), and the government of Warren Hastings from 1774-85 whilst Cooks first voyage to Australia in 1768 was the prelude to the colonization of that vast continent . In home politics these years are interesting for the attempts of the king to recover, from the Whig oligarchy, some of the lost power of the Crown, an attempt which was successful during the ministry of Lord North ( 1769-82 ), the king being really his own Prime Minister. During this period also came some of the chief inventions and discoveries of the Industrial Revolution, including the "Spinning Jenny" and the Steam Engine whilst in 1776 came the publication of Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations

The Second of the three periods ( 1783 - 1802 ) saw the ministry of the younger Pitt (1783-1801), the first ten years of which were years of peace and financial reform The later years were occupied with the war of the French Revolution ( 1793 - 1802 ), a war caused chiefly by the aggressiveness of France and her desire to spread her doctrines over Europe as a consequence of her Revolution, which began in 1789. At sea Great Britain had many of her most brilliant successes, but the war was, so far as Great Britain was concerned, somewhat unsuccessful on land, except at the close, in Egypt and in India, where, during Lord Wellesley's rule (1798-1805 ), important victories were won. Meantime, fear of the French doctrines spreading to England caused Pitt to pass some severe laws in order to repress any revolutionary movements, and led to the predominance of the Tory and the break-up of the Whig party In Ireland there was much unrest, which finally led to the Rebellion of 1798; Pitt succeeded in passing the Act of Union in 1800, though he failed to overcome the king's opposition to the Roman Catholic claims and consequently resigned. During this period many men great in Literature or Art died, such as Samuel Johnson and Burke, Gibbon the historian, and the poet Burns; and amongst painters, Reynolds, Gainsborough, and Romney.

The Third portion of the reign of George III (1802-20 ) was mainly occupied with the Napoleonic War ( 1803 - 15 ), which began with Napoleon's attempted invasion of England and the campaign of Trafalgar ( 1803 - 05 ). Then followed Napoleon's series of famous victories and his attempt to strangle British trade; our retaliatory measures finally led to war with the United States in 1814. Wellington's Peninsular Campaign ( 1809 - 14 ) had no small share in bringing about Napoleon's downfall, which eventually came after the Russian campaign of 1812 and the Leipzig campaign of 1813. On Napoleon's escape from Elba occurred the campaign of Waterloo in 1815 ; and then followed the reconstruction of Europe through the Congress of Vienna and the Treaty of Paris . The war had been conducted by a series of Tory Ministries , and after it was over there was considerable distress which led to many riots The period is an important one in our Imperial history, because of the acquisition of Malta and the Cape of Good Hope ; and the rule of Lord Wellesley ( 1798 - 1805 ) and of Lord Hastings ( 1814-23 ) in India ; in our ' Industrial History,' amongst other things, for the first steamer and the first locomotive engine in the history of humanity for the abolition of the Slave Trade in 1807, and the first Factory Law in 1802 ; and in literature, chiefly, perhaps, for the sonnets of Wordsworth and the beginning of Scott's Waverley Novels.

The century after 1815 may be divided into four periods; first, from 1815 - 32 to the first Reform Bill; second, from 1832 - 54; third, from 1854 - 78, a period of important wars; fourth, from 1878 till the present day.

During the First period, 1813 - 32, the chief features in Foreign affairs were the anti-Liberal policy of Metternich, the Greek War of Independence, and the Revolutions of 1830, which led to the creation of the kingdom of Belgium .In. Home affairs, great distress in the years after 1815 led to many riots. Then followed a period of Reforms; and finally, in 1829, owing to the agitation in Ireland, came the Catholic Emancipation Act, and then, on the return of the Whigs to power, the Reform Bill of 1832 . The period is important for the rule of Lord Hastings in India, and for the occupation of Singapore ; for the beginning of Railways ; and in literature for the poetry of Keats, Shelley, and Byron. George IV came to the throne in 1820, and was succeeded by William IV in 1830

During the Second period, from 1832 - 54, the chief interest in Foreign affairs lay in the policy of Lord Palmerston; and the chief events in Europe were the movements connected with the Revolutions of 1848 .

With regard to Home affairs, Queen Victoria began her long reign in 1837, under the tutelage of Lord Melbourne; and in 1846, during Peel's ministry, the Corn Laws, owing to the potato famine in Ireland ,were repealed .The other chief points of interest were the Poor Law Act of 1834, and the Ten Hours Act of 1847 ; in religion, the Oxford movement in England, and the disruption of the Church in Scotland ; and in literature, many of the works of Tennyson and Browning, Carlyle and Macaulay, Thackeray and Dickens. In Imperial history the period is important; it saw the birth of the Self-governing colony in Canada; the development of Australia and the annexation of New Zealand ; the acquisition of Hong-Kong the abolition of Slavery (1833), which led to difficulties in Jamaica and South Africa ; the first Afghan War, and the rule of Lord Dalhouse (1848 - 56) in India .

The Third period, 1854 - 78, was a period when momentous wars were fought. The Crimean War began in 1854 ; the Indian Mutiny followed in 1857 ; the Italian Liberation and the American Civil Wars came In 1859 and 1861. In 1862 Bismarck rose to be the ruling minister in Prussia, and brought about successively wars with Denmark, Austria (1866), and France (1870), the last of which led to a republic in France and the foundation of the German Empire . A few years later the Eastern Question became acute but the Treaty of Berlin (1878) settled matters for the time. In Home politics, Lord Palmerston was the dominant personality till 1865, and then came the rivalry of Disraeli and Gladstone. The Reform Bill of 1867 was passed; and in 1870 education was made compulsory and Irish affairs absorbed much attention after 1869, and the Irish Church was disestablished and the Land Acts were passed . The Dominion of Canada was founded in 1867 , and ten years later the Queen became Empress of India. The publication of Darwin's Origin of Species in 1859 marked an epoch in Science.

In the Fourth period, that since 1878, the main feature has been the interest shown by the nations of Europe in World Politics. There came on the past of the European nations, first, about 1884, the "grab" for Africa, and later, that for the Far East At times there was no little ill feeling between Great Britain and other European powers, and this was especially marked during the South African War in 1899 .

In Home affairs, since 1878, the chief features were the further experiments in democracy made by the third Reform Bill of 1884, by the extension of Local Government in 1888, and the Parliament Act of 1911; the growth of State interference; the disputes between capital and labour; the break-u p of the Liberal party In 1886 owing to the first Home Rule Bill, which gave their opponents a long career of office, and of the Unionist party in 1906, owing to the policy of Tariff Reform, which led the Liberals back to power, and of the Liberal Party once again owing to the war; the Land Purchase Act in Ireland; and the division of Ireland into the Irish Free State and Ulster.

One of the peculiarities of the movement towards culture in the eighteenth century was the deference to foreign influence. The Elizabethan era was essentially English. Under the Hanoverians, though constantly at war with France, our taste in letters, architecture and house decoration was to an unusual degree subjected to French and Italian influences. The romantic movements begun at the end of the century were a revolt back to native traditions and freedom, but even in the heyday of the century the English novel, unhampered by foreign models, had been progressing freely through Smollett and Fielding from Defoe (d. 1731) to Jane Austen (d. 1817).

In the work of music Handel and Italian opera largely took the place of native forms, but in art, painting gained the close association of society with Continental culture. The age of Reynolds (d. 1792), Gainsborough (d. 1788) and Romney (d. 1802) was the first notable efflorescence of a native pictorial art in this country, and its arrival in time to serve the "great families" was a happy coincidence. Thus was Hanoverian England able, through the greatness of individuals, to overcome the corruption and pettiness of her public life.

Continues