George I
George I.
George I Ludwig was born 1660 in Hanover and died 1727 in Osnabrück. He was the oldest son of Sophia, Electress of Hanover and granddaughter of James I, and her husband Ernest, Elector of Hanover.
After the death of the last Stuart, Queen Anne in 1714, George I inherited the throne of England and Ireland under the Act of Settlement (1701) and became the first king of the House of Hanover. He was chosen to be king because he was brought up a Protestant. “The other alternative was the Catholic son of James II by Mary of Modena, James Edward Stuart.” (http://www.britannia.com/history/monarchs/mon53.html) There was an attempt to bring the so-called Old Pretender to the throne in 1715, but, like all the other Jacobite risings, it was not successful. During George's reign, the power shifted more and more to the Parliament, because the king did not speak fluent English and was in Hanover most of the time. At that time the Whigs dominated Parliament. “After the South Sea Bubble crises of 1720, Robert Walpole took over. The most able of George’s ministers and known as the first ‘Prime Minister’. Walpole’s was the longest running administration in British history (1721-42).” (http://www.royal.gov.uk/HistoryoftheMonarchy/KingsandQueensoftheUnitedKingdom/TheHanoverians/GeorgeI.aspx)
Literature: http://www.britannia.com/history/monarchs/mon53.html