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George II of Great Britain

February 15, 2024

George II (George Augustus; German: Georg August; 30 October / 9 November 1683[a] – 25 October 1760) was King of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (Hanover) and a prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire from 11 June 1727 (O.S.) until his death in 1760.

George II
Portrait by Thomas Hudson, 1744
Reign11/22[a] June 1727 – 25 October 1760
Coronation11/22[a] October 1727
PredecessorGeorge I
SuccessorGeorge III
Born30 October / (1683-11-09)9 November 1683[a]
Herrenhausen Palace,[2] or Leine Palace,[3] Hanover
Died25 October 1760(1760-10-25) (aged 76)
Kensington Palace, London, England
Burial11 November 1760
Westminster Abbey, London
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1705; died 1737)​
Issue
Detail
Names
George Augustus (German: Georg August)
HouseHanover
FatherGeorge I of Great Britain
MotherSophia Dorothea of Celle
ReligionProtestant[4]
Signature

Born and brought up in northern Germany, George is the most recent British monarch born outside Great Britain. The Act of Settlement 1701 and the Acts of Union 1707 positioned his grandmother Sophia of Hanover and her Protestant descendants to inherit the British throne. In 1705, George married Princess Caroline of Ansbach, with whom he had eight children. After the deaths of George's grandmother and Anne, Queen of Great Britain, in 1714, George's father, the Elector of Hanover, ascended the British throne as George I. In the first years of his father's reign as king, Prince George was associated with opposition politicians until they rejoined the governing party in 1720.

As king from 1727, George exercised little control over British domestic policy, which was largely controlled by the Parliament of Great Britain. As elector he spent twelve summers in Hanover, where he had more direct control over government policy. He had a difficult relationship with his eldest son, Frederick, who supported the parliamentary opposition. During the War of the Austrian Succession, George participated at the Battle of Dettingen in 1743, and thus became the most recent British monarch to lead an army in battle. In 1745 supporters of the Catholic claimant to the British throne, James Francis Edward Stuart ("The Old Pretender"), led by James's son Charles Edward Stuart ("The Young Pretender" or "Bonnie Prince Charlie"), attempted and failed to depose George in the last of the Jacobite rebellions. Frederick died suddenly in 1751, nine years before his father; George was succeeded by Frederick's eldest son, George III.

For two centuries after George II's death, history tended to view him with disdain, concentrating on his mistresses, short temper, and boorishness. Since then, reassessment of his legacy has led scholars to conclude that he exercised more influence in foreign policy and military appointments than previously thought.

Early life edit

Birth and family edit

 
George as a young boy with his mother, Sophia Dorothea of Celle, and his sister, Sophia Dorothea of Hanover

George was born in the city of Hanover in Germany, followed by his sister, Sophia Dorothea, three years later. Their parents, George Louis, Hereditary Prince of Brunswick-Lüneburg (later King George I of Great Britain), and Sophia Dorothea of Celle, both committed adultery. In 1694 the marriage was dissolved on the pretext that Sophia Dorothea had abandoned her husband.[5] She was confined to Ahlden House and denied access to her two children, who probably never saw their mother again.[6]

George spoke only French, the language of diplomacy and the court, until the age of four, after which he was taught German by one of his tutors, Johann Hilmar Holstein.[7] In addition to French and German, he also learned English and Italian, and studied genealogy, military history, and battle tactics with particular diligence.[8]

George's second cousin once removed, Queen Anne, ascended the thrones of England, Scotland, and Ireland in 1702. She had no surviving children, and by the Act of Settlement 1701, the English Parliament designated Anne's closest Protestant blood relatives, George's grandmother Sophia and her descendants, as Anne's heirs in England and Ireland. Consequently, after his grandmother and father, George was third in line to succeed Anne in two of her three realms. He was naturalized as an English subject in 1705 by the Sophia Naturalization Act, and in 1706 he was made a Knight of the Garter and created Duke and Marquess of Cambridge, Earl of Milford Haven, Viscount Northallerton, and Baron Tewkesbury in the Peerage of England.[9] England and Scotland united in 1707 to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, and jointly accepted the succession as laid down by the English Act of Settlement.[10]

Marriage edit

 
Princess Caroline by Godfrey Kneller, 1716

George's father did not want his son to enter into a loveless arranged marriage as he had and wanted him to have the opportunity of meeting his bride before any formal arrangements were made.[11] Negotiations from 1702 for the hand of Princess Hedvig Sophia of Sweden, Dowager Duchess and regent of Holstein-Gottorp, came to nothing.[12] In June 1705, under the false name "Monsieur de Busch", George visited the Ansbach court at its summer residence in Triesdorf to investigate incognito a marriage prospect: Princess Caroline of Ansbach, the former ward of his aunt Queen Sophia Charlotte of Prussia. The English envoy to Hanover, Edmund Poley, reported that George was so taken by "the good character he had of her that he would not think of anybody else".[13] A marriage contract was concluded by the end of July.[14] On 22 August / 2 September 1705[a] Caroline arrived in Hanover for her wedding, which was held the same evening in the chapel at Herrenhausen.[11]

George was keen to participate in the war against France in Flanders, but his father refused to let him join the army in an active role until he had a son and heir.[15] In early 1707 George's hopes were fulfilled when Caroline gave birth to a son, Frederick.[16] In July Caroline fell seriously ill with smallpox, and George caught the infection after staying by her side devotedly during her illness.[17] They both recovered. In 1708 George participated in the Battle of Oudenarde in the vanguard of the Hanoverian cavalry; his horse and a colonel immediately beside him were killed, but George survived unharmed.[18] The British commander, Marlborough, wrote that George "distinguished himself extremely, charging at the head of and animating by his example [the Hanoverian] troops, who played a good part in this happy victory".[19] Between 1709 and 1713 George and Caroline had three daughters: Anne, Amelia, and Caroline.[20]

By 1714 Queen Anne's health had declined, and British Whigs, who supported the Hanoverian succession, thought it prudent for one of the Hanoverians to live in England to safeguard the Protestant succession on Anne's death. As George was a peer of the realm (as Duke of Cambridge), it was suggested that he be summoned to Parliament to sit in the House of Lords. Both Anne and George's father refused to support the plan, although George, Caroline, and Sophia were all in favour.[21] George did not go. Within the year both Sophia and Anne were dead, and George's father was king.[22]

Prince of Wales edit

Quarrel with the King edit

 
London, c. 1710
 
Portrait by Kneller, 1716

George and his father sailed for England from The Hague on 16/27 September 1714 and arrived at Greenwich two days later.[23] The following day, they formally entered London in a ceremonial procession.[24] George was given the title of Prince of Wales. Caroline followed her husband to Britain in October with their daughters, while Frederick remained in Hanover to be brought up by private tutors.[25] London was like nothing George had seen before; it was 50 times larger than Hanover,[b] and the crowd was estimated at up to one and a half million spectators.[27] George courted popularity with voluble expressions of praise for the English, and claimed that he had no drop of blood that was not English.[28]

In July 1716, the King returned to Hanover for six months, and George was given limited powers, as "Guardian and Lieutenant of the Realm", to govern in his father's absence.[29] He made a royal progress through Chichester, Havant, Portsmouth, and Guildford in southern England.[30] Spectators were allowed to see him dine in public at Hampton Court Palace.[31] An attempt on his life at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, in which one person was shot dead before the assailant was brought under control, boosted his high public profile.[32]

The King distrusted or was jealous of George's popularity, which contributed to the development of a poor relationship between them.[33] The birth in 1717 of George's second son, George William, proved to be a catalyst for a family quarrel; the King, supposedly following custom, appointed Lord Chamberlain Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle, as one of the baptismal sponsors of the child. The King was angered when George, who disliked Newcastle, verbally insulted the Duke at the christening, which the Duke misunderstood as a challenge to a duel.[c] George and Caroline were temporarily confined to their apartments on the order of the King, who subsequently banished his son from St James's Palace, the King's residence.[35] The Prince and Princess of Wales left court, but their children remained in the care of the King.[36]

George and Caroline missed their children, and were desperate to see them. On one occasion, they secretly visited the palace without the approval of the King; Caroline fainted and George "cried like a child".[37] The King partially relented and permitted them to visit once a week, though he later allowed Caroline unconditional access.[38] In February 1718, Prince George William died aged only three months, with his father by his side.[39]

Political opposition edit

Banned from the palace and shunned by his own father, the Prince of Wales was identified for the next several years with opposition to George I's policies,[40] which included measures designed to increase religious freedom in Great Britain and expand Hanover's German territories at the expense of Sweden.[41] His new London residence, Leicester House, became a frequent meeting place for his father's political opponents, including Sir Robert Walpole and Lord Townshend, who had left the government in 1717.[42]

The King visited Hanover again from May to November 1719. Instead of appointing George to the guardianship, he established a regency council.[43] In 1720, Walpole encouraged the King and his son to reconcile, for the sake of public unity, which they did half-heartedly.[44] Walpole and Townshend returned to political office, and rejoined the ministry.[45] George was soon disillusioned with the terms of the reconciliation; his three daughters who were in the care of the King were not returned and he was still barred from becoming regent during the King's absences.[46] He came to believe that Walpole had tricked him into the rapprochement as part of a scheme to regain power. Over the next few years, he and Caroline lived quietly, avoiding overt political activity. They had three more children: William, Mary, and Louisa, who were brought up at Leicester House and Richmond Lodge, George's summer residence.[47]

In 1721, the economic disaster of the South Sea Bubble allowed Walpole to rise to the pinnacle of government.[48] Walpole and his Whig Party were dominant in politics, as the King feared that the Tories would not support the succession laid down in the Act of Settlement.[49] The power of the Whigs was so great that the Tories would not hold power for another half-century.[50]

Reign edit

Accession edit

 
Portrait by Charles Jervas, c. 1727

George I died on 11/22 June 1727 during one of his visits to Hanover, and his son succeeded him as king and elector at the age of 43. George II decided not to travel to Germany for his father's funeral, which far from bringing criticism led to praise from the English who considered it proof of his fondness for England.[51] He suppressed his father's will because it attempted to split the Hanoverian succession between George II's future grandsons rather than vest all the domains (both British and Hanoverian) in a single person. Both British and Hanoverian ministers considered the will unlawful, as George I did not have the legal power to determine the succession personally.[52] Critics supposed that George II hid the will to avoid paying out his father's legacies.[53]

George II was crowned at Westminster Abbey on 11/22 October 1727.[51] George Frideric Handel was commissioned to write four new anthems for the coronation, including Zadok the Priest.[54]

It was widely believed that George would dismiss Walpole, who had distressed him by joining his father's government, and replace him with Sir Spencer Compton.[55] George asked Compton, rather than Walpole, to write his first speech as king, but Compton asked Walpole to draft it. Caroline advised George to retain Walpole, who continued to gain royal favour by securing a generous civil list (a fixed annual amount set by Parliament for the king's official expenditure) of £800,000,[56] equivalent to £117,800,000 today.[57] Walpole commanded a substantial majority in Parliament and George had little choice but to retain him or risk ministerial instability.[58] Compton was ennobled as Lord Wilmington the following year.[59]

 
Portrait by Enoch Seeman, c. 1730

Walpole directed domestic policy, and after the resignation of Lord Townshend in 1730 also controlled George's foreign policy.[60] Historians generally believe that George played an honorific role in Britain, and closely followed the advice of Walpole and senior ministers, who made the major decisions.[61] Although the King was eager for war in Europe, his ministers were more cautious.[62] A truce was agreed in the Anglo-Spanish War, and George unsuccessfully pressed Walpole to join the War of the Polish Succession on the side of the German states.[63] In April 1733 Walpole withdrew the unpopular Excise Bill that had attracted strong opposition, including from within his own party. George lent Walpole support by dismissing the bill's opponents from their court offices.[64]

Family problems edit

George II's relationship with his son Frederick, Prince of Wales, worsened during the 1730s. Frederick had been left behind in Germany when his parents came to England, and they had not met for 14 years. In 1728, he was brought to England, and swiftly became a figurehead of the political opposition.[65] When George visited Hanover in the summers of 1729, 1732 and 1735, he left his wife to chair the regency council in Britain rather than his son.[66] Meanwhile, rivalry between George II and his brother-in-law and first cousin Frederick William I of Prussia led to tension along the Prussian–Hanoverian border, which eventually culminated in the mobilization of troops in the border zone and suggestions of a duel between the two kings. Negotiations for a marriage between the Prince of Wales and Frederick William's daughter Wilhelmine dragged on for years but neither side would make the concessions demanded by the other, and the idea was shelved.[67] Instead, the prince married Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha in April 1736.[68]

In May 1736, George returned to Hanover, which resulted in unpopularity in England; a satirical notice was even pinned to the gates of St James's Palace decrying his absence. "Lost or strayed out of this house", it read, "a man who has left a wife and six children on the parish."[69] The King made plans to return in the face of inclement December weather; when his ship was caught in a storm, gossip swept London that he had drowned. Eventually, in January 1737, he arrived back in England.[70] Immediately, he fell ill with a fever and piles, and withdrew to his bed. The Prince of Wales put it about that the King was dying, with the result that George insisted on getting up and attending a social event to disprove the gossip-mongers.[71]

When the Prince of Wales applied to Parliament for an increase in his allowance, an open quarrel broke out. The King, who had a reputation for stinginess,[72] offered a private settlement, which Frederick rejected. Parliament voted against the measure, but George reluctantly increased his son's allowance on Walpole's advice.[73] Further friction between them followed when Frederick excluded the King and Queen from the birth of his daughter in July 1737 by bundling his wife, who was in labour, into a coach and driving off in the middle of the night.[74] George banished him and his family from the royal court, much as his own father had done to him, except that he allowed Frederick to retain custody of his children.[75]

Soon afterwards, George's wife Caroline died on 20 November 1737 (O.S.). He was deeply affected by her death, and to the surprise of many displayed "a tenderness of which the world thought him before utterly incapable".[76] On her deathbed she told her sobbing husband to remarry, to which he replied, "Non, j'aurai des maîtresses!" (French for "No, I shall have mistresses!").[77] It was common knowledge that George had already had mistresses during his marriage, and he had kept Caroline informed about them.[78] Henrietta Howard, later Countess of Suffolk, had moved to Hanover with her husband during the reign of Queen Anne,[79] and had been one of Caroline's women of the bedchamber. She was his mistress from before the accession of George I until November 1734. She was followed by Amalie von Wallmoden, later Countess of Yarmouth, whose son, Johann Ludwig von Wallmoden, may have been fathered by George. Johann Ludwig was born while Amalie was still married to her husband, and George did not acknowledge him publicly as his own son.[80]

War and rebellion edit

Further information: Jacobite rising of 1745
Further information: War of the Austrian Succession

Against Walpole's wishes, but to George's delight, Britain reopened hostilities with Spain in 1739.[81] Britain's conflict with Spain, the War of Jenkins' Ear, became part of the War of the Austrian Succession when a major European dispute broke out upon the death of Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI in 1740. At issue was the right of Charles's daughter, Maria Theresa, to succeed to his Austrian dominions.[82] George spent the summers of 1740 and 1741 in Hanover, where he was more able to intervene directly in European diplomatic affairs in his capacity as elector.[83]

Prince Frederick campaigned actively for the opposition in the 1741 British general election, and Walpole was unable to secure a stable majority. Walpole attempted to buy off the prince with the promise of an increased allowance and offered to pay off his debts, but Frederick refused.[84] With his support eroded, Walpole retired in 1742 after over 20 years in office. He was replaced by Spencer Compton, Lord Wilmington, whom George had originally considered for the premiership in 1727. Wilmington, however, was a figurehead;[85] actual power was held by others, such as Lord Carteret, George's favourite minister after Walpole.[2] When Wilmington died in 1743, Henry Pelham took his place at the head of the government.[86]

 
Depicted at the Battle of Dettingen in 1743 by John Wootton
 
Half-crown of George II, 1746. The inscription reads GEORGIUS II DEI GRATIA (George II by the Grace of God). The word LIMA under the King's head signifies that the coin was struck from silver seized from the Spanish treasure fleet off Lima, Peru, during the War of the Austrian Succession.[87]

The pro-war faction was led by Carteret, who claimed that French power would increase if Maria Theresa failed to succeed to the Austrian throne. George agreed to send 12,000 hired Hessian and Danish mercenaries to Europe, ostensibly to support Maria Theresa. Without conferring with his British ministers, George stationed them in Hanover to prevent enemy French troops from marching into the electorate.[88] The British army had not fought in a major European war in over 20 years, and the government had badly neglected its upkeep.[89] George had pushed for greater professionalism in the ranks, and promotion by merit rather than by sale of commissions, but without much success.[90] An allied force of Austrian, British, Dutch, Hanoverian and Hessian troops engaged the French at the Battle of Dettingen on 16/27 June 1743. George personally accompanied them, leading them to victory, thus becoming the last British monarch to lead troops into battle.[91] Though his actions in the battle were admired, the war became unpopular with the British public, who felt that the King and Carteret were subordinating British interests to Hanoverian ones.[92] Carteret lost support, and to George's dismay resigned in 1744.[93]

Tension grew between the Pelham ministry and George, as he continued to take advice from Carteret and rejected pressure from his other ministers to include William Pitt the Elder in the Cabinet, which would have broadened the government's support base.[94] The King disliked Pitt because he had previously opposed government policy and attacked measures seen as pro-Hanoverian.[95] In February 1746, Pelham and his followers resigned. George asked Lord Bath and Carteret to form an administration, but after less than 48 hours they returned the seals of office, unable to secure sufficient parliamentary support. Pelham returned to office triumphant, and George was forced to appoint Pitt to the ministry.[96]

George's French opponents encouraged rebellion by the Jacobites, the supporters of the Roman Catholic claimant to the British throne, James Francis Edward Stuart, often known as the Old Pretender. Stuart was the son of James II, who had been deposed in 1688 and replaced by his Protestant relations. Two prior rebellions in 1715 and 1719 had failed. In July 1745, the Old Pretender's son, Charles Edward Stuart, popularly known as Bonnie Prince Charlie or the Young Pretender, landed in Scotland, where support for his cause was highest. George, who was summering in Hanover, returned to London at the end of August.[97] The Jacobites defeated British forces in September at the Battle of Prestonpans, and then moved south into England. The Jacobites failed to gain further support, and the French reneged on a promise of help. Losing morale, the Jacobites retreated back into Scotland.[98] On 16/27 April 1746, Charles faced George's military-minded son Prince William, Duke of Cumberland, in the Battle of Culloden, the last pitched battle fought on British soil. The ravaged Jacobite troops were routed by the government army. Charles escaped to France, but many of his supporters were caught and executed. Jacobitism was all but crushed; no further serious attempt was made at restoring the House of Stuart.[99] The War of the Austrian Succession continued until 1748, when Maria Theresa was recognized as Archduchess of Austria. The peace was celebrated by a fête in Green Park, London, for which Handel composed Music for the Royal Fireworks.[100]

Planning for succession edit

 
Portrait by John Shackleton, c. 1755–1757

In the general election of 1747, Frederick, Prince of Wales, again campaigned actively for the opposition but Pelham's party won easily.[101] Like his father before him, Frederick entertained opposition figures at his house in Leicester Square.[102] When Frederick died unexpectedly in 1751, his eldest son, Prince George, became heir apparent. The King commiserated with Frederick's widow, Augusta, and wept with her.[103] As her son would not reach the age of majority until 1756, a new British Regency Act was passed that would make her regent, assisted by a council led by Frederick's brother William in case of George II's death.[104] The King also made a new will, which provided for William to be sole regent in Hanover.[105] After the death of his daughter Louisa at the end of the year, George lamented, "This has been a fatal year for my family. I lost my eldest son – but I am glad of it ... Now [Louisa] is gone. I know I did not love my children when they were young: I hated to have them running into my room; but now I love them as well as most fathers."[106]

Seven Years' War edit

In 1754 Pelham died, to be succeeded by his elder brother, Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle.

Hostility between France and Britain, particularly over the colonization of North America, continued.[107] Fearing a French invasion of Hanover, George aligned himself with Prussia (ruled by his nephew, Frederick the Great), Austria's enemy. Russia and France allied with Austria, their former enemy. A French invasion of the British-held island of Minorca led to the outbreak of the Seven Years' War in 1756. Public disquiet over British failures at the start of the conflict led to Newcastle's resignation and the appointment of William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire, as prime minister and William Pitt the Elder as Secretary of State for the Southern Department.[108] In April the following year George dismissed Pitt in an attempt to construct an administration more to his liking. Over the succeeding three months attempts to form another stable ministerial combination failed. In June Lord Waldegrave held the seals of office for only four days. By the start of July, Pitt was recalled and Newcastle returned as prime minister. As Secretary of State, Pitt guided policy relating to the war. Great Britain, Hanover, and Prussia and their allies Hesse-Kassel and Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel fought against other European powers, including France, Austria, Russia, Sweden and Saxony. The war involved multiple theatres from Europe to North America and India, where British dominance increased with the victories of Robert Clive over French forces and their allies at the Battle of Arcot and the Battle of Plassey.[109]

 
George said his son Prince William, Duke of Cumberland (pictured), had "ruined me and disgraced himself" at the 1757 Convention of Klosterzeven.

George's son William commanded the King's troops in northern Germany. In 1757 Hanover was invaded and George gave his son full powers to conclude a separate peace,[110] but by September George was furious at William's negotiated settlement, which he felt greatly favoured the French.[111] George said his son had "ruined me and disgraced himself".[112] William, by his own choice, resigned his military offices,[113] and George revoked the peace deal on the grounds that the French had infringed it by disarming Hessian troops after the ceasefire.[114]

In the Annus Mirabilis of 1759 British forces captured Quebec and captured Guadeloupe, defeated a French plan to invade Britain following naval battles at Lagos and Quiberon Bay,[115] and halted a resumed French advance on Hanover at the Battle of Minden.[116]

Death edit

By October 1760 George II was blind in one eye and hard of hearing.[117] On the morning of 25 October he rose as usual at 6:00 am, drank a cup of hot chocolate, and went to his close stool alone. After a few minutes, his valet heard a loud crash and entered the room to find the King on the floor;[118] his physician, Frank Nicholls, recorded that he "appeared to have just come from his necessary-stool, and as if going to open his escritoire".[119]

The King was lifted into his bed, and Princess Amelia was sent for; before she reached him, he was dead. At the age of nearly 77 he had lived longer than any of his English or British predecessors.[120] A post-mortem revealed that George had died as the result of a thoracic aortic dissection.[119][121] He was succeeded by his grandson George III, and buried on 11 November in Westminster Abbey. He left instructions for the sides of his and his wife's coffins to be removed so that their remains could mingle.[122]

Legacy edit

 
Columbia University in New York was founded by royal charter in 1754 as King's College.

George donated the royal library to the British Museum in 1757, four years after the museum's foundation.[123] He had no interest in reading,[124] or in the arts and sciences, and preferred to spend his leisure hours stag-hunting on horseback or playing cards.[125] In 1737, he founded the Georg August University of Göttingen, the first university in the Electorate of Hanover, and visited it in 1748.[126] The asteroid 359 Georgia was named in his honour at the university in 1902. He served as the Chancellor of the University of Dublin between 1716 and 1727; and in 1754 issued the charter for King's College in New York City, which later became Columbia University. The province of Georgia, founded by royal charter in 1732, was named after him.[127]

 
Statue by John Van Nost erected in 1753 in Golden Square, London[128]

During George II's reign British interests expanded throughout the world, the Jacobite challenge to the Hanoverian dynasty was extinguished, and the power of ministers and Parliament in Britain became well-established. Nevertheless, in the memoirs of contemporaries such as Lord Hervey and Horace Walpole, George is depicted as a weak buffoon, governed by his wife and ministers.[129] Biographies of George written during the nineteenth and first part of the twentieth century relied on these biased accounts.[130] Since the last quarter of the twentieth century, scholarly analysis of surviving correspondence has indicated that George was not as ineffective as previously thought.[131] Letters from ministers are annotated by George with pertinent remarks and demonstrate that he had a grasp of and interest in foreign policy in particular.[132] He was often able to prevent the appointment of ministers or commanders he disliked, or sideline them into lesser offices.[133] This academic reassessment, however, has not completely eliminated the popular perception of George II as a "faintly ludicrous king".[134] His parsimony, for example, may have opened him to ridicule, though his biographers observe that parsimony is preferable to extravagance.[135] Lord Charlemont excused George's short temper by explaining that sincerity of feeling is better than deception, "His temper was warm and impetuous, but he was good-natured and sincere. Unskilled in the royal talent of dissimulation, he always was what he appeared to be. He might offend, but he never deceived."[136] Lord Waldegrave wrote, "I am thoroughly convinced that hereafter, when time shall have wore away those specks and blemishes which sully the brightest characters, and from which no man is totally exempt, he will be numbered amongst those patriot kings, under whose government the people have enjoyed the greatest happiness".[137] George may not have played a major role in history, but he was influential at times and he upheld constitutional government.[138] Elizabeth Montagu said of him, "With him our laws and liberties were safe, he possessed in a great degree the confidence of his people and the respect of foreign governments; and a certain steadiness of character made him of great consequence in these unsettled times ... His character would not afford subject for epic poetry, but will look well in the sober page of history."[139]

Titles, styles and arms edit

Titles and styles edit

In Britain:

  • From 1706: Duke and Marquess of Cambridge, Earl of Milford Haven, Viscount Northallerton and Baron of Tewkesbury[140]
  • August–September 1714: His Royal Highness George Augustus, Prince of Great Britain, Electoral Prince of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Duke of Cornwall and Rothesay, etc.[141]
  • 1714–1727: His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales
  • 1727–1760: His Majesty The King

George II's full style was "George the Second, by the Grace of God, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Archtreasurer and Prince-Elector of the Holy Roman Empire".[142]

Arms edit

When George became Prince of Wales in 1714, he was granted the royal arms with an inescutcheon of gules plain in the Hanoverian quarter differenced overall by a label of three points argent. The crest included the single arched coronet of his rank. As king, he used the royal arms as used by his father undifferenced.[143]

 
 
Coat of arms as the Prince of Wales 1714–1727 Coat of arms of George II as King of Great Britain 1727–1760

Family edit

Ancestry edit


Issue edit

 
John Croker's medal of 1732 showing the surviving children of George II and Caroline: Frederick, William, Anne, Amelia, Caroline, Mary, and Louisa

Caroline's ten[146] or eleven[147] pregnancies resulted in eight live births. One of the couple's children died in infancy, and seven lived to adulthood.

Name Birth Death Notes
Frederick, Prince of Wales 31 January 1707 31 March 1751 married 1736, Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha; had issue, including the future George III
Anne, Princess Royal 2 November 1709 12 January 1759 married 1734, William IV, Prince of Orange; had issue
Princess Amelia 10 June 1711 31 October 1786 never married, no issue
Princess Caroline 10 June 1713 28 December 1757 never married, no issue
Stillborn son 20 November 1716
Prince George William 13 November 1717 17 February 1718 died in infancy
Miscarriage 1718
Prince William, Duke of Cumberland 26 April 1721 31 October 1765 never married, no issue
Princess Mary 5 March 1723 14 January 1772 married 1740, Frederick II, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel; had issue
Princess Louisa 18 December 1724 19 December 1751 married 1743, Frederick V, King of Denmark and Norway; had issue
Miscarriage[147] July 1725
Dates in this table are New Style

Notes edit

  1. ^ a b c d e Over the course of George's life, two calendars were used: the Old Style Julian calendar and the New Style Gregorian calendar. Before 1700, the two calendars were 10 days apart. Hanover switched from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar on 19 February (O.S.) / 1 March (N.S.) 1700. Great Britain switched on 3/14 September 1752. George was born on 30 October Old Style, which was 9 November New Style, but because the calendar shifted forward a further day in 1700, the date is occasionally miscalculated as 10 November.[1] In this article, individual dates before September 1752 are indicated as either O.S. or N.S. or both. All dates after September 1752 are N.S. only. All years are assumed to start from 1 January and not 25 March, which was the English New Year.
  2. ^ Hanover had about 1,800 houses, whereas London had 100,000.[26]
  3. ^ George shook his fist at Newcastle and said "You are a rascal; I shall find you out!", which the Duke apparently misheard as "You are a rascal; I shall fight you!"[34]

References edit

  1. ^ Huberty et al., p. 108
  2. ^ a b Cannon.
  3. ^ Thompson, p. 10.
  4. ^ "The Hanoverians are here!". Historic Royal Palaces. 2022. the monarch could only be Anglican
    • "George I". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2022. all British monarchs must be Protestants of the Church of England
    • "Act of Settlement". The Royal Family. 2022. The Sovereign now had to swear to maintain the Church of England (and after 1707, the Church of Scotland)
  5. ^ Van der Kiste, p. 6.
  6. ^ Black, George II, pp. 35–36; Thompson, p. 19; Van der Kiste, p. 7.
  7. ^ Thompson, p. 16.
  8. ^ Trench, p. 7; Van der Kiste, p. 9.
  9. ^ Thompson, pp. 35–36.
  10. ^ Union with Scotland Act 1706 and Union with England Act 1707, The National Archives, retrieved 20 September 2011.
  11. ^ a b Van der Kiste, p. 17.
  12. ^ Thompson, p. 28.
  13. ^ Van der Kiste, p. 15.
  14. ^ Thompson, p. 30; Van der Kiste, p. 16.
  15. ^ Thompson, p. 31; Van der Kiste, p. 18.
  16. ^ Van der Kiste, p. 19.
  17. ^ Van der Kiste, p. 21.
  18. ^ Thompson, p. 32; Trench, p. 18; Van der Kiste, p. 22.
  19. ^ Van der Kiste, p. 23.
  20. ^ Thompson, p. 37.
  21. ^ Van der Kiste, p. 30.
  22. ^ Thompson, p. 38.
  23. ^ Van der Kiste, p. 36.
  24. ^ Trench, p. 38; Van der Kiste, p. 37.
  25. ^ Thompson, pp. 39–40; Trench, p. 39.
  26. ^ Van der Kiste, p. 39.
  27. ^ Van der Kiste, p. 37.
  28. ^ Trench, p. 55; Van der Kiste, p. 44.
  29. ^ Trench, pp. 63–65; Van der Kiste, p. 55.
  30. ^ Van der Kiste, p. 59.
  31. ^ Black, George II, p. 45; Thompson, p. 47.
  32. ^ Van der Kiste, p. 61.
  33. ^ Trench, p. 75; Van der Kiste, p. 61.
  34. ^ Van der Kiste, p. 63.
  35. ^ Trench, p. 77.
  36. ^ Black, George II, p. 46; Thompson, p. 53; Trench, p. 78.
  37. ^ Van der Kiste, p. 66.
  38. ^ Van der Kiste, pp. 66–67.
  39. ^ Trench, p. 80.
  40. ^ Trench, pp. 67, 87.
  41. ^ Thompson, pp. 48–50, 55.
  42. ^ Trench, pp. 79, 82.
  43. ^ Van der Kiste, p. 71.
  44. ^ Thompson, p. 57; Trench, pp. 88–90; Van der Kiste, pp. 72–74.
  45. ^ Black, George II, p. 52; Thompson, p. 58; Trench, p. 89.
  46. ^ Trench, pp. 88–89.
  47. ^ Black, George II, p. 54; Thompson, pp. 58–59.
  48. ^ Trench, pp. 104–105.
  49. ^ Trench, pp. 106–107.
  50. ^ Thompson, p. 45; Trench, p. 107.
  51. ^ a b Van der Kiste, p. 97.
  52. ^ Trench, pp. 130–131.
  53. ^ Black, George II, p. 88; Cannon; Trench, pp. 130–131.
  54. ^ Black, George II, p. 77.
  55. ^ Black, George II, p. 80; Trench, p. 132.
  56. ^ Trench, pp. 132–133.
  57. ^ United Kingdom Gross Domestic Product deflator figures follow the Measuring Worth "consistent series" supplied in Thomas, Ryland; Williamson, Samuel H. (2018). "What Was the U.K. GDP Then?". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  58. ^ Black, George II, pp. 81–84; Black, Walpole in Power, pp. 29–31, 53, 61.
  59. ^ Van der Kiste, p. 95.
  60. ^ Trench, p. 149.
  61. ^ Thompson, p. 92.
  62. ^ Black, George II, p. 95.
  63. ^ Trench, pp. 173–174; Van der Kiste, p. 138.
  64. ^ Black, George II, pp. 141–143; Thompson, pp. 102–103; Trench, pp. 166–167.
  65. ^ Trench, pp. 141–142; Van der Kiste, pp. 115–116.
  66. ^ Thompson, pp. 85–86; Van der Kiste, pp. 118, 126, 139.
  67. ^ Van der Kiste, p. 118.
  68. ^ Trench, p. 179.
  69. ^ Trench, pp. 182–184; Van der Kiste, pp. 149–150.
  70. ^ Trench, p. 185–187; Van der Kiste, p. 152.
  71. ^ Van der Kiste, p. 153.
  72. ^ Black, George II, p. 136; Thompson, pp. 7, 64; Trench, p. 150.
  73. ^ Trench, pp. 189–190; Van der Kiste, pp. 153–154.
  74. ^ Thompson, p. 120; Trench, p. 192; Van der Kiste, pp. 155–157.
  75. ^ Trench, p. 196; Van der Kiste, p. 158.
  76. ^ Hervey's Memoirs, vol. III, p. 916, quoted in Thompson, p. 124, and Van der Kiste, p. 165.
  77. ^ Thompson, p. 124; Trench, p. 199.
  78. ^ Thompson, p. 92; Trench, pp. 175, 181.
  79. ^ Van der Kiste, pp. 25, 137.
  80. ^ Black, George II, p. 157; Kilburn; Weir, p. 284.
  81. ^ Trench, pp. 205–206.
  82. ^ Trench, p. 210.
  83. ^ Thompson, pp. 133, 139.
  84. ^ Black, George II, p. 174; Trench, p. 212.
  85. ^ Black, George II, p. 86.
  86. ^ Thompson, p. 150.
  87. ^ "Silver 'Lima' crown (5 shillings) of George II", British Museum, retrieved 26 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine (archived 29 April 2011)
  88. ^ Trench, pp. 211–212.
  89. ^ Trench, pp. 206–209.
  90. ^ Black, George II, p. 111; Trench, pp. 136, 208; Van der Kiste, p. 173.
  91. ^ Thompson, p. 148; Trench, pp. 217–223.
  92. ^ Black, George II, pp. 181–184; Van der Kiste, pp. 179–180.
  93. ^ Black, George II, pp. 185–186; Thompson, p. 160; Van der Kiste, p. 181.
  94. ^ Black, George II, pp. 190–193; Thompson, pp. 162, 169; Trench, pp. 234–235.
  95. ^ Black, George II, pp. 164, 184, 195.
  96. ^ Black, George II, pp. 190–193; Cannon; Trench, pp. 234–235.
  97. ^ Van der Kiste, p. 184.
  98. ^ Black, George II, pp. 190–191.
  99. ^ Van der Kiste, pp. 186–187.
  100. ^ Thompson, pp. 187–189.
  101. ^ Black, George II, p. 199; Trench, p. 243; Van der Kiste, p. 188.
  102. ^ Van der Kiste, p. 189.
  103. ^ Thompson, p. 208; Trench, p. 247.
  104. ^ Black, George II, pp. 207–211; Thompson, p. 209; Trench, p. 249; Van der Kiste, p. 195.
  105. ^ Thompson, p. 211.
  106. ^ Horace Walpole's memoirs, vol. I, p. 152, quoted in Thompson, p. 213 and Trench, p. 250.
  107. ^ Thompson, pp. 233–238.
  108. ^ Black, George II, pp. 231–232; Thompson, p. 252; Trench, pp. 271–274.
  109. ^ Ashley, p. 677.
  110. ^ Thompson, pp. 265–266; Trench, p. 283.
  111. ^ Thompson, p. 268; Trench, p. 284.
  112. ^ Horace Walpole's memoirs, vol. III, p. 61, quoted in Trench, p. 286.
  113. ^ Thompson, p. 276; Trench, p. 286.
  114. ^ Thompson, p. 270; Trench, p. 287.
  115. ^ Trench, pp. 293–296.
  116. ^ Thompson, pp. 282–283.
  117. ^ Thompson, p. 275; Trench, p. 292; Van der Kiste, p. 212.
  118. ^ Thompson, pp. 289–290; Van der Kiste, p. 213.
  119. ^ a b Nicholls, Frank (1761). "Observations concerning the body of His Late Majesty". Philos Trans Lond. 52: 265–274.
  120. ^ Van der Kiste, p. 213.
  121. ^ Criado, Frank J. (2011). "Aortic dissection: a 250-year perspective". Texas Heart Institute Journal. 38 (6): 694–700. PMC 3233335. PMID 22199439.
  122. ^ Black, George II, p. 253; Thompson, p. 290.
  123. ^ Black, George II, pp. 68, 127.
  124. ^ Black, George II, p. 127; Thompson, pp. 97–98; Trench, p. 153.
  125. ^ Black, George II, p. 128; Trench, pp. 140, 152.
  126. ^ Black, George II, p. 128.
  127. ^ Thompson, p. 96.
  128. ^ Van der Kiste, between pp. 150 and 151.
  129. ^ Black, George II, pp. 255–257.
  130. ^ Black, George II, pp. 257–258.
  131. ^ Black, George II, pp. 258–259.
  132. ^ Black, George II, pp. 144–146; Cannon; Trench, pp. 135–136.
  133. ^ Black, George II, p. 195.
  134. ^ Best, p. 71.
  135. ^ Black, George II, p. 82; Trench, p. 300; Lord Waldegrave's Memoirs quoted in Trench, p. 270.
  136. ^ Charlemont quoted in Cannon and Trench, p. 299.
  137. ^ Quoted in Trench, p. 270.
  138. ^ Black, George II, p. 138; Cannon; Trench, p. 300.
  139. ^ Quoted in Black, George II, p. 254.
  140. ^ Weir, p. 277.
  141. ^ e.g. "No. 5264". The London Gazette. 28 September 1714. p. 1.
  142. ^ e.g. A Lima half-crown (MEC1598), National Maritime Museum, retrieved 7 September 2011
  143. ^ Pinches and Pinches, p. 206.
  144. ^ a b c d e f Weir, pp. 272–275.
  145. ^ a b Haag et al., pp. 347–349.
  146. ^ Weir, pp. 277–285.
  147. ^ a b Dennison, p. 211.

Sources edit

  • Ashley, Mike (1998) The Mammoth Book of British Kings and Queens. London: Robinson. ISBN 1-84119-096-9
  • Best, Nicholas (1995) The Kings and Queens of England. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 0-297-83487-8
  • Black, Jeremy (2001) Walpole in Power. Stroud, Gloucestershire: Sutton Publishing. ISBN 0-7509-2523-X
  • Black, Jeremy (2007) George II: Puppet of the Politicians? Exeter: University of Exeter Press. ISBN 978-0-85989-807-2
  • Cannon, John (2004) "George II (1683–1760)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, retrieved 16 August 2011 doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/10539 (subscription or UK public library membership required)
  • Dennison, Matthew (2017), The First Iron Lady, London: Harper Collins Publishers, ISBN 978-0-00-812199-0
  • Haag, Eugène; Haag, Émile; Bordier, Henri Léonard (1877), La France Protestante (in French), Paris: Sandoz et Fischbacher
  • Huberty, Michel; Giraud, Alain; Magdelaine, F. et B. (1981) L'Allemagne Dynastique. Volume 3: Brunswick-Nassau-Schwarzbourg. Le Perreux-sur-Marne: Giraud. ISBN 2-901138-03-9
  • Kilburn, Matthew (2004) "Wallmoden, Amalie Sophie Marianne von, suo jure countess of Yarmouth (1704–1765)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, retrieved 30 November 2012 doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/28579 (subscription or UK public library membership required)
  • Pinches, John Harvey; Pinches, Rosemary (1974) The Royal Heraldry of England. Slough, Buckinghamshire: Hollen Street Press. ISBN 0-900455-25-X
  • Thompson, Andrew C. (2011) George II: King and Elector. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-11892-6
  • Trench, Charles Chevenix (1973) George II. London: Allen Lane. ISBN 0-7139-0481-X
  • Van der Kiste, John (1997), George II and Queen Caroline, Stroud, Gloucestershire: Sutton Publishing, ISBN 0-7509-1321-5
  • Weir, Alison (1996) Britain's Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy. London: Random House. ISBN 0-7126-7448-9

Further reading edit

  • Bultmann, William A. (1966) "Early Hanoverian England (1714–1760): Some Recent Writings" in Elizabeth Chapin Furber, ed. Changing views on British history: essays on historical writing since 1939. Harvard University Press, pp. 181–205
  • Dickinson, Harry T.; introduced by A. L. Rowse (1973) Walpole and the Whig Supremacy. London: The English Universities Press. ISBN 0-340-11515-7
  • Hervey, John Hervey Baron (1931) Some materials towards memoirs of the reign of King George II. Eyre & Spottiswoode
  • Marshall, Dorothy (1962) Eighteenth Century England 1714–1784
  • Robertson, Charles Grant (1911) England under the Hanoverians. London: Methuen
  • Smith, Hannah (2005) "The Court in England, 1714–1760: A Declining Political Institution?" History 90 (297): 23–41
  • Smith, Hannah (2006) Georgian Monarchy: Politics and Culture, 1714–1760. Cambridge University Press
  • Williams, Basil; revized by C. H. Stuart (1962) The Whig Supremacy 1714–1760. Second edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press

External links edit

 
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George II of Great Britain
Cadet branch of the House of Welf
Born: 9 November 1683 Died: 25 October 1760
Regnal titles
Preceded by King of Great Britain and Ireland,
Elector of Hanover
11/22 June 1727 – 25 October 1760 		Succeeded by
British royalty
Vacant
Title last held by
James 		Prince of Wales
Duke of Cornwall
Duke of Rothesay
1714–1727 		Succeeded by
Academic offices
Preceded by Chancellor of the University of Dublin
1715–1727 		Succeeded by

February 15, 2024
george, great, britain, george, george, augustus, german, georg, august, october, november, 1683, october, 1760, king, great, britain, ireland, duke, brunswick, lüneburg, hanover, prince, elector, holy, roman, empire, from, june, 1727, until, death, 1760, geor. George II George Augustus German Georg August 30 October 9 November 1683 a 25 October 1760 was King of Great Britain and Ireland Duke of Brunswick Luneburg Hanover and a prince elector of the Holy Roman Empire from 11 June 1727 O S until his death in 1760 George IIPortrait by Thomas Hudson 1744King of Great Britain and Ireland Elector of HanoverReign11 22 a June 1727 25 October 1760Coronation11 22 a October 1727PredecessorGeorge ISuccessorGeorge IIIBorn30 October 1683 11 09 9 November 1683 a Herrenhausen Palace 2 or Leine Palace 3 HanoverDied25 October 1760 1760 10 25 aged 76 Kensington Palace London EnglandBurial11 November 1760Westminster Abbey LondonSpouseCaroline of Ansbach m 1705 died 1737 wbr IssueDetailFrederick Prince of Wales Anne Princess of Orange Princess Amelia Princess Caroline Prince George William Prince William Duke of Cumberland Mary Landgravine of Hesse Kassel Louisa Queen of Denmark and NorwayNamesGeorge Augustus German Georg August HouseHanoverFatherGeorge I of Great BritainMotherSophia Dorothea of CelleReligionProtestant 4 SignatureBorn and brought up in northern Germany George is the most recent British monarch born outside Great Britain The Act of Settlement 1701 and the Acts of Union 1707 positioned his grandmother Sophia of Hanover and her Protestant descendants to inherit the British throne In 1705 George married Princess Caroline of Ansbach with whom he had eight children After the deaths of George s grandmother and Anne Queen of Great Britain in 1714 George s father the Elector of Hanover ascended the British throne as George I In the first years of his father s reign as king Prince George was associated with opposition politicians until they rejoined the governing party in 1720 As king from 1727 George exercised little control over British domestic policy which was largely controlled by the Parliament of Great Britain As elector he spent twelve summers in Hanover where he had more direct control over government policy He had a difficult relationship with his eldest son Frederick who supported the parliamentary opposition During the War of the Austrian Succession George participated at the Battle of Dettingen in 1743 and thus became the most recent British monarch to lead an army in battle In 1745 supporters of the Catholic claimant to the British throne James Francis Edward Stuart The Old Pretender led by James s son Charles Edward Stuart The Young Pretender or Bonnie Prince Charlie attempted and failed to depose George in the last of the Jacobite rebellions Frederick died suddenly in 1751 nine years before his father George was succeeded by Frederick s eldest son George III For two centuries after George II s death history tended to view him with disdain concentrating on his mistresses short temper and boorishness Since then reassessment of his legacy has led scholars to conclude that he exercised more influence in foreign policy and military appointments than previously thought Contents 1 Early life 1 1 Birth and family 1 2 Marriage 2 Prince of Wales 2 1 Quarrel with the King 2 2 Political opposition 3 Reign 3 1 Accession 3 2 Family problems 3 3 War and rebellion 3 4 Planning for succession 3 5 Seven Years War 3 6 Death 4 Legacy 5 Titles styles and arms 5 1 Titles and styles 5 2 Arms 6 Family 6 1 Ancestry 6 2 Issue 7 Notes 8 References 8 1 Sources 9 Further reading 10 External linksEarly life editBirth and family edit nbsp George as a young boy with his mother Sophia Dorothea of Celle and his sister Sophia Dorothea of HanoverGeorge was born in the city of Hanover in Germany followed by his sister Sophia Dorothea three years later Their parents George Louis Hereditary Prince of Brunswick Luneburg later King George I of Great Britain and Sophia Dorothea of Celle both committed adultery In 1694 the marriage was dissolved on the pretext that Sophia Dorothea had abandoned her husband 5 She was confined to Ahlden House and denied access to her two children who probably never saw their mother again 6 George spoke only French the language of diplomacy and the court until the age of four after which he was taught German by one of his tutors Johann Hilmar Holstein 7 In addition to French and German he also learned English and Italian and studied genealogy military history and battle tactics with particular diligence 8 George s second cousin once removed Queen Anne ascended the thrones of England Scotland and Ireland in 1702 She had no surviving children and by the Act of Settlement 1701 the English Parliament designated Anne s closest Protestant blood relatives George s grandmother Sophia and her descendants as Anne s heirs in England and Ireland Consequently after his grandmother and father George was third in line to succeed Anne in two of her three realms He was naturalized as an English subject in 1705 by the Sophia Naturalization Act and in 1706 he was made a Knight of the Garter and created Duke and Marquess of Cambridge Earl of Milford Haven Viscount Northallerton and Baron Tewkesbury in the Peerage of England 9 England and Scotland united in 1707 to form the Kingdom of Great Britain and jointly accepted the succession as laid down by the English Act of Settlement 10 Marriage edit nbsp Princess Caroline by Godfrey Kneller 1716George s father did not want his son to enter into a loveless arranged marriage as he had and wanted him to have the opportunity of meeting his bride before any formal arrangements were made 11 Negotiations from 1702 for the hand of Princess Hedvig Sophia of Sweden Dowager Duchess and regent of Holstein Gottorp came to nothing 12 In June 1705 under the false name Monsieur de Busch George visited the Ansbach court at its summer residence in Triesdorf to investigate incognito a marriage prospect Princess Caroline of Ansbach the former ward of his aunt Queen Sophia Charlotte of Prussia The English envoy to Hanover Edmund Poley reported that George was so taken by the good character he had of her that he would not think of anybody else 13 A marriage contract was concluded by the end of July 14 On 22 August 2 September 1705 a Caroline arrived in Hanover for her wedding which was held the same evening in the chapel at Herrenhausen 11 George was keen to participate in the war against France in Flanders but his father refused to let him join the army in an active role until he had a son and heir 15 In early 1707 George s hopes were fulfilled when Caroline gave birth to a son Frederick 16 In July Caroline fell seriously ill with smallpox and George caught the infection after staying by her side devotedly during her illness 17 They both recovered In 1708 George participated in the Battle of Oudenarde in the vanguard of the Hanoverian cavalry his horse and a colonel immediately beside him were killed but George survived unharmed 18 The British commander Marlborough wrote that George distinguished himself extremely charging at the head of and animating by his example the Hanoverian troops who played a good part in this happy victory 19 Between 1709 and 1713 George and Caroline had three daughters Anne Amelia and Caroline 20 By 1714 Queen Anne s health had declined and British Whigs who supported the Hanoverian succession thought it prudent for one of the Hanoverians to live in England to safeguard the Protestant succession on Anne s death As George was a peer of the realm as Duke of Cambridge it was suggested that he be summoned to Parliament to sit in the House of Lords Both Anne and George s father refused to support the plan although George Caroline and Sophia were all in favour 21 George did not go Within the year both Sophia and Anne were dead and George s father was king 22 Prince of Wales editQuarrel with the King edit nbsp London c 1710 nbsp Portrait by Kneller 1716George and his father sailed for England from The Hague on 16 27 September 1714 and arrived at Greenwich two days later 23 The following day they formally entered London in a ceremonial procession 24 George was given the title of Prince of Wales Caroline followed her husband to Britain in October with their daughters while Frederick remained in Hanover to be brought up by private tutors 25 London was like nothing George had seen before it was 50 times larger than Hanover b and the crowd was estimated at up to one and a half million spectators 27 George courted popularity with voluble expressions of praise for the English and claimed that he had no drop of blood that was not English 28 In July 1716 the King returned to Hanover for six months and George was given limited powers as Guardian and Lieutenant of the Realm to govern in his father s absence 29 He made a royal progress through Chichester Havant Portsmouth and Guildford in southern England 30 Spectators were allowed to see him dine in public at Hampton Court Palace 31 An attempt on his life at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in which one person was shot dead before the assailant was brought under control boosted his high public profile 32 The King distrusted or was jealous of George s popularity which contributed to the development of a poor relationship between them 33 The birth in 1717 of George s second son George William proved to be a catalyst for a family quarrel the King supposedly following custom appointed Lord Chamberlain Thomas Pelham Holles 1st Duke of Newcastle as one of the baptismal sponsors of the child The King was angered when George who disliked Newcastle verbally insulted the Duke at the christening which the Duke misunderstood as a challenge to a duel c George and Caroline were temporarily confined to their apartments on the order of the King who subsequently banished his son from St James s Palace the King s residence 35 The Prince and Princess of Wales left court but their children remained in the care of the King 36 George and Caroline missed their children and were desperate to see them On one occasion they secretly visited the palace without the approval of the King Caroline fainted and George cried like a child 37 The King partially relented and permitted them to visit once a week though he later allowed Caroline unconditional access 38 In February 1718 Prince George William died aged only three months with his father by his side 39 Political opposition edit Banned from the palace and shunned by his own father the Prince of Wales was identified for the next several years with opposition to George I s policies 40 which included measures designed to increase religious freedom in Great Britain and expand Hanover s German territories at the expense of Sweden 41 His new London residence Leicester House became a frequent meeting place for his father s political opponents including Sir Robert Walpole and Lord Townshend who had left the government in 1717 42 The King visited Hanover again from May to November 1719 Instead of appointing George to the guardianship he established a regency council 43 In 1720 Walpole encouraged the King and his son to reconcile for the sake of public unity which they did half heartedly 44 Walpole and Townshend returned to political office and rejoined the ministry 45 George was soon disillusioned with the terms of the reconciliation his three daughters who were in the care of the King were not returned and he was still barred from becoming regent during the King s absences 46 He came to believe that Walpole had tricked him into the rapprochement as part of a scheme to regain power Over the next few years he and Caroline lived quietly avoiding overt political activity They had three more children William Mary and Louisa who were brought up at Leicester House and Richmond Lodge George s summer residence 47 In 1721 the economic disaster of the South Sea Bubble allowed Walpole to rise to the pinnacle of government 48 Walpole and his Whig Party were dominant in politics as the King feared that the Tories would not support the succession laid down in the Act of Settlement 49 The power of the Whigs was so great that the Tories would not hold power for another half century 50 Reign editAccession edit nbsp Portrait by Charles Jervas c 1727George I died on 11 22 June 1727 during one of his visits to Hanover and his son succeeded him as king and elector at the age of 43 George II decided not to travel to Germany for his father s funeral which far from bringing criticism led to praise from the English who considered it proof of his fondness for England 51 He suppressed his father s will because it attempted to split the Hanoverian succession between George II s future grandsons rather than vest all the domains both British and Hanoverian in a single person Both British and Hanoverian ministers considered the will unlawful as George I did not have the legal power to determine the succession personally 52 Critics supposed that George II hid the will to avoid paying out his father s legacies 53 George II was crowned at Westminster Abbey on 11 22 October 1727 51 George Frideric Handel was commissioned to write four new anthems for the coronation including Zadok the Priest 54 It was widely believed that George would dismiss Walpole who had distressed him by joining his father s government and replace him with Sir Spencer Compton 55 George asked Compton rather than Walpole to write his first speech as king but Compton asked Walpole to draft it Caroline advised George to retain Walpole who continued to gain royal favour by securing a generous civil list a fixed annual amount set by Parliament for the king s official expenditure of 800 000 56 equivalent to 117 800 000 today 57 Walpole commanded a substantial majority in Parliament and George had little choice but to retain him or risk ministerial instability 58 Compton was ennobled as Lord Wilmington the following year 59 nbsp Portrait by Enoch Seeman c 1730Walpole directed domestic policy and after the resignation of Lord Townshend in 1730 also controlled George s foreign policy 60 Historians generally believe that George played an honorific role in Britain and closely followed the advice of Walpole and senior ministers who made the major decisions 61 Although the King was eager for war in Europe his ministers were more cautious 62 A truce was agreed in the Anglo Spanish War and George unsuccessfully pressed Walpole to join the War of the Polish Succession on the side of the German states 63 In April 1733 Walpole withdrew the unpopular Excise Bill that had attracted strong opposition including from within his own party George lent Walpole support by dismissing the bill s opponents from their court offices 64 Family problems edit George II s relationship with his son Frederick Prince of Wales worsened during the 1730s Frederick had been left behind in Germany when his parents came to England and they had not met for 14 years In 1728 he was brought to England and swiftly became a figurehead of the political opposition 65 When George visited Hanover in the summers of 1729 1732 and 1735 he left his wife to chair the regency council in Britain rather than his son 66 Meanwhile rivalry between George II and his brother in law and first cousin Frederick William I of Prussia led to tension along the Prussian Hanoverian border which eventually culminated in the mobilization of troops in the border zone and suggestions of a duel between the two kings Negotiations for a marriage between the Prince of Wales and Frederick William s daughter Wilhelmine dragged on for years but neither side would make the concessions demanded by the other and the idea was shelved 67 Instead the prince married Princess Augusta of Saxe Gotha in April 1736 68 In May 1736 George returned to Hanover which resulted in unpopularity in England a satirical notice was even pinned to the gates of St James s Palace decrying his absence Lost or strayed out of this house it read a man who has left a wife and six children on the parish 69 The King made plans to return in the face of inclement December weather when his ship was caught in a storm gossip swept London that he had drowned Eventually in January 1737 he arrived back in England 70 Immediately he fell ill with a fever and piles and withdrew to his bed The Prince of Wales put it about that the King was dying with the result that George insisted on getting up and attending a social event to disprove the gossip mongers 71 When the Prince of Wales applied to Parliament for an increase in his allowance an open quarrel broke out The King who had a reputation for stinginess 72 offered a private settlement which Frederick rejected Parliament voted against the measure but George reluctantly increased his son s allowance on Walpole s advice 73 Further friction between them followed when Frederick excluded the King and Queen from the birth of his daughter in July 1737 by bundling his wife who was in labour into a coach and driving off in the middle of the night 74 George banished him and his family from the royal court much as his own father had done to him except that he allowed Frederick to retain custody of his children 75 Soon afterwards George s wife Caroline died on 20 November 1737 O S He was deeply affected by her death and to the surprise of many displayed a tenderness of which the world thought him before utterly incapable 76 On her deathbed she told her sobbing husband to remarry to which he replied Non j aurai des maitresses French for No I shall have mistresses 77 It was common knowledge that George had already had mistresses during his marriage and he had kept Caroline informed about them 78 Henrietta Howard later Countess of Suffolk had moved to Hanover with her husband during the reign of Queen Anne 79 and had been one of Caroline s women of the bedchamber She was his mistress from before the accession of George I until November 1734 She was followed by Amalie von Wallmoden later Countess of Yarmouth whose son Johann Ludwig von Wallmoden may have been fathered by George Johann Ludwig was born while Amalie was still married to her husband and George did not acknowledge him publicly as his own son 80 War and rebellion edit Further information Jacobite rising of 1745 Further information War of the Austrian Succession Against Walpole s wishes but to George s delight Britain reopened hostilities with Spain in 1739 81 Britain s conflict with Spain the War of Jenkins Ear became part of the War of the Austrian Succession when a major European dispute broke out upon the death of Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI in 1740 At issue was the right of Charles s daughter Maria Theresa to succeed to his Austrian dominions 82 George spent the summers of 1740 and 1741 in Hanover where he was more able to intervene directly in European diplomatic affairs in his capacity as elector 83 Prince Frederick campaigned actively for the opposition in the 1741 British general election and Walpole was unable to secure a stable majority Walpole attempted to buy off the prince with the promise of an increased allowance and offered to pay off his debts but Frederick refused 84 With his support eroded Walpole retired in 1742 after over 20 years in office He was replaced by Spencer Compton Lord Wilmington whom George had originally considered for the premiership in 1727 Wilmington however was a figurehead 85 actual power was held by others such as Lord Carteret George s favourite minister after Walpole 2 When Wilmington died in 1743 Henry Pelham took his place at the head of the government 86 nbsp Depicted at the Battle of Dettingen in 1743 by John Wootton nbsp Half crown of George II 1746 The inscription reads GEORGIUS II DEI GRATIA George II by the Grace of God The word LIMA under the King s head signifies that the coin was struck from silver seized from the Spanish treasure fleet off Lima Peru during the War of the Austrian Succession 87 The pro war faction was led by Carteret who claimed that French power would increase if Maria Theresa failed to succeed to the Austrian throne George agreed to send 12 000 hired Hessian and Danish mercenaries to Europe ostensibly to support Maria Theresa Without conferring with his British ministers George stationed them in Hanover to prevent enemy French troops from marching into the electorate 88 The British army had not fought in a major European war in over 20 years and the government had badly neglected its upkeep 89 George had pushed for greater professionalism in the ranks and promotion by merit rather than by sale of commissions but without much success 90 An allied force of Austrian British Dutch Hanoverian and Hessian troops engaged the French at the Battle of Dettingen on 16 27 June 1743 George personally accompanied them leading them to victory thus becoming the last British monarch to lead troops into battle 91 Though his actions in the battle were admired the war became unpopular with the British public who felt that the King and Carteret were subordinating British interests to Hanoverian ones 92 Carteret lost support and to George s dismay resigned in 1744 93 Tension grew between the Pelham ministry and George as he continued to take advice from Carteret and rejected pressure from his other ministers to include William Pitt the Elder in the Cabinet which would have broadened the government s support base 94 The King disliked Pitt because he had previously opposed government policy and attacked measures seen as pro Hanoverian 95 In February 1746 Pelham and his followers resigned George asked Lord Bath and Carteret to form an administration but after less than 48 hours they returned the seals of office unable to secure sufficient parliamentary support Pelham returned to office triumphant and George was forced to appoint Pitt to the ministry 96 George s French opponents encouraged rebellion by the Jacobites the supporters of the Roman Catholic claimant to the British throne James Francis Edward Stuart often known as the Old Pretender Stuart was the son of James II who had been deposed in 1688 and replaced by his Protestant relations Two prior rebellions in 1715 and 1719 had failed In July 1745 the Old Pretender s son Charles Edward Stuart popularly known as Bonnie Prince Charlie or the Young Pretender landed in Scotland where support for his cause was highest George who was summering in Hanover returned to London at the end of August 97 The Jacobites defeated British forces in September at the Battle of Prestonpans and then moved south into England The Jacobites failed to gain further support and the French reneged on a promise of help Losing morale the Jacobites retreated back into Scotland 98 On 16 27 April 1746 Charles faced George s military minded son Prince William Duke of Cumberland in the Battle of Culloden the last pitched battle fought on British soil The ravaged Jacobite troops were routed by the government army Charles escaped to France but many of his supporters were caught and executed Jacobitism was all but crushed no further serious attempt was made at restoring the House of Stuart 99 The War of the Austrian Succession continued until 1748 when Maria Theresa was recognized as Archduchess of Austria The peace was celebrated by a fete in Green Park London for which Handel composed Music for the Royal Fireworks 100 Planning for succession edit nbsp Portrait by John Shackleton c 1755 1757In the general election of 1747 Frederick Prince of Wales again campaigned actively for the opposition but Pelham s party won easily 101 Like his father before him Frederick entertained opposition figures at his house in Leicester Square 102 When Frederick died unexpectedly in 1751 his eldest son Prince George became heir apparent The King commiserated with Frederick s widow Augusta and wept with her 103 As her son would not reach the age of majority until 1756 a new British Regency Act was passed that would make her regent assisted by a council led by Frederick s brother William in case of George II s death 104 The King also made a new will which provided for William to be sole regent in Hanover 105 After the death of his daughter Louisa at the end of the year George lamented This has been a fatal year for my family I lost my eldest son but I am glad of it Now Louisa is gone I know I did not love my children when they were young I hated to have them running into my room but now I love them as well as most fathers 106 Seven Years War edit In 1754 Pelham died to be succeeded by his elder brother Thomas Pelham Holles 1st Duke of Newcastle Hostility between France and Britain particularly over the colonization of North America continued 107 Fearing a French invasion of Hanover George aligned himself with Prussia ruled by his nephew Frederick the Great Austria s enemy Russia and France allied with Austria their former enemy A French invasion of the British held island of Minorca led to the outbreak of the Seven Years War in 1756 Public disquiet over British failures at the start of the conflict led to Newcastle s resignation and the appointment of William Cavendish 4th Duke of Devonshire as prime minister and William Pitt the Elder as Secretary of State for the Southern Department 108 In April the following year George dismissed Pitt in an attempt to construct an administration more to his liking Over the succeeding three months attempts to form another stable ministerial combination failed In June Lord Waldegrave held the seals of office for only four days By the start of July Pitt was recalled and Newcastle returned as prime minister As Secretary of State Pitt guided policy relating to the war Great Britain Hanover and Prussia and their allies Hesse Kassel and Brunswick Wolfenbuttel fought against other European powers including France Austria Russia Sweden and Saxony The war involved multiple theatres from Europe to North America and India where British dominance increased with the victories of Robert Clive over French forces and their allies at the Battle of Arcot and the Battle of Plassey 109 nbsp George said his son Prince William Duke of Cumberland pictured had ruined me and disgraced himself at the 1757 Convention of Klosterzeven George s son William commanded the King s troops in northern Germany In 1757 Hanover was invaded and George gave his son full powers to conclude a separate peace 110 but by September George was furious at William s negotiated settlement which he felt greatly favoured the French 111 George said his son had ruined me and disgraced himself 112 William by his own choice resigned his military offices 113 and George revoked the peace deal on the grounds that the French had infringed it by disarming Hessian troops after the ceasefire 114 In the Annus Mirabilis of 1759 British forces captured Quebec and captured Guadeloupe defeated a French plan to invade Britain following naval battles at Lagos and Quiberon Bay 115 and halted a resumed French advance on Hanover at the Battle of Minden 116 Death edit By October 1760 George II was blind in one eye and hard of hearing 117 On the morning of 25 October he rose as usual at 6 00 am drank a cup of hot chocolate and went to his close stool alone After a few minutes his valet heard a loud crash and entered the room to find the King on the floor 118 his physician Frank Nicholls recorded that he appeared to have just come from his necessary stool and as if going to open his escritoire 119 The King was lifted into his bed and Princess Amelia was sent for before she reached him he was dead At the age of nearly 77 he had lived longer than any of his English or British predecessors 120 A post mortem revealed that George had died as the result of a thoracic aortic dissection 119 121 He was succeeded by his grandson George III and buried on 11 November in Westminster Abbey He left instructions for the sides of his and his wife s coffins to be removed so that their remains could mingle 122 Legacy edit nbsp Columbia University in New York was founded by royal charter in 1754 as King s College George donated the royal library to the British Museum in 1757 four years after the museum s foundation 123 He had no interest in reading 124 or in the arts and sciences and preferred to spend his leisure hours stag hunting on horseback or playing cards 125 In 1737 he founded the Georg August University of Gottingen the first university in the Electorate of Hanover and visited it in 1748 126 The asteroid 359 Georgia was named in his honour at the university in 1902 He served as the Chancellor of the University of Dublin between 1716 and 1727 and in 1754 issued the charter for King s College in New York City which later became Columbia University The province of Georgia founded by royal charter in 1732 was named after him 127 nbsp Statue by John Van Nost erected in 1753 in Golden Square London 128 During George II s reign British interests expanded throughout the world the Jacobite challenge to the Hanoverian dynasty was extinguished and the power of ministers and Parliament in Britain became well established Nevertheless in the memoirs of contemporaries such as Lord Hervey and Horace Walpole George is depicted as a weak buffoon governed by his wife and ministers 129 Biographies of George written during the nineteenth and first part of the twentieth century relied on these biased accounts 130 Since the last quarter of the twentieth century scholarly analysis of surviving correspondence has indicated that George was not as ineffective as previously thought 131 Letters from ministers are annotated by George with pertinent remarks and demonstrate that he had a grasp of and interest in foreign policy in particular 132 He was often able to prevent the appointment of ministers or commanders he disliked or sideline them into lesser offices 133 This academic reassessment however has not completely eliminated the popular perception of George II as a faintly ludicrous king 134 His parsimony for example may have opened him to ridicule though his biographers observe that parsimony is preferable to extravagance 135 Lord Charlemont excused George s short temper by explaining that sincerity of feeling is better than deception His temper was warm and impetuous but he was good natured and sincere Unskilled in the royal talent of dissimulation he always was what he appeared to be He might offend but he never deceived 136 Lord Waldegrave wrote I am thoroughly convinced that hereafter when time shall have wore away those specks and blemishes which sully the brightest characters and from which no man is totally exempt he will be numbered amongst those patriot kings under whose government the people have enjoyed the greatest happiness 137 George may not have played a major role in history but he was influential at times and he upheld constitutional government 138 Elizabeth Montagu said of him With him our laws and liberties were safe he possessed in a great degree the confidence of his people and the respect of foreign governments and a certain steadiness of character made him of great consequence in these unsettled times His character would not afford subject for epic poetry but will look well in the sober page of history 139 Titles styles and arms editTitles and styles edit In Britain From 1706 Duke and Marquess of Cambridge Earl of Milford Haven Viscount Northallerton and Baron of Tewkesbury 140 August September 1714 His Royal Highness George Augustus Prince of Great Britain Electoral Prince of Brunswick Luneburg Duke of Cornwall and Rothesay etc 141 1714 1727 His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales 1727 1760 His Majesty The KingGeorge II s full style was George the Second by the Grace of God King of Great Britain France and Ireland Defender of the Faith Duke of Brunswick Luneburg Archtreasurer and Prince Elector of the Holy Roman Empire 142 Arms edit When George became Prince of Wales in 1714 he was granted the royal arms with an inescutcheon of gules plain in the Hanoverian quarter differenced overall by a label of three points argent The crest included the single arched coronet of his rank As king he used the royal arms as used by his father undifferenced 143 nbsp nbsp Coat of arms as the Prince of Wales 1714 1727 Coat of arms of George II as King of Great Britain 1727 1760Family editAncestry edit Ancestors of George II of Great Britain8 George Duke of Brunswick Luneburg 12 144 4 Ernest Augustus Elector of Brunswick Luneburg9 Anne Eleonore of Hesse Darmstadt 13 144 2 George I of Great Britain10 Frederick V Elector Palatine 144 5 Sophia Princess Palatine of the Rhine11 Elizabeth Stuart 144 1 George II of Great Britain12 George Duke of Brunswick Luneburg 8 144 6 George William Duke of Brunswick Luneburg13 Anne Eleonore of Hesse Darmstadt 9 144 3 Sophia Dorothea of Celle14 Alexandre II Desmier Seigneur d Olbreuse 145 7 Eleonore Desmier d Olbreuse Countess of Wilhelmsburg15 Jacquette Poussard de Vandre 145 vteFamily tree of Dukes and Marquesses of CambridgeKing James VI and I 1566 1625 Elizabeth Stuart 1596 1662 Queen of BohemiaKing Charles I 1600 1649 Duke of Gloucester 4th creation and Earl of Cambridge 5th creation 1659Sophia of Hanover 1630 1714 King Charles II 1630 1685 King James VII and II 1633 1701 Henry Stuart 1640 1660 Duke of Gloucester Earl of CambridgeDukedom of Gloucester 4th creation and Earl of Cambridge 5th creation extinct 1660Duke of Cambridge 1st creation Earl of Cambridge 6th creation and Baron of Dauntsey 1st creation 1664Duke of Cambridge 2nd creation Earl of Cambridge 7th creation and Baron of Dauntsey 2nd creation 1667King George I 1660 1727 Charles Stuart 1660 1661 styled Duke of CambridgeJames Stuart 1663 1667 Duke of Cambridge Earl of Cambridge Baron of DauntseyEdgar Stuart 1667 1671 Duke of Cambridge Earl of Cambridge Baron of DauntseyCharles Stuart 1677 styled Duke of CambridgeDukedom of Cambridge 1st creation Earldom of Cambridge 6th creation and Barony of Dauntsey 1st creation extinct 1667Dukedom of Cambridge 2nd creation Earldom of Cambridge 7th creation and Barony of Dauntsey 2nd creation extinct 1671Duke of Cambridge 3rd creation and Marquess of Cambridge 1st creation 1706Prince George 1683 1760 Duke and Marquess of Cambridgelater King George IIDukedom of Cambridge 3rd creation and Marquessate of Cambridge 1st creation merged with the Crown 1727Prince Frederick 1707 1751 Prince of WalesGeorge III 1738 1820 Duke of Cambridge 4th creation Earl of Tipperary and Baron Culloden 1st creation 1801Prince Edward 1767 1820 Duke of Kent and StrathearnPrince Adolphus 1774 1850 1st Duke of Cambridge 1st Earl of Tipperary 1st Baron CullodenQueen Victoria 1819 1901 Prince George 1819 1904 2nd Duke of Cambridge 2nd Earl of Tipperary 2nd Baron CullodenPrincess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge 1833 1897 Dukedom of Cambridge 4th creation Earldom of Tipperary and Barony Culloden 1st creation extinct 1904King Edward VII 1841 1910 Marquess of Cambridge 2nd creation Earl of Eltham 1st creation and Viscount Northallerton 1917King George V 1865 1936 Mary of Teck 1867 1953 Adolphus Cambridge 1868 1927 Duke of Teck 1st Marquess of Cambridge 1st Earl of Eltham 1st Viscount NorthallertonKing Edward VIII 1894 1972 King George VI 1895 1952 George Francis Hugh Cambridge 1895 1981 2nd Marquess of Cambridge 2nd Earl of Eltham 2nd Viscount NorthallertonMarquessate of Cambridge 2nd creation Earldom of Eltham 2nd creation Viscountcy Northallerton extinct 1981Queen Elizabeth II 1926 2022 King Charles III b 1948 Duke of Cambridge 5th creation Earl of Strathearn Mountbatten Windsor line and Baron Carrickfergus 2011Prince William b 1982 Prince of Wales Duke of Cornwall Duke of Rothesay Duke of Cambridge Earl of Strathearn Earl of Chester Baron CarrickfergusPrince George of Wales b 2013 Heir apparent to the Dukedom of CambridgeIssue edit nbsp John Croker s medal of 1732 showing the surviving children of George II and Caroline Frederick William Anne Amelia Caroline Mary and LouisaCaroline s ten 146 or eleven 147 pregnancies resulted in eight live births One of the couple s children died in infancy and seven lived to adulthood Name Birth Death NotesFrederick Prince of Wales 31 January 1707 31 March 1751 married 1736 Princess Augusta of Saxe Gotha had issue including the future George IIIAnne Princess Royal 2 November 1709 12 January 1759 married 1734 William IV Prince of Orange had issuePrincess Amelia 10 June 1711 31 October 1786 never married no issuePrincess Caroline 10 June 1713 28 December 1757 never married no issueStillborn son 20 November 1716Prince George William 13 November 1717 17 February 1718 died in infancyMiscarriage 1718Prince William Duke of Cumberland 26 April 1721 31 October 1765 never married no issuePrincess Mary 5 March 1723 14 January 1772 married 1740 Frederick II Landgrave of Hesse Kassel had issuePrincess Louisa 18 December 1724 19 December 1751 married 1743 Frederick V King of Denmark and Norway had issueMiscarriage 147 July 1725Dates in this table are New StyleNotes edit a b c d e Over the course of George s life two calendars were used the Old Style Julian calendar and the New Style Gregorian calendar Before 1700 the two calendars were 10 days apart Hanover switched from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar on 19 February O S 1 March N S 1700 Great Britain switched on 3 14 September 1752 George was born on 30 October Old Style which was 9 November New Style but because the calendar shifted forward a further day in 1700 the date is occasionally miscalculated as 10 November 1 In this article individual dates before September 1752 are indicated as either O S or N S or both All dates after September 1752 are N S only All years are assumed to start from 1 January and not 25 March which was the English New Year Hanover had about 1 800 houses whereas London had 100 000 26 George shook his fist at Newcastle and said You are a rascal I shall find you out which the Duke apparently misheard as You are a rascal I shall fight you 34 References edit Huberty et al p 108 a b Cannon Thompson p 10 The Hanoverians are here Historic Royal Palaces 2022 the monarch could only be Anglican George I Encyclopaedia Britannica 2022 all British monarchs must be Protestants of the Church of England Act of Settlement The Royal Family 2022 The Sovereign now had to swear to maintain the Church of England and after 1707 the Church of Scotland Van der Kiste p 6 Black George II pp 35 36 Thompson p 19 Van der Kiste p 7 Thompson p 16 Trench p 7 Van der Kiste p 9 Thompson pp 35 36 Union with Scotland Act 1706 and Union with England Act 1707 The National Archives retrieved 20 September 2011 a b Van der Kiste p 17 Thompson p 28 Van der Kiste p 15 Thompson p 30 Van der Kiste p 16 Thompson p 31 Van der Kiste p 18 Van der Kiste p 19 Van der Kiste p 21 Thompson p 32 Trench p 18 Van der Kiste p 22 Van der Kiste p 23 Thompson p 37 Van der Kiste p 30 Thompson p 38 Van der Kiste p 36 Trench p 38 Van der Kiste p 37 Thompson pp 39 40 Trench p 39 Van der Kiste p 39 Van der Kiste p 37 Trench p 55 Van der Kiste p 44 Trench pp 63 65 Van der Kiste p 55 Van der Kiste p 59 Black George II p 45 Thompson p 47 Van der Kiste p 61 Trench p 75 Van der Kiste p 61 Van der Kiste p 63 Trench p 77 Black George II p 46 Thompson p 53 Trench p 78 Van der Kiste p 66 Van der Kiste pp 66 67 Trench p 80 Trench pp 67 87 Thompson pp 48 50 55 Trench pp 79 82 Van der Kiste p 71 Thompson p 57 Trench pp 88 90 Van der Kiste pp 72 74 Black George II p 52 Thompson p 58 Trench p 89 Trench pp 88 89 Black George II p 54 Thompson pp 58 59 Trench pp 104 105 Trench pp 106 107 Thompson p 45 Trench p 107 a b Van der Kiste p 97 Trench pp 130 131 Black George II p 88 Cannon Trench pp 130 131 Black George II p 77 Black George II p 80 Trench p 132 Trench pp 132 133 United Kingdom Gross Domestic Product deflator figures follow the Measuring Worth consistent series supplied in Thomas Ryland Williamson Samuel H 2018 What Was the U K GDP Then MeasuringWorth Retrieved 2 February 2020 Black George II pp 81 84 Black Walpole in Power pp 29 31 53 61 Van der Kiste p 95 Trench p 149 Thompson p 92 Black George II p 95 Trench pp 173 174 Van der Kiste p 138 Black George II pp 141 143 Thompson pp 102 103 Trench pp 166 167 Trench pp 141 142 Van der Kiste pp 115 116 Thompson pp 85 86 Van der Kiste pp 118 126 139 Van der Kiste p 118 Trench p 179 Trench pp 182 184 Van der Kiste pp 149 150 Trench p 185 187 Van der Kiste p 152 Van der Kiste p 153 Black George II p 136 Thompson pp 7 64 Trench p 150 Trench pp 189 190 Van der Kiste pp 153 154 Thompson p 120 Trench p 192 Van der Kiste pp 155 157 Trench p 196 Van der Kiste p 158 Hervey s Memoirs vol III p 916 quoted in Thompson p 124 and Van der Kiste p 165 Thompson p 124 Trench p 199 Thompson p 92 Trench pp 175 181 Van der Kiste pp 25 137 Black George II p 157 Kilburn Weir p 284 Trench pp 205 206 Trench p 210 Thompson pp 133 139 Black George II p 174 Trench p 212 Black George II p 86 Thompson p 150 Silver Lima crown 5 shillings of George II British Museum retrieved 26 August 2011 Archive at the Wayback Machine archived 29 April 2011 Trench pp 211 212 Trench pp 206 209 Black George II p 111 Trench pp 136 208 Van der Kiste p 173 Thompson p 148 Trench pp 217 223 Black George II pp 181 184 Van der Kiste pp 179 180 Black George II pp 185 186 Thompson p 160 Van der Kiste p 181 Black George II pp 190 193 Thompson pp 162 169 Trench pp 234 235 Black George II pp 164 184 195 Black George II pp 190 193 Cannon Trench pp 234 235 Van der Kiste p 184 Black George II pp 190 191 Van der Kiste pp 186 187 Thompson pp 187 189 Black George II p 199 Trench p 243 Van der Kiste p 188 Van der Kiste p 189 Thompson p 208 Trench p 247 Black George II pp 207 211 Thompson p 209 Trench p 249 Van der Kiste p 195 Thompson p 211 Horace Walpole s memoirs vol I p 152 quoted in Thompson p 213 and Trench p 250 Thompson pp 233 238 Black George II pp 231 232 Thompson p 252 Trench pp 271 274 Ashley p 677 Thompson pp 265 266 Trench p 283 Thompson p 268 Trench p 284 Horace Walpole s memoirs vol III p 61 quoted in Trench p 286 Thompson p 276 Trench p 286 Thompson p 270 Trench p 287 Trench pp 293 296 Thompson pp 282 283 Thompson p 275 Trench p 292 Van der Kiste p 212 Thompson pp 289 290 Van der Kiste p 213 a b Nicholls Frank 1761 Observations concerning the body of His Late Majesty Philos Trans Lond 52 265 274 Van der Kiste p 213 Criado Frank J 2011 Aortic dissection a 250 year perspective Texas Heart Institute Journal 38 6 694 700 PMC 3233335 PMID 22199439 Black George II p 253 Thompson p 290 Black George II pp 68 127 Black George II p 127 Thompson pp 97 98 Trench p 153 Black George II p 128 Trench pp 140 152 Black George II p 128 Thompson p 96 Van der Kiste between pp 150 and 151 Black George II pp 255 257 Black George II pp 257 258 Black George II pp 258 259 Black George II pp 144 146 Cannon Trench pp 135 136 Black George II p 195 Best p 71 Black George II p 82 Trench p 300 Lord Waldegrave s Memoirs quoted in Trench p 270 Charlemont quoted in Cannon and Trench p 299 Quoted in Trench p 270 Black George II p 138 Cannon Trench p 300 Quoted in Black George II p 254 Weir p 277 e g No 5264 The London Gazette 28 September 1714 p 1 e g A Lima half crown MEC1598 National Maritime Museum retrieved 7 September 2011 Pinches and Pinches p 206 a b c d e f Weir pp 272 275 a b Haag et al pp 347 349 Weir pp 277 285 a b Dennison p 211 Sources edit Ashley Mike 1998 The Mammoth Book of British Kings and Queens London Robinson ISBN 1 84119 096 9 Best Nicholas 1995 The Kings and Queens of England London Weidenfeld amp Nicolson ISBN 0 297 83487 8 Black Jeremy 2001 Walpole in Power Stroud Gloucestershire Sutton Publishing ISBN 0 7509 2523 X Black Jeremy 2007 George II Puppet of the Politicians Exeter University of Exeter Press ISBN 978 0 85989 807 2 Cannon John 2004 George II 1683 1760 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Oxford University Press retrieved 16 August 2011 doi 10 1093 ref odnb 10539 subscription or UK public library membership required Dennison Matthew 2017 The First Iron Lady London Harper Collins Publishers ISBN 978 0 00 812199 0 Haag Eugene Haag Emile Bordier Henri Leonard 1877 La France Protestante in French Paris Sandoz et Fischbacher Huberty Michel Giraud Alain Magdelaine F et B 1981 L Allemagne Dynastique Volume 3 Brunswick Nassau Schwarzbourg Le Perreux sur Marne Giraud ISBN 2 901138 03 9 Kilburn Matthew 2004 Wallmoden Amalie Sophie Marianne von suo jure countess of Yarmouth 1704 1765 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Oxford University Press retrieved 30 November 2012 doi 10 1093 ref odnb 28579 subscription or UK public library membership required Pinches John Harvey Pinches Rosemary 1974 The Royal Heraldry of England Slough Buckinghamshire Hollen Street Press ISBN 0 900455 25 X Thompson Andrew C 2011 George II King and Elector New Haven and London Yale University Press ISBN 978 0 300 11892 6 Trench Charles Chevenix 1973 George II London Allen Lane ISBN 0 7139 0481 X Van der Kiste John 1997 George II and Queen Caroline Stroud Gloucestershire Sutton Publishing ISBN 0 7509 1321 5 Weir Alison 1996 Britain s Royal Families The Complete Genealogy London Random House ISBN 0 7126 7448 9Further reading editBultmann William A 1966 Early Hanoverian England 1714 1760 Some Recent Writings in Elizabeth Chapin Furber ed Changing views on British history essays on historical writing since 1939 Harvard University Press pp 181 205 Dickinson Harry T introduced by A L Rowse 1973 Walpole and the Whig Supremacy London The English Universities Press ISBN 0 340 11515 7 Hervey John Hervey Baron 1931 Some materials towards memoirs of the reign of King George II Eyre amp Spottiswoode Marshall Dorothy 1962 Eighteenth Century England 1714 1784 Robertson Charles Grant 1911 England under the Hanoverians London Methuen Smith Hannah 2005 The Court in England 1714 1760 A Declining Political Institution History 90 297 23 41 Smith Hannah 2006 Georgian Monarchy Politics and Culture 1714 1760 Cambridge University Press Williams Basil revized by C H Stuart 1962 The Whig Supremacy 1714 1760 Second edition Oxford Oxford University PressExternal links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to George II of Great Britain nbsp Wikiquote has quotations related to George II of Great Britain George II at the official website of the British monarchy George II at the official website of the Royal Collection Trust George II at BBC History Portraits of King George II at the National Portrait Gallery London nbsp George II of Great BritainHouse of HanoverCadet branch of the House of WelfBorn 9 November 1683 Died 25 October 1760Regnal titlesPreceded byGeorge I King of Great Britain and Ireland Elector of Hanover11 22 June 1727 25 October 1760 Succeeded byGeorge IIIBritish royaltyVacantTitle last held byJames Prince of WalesDuke of CornwallDuke of Rothesay1714 1727 Succeeded byFrederickAcademic officesPreceded byThe Duke of Ormonde Chancellor of the University of Dublin1715 1727 Succeeded byHRH Frederick Prince of Wales Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title George II of Great Britain amp oldid 1203753284, wikipedia, wiki, book, 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