The king’s College of our lady of Eton beside Windsor 5 page

Two-party politics Anne's reign was further marked by the development of a two-party system as the new era of parliamentary governance unfolded and matured. Anne personally preferred the Tory Party, but "endured" the Whigs.

Because of Anne's personal preferences, her first ministry was primarily Tory. It was headed by Sidney Godolphin, 1st Baron Godolphin and Anne's favorite John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, both moderate Tories. However, it also contained such high Tories as Daniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham and Anne's uncle Laurence Hyde 1st Earl of Rochester.

The Whigs vigorously supported the War of the Spanish Succession and became even more influential after the Duke of Marlborough won a great victory at the Battle of Blenheim in 1704. Most of the High Tories, who had opposed British involvement in the land war against France, were gradually removed from office. Godolphin, Marlborough, and Harley, by now a Secretary of State, who formed the ruling "triumvirate", were forced to rely more and more on support from the Whigs, and particularly from the Junto Whigs whom Queen Anne particularly disliked. In 1706, Godolphin and Marlborough forced Anne to accept Lord Sunderland, a Junto Whig and Marlborough's son-in-law, as Harley's colleague as Secretary of State.

Although this strengthened the ministry's position in Parliament, it weakened the ministry's position with the Queen, as Anne became increasingly irritated with Godolphin and with her erstwhile favorite, the Duchess of Marlborough. The Queen turned for private advice to Harley, who was uncomfortable with Marlborough and Godolphin's turn towards the Whigs and was moving closer to supporting the Tory "blue water" policy on the war. She also turned to Abigail Hill, a cousin of the Duchess who became more amenable to Anne as her relationship with Sarah deteriorated.

The division within the ministry came to a head in February 1708, when Godolphin and Marlborough insisted that the Queen had to either dismiss Harley or do without their services. When the Queen seemed to hesitate, Marlborough and Godolphin refused to attend a cabinet meeting on 8 February. When Harley attempted to lead business without his erstwhile colleagues, several of those present, including the Duke of Somerset refused to participate until Godolphin and Marlborough returned.

Her hand forced, the Queen dismissed Harley on 11 February. But Godolphin and Marlborough's victory was a hollow one, as their personal relationship with Anne would never recover from the blow. Furthermore, they found themselves increasingly at the mercy of the Junto leaders. Whereas previously they had been able to determine war policy largely as they liked, their total parliamentary dependence on the Whigs meant that they had to consult with Junto leaders Lord Somers and Lord Halifax. This dependence on the hated Junto only increased the Queen's dislike of the ministry.

Death of her husband Anne's husband, Prince George of Denmark, died in October 1708. His leadership of the Admiralty was unpopular amongst the Whig leaders. As he lay on his deathbed, some Whigs were preparing to make a motion requesting his removal from the office of Lord High Admiral. Anne was forced to appeal to the Duke of Marlborough to ensure that the motion was not made.

Anne was devastated by the loss of her husband, and the event proved a turning point in her relationship with her old friend, Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough. The Duchess arrived at Windsor shortly after George had died, and forced the Queen to leave the castle and move to St. James's Palace against her will. Anne pleaded to be left alone, and resented the Duchess for insisting that the grieving Queen be attended at all times.

The Whigs used the Prince's death to their own advantage. With Whigs now dominant in parliament, and Anne over bowed by the loss of her husband, they forced her to accept the Junto leaders Lord Somers and Lord Wharton into the cabinet. Their power was, however, limited by Anne's insistence on carrying out the duties of Lord High Admiral herself, and not appointing a member of the government

to take Prince George's place, Undeterred, the Junto demanded the appointment of the Earl of Qrford, another member of the Junto and one of Prince George's leading critics, as First Lord of the Admiralty, Anne daily refused, and chose her own candidate, the moderate Tory "Thomas Herbert, 8th fcarl of Pembroke on 29 November 1708.

Picture mounted on Pembroke, Godolphin and the Queen from the dissatisfied Junto Whigs, and Pembroke was forced to resign after less than a year in office. Another month of arguments followed before the Queen finally consented to put the Admiralty in control of the Earl of Orford in November 1709.

Later years

As the expensive War of the Spanish Succession grew unpopular, so did the Whig administration. Harley, now in opposition, was particularly skillful in using the issue of the cost of the war to motivate the electorate. The Queen, increasingly disdained by her ministry's policy of "no peace without Spain", finally took the opportunity to dismiss Godolphin in August 1710. Hie Junto Whigs (Sunderland, Somers, Wharton, and Orford) were also removed from office, although Marlborough, for the moment, remained as commander of the army. In their place, she appointed a new ministry, headed by Harley, which began to seek peace with France. Harley and the Tories were ready to compromise by giving Spain to the grandson of the French King, but the Whigs could not bear to see a Bourbon on the Spanish Throne. In the parliamentary elections which soon followed, Harley used government patronage to create a large Tory majority.

The dispute was resolved by outside events. The elder brother of Archduke Charles (whom the Whigs supported) died in 1711 and Charles then inherited Austria, Hungary and the throne of the Holy Roman Empire. To give him also the Spanish throne was no longer in Great Britain's interests. But the proposed Treaty of Utrecht submitted to Parliament for ratification did not go

as far as the Whigs wanted to curb Bourbon ambitions. In the House of Commons, the Tory majority was unassailable, but the same was not true in the House of Lords. Seeing a need for decisive action — to erase the Whig majority in the House of Lords — Anne created twelve new peers. Such a mass creation of peers was unprecedented. Indeed, Elizabeth I had granted fewer peerage dignities in forty-four years than Anne did in a single day. This allowed for ratification of the Treaty and thus ended Great Britain's involvement in the War of the Spanish Succession.

Death Anne died of suppressed gout, ending in erysipelas, at approximately 7 o'clock on 1 August 1714. She was buried in the Henry VII chapel on the South Aisle of Westminster Abbey but her body was so swollen and large that it had to be bourne in a vast almost-square coffin.

Anne died shortly after the Electress Sophia (8 June, the same year); the Electress's son, George I, Elector of Hanover, inherited the British Crown. Pursuant to the Act of Settlement 1701, the crown was settled on George as Electress Sophia's heir, with the possible Catholic claimants ignored. However, the Elector of Hanover's accession was relatively stable: Jacobite risings in 1715 and 1719 both failed.

The age of Anne was also one of artistic, literary, and scientific advancement. In architecture, Sir John Vanbrugh constructed elegant edifices such as Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard. Writers such as Daniel Defoe, Alexander Pope and Jonathan Swift flourished during Anne's reign.

Her name also remains associated with the world's first substantial copyright law, known as the Statute of Anne (1709), which granted exclusive rights to authors rather than printers.

Titles and styles

6 February 1665 - 28 July 1683: Her Highness The Lady Anne

28 July 1683 - 8 March 1702: Her Royal Highness Princess Anne of Denmark

8 March 1702 -1 May 1707: Her Majesty The Queen [of England, Scotland and Ireland]

1 May 1707 -1 August 1714: Her Majesty The Queen [of Great Britain and Ireland]

The official style of Anne before 1707 was "Anne, by the Grace of God, Queen of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, etc." (The claim to France was only nominal, and had been asserted by every English King since Edward III, regardless of the amount of French territory actually controlled.) After the Union, her style was "Anne, by the Grace of God, Queen of Great Britain, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, etc."

The reign of Anne was marked by an increase in the influence of ministers and a decrease in the influence of the Crown. In 1708, Anne became the last British Sovereign to withhold the Royal Assent from a bill (in this case, a Scots militia bill). Preoccupied with her health (she may have suffered from porphyria), Anne allowed her ministers, most notably Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Mortimer, as well as her favourites (Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough and Abigail Masham) to dominate politics. - Hie shift of power from the Crown to the ministry became even more apparent during the reign of George I, whose chief advisor, Sir Robert Walpole, is often described as the "first Prime Minister."

George I,1714 to 1727First sovereign of the House of Hanover. Son of the Elector of Hanover, by Sophia, daughter of Elizabeth, daughter of James I., in whose line the Act of Settlement (1701), passed on the death of the last surviving child of the Princess Anne (afterwards Queen), vested the Crown of the United Kingdom.

By that Act of Settlement it was enacted (among other matters) that every Sovereign of England must thereafter be in communion with the Church of England "as by law established."

George I. was born 1660. Created Duke of Cambridge, 1706. Proclaimed King, August 10th, 1714. Landed at Greenwich, September 18th following. Crowned at Westminster. It should be of interest to remind that Queen Anne was the last English sovereign

who presided in person at the Cabinet Councils of Ministers. With the accession of King George I. began that practice now existing, of those councils being reserved to the private meeting of members of the Ministry in power. In brief, the kingdom now began to be governed, not by the King, but by the Ministers of the Crown.

"It was lucky for us that our first Georges were not more high-minded men; especially fortunate that they loved Hanover so much as to leave England to have her own way. Our chief troubles began when we got a king who gloried in the name of Briton, and being born in the country proposed to rule it."

- Thus wrote that great weekday preacher, Thackeray, who had the rare gift of making

history very delightful reading, and of writing sermons which thousands never discovered

were sermons, even after they had paid one shilling monthly for the privilege of reading

them. He had the happiest knack of disguising his sermons. But this by the way.

George I., as Charles II., liked to be left alone. So long as Ministers did not trouble him, he

did not trouble Ministers; a state of things which admirably suited the plans of Sir Robert

Walpole, chief of the Whigs, and along with him the country generally.

With the exception of a Jacobite rising in 1715, soon quelled, and the well-known "South

Sea Bubble," which brought ruin to innumerable homes, George I's reign was generally

pacific and restful. The duration of Parliament to seven years dates from his time.

He died at Osnaburgh, on a journey to his beloved Hanover, in 1727, having ruled his new kingdom peacefully for thirteen years.

George II, 1727 to 1760 Only son of George I. Born 1683. Created Prince of Wales 1714. Married the Princess Caroline of Anspach 1705. Ascended the throne 1727. Crowned at Westminster. The wisdom of Walpole's measures of finance had been made apparent in the last reign by a rapid upgrowth of commercial prosperity and a steady reduction of the nation's indebtedness. In brief, Walpole's ministerial policy throughout was a peace policy; to encourage industry and trade, and promote economy; and the result had been a notable increase in national wealth and prosperity. He was Prime Minister in 1727, when George II. came to the throne - hated, feared, and loved by him in turn.

So much, indeed, did the King dislike his father's chief ministerial adviser that, if it were not for the Queen, Walpole would probably have been obliged to resign.

But if King George II. feared that able statesman much, he feared his wife more. And as she had determined that no change should be made, Walpole remained in power. He remained in power so long that no Prime Minister of England has ever exceeded Sir Robert Walpole^fs continuous period of office, which extended to twenty years-fifteen in the service of George II.

A lover of peace and liberty, a great statesman, good citizen, and patriot, who kept the nation out of war and brought it much-needed rest, enlarged freedom, and did his best to promote British commerce, as well at home as abroad.

What wonder, then, that this "choleric little King" got to love that Minister whom he had first hated and later feared? It left him more leisure to "talk and to talk," old soldier as he was, about his earlier campaigns. "He is wild, but he fights like a man," said his father. At Oudenarde and Dettingen he had fought bravely. Nor was he in the least degree alarmed in the '45 by the arrival of the Pretender in his Kingdom. He quarrelled with his son Frederick, Prince of Wales, "as thoroughly worthless as it is possible for a mere fool to be," who died in 1751.

For the rest, when Walpole went, there was war: war with Prussia, fighting in India, and with the French in Canada; and finally "the Seven Years' War" began (1756). "No war has had greater results on the history of the world, or brought greater triumphs to England; but few have had more disastrous beginnings." William Pitt, afterwards Lord Chatham, was the statesman at the helm of affairs when that war began. It had not ended when George II. died at Kensington Palace.

George III, 1760 to 1820 Son of Frederick, Prince of Wales, son of George IL Born 1738. Created Prince of Wales on the death of his father in 1751. Succeeded his grandfather, George II., 1760. Proclaimed King, October 26th, 1760. Married the following year, Charlotte Sophia, Princess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Crowned at Westminster, September 22nd, 1761. Fifteen children were the issue of the marriage. George III. reigned for fifty-nine years, the longest period of any sovereign of England, except Queen Victoria. During the latter years of his reign there was a Regency, owing to the King's mental derangement. Some of the most momentous events in history occurred during George III.'s reign: the French Revolution; the Napoleonic wars; the Declaration of American Independence; the birth of England's Empire in the East; the Conquest of Canada; Captain Cook's voyages, and the discovery of Australia and New Zealand and their annexation by Great Britain; the Union with Ireland; the fall of Napoleon; the American War of 1812.

Nelson and Wellington stand foremost in the annals of George III.'s times, in leading its navy and army from victory to victory, culminating in those of Trafalgar and Waterloo. Of the great events of George III.'s long reign, and of the great men - statesmen, orators, admirals, generals, lawyers, authors, men of science and the like - that belonged to it, it is not possible to refer to otherwise than merely incidentally. "I know that I can save the country," prophesied the great William Pitt, who died in 1778. And he did save it, and that, too, with the whole nation at his back.

A just king, a religious king, a king who stuck steadily to his work; of kindly nature and domesticated habits, essentially a "good man"; such, in brief, was GeorgeIII.; but he was Retired from active service with the rank of rear-admiral, and was later gazetted, in turn, vice and full admiral, and admiral of time fleet. Presided at the Admiralty for a while with the title of Lord High Admiral - the last who bore that title. Was associated with Nelson during part of his sea-service.

In 1818, married Adelaide, daughter of the Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Meiningen, by whom he had two daughters, both of whom died in infancy; consequently the succession to the Crown fell to the Princess Victoria, daughter of the Duchess of Kent, wife of Edward, Duke of Kent, the King's brother, who predeceased her.

King William IV., who came to the throne in 1830, at the age of sixty-five, was popular with all classes of his subjects; generally known among them as "the Sailor King"; a bluff-spoken, garrulous, kind-hearted man, who "exhibited oddities," distinguished himself by making long and somewhat absurd speeches, and by "a morbid official activity" whilst in the Navy. Neither as prince nor king did he show any remarkable interest in political affairs; "he was reasonable and tractable, presided very decently at the Council, and looked like a respectable old admiral," as he was. So notes Greville in his gossiping pages.

He looked after old friends and companions; and, in short, was a kindly, good-natured king, whose early experiences, and by no means luxurious life aboard ship, had taught him many useful lessons, not less profitable to princes than lesser people.

The most important political event of William IV's reign was the passing of the Reform Bill (1831-2) by Earl Grey; a measure which had taken many years to convince Parliament was essential to the fair and adequate representation of all classes of the King's subjects in the House of Commons.

So great was the agitation produced by its rejection by the House of Lords, that it was finally allowed to pass, and became law; King William himself being favourable to the popular demand for such reform.

Victoria (r. 1837-1901)Victoria was born at Kensington Palace, London, on 24 May 1819. She was the only daughter of Edward, Duke of Kent, fourth son of George III. Her father died shortly after her birth and she became heir to the throne because the three uncles who were ahead of her in succession - George IV, Frederick Duke of York, and William IV - had no legitimate children who survived.

Warmhearted and lively, Victoria had a gift for drawing and painting; educated by a governess al home, she was a natural diarist and kept a regular journal throughout her life. On William IV^fs death in 1837, she became Queen at the age of 18.

Queen Victoria is associated with Britain's great age of industrial expansion, economic progress and, especially, empire. At her death, it was said, Britain had a worldwide empire on which the sun never set.

In the early part of her reign, she was influenced by two men: her first Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne, and her husband, Prince Albert, whom she married in 1840. Both men taught

her much about how to be a ruler in a 'constitutional monarchy' where the monarch had very few powers but could use much influence.

Her marriage to Prince Albert brought nine children between 1840 and 1857. Most of her children married into other Royal families of Europe.

Edward VII (born 1841), married Alexandra, daughter of Christian IX of Denmark. Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh and of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (born 1844) married Marie of Russia. Arthur. Duke of Connaught (born 1850) married Louise Margaret of Prussia. Leopold, Duke of Albany (born 1853) married Helen of Waldeck-Pyrmont.

Victoria, Princess Royal (born 1840) married Friedrich III, German Emperor. Alice (born 1843) married Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine. Helena (born 1846) married Christian of Schleswig-Holstein. Louise (born 1848) married John Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll. Beatrice (born 1857) married Henry of Battenberg.

Victoria bought Osborne House (later presented to the nation by Edward VII) on the Isle of Wight as a family home in 1845, and Albert bought Balmoral in 1852.

Victoria was deeply attached to her husband and she sank into depression after he died, aged 42, in 1861. She had lost a devoted husband and her principal trusted adviser in affairs of state. For the rest of her reign she wore black.

Until the late 1860s she rarely appeared in public; although she never neglected her official Correspondence, and continued to give audiences to her ministers and official visitors, she was reluctant to resume a full public life.

She was persuaded to open Parliament in person in 1866 and 1867, but she was widely criticised for living in seclusion and quite a strong republican movement developed.

Seven attempts were made on Victoria's life, between 1840 and 1882 - her courageous attitude towards these attacks greatly strengthened her popularity.

With time, the private urgings of her family and the flattering attention of Benjamin Disraeli. Prime Minister in 1868 and from 1874 to 1880, the Queen gradually resumed her public duties.

In foreign policy, the Queen's influence during the middle years of her reign was generally used to support peace and reconciliation. In 1864, Victoria pressed her ministers not to intervene in the Prussia-Austria-Denmark war, and her letter to the German Emperor (whose son had married her daughter) in 1875 helped to avert a second Franco-German war.

On the Eastern Question in the 1870s - the issue of Britain's policy towards the declining Turkish Empire in Europe - Victoria (unlike Gladstone) believed that Britain, while pressing for necessary reforms, ought to uphold Turkish hegemony as a bulwark of stability against Russia, and maintain bi-partisanship at a time when Britain could be involved in war.

During Victoria's long reign, direct political power moved away from the sovereign. A series of Acts broadened the social and economic base of the electorate.

These acts included the Second Reform Act of 1867; the introduction of the secret ballot in 1872, which made it impossible to pressurise voters by bribery or intimidation; and the Representation of the Peoples Act of 1884 - all householders and lodgers in accommodation worth at least Ј10 a year, and occupiers of land worth Ј10 a year, were entitled to vote.

Despite this decline in the Sovereign's power, Victoria showed that a monarch who had a high level of prestige and who was prepared to master the details of political life could exert an important influence.

It was during Victoria's reign that the modern idea of the constitutional monarch, whose role was to remain above political parties, began to evolve. But Victoria herself was not always non-partisan and she took the opportunity to give her opinions, sometimes very forcefully, in private.

After the Second Reform Act of 1867, and the growth of the two-party (Liberal and Conservative) system, the Queen's room for manoeuvre decreased. Her freedom to choose which individual should occupy the premiership was increasingly restricted.

In 1880, she tried, unsuccessfully, to stop William Gladstone - whom she disliked as much as she admired Disraeli and whose policies she distrusted - from becoming Prime Minister. She much preferred the Marquess of Harrington, another statesman from the Liberal party which had just won the general election. She did not get her way.

She was a very strong supporter of Empire, which brought her closer both to Disraeli and to the Marquess of Salisbury, her last Prime Minister.

Although conservative in some respects - like many at the time she opposed giving women the vote - on social issues, she tended to favour measures to improve the lot of the poor, such as the Royal Commission on housing. She also supported many charities involved in education, hospitals and other areas.

Victoria and her family travelled and were seen on an unprecedented scale, thanks to transport improvements and other technical changes such as the spread of newspapers and the invention of photography. Victoria was the first reigning monarch to use trains - she made her first train journey in 1842.

In her later years, she almost became the symbol of the British Empire. Both the Golden (1887) and the Diamond (1897) Jubilees, held to celebrate the 50th and 60th anniversaries of the queen's accession, were marked with great displays and public ceremonies. On both occasions, Colonial Conferences attended by the Prime Ministers of the self-governing colonies were held.

Despite her advanced age, Victoria continued her duties to the end - including an official visit to Dublin in 1900. The Boer War in South Africa overshadowed the end of her reign. As in the Crimean War nearly half a century earlier, Victoria reviewed her troops and visited hospitals; she remained undaunted by British reverses during the campaign: 'We are not interested in the possibilities of defeat; they do not exist.'

Victoria died at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, on 22 January 1901 after a reign which lasted almost 64 years, the longest in British history.

She was buried at Windsor beside Prince Albert, in the Frogmore Royal Mausoleum, which she had built for their final resting place. Above the Mausoleum door are inscribed Victoria's words: 'farewell best beloved, here at last I shall rest with thee, with thee in Christ I shall rise again'.

Edward VII, 1901 to 1910Eldest son of Queen Victoria, and of Albert, Prince Consort. Born 1841. Succeeded to the Throne, January 22nd, 1901. Married, March 10th, 1863, Princess Alexandra (Queen Alexandra, 1901), eldest daughter of King Christian IX. of Denmark; and had issue three sons (of whom the youngest died soon after birth) and three daughters. Crowned at Westminster, August 9th, 1901. The King's eldest son, Prince Albert Victor, created Duke of Clarence and Avondale, born 1864, died in 1892.

At the King's accession, his second son, Prince George Frederick Ernest Albert (born 1865), became Prince of Wales; who married, July 6th, 1893, the Princess Victoria Mary of Teck, daughter of Mary Adelaide, Duchess of Teck, daughter of the Duke of Cambridge, son of George III.

Of the political events of King Edward VII.'s reign, the most important were the successful termination of the South African War, and an increasing tendency on the part of the Colonies towards the consideration of Imperial Federation for defensive and trade purposes. A United South Africa, under the British Crown, was the final outcome of the Boer War. In respect of Home affairs, perhaps the most noteworthy political movement was the agitation in behalf of Women's Suffrage. For the rest, King Edward's brief reign of nine years was peaceful, which happy condition of things for the country he was actively helpful 2 in promoting, so that he was often referred to as "the Peacemaker."

No English king has ever been so popular with every section of the community-high, low, rich, and poor-as Edward VII. It might with much truth he added that no reigning sovereign has been so popular in foreign countries, or, indeed, throughout the world. No more tactful prince than he sat on the throne of England. The affection felt for him by his subjects was sincere and widespread, and embraced every class, so that it was said that no man dare say anything disparagingly of him, in the hearing of his fellows, in the worst haunts and slums of London.

One of the most genial and kind-hearted of men was King Edward; and withal an indefatigable worker; all things considered-affairs of state, meetings, travel, sport, reviews, banquets, functions, fetes, commemorations, all things considered, one of the hardest- worked men, whether as Prince of Wales or King, in his dominion.

In one way or another he appealed to the loyalty and attachment of every class; by his neutral attitude in respect of politics and creeds; by his unfailing courtesy and geniality; by the interest he showed in measures of charity; by the unaffected simplicity of his home-life. No better word could be found to sum up the character of King Edward VII than the expressive word "gentleman." A truer English gentleman never lived.

George VGeorge V was born at Marlborough House on 3 June 1865. His parents were Edward VII and Queen Alexandra. He was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, King of the Commonwealth Realms and Emperor of India from 6 May 1910 until his death on 20 January 1936.

As a younger son of the Prince of Wales (as Edward VII then was), he was not expected to become king. However, as George was born only fifteen months after his brother Prince Albert Victor, it was decided to educate both royal princes together. Given the importance of Prince Albert Victor's expected future role as king, both brothers were given a strict programme of study, although neither did well at their studies.

Later the royal brothers served as Naval cadets on HMS Bacchante. They toured the British Empire, visiting the colonies in Australia and the Far East, and also getting tattooed in Japan. When they returned to the UK, the brothers were parted with George joining the Royal Navy and Albert Victor attending Trinity College, Cambridge. George served in the navy until 1891. He travelled the world and visited many areas of the British Empire. He also got many more tattoos, and a parrot that he took home to England with him.

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 857