George I of Great Britain

George I was born on May 28, 1660, in Hanover, located in the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg of the great Roman Empire. He was born into the royal family of Ernest Augustus, the duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, and his wife, Sophia of the Palatinate. George was the eldest son in the family and the great-grandson of King James I of England.

When he was born, George was the sole successor of all the lands and fortunes that his entire family owned. His uncles were all childless and he became the rightful heir to their fortunes, too. That was until 1661, when his mother gave birth to another son, Frederick Augustus.

However, little George was away from his mother’s love for the first year of his life. She was mostly away on long holidays in Italy, but she kept corresponding to make sure George was taken care of. Upon coming back, she took care of George and his baby brother.

She later gave birth to five more children. She noted in her writings that George was a very mature young boy and that he took good care of all of his little siblings.

In 1675, one of his uncles died without having any sons of his own. This made his father the sole ruler of the territory. However, George’s remaining two uncles had married and this put a danger to his aspirations of inheriting the fortunes of his uncles.

George married his first cousin, Sophia Dorothea of Celle, in 1682. The marriage took place with the intention of strengthening the bond between Celle and Hanover, as marrying into Celle meant there would be a good inflow of income for Hanover.

The next year, George Augustus was born, followed by a daughter, Dorothea. However, the couple did not have a happy married life. While George had a German mistress, Sophia Dorothea had her own affair. This led to problems that continued for many years.

The marriage was officially dissolved in 1694, on the grounds that Sophia Dorothea had abandoned her husband. George put Sophia Dorothea in jail, where she stayed until the day she died, almost 30 years later.

In 1701, the ‘Act of Settlement’ stated that George’s mother was to be named the successor to the British throne, if reigning monarch William III and his wife, Anne, passed away without any successor. The act was passed after it was decided that Protestant succession was the best option available.

However, there was some trouble on the way to the throne. Anne and William III had 50 close Catholic relatives who had more claim to the throne than George and his mother. However, some tweaks in the parliamentary laws made George’s mother, Sophia, the successor to the British throne after the death of Anne.

Sophia passed away in 1714. Following that, George was named the successor to the throne. Anne died in August 1714, and by then, George had made sure that he would be the one to inherit the throne after her, after he made a few amendments in the parliament. He was proclaimed the king of England and Ireland, upon Queen Anne’s death.

His coronation took place in October 1714, and the historical event also saw some unrest in the country. Unhappy to see an outsider on the throne of Britain, some rioters went loose. There was mayhem in many parts of England.

Soon after he was declared as the king, the Catholics and a close relative of Queen Anne, James Stuart, gathered a force of Jacobites and started protesting against George. George did not take this lightly and curbed the rebellion in a very short time. Another similar rebellion occurred in 1719. This was again easily suppressed by George.