George William Frederick (Hannover) Hanover (1738-1820) | WikiTree FREE Family Tree

George William Frederick (George III) "King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, France and Ireland" Hanover formerly Hannover

Born 24 May 1738 in St James's Square, Westminster, Middlesex, England

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 29 Jan 1820 at age 81 in Windsor Castle, Windsor, Berkshire, England

Profile last modified 7 Mar 2025 | Created 9 Mar 2013

This page has been accessed 35,218 times.

King George III is the third longest reigning monarch of the United Kingdom after Queen Elizabeth II and Queen Victoria

Biography

[1738 May 24] His Royal Highness George son of their Royal Highnesses Frederick and Augusta, Prince and Princess of Wales was born this 24th day of May 1738 between seven & eight in the morning at Norfolk House in St James's Square & was privately baptised the same day by the Lord Bishop of Oxford, Rector of this parish. (Baptism register of St. James Piccadilly, Westminster)

The future King George was born at Norfolk House, St. James’s Square, Westminster, Middlesex, England on 24 May 1738 to Frederick, Prince of Wales the heir apparent to the throne, and Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha. ^{[1] [2]} The London Gazette reported that the hasty baptism "was occasioned by some dangerous Symptoms that appeared at first, though they are now happily over..." ^[3]

As he could not be baptised twice according to the canon law of the Anglican Church, he was publicly named as George William Frederick on 21 June 1738 at a ceremony also held at Norfolk House by the Lord Bishop of Oxford Thomas Secker who earlier also performed the private baptism.^[4] His Godfathers were the King of Sweden and the Duke of Saxe-Gotha, and his Godmother was the Queen of Prussia. ^[5]

He was second in line to the throne at birth (higher in the order of precedence than his father's siblings or his own elder sister) and became heir to the throne aged 13 upon his father's death in 1751. At that time, his grandfather officially confirmed the titles which were his father's and bestowed the title of Prince of Wales: ^[6]

St James's, April 20

His Majesty has been pleased to order Letters Patent... for creating His Royal Highness George William Frederick (the Prince of Great Britain, Electorial Prince of Brunswick Lunenburgh, Duke of Edenburgh [sic], Marquess of the Isle of Ely, Earl of Eltham, Viscount of Lanceston, Baron of Snaudon and Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter) Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester.

In the same issue of the Gazette, the death and lying in state was announced of the King of Sweden, George's godfather.

On 25 October 1760 his grandfather King George II died at the age of 76 at Kensington Palace.
On the following day, 26 October, at a ceremony at Carleton House before the Lords of the Privy Council, George was declared

"George the Third by the Grace of God, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith" ^[7]

He was the first Hanoverian monarch to be born in England and to use English as his first language.

He would also be the last British monarch to lay a claim to the throne of France.

He was 22 years old.

Marriage, family and private life

George married the 17 year old German aristocrat Princess Charlotte Sophia of Mecklenburg-Strelitz at an evening service on 8 September 1761 at the Chapel Royal, St. James's Palace, by the same Thomas Secker who had performed George's baptism, and was now Archbishop of Canterbury. They had not met before the arranged marriage. ^{[8] [9]} Three days later a Royal proclamation was issued that from forthwith all daily prayers in the Church of England litany and any "publick service" now had to include prayers for "Our Gracious Queen Charlotte, Her Royal Highness, the Princess Dowager of Wales and all the Royal Family" ^[9]

With the wedding complete, the couple were crowned King and Queen Consort at a ceremony at the "Abbey Church in Westminster" on 22 September 1761. ^[10]

George and Charlotte had fifteen children over a period of 21 years, thirteen of whom survived to adulthood. They included two future British monarchs, George IV and William IV.

1. George Augustus Frederick (Prince of Wales, Prince Regent and later King George IV) (1762 - 1830)
2. Frederick Augustus Hanover Duke of York and Albany (1763 - 1827)
3. William Henry, later King William IV (1765 - 1837)
4. Charlotte Augusta Matilda (1766 - 1828)
5. Edward Augustus, father of Queen Victoria (1767 - 1820)
6. Augusta Sophia (1768 - 1840)
7. Elizabeth (1770 - 1840)
8. Ernest Augustus, Elector of Hanover after the death of King William IV (1771 - 1851)
9. Augustus Frederick (1773 - 1843)
10. Adolphus Frederick (1774 - 1850)
11. Mary (1776 - 1857)
12. Sophia (1777 - 1848)
13. Octavius (1779 - 1783)
14. Alfred (1780 - 1782)
15. Amelia (1783 - 1810)

Two boys, Octavius and Alfred died young.

George had no acknowledged mistresses during the time he was married, and no known illegitimate children. A story of a liaison with a married Quaker woman named Hannah Lightfoot who was said to have borne him up to three children, has no supporting evidence.

George purchased Buckingham House (now Buckingham Palace) for his wife and commissioned the gold state coach seen in modern Royal events. He was the first king to formally study science and and took a keen interest in improving agricultural practices. This led to him acquiring the nickname "Farmer George" from his detractors. He started a new royal collection of books, 65,000 of which were later given to the British Museum. ^[11]

George as a Monarch

At his accession on 26 October 1760, George was the holder of four distinct Royal titles.

1. King of Great Britain - the unified crown of England, Scotland and Wales
2. King of Ireland
3. King of France
4. Elector of Brunswick-Lüneburg (German: Kurfürstentum Braunschweig-Lüneburg) titular leader of an Electorate situated in the modern day Germany.

The Acts of Union 1800 formally combined the crowns of Great Britain and Ireland and led to the formation of a new political entity - the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, now commonly abbreviated to the United Kingdom. This came into being on 1 January 1801 by proclamation of the King now styled "George the Third by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith". ^[12] This entity would last until 1922 when Ireland (apart from the 6 counties of the province of Ulster) gained its independence as a separate sovereign state.

The holder of the crown of England had laid a claim to the crown of France since the Treaty of Troyes in 1422 which gave the title to the heirs of Henry V. ^[13] Despite the French having an established monarchy of their own from this time onwards, the Kingdom of France was always part of the styling of the title of the monarch of England, and latterly of Great Britain.
The French Republic was established in 1792, and in peace negotiations to end the British-French war in 1797, the French demanded that the British monarch removed the title. No formal agreement was made, but at the Act of Union 1800, the new Royal coat of Arms no longer contained the French Fleur-de-lys. ^[14]

The Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg had been ruled in personal union with the crown of Great Britain since the Act of Settlement 1701 and the Act of Union 1707. These acts ensured that the Protestant succession of the British crown would continue through the descendants of Electress Sophia of Hanover.
It was ruled by the Privy Council of Hanover (the capital city of the Electorate). George was ruler in name only - he never visited the place. ^[15]

George ruled in Great Britain as a Constitutional Monarch. ^[16] All governmental policies had to be agreed by Parliament, but the London Gazette (the official organ of British Governmental communication) shows that he and his sons were in regular attendance at Privy Council meetings.

These two following pieces of legislation introduced by George directly affected his family and the monarchs who were to succeed him.

He was party to the renegotiations of the terms of the Civil List payments by which the members of the Royal Family and their households are financed. In 1760 at the beginning of his reign, he exchanged the revenues from all his property (the Crown Estate) for a fixed yearly amount from Parliament. Parliament would, for the first time, be responsible for financing the costs of civil government which previously had been the responsibility of the monarch. ^[17] This Civil List negotiation has happened for every monarch of the United Kingdom since George's reign. ^[18]

The Royal Marriages Act 1772 or An Act for the Better Regulating of Future Marriages of the Royal Family was personally given royal assent by George in person at the Houses of Parliament on 1 April 1772. ^[19] This means of controlling the ability of the royal family to make "unsuitable marriages" was proposed by George after his brother Henry, Duke of Cumberland married the commoner Anne Horton. ^{[20] [21]}

Later life and death

From the age of 50 onwards, George was affected by a relapsing illness, possibly porphyria, which caused blindness and mental health problems.
His physical and mental conditions led to the establishment of a formal Regency in 1811. The Regent was his eldest son, the future George IV.

Sophia died in 1818 at the age of 74 years and was buried in the Royal Vault which George had commissioned at St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. ^[22]

Windsor, January 29, 1820

To the Right Honourable Viscount Sidmouth

My Lord

It becomes my painful duty to acquaint your Lordship that it has pleased Almighty God to take unto Himself the King, my Beloved Father, and Our Most Gracious and Excellent Sovereign - he expired at thirty five minutes past eight o'clock PM

I am, My Lord, Yours most sincerely

FREDERICK [Duke of York] ^[23]

George was 81 years old when he died. He was buried at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, Berkshire on 16 February 1820, in the Royal Vault with his wife Sophia and the three of their children who had predeceased them. ^[22][24]

Historical Events and Legacy

This biography does not attempt to comprehensively cover George's sixty year reign and the events both in Britain and abroad which shaped a rapidly changing world. There are plenty of good history books for that. Britain moved from being mainly agricultural to a full-on industrial revolution. There were frequent wars and revolution in Europe. The British Empire expanded and in some areas contracted.

As the British Sovereign throughout the American Revolutionary wars, George was identified by the Colonists as the figurehead of a British Parliament which denied them direct representation.
The transcript of the Declaration of Independence 4 July 1776 states: ^[25]

The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

[a list of grievances]

A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

In Britain, King George III is now remembered as the Mad King, because of the play The Madness of George III (1991) by the English playwright Alan Bennett, afterwards the film The Madness of King George. ^[26]

After his death, his personal library of nearly 64,000 books was donated to the newly created British Museum in 1823. Now it is housed in the British Library building at St Pancras, London in a six storey glass edifice known as the "King's Library". ^[27]

Hanover or Hannover or ... ?

This royal dynasty is known as the House of Hanover in Britain, from the name of the city capital of the Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg.
In the text of the Act of Settlement 1701 the name of the Electoress Sophia is spelled both Hanover and Hannover. ^[28]
The city is spelled Hannover in German.
All derivatives of the Royal name used in Britain and its colonies after the accession of George I spell the word Hanover (Hanover Square, Hanover County) with one ‘’N’’ .
The family name of the Electors of Hanover was Guelph or Welf. ^[29]

The Hanoverian monarchs styled themselves "of Great Britain etc." or used their titles of nobility rather than a surname.

Sources

1. ↑ Baptism of George, son of the Prince of Wales in: Baptism register of St James, Piccadilly (St James, Westminster), Middlesex, England. (1723-1741) City of Westminster Archives Centre; London, England; Westminster Church of England Parish Registers; Reference: STM/PR/8/17. Accessed on Ancestry.co.uk 28 September 2020 Free Ancestry sharing image
2. ↑ George's Wikipedia article has the erroneous birthdate of 4 June 1738. This is because it has been adjusted for the eleven "lost days" when the United Kingdom switched from the Julian to Gregorian calendars in 1752. The legislation for this change expressly declared that no such adjustment was to be made.
3. ↑ London Gazette May 23 to May 27 1738, edition 7704, page 1 London Gazette Accessed 28 September 2020
4. ↑ City of Westminster Archives Centre; London, England; Westminster Church of England Parish Registers; Reference: STM/PR/8/17 Ancestry Share
5. ↑ Baptism of George William Frederick in: The London Gazette, issue 7712 pub. 20 June 1738, page 2. London Gazette Accessed 28 September 2020
6. ↑ Royal proclamation in: London Gazette, edition 9050, 16 -20 April 1751 page 1 [https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/9050/page/1 London Gazette} Accessed 28 September 2020.
7. ↑ Proclamation of the new King in: London Gazette, edition 10046, 21- 25 October 1760, page 1 London Gazette accessed 28 September 2020
8. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Charlotte_of_Mecklenburg-Strelitz&oldid=979994976 (accessed September 28, 2020).
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1} Description of the Royal wedding in: London Gazette edition 10138 8 - 12 September 1761 page 1, London Gazette Accessed 28 September 2020
10. ↑ Coronation announcement in: London Gazette, edition 10141, 19-22 September 1761, page 1 London Gazette Accessed 28 September 2020. Considering the page space devoted to the Royal marriage, this one sentence announcement was surprisingly terse.
11. ↑ The Royal Household. The official web site of the British Royal Family. Ten things you didn't know about George III
12. ↑ Proclamation of the United Kingdom in: London Gazette issue 15327 page 51, 10-13 January 1801. London Gazette accessed 29 September 2020. This also includes a description of the new Arms and Royal standard, and a hand-drawn depiction of the new Union Flag.
13. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Dual monarchy of England and France," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dual_monarchy_of_England_and_France&oldid=954000912 (accessed September 29, 2020).
14. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "English claims to the French throne," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_claims_to_the_French_throne#Ending_the_claim (accessed September 29, 2020).
15. ↑ The Wikipedia article gives a good flavour of the diplomatic headaches of the Hanoverian kings trying to run two separate countries often with opposing political and military ideologies. Wikipedia contributors, "Electorate of Hanover," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Electorate_of_Hanover&oldid=979955352 (accessed September 29, 2020).
16. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Constitutional monarchy," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Constitutional_monarchy&oldid=980115972 (accessed September 29, 2020).
17. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Civil list," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Civil_list&oldid=944572426 (accessed September 29, 2020).
18. ↑ This debate in the UK parliament from 30 June 2011 is from when the Civil List was eventually superseded by the Sovereign Grant Bill 2011. Hansard report
19. ↑ Royal Marriages Act assent in London Gazette, issue 11236, page 1 London Gazette accessed 29 September 2020
20. ↑ The Act applied to the descendants of King George II, unapproved marriages would be declared null and void and children declared illegitimate. Wikipedia contributors, "Royal Marriages Act 1772," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Royal_Marriages_Act_1772&oldid=976774177 (accessed September 29, 2020).
21. ↑ The Act was only repealed in 2013, and was replaced by the Succession to the Crown Act 2013 whereby only the first six persons in line to the throne have to gain permission from the Sovereign to marry.
22. ↑ ^{22.0 22.1} The Queen's Free Chapel. The Chapel of the Most Honourable and Noble Order of the Garter. The Chapel of the College of St George. Royal Burials in the Chapel since 1805
23. ↑ Death of George in: Edinburgh Gazette, issue 2775, page 35 Edinburgh Gazette accessed 29 September 2020
24. ↑ Memorial: Find a Grave (has image)
    Find A Grave: Memorial #1981 (accessed 21 January 2025)
    Memorial page for George III (4 Jun 1738-29 Jan 1820), citing St. George's Chapel, Windsor, Windsor and Maidenhead Royal Borough, Berkshire, England (plot: Royal Vault.); Maintained by Find a Grave.
25. ↑ The Declaration of Independence 4 July 1776 (transcript) US National archives full text accessed 29 September 2020
26. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "The Madness of George III," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Madness_of_George_III&oldid=966289257 (accessed September 28, 2020).
27. ↑ "What is the King's Library?" British Library website, accessed 29 September 2020 description
28. ↑ Introduction to the Act of Settlement 1701, (debated during the sessional year 1700 c. 2 (Regnal. 12 and 13 William III) full text accessed on 29 September 2020.
29. ↑ "From Wettin to Windsor: changing the Royal name" National Archives (UK) blog 17 July 2017 full text accessed 29 September 2020.<

See also:

• Wikipedia contributors, "George III," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=George_III&oldid=980349600 (accessed September 28, 2020).
• John Cannon, ‘George III (1738–1820)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edition, May 2013 accessed 18 Oct 2017 - required subscription
• Dictionary of National Biography, Volumes 1-22 Finch - Gloucester (Vol 07) Page 1051-1071
• Time Team, Season 10, Episode 9, "Looking for the White House" (Kew Gardens, London)
• 'Michael Faraday - a Sandemanian and Scientist' by Geoffrey Cantor
• 'Martin-Leake, Double VC' by Ann Clayton
• Wikidata: Item Q127318, en:Wikipedia
• FamilySearch Person: L1S2-VPX