George,
the eldest son of Ernest August, Elector of Hanover and Sophia of
Bohemia, was born in 1660. He was also the great-grandson of James
I.
In 1682 George married his cousin, Sophia of Zell. The couple had
two children, George (1683-1760) and
Sophia (1688-1757).
In 1714 Queen
Anne became very ill. The true heir to the throne was James
Stuart, the son of James
II. Many Tory
ministers supported James becoming king. However, James Stuart was
a Catholic and was strongly opposed by the Whigs.
A group of Whigs visited Anne just before she died and persuaded her
to sack her Tory ministers. With the support of the Whigs, Queen Anne
nominated Prince George
of Hanover as the next king
of Britain.
At first, George was not
sure that he wanted to become king. Although Hanover was only a small
area, he had complete power over his subjects, whereas in Britain
he would have to share power with Parliament. George knew that being
a king in Britain did not always provide long-term security. He was
only too aware of what
happened to Charles
I and James
II when they
lost the support of Parliament.
However, George's advisers
in Hanover recommended that he accept the offer. They pointed out
that as king he could use his new power and influence to help protect
the independence of Hanover from its aggressive neighbours.
When George arrived in
England, he knew little about British politics nor could he speak
very much English. George therefore became very dependent on the Whigs
who had arranged for him to become king. The most important of these
was Robert Walpole who became George's
Prime Minister.
George never learnt to
speak English and spent much of his reign in Hanover. When he died
in 1727 he was succeeded by his son George
II.
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