George I

1660-1727. Son of Sophia of Hanover, Elector (=Kurfürst) of Hanover. King of Great Britain and Ireland (1714-1727).

He married bis cousin Sophia of Zelle.

After the death of the last Stuart, Queen Anne in 1714, George I inherited the throne of England and Ireland under the Act of Settlement (1701) and became the first king of the House of Hanover. He was chosen to be king because he was brought up a Protestant. “The other alternative was the Catholic son of James II by Mary of Modena, James Edward Stuart” (Britannia.com).

There was an attempt to bring the so-called Old Pretender to the throne in 1715, but, like the subsequent Jacobite risings, it was not successful.

During George's reign, political power shifted more and more to Parliament, because the king did not speak fluent English and was in Hanover most of the time. At that time the Whigs dominated Parliament. And Robert Walpole dominated Parliament, Privy Council and politics: “After the South Sea Bubble crises of 1720, Robert Walpole took over. The most able of George’s ministers and known as the first ‘Prime Minister’. Walpole’s was the longest running administration in British history (1721-42)” (royal.uk).

Sources

"https://www.royal.uk/george-i." royal.uk, The Royal Household, https://www.royal.uk/george-i.

Britannia Staff Article. "George I (1714-27 AD)." Britannia.com, original URL: http://www.britannia.com/history/monarchs/mon53.html, archive URL: https://web.archive.org/web/20180825064546/http://www.britannia.com/history/monarchs/mon53.html.