Source: A History of Europe: From the Reformation to Our Own Day

by Ferdinand Schevill, 1925.

"While the war was at its height an event of great significance occurred in the union of England and Scotland. Although the two kingdoms had possessed a common sovereign ever since the accession in 1603 of the Scottish sovereign, James, to the English throne, from fear of its more powerful neighbor, the smaller state had for over a century jealously guarded its independence. In 1707 the ghost of ancient rivalry and war was laid for all time by a measure in which the Scottish parliament voted its own extinction and accepted for the northern kingdom representation in the Lords and Commons seated at Westminster. To mark the fusion of the two governments in one they adopted as their official common designation the name Great Britain.

"In the year 1714 Anne died, and the crown fell to the German house of Hanover, whose family name is Guelph (Welf). Since the Electress Sophia, who had been designated by the Act of Settlement as the eventual heir, had preceded Anne in death, her son, George I, now ascended the throne. . . . The new sovereign was an honest and reliable but mentally sluggish individual. Furthermore, he was more interested in Hanover than in England, and did not even trouble to learn the English language." pp. 371-2.

"George I (was) succeeded by his son, George II (1727-1760), like his father in at least the one important circumstance that he meekly acquiesced in the new part and cabinet development. The war with Spain had hardly begun when the continental powers, on the heels of the death of Emperor Charles VI (1740), became involved in a struggle over the Austrian succession. As England took alarm at the policy of France, which again visibly aimed at European ascendancy by means of a partition of Austria, the government threw in its lot with Charles's heir, Maria Theresa. Looking with inner displeasure on all these developments, Walpole was at length (1743) forced out of office to be replaced by men more eager than he to fight and more ready, above all, to join with Austria in order to present a united front against the leagued Bourbon powers of Spain and France. . . A memorable incident of the War of the Austrian succession was the attempt of Charles Edward Stuart, son of the Pretender, and known as the Young Pretender, to win back his lost realms. That he was not lacking in the spirited audacity which has often gained a crown is proved by the fact that without help from France and with a following of only seven men he secretly landed on the Scottish Highland coast. The time, July, 1745, was well chosen since the British troops were fighting on the continent. The Highlanders were in this period still divided into clans, at the head of which stood hereditary chiefs. As Celts, with a language and a civilization, albeit backward, of their own, they were by no means friendly either to the Teutonic Lowlanders of Scotland or to the English. Moreover, practically self-governed, they were subjected to king George II in hardly anything more than name. That Prince Charlie, as the Young Pretender was fondly called, had thrown himself upon their mercy, stirred their imagination and kindled their generous hearts to wild enthusiasm. Flocking around him in crowds, they advanced from point to point until by an irresistible rush they captured Edinburgh. For a moment London itself was apprehensive of capture, but on the troops being recalled from the Netherlands, where they were engaged in fighting the French, it was soon found that the wild courage of feudal clans was of no avail against the discipline of a trained army. On Culloden Moor (April, 1746), the Highlanders were defeated with fearful slaughter by the king's second son, the duke of Cumberland. Prince Charlie, after many romantic adventures, made his escape; but broken apparently by his one capital misfortune, he became an habitual drunkard and lived ever afterward in indolence abroad (d. 1788). His failure marks the last Stuart attempt to recover the throne." p. 374-5.

Other sources:

"George I, a German prince of the House of Hanover, was Anne's second cousin. He was her closest Protestant relative, and became King when she died in 1714. He did not speak English, and no real interest in the country. George took almost no part in government affairs, leaving everything in the hands of the Whig party. Sir Robert Walpole usually is considered the first Prime Minister of Great Britain. He led the Whigs in Parliament, and formed a Cabinet of ministers loyal to himself.

"Anne's brother James and the other Roman Catholic members of the House of Stuart were banished from Great Britain. When Anne died in 1714, James was on the continent. He proclaimed himself James III, King of Great Britain. The British called him the Old Pretender. With the help of the Highland Scots, he led a rebellion in 1715, called The '15. But he was defeated and fled to France. His son Charles, who was called Bonnie Prince Charlie or the Young Pretender, tried again in 1745. His rebellion is called The '45. Highland Scots joined him and invaded England. But Charles' forces were crushed at Culloden Moor, and he left England and fled to France." [World Book, Vol. 8, pp. 335-6.]

Rulers of England

Saxons
Egbert 829-839 through Edmund II 1016
Danes
Canute 1016-1035
Harold I 1035-1040
Hardecanute 1040-1042

Saxons
Edward the
Confessor 1042-1066
Harold II 1066

Normans
William I the
Conqueror 1066-1087
William II 1087-1100
Henry I 1100-1135
Stephen 1135-1154

Plantagenet Family
Henry II 1154-1189 through Richard II 1377-1399

House of Lancaster
Henry IV 1399-1413 through Henry VI 1422-1461

House of York
Edward IV 1461-1470

House of Lancaster
Henry VI 1470-1471

House of York
Edward IV 1471-1483
Edward V 1483
Richard III 1483-1485

House of Tudor
Henry VII 1485-1509 through Elizabeth 1558-1603

House of Stuart
James I 1603-1625
Charles I 1625-1649

Commonwealth Protectorate
Long Parliament 1649-1653 Oliver Cromwell 1653-1658
Richard Cromwell 1658-1659

House of Stuart
Charles II 1660-1685 through Anne 1702-1714

1707 The Act of Union joined England and Wales with Scotland to form Great Britain

Rulers of Great Britain

House of Stuart
Anne 1702-1714

House of Hanover
George I 1714-1727
George II 1727-1760
George III 1760-1820
George IV 1820-1830
William IV 1830-1837
Victoria 1837-1901