King of England George Iii Hanover ^2,3

  General Notes:

[Europe_New.FTW] [royalfam.ged] AFN: 9FNG-NM George III was the longest reigning of male British monarchs. Born onJune 4, 1738, he was th e son of Frederick, prince of Wales, and thegrandson of George II. He succeeded his grandfath er in 1760, his fatherhaving died in 1751. George had high but impractical ideas of kingship. On his accession he sought to rule withou t regard to party, to banish corruption from political practice, and to abandon the Hanoveria n preoccupations of his predecessors. The chief minister chosen to implement his new system o f politics, the third earl of Bute 1713-92, however, was an unpracticed politician who mere ly succeeded in disrupting the established politics of the day without creating a viable alte rnative. The result was 10 years of ministerial instability and public controversy, which end ed only in 1770 with the appointment of Frederick, Lord North, an able and congenial minister . Although never an autocratic monarch in the sense that his opponents contended, George III wa s always a powerful force in politics. He was a strong supporter of the war against America , and he viewed the concession of independence in 1783 with such detestation that he consider ed abdicating his throne. At the same time, he fought a bitter personal feud with the Whig le ader Charles James Fox, and his personal intervention brought the fall of the Fox-North minis try in 1783. He then found another minister, William Pitt, the Younger, who suited him. Eve n as late as 1801 he preferred, however, to force Pitt to resign as prime minister rather tha n permit Catholic Emancipation, a measure that he interpreted as contrary to his coronation o ath to uphold the Church of England. After 1801 George III was increasingly incapacitated by an illness ,sometimes identified as p orphyria, that caused blindness and senility. His recurring bouts of insanity became a politi cal problem and ultimately compelled him to submit to the establishment of a formal Regency i n 1811.The regent was his oldest son, the future George IV, one of 15 children borne him by h is wife, Charlotte Sophia of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. George III was bitterly criticized by Whig historians of his own and later days. But 20th-cen tury scholarship has somewhat redressed the balance, and he is now seen as a strong-minded bu t public-spirited monarch who perhaps ascended the throne at an overly young and impressionab le age. He learned quickly, however, and developed into a shrewd and sensible statesman, alth ough one of conservative views. To the court he brought a sense of public duty and private mo rality that proved popular in a society already being transformed by the evangelical revival . He showed considerable interest in agricultural improvement and was an avid collector of pa intings and books. The best loved of the Hanoverian rulers, he enjoyed a personal reputatio n that stood his house in good stead during the disastrous reign of his son George. George II I died on Jan. 29, 1820. Can anyone point me to a good online source for the children of King George III of England including illegitimate, what's known of. I used to think there was a newsgroup for royalty but couldn't find one, apologies this being off-topic. 1 George, Prince of Wales, later George IV 1762-1830 2 Frederick, Duke of York 1763-1827 3 William, Duke of Clarence, later William IV 1765-1837 4 Edward, Duke of Kent 1767-1820 father of Queen Victoria 5 Princess Augusta 1768-1840 6 Princess Elizabeth, m. Frederick of Hesse-Homburg 1770-1840 7 Ernest, Duke of Cumberland, later King of Hanover 1771-1851 8 Augustus, Duke of Sussex 1773-1843 9 Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge 1774-1850 10 Princess Sophia 1777-1845 11 Prince Octavius 1779-1783 12 Prince Alfred 1780-1782 13 Princess Amelia 1783-1810 14 Princess Mary, m. the Duke of Gloucester 1776-1857 George III had no illegitimate children, having a most un-Hanoverian fidelity to Queen Charlotte.

  Noted events in his life were:

• Record Change, 24 Aug 2003. ^2,3

George married Sophia Charlotte Of Mecklenburg, daughter of Charles Louis Frederick Of Mecklenburg and Duchess Albertin Elizabeth, on 8 Sep 1761 in St. James' Palace ².^,3 (Sophia Charlotte Of Mecklenburg was born on 19 May 1744 in Mirow, Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Germany,^2,3 died on 17 Nov 1818 in Kew, New South Wales, Australia ^2,3 and was buried in Windsor, Berkshire, England ^2,3.)

George next married Hannah Lightfoot, daughter of Mathew Lightfoot and Mary Wheeler, on 17 Apr 1759 ².^,3 (Hannah Lightfoot was born on 12 Oct 1730 in St. John's, Wapping, London, England ^2,3 and died in Pennsylvania, USA ^2,3.)

George next married Margaret Frances Sheldon, daughter of William Sheldon and Margaret Frances Disney. (Margaret Frances Sheldon was born about 1742 in Norfolk House, Westminster, London, England ^2,3 and died on 14 May 1846 in Witham, Essex, England ^2,3.)