Victoria 1837-1901
Reign 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901 Coronation 28 June 1838 Predecessor William IV Successor Edward VII. A formidable if brooding presence for most of her long reign, Victoria came to the throne aged 18, a conscientious constitutional monarch. She was never really the same after the death of her German husband Prince Albert in 1861, withdrawing from public life for many years, and wearing black for the rest of her life (though it is rumoured she had a later affair with her Scottish servant, HJohn Brown). Her longevity, and -after her lengthy period in mourning- the affection in which she was generally held by the public, gave her a considerable personal influence with her prime ministers. Disraeli was her favourite, particulary after he persuaded her to accept the title of empress of India. She became the symbol; of Victorian respectability, the mother figure of an empire built on military conquest, trade an industrial might.
* Victoria survived several attempts on her life, inclusding one in 1840 and three in 1842
William IV
Reign 26 June 1830 – 20 June 1837 Coronation 8 September 1831 Predecessor George IV Successor Victoria Prime Ministers Duke of Wellington, Earl Grey, Viscount Melbourne, Robert Peel
During the reign of third son of george III, the reform Act of 1832 extended the vote among the middle class.
* even as King, William took solitary walks through London
George IV
Reign 29 January 1820 – 26 June 1830 Coronation 19 July 1821 Predecessor George III Successor William IV
George's long wait to assume the throne did little to prepare him, and his extravagant personal life regularly attention. Politically conservative he was a more inluential arbiter of fashion.
George III
George II Reign 11 June 1727 – 25 October 1760 Coronation 11 October 1727 Predecessor George I Successor George III
He suffered from porphyria, a hereditary disease that shows the symptoms of mental illness. This caused periods of incapacity, and for the last nine years of George's life, his son served as prince regent. Though personally popular, George III's reign saw inept policies lead to the American Revolution. By contrast Britain triumphed in the Napoleonic Wars from 1803-15. * George III was known as farmer george reflecting his interest in agriculture
George II
Reign 11 June 1727 – 25 October 1760 Coronation 11 October 1727 Predecessor George I Successor George II
By his death, Britainwas becoming animperial power, with victories over the Scottish Jacobite rebels echoed in India and Canada.
*George II was the last British monarch to lead an army into the field -at the Battle of Dettingen in 1743.
George I
(1714-1727)
Anne's second cousin, the German-speaking George relied on his ministers.
His reign was characterised by increasing parliamentary power -and the emergence of the first modern prime minister, Sir Robert Walpole.
