32. George III

The US declaration of Independence described George III (1760-1820) as “marked by every act which may define a tyrant.” At home he was described as one of the most conscientious sovereigns who ever sat upon the English throne. Yet, he vehemently opposed catholic emancipation and the abolition of slavery. His characterisations are almost as broad as the events that unfolded during long reign. It saw an independent United States and a revolutionary France. It saw the age of enlightenment, the age of industry, science and technology and the age of imperialism that would see Europe reach the peak of its global power. Characters George III – King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain (1760-1820) and Ireland (1801-20) Charlotte of Mecklenberg-Strelitz – Queen consort of the United Kingdom of Great Britain (1760-1820) and Ireland (1801-20) Prince Frederick – father of George III, son of George II, Prince of Wales (1729-51) Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha – mother of George III Prince George – son of George III, Prince of Wales, Prince Regent of the United Kingdom (1811-20) Prince Henry – duke of Cumberland, brother of George III France Maximillien Robespierre – leading Jacobin revolutionary Charles Danton – leading Jacobin revolutionary Napoleon Bonaparte – Emperor of France Louis XVI – King of France (1774-92) Louis XVIII – King of France (1814-15, 1815-24) Marie Antoinette – Queen consort of France, wife of Louis XVI (1774-92) Pierre-Charles Villaneuve – French vice-admiral at the Battle of Trafalgar Joseph Bonaparte – King of Spain and Naples, brother of Napoleon Louis Bonaparte – King of Holland, brother of Napoleon United States Thomas Paine – English-born American revolutionary activist Benjamin Franklin – writer, diplomat and philosopher George Washington – military officer and statesman. 1st President of the United States (1789-97) James Madison – President of the United States (1809-17) Andrew Jackson – general and statesman, President of the United States (1829-37) Prime Ministers Thomas Pelham, Duke of Newcastle (1757-62) John Stuart, Earl of Bute (1762-63) George Grenville (1763-65) Charles Watson-Wentworth, Marquess of Rockingham (1765-66, 82) William Pitt (the elder), earl of Chatham – Prime Minister (1766-68) Augustus FitzRoy, Duke of Grafton (1768-70) Frederick, Lord North (1770-82) William Petty, Earl of Shelburne (1782-83) William Cavendish-Bentinck, Duke of Portland (1783, 1807-09) William Pitt (the younger) (1783-1801, 1804-06) Henry Addington (1801-04) William Grenville (1806-07) Spencer Perceval (1809-12) Robert Jenkinson, Earl of Liverpool (1812-27) Charles Fox – Whig politician Lord Effingham – in charge of the coronation Horatio Nelson – Admiral and flag officer in the Royal Navy Cuthbert Collingwood – Admiral in the Royal Navy Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington – commander at the Battle of Waterloo William Howe – commander-in-chief of the British land forces during the American War of Independence John Burgoyne – British general during the American War of Independence Charles Cornwallis – British general during the American War of Independence Thomas Gray – British poet and scholar Sarah Lennox – favourite of George John Harrison – British clockmaker and inventor of the marine chronometer Abel Tasman – Dutch seafarer and explorer James Cook – British captain and explorer Capability Brown – British gardener and landscape architect Benjamin West – American artist William Herschel – German-born British astronomer Pope Pius VI – head of the Catholic Church (1775-99)