King George III

In 1760 George succeeded his grandfather, George II, as king. Married to a German princess, Charlotte of Mecklenberg-Strelitz they had fifteen children.

A year after becoming king, George III arranged for the Earl of Bute to become prime minister although he was only prime minister for one year he was an influence, politically, on the young King George. The king appointed four more prime ministers with Lord North staying in office for ten years.

George III supported Lord North's policies that resulted in the American War of Independence (1776-1783). MPs led by Charles Fox and William Pitt said the war was an 'unjust war' and should be brought to an end.

It was during George III's reign that Great Britain lost many of its colonies in North America in the wake of the American Revolution. These colonies would eventually become the United States. Also during his reign the realms of Great Britain and Ireland were joined together to form the United Kingdom.

British government under George III issued the Royal Proclamation of 1763 that placed a boundary upon the westward expansion of the American colonies. The Proclamation's goal was to force colonists to negotiate with the Native Americans for the lawful purchase of the land and, therefore, to reduce the costly frontier warfare that had erupted over land conflicts.George Grenville became Prime Minister, who introduced the Stamp Act, which levied a stamp duty on all printed paper in the British colonies in North America. The Americans grew increasingly hostile to British attempts to levy taxes in the colonies. During the Boston Tea Party in 1773, a Boston mob threw 342 crates of tea into Boston Harbour as a political protest, costing approximately 10,000 Pounds. In response, Lord North introduced the Punitive Acts, known as the Coercive Acts or the Intolerable Acts by the colonists. The Port of Boston was shut down and legislative elections in the Colony of Massachusetts Bay were suspended.

The American Revolutionary War began when armed conflict between British regulars and colonial militiamen broke out in New England in April 1775.

On July 4, 1776, the provinces declared their independence from the Crown and became a new nation, the "United States of America". The Declaration of Independence was a long list of grievances against the British King, legislature, and populace. Amongst George's other offences, the Declaration charged, "He has abdicated Government here... He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people."

On 5th. November 1788 having trouble with his son, also called George, he started bashing his son's head against a wall and had to be restrained. This was the start of the 'madness' that afflicted the king. For the next year the king was in a straight jacket under the supervision of medical people who, finally declared he was sane enough to continue his duties.

After 1801 George III was increasingly incapacitated by his illness, sometimes identified as porphyry, that caused blindness and senility. His recurring bouts of insanity became a political problem and ultimately compelled him to submit to the establishment of a formal Regency in 1811. The regent was his oldest son, the future George IV, one of 15 children borne him by his wife, Charlotte Sophia of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.

George III died at Windsor Castle on January 29, 1820.

One of the most cultured of monarchs, George III started a new royal collection of books (65,000 of his books were later given to the British Museum, as the nucleus of a national library) and opened his library to scholars. In 1768, George founded and paid the initial costs of the Royal Academy of Arts (now famous for its exhibitions). He was the first king to study science as part of his education (he had his own astronomical observatory), and examples of his collection of scientific instruments can now be seen in the Science Museum.