Succession · Monarch of Great Britain
Why did George I of Great Britain succeed Anne of Great Britain?
Inheritance by statute (Act of Settlement 1701), passing over more than fifty closer Catholic relatives. Second cousin — both great-grandchildren of James VI and I.
The short answer
Anne died on 1 August 1714 with no surviving children. The Act of Settlement had named Sophia of Hanover, James I's granddaughter, and her Protestant heirs. Sophia died weeks before Anne, so her son George inherited. His blood claim was distant; Parliament's statute is what made him king.
Who they were
Family relationship
Second cousin — both great-grandchildren of James VI and I.
How power passed
Inheritance by statute (Act of Settlement 1701), passing over more than fifty closer Catholic relatives
George's mother Sophia was the daughter of Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia, James VI and I's daughter. Dozens of people stood closer by descent — starting with Anne's half-brother James Francis Edward Stuart — but all were Catholic and excluded by the 1701 Act. The Jacobite rising of 1715 tried and failed to reverse the settlement.
Key points
- Named by the Act of Settlement 1701 as Sophia's heir
- Sophia died 8 June 1714, Anne on 1 August 1714
- Over fifty closer relatives excluded as Catholics
- Jacobite rising of 1715 contested the succession and failed
Related family connections
Sources
- George I of Great Britain Accession under the Act of Settlement
- Act of Settlement 1700 Statutory basis of the Hanoverian succession
Explanation written and reviewed by HistorIQly · reviewed 2026-09-18. Part of House of Stuart. Background on Wikipedia.