George III

(born June 4, 1738, London, Eng.—died Jan. 29, 1820, Windsor Castle, near London) King of Great Britain and Ireland (1760–1820); also elector (1760–1814) and king (1814–20) of Hanover. The grandson of George II, he ascended the throne during the Seven Years' War. His chief minister, Lord Bute, forced William Pitt's resignation and caused intrigue rather than stability within the government. Bute resigned in 1763, but George's political overtures to others were snubbed, until Lord North became prime minister in 1770. England was in financial distress caused by the war, and George supported attempts to raise funds through taxation of the American colonies, which led to the American Revolution. With North, he was blamed for prolonging the war and losing the colonies. He reasserted his power when North and Charles James Fox planned to take control of the East India Company; he forced them to resign and reaffirmed his control through a new “patriotic” prime minister, William Pitt, the Younger. George supported him until the war with Revolutionary France (1793) and fears of related uprisings in Ireland caused Pitt to propose political emancipation of the Roman Catholics. George's vehement opposition led to Pitt's resignation in 1801. In 1811 George's ill health and a return of the madness that had afflicted him for short periods earlier in his life caused Parliament to enact the regency of his son, the future George IV.