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{{Short description|Period in British history from 1714 to c. 1830–37}}
{{Other uses of|Georgian}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2023}}
{{Infobox historical era
|name      = Georgian era
|start     = 1714
|end       = 1830 (1837)
|image     = File:Royal Crescent, Bath.jpg
|alt       = 
|caption   = The [[Georgian architecture]] of the [[Royal Crescent]] in the city of [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]]
|before    = [[Stuart period]]
|including = [[Regency era]]
|after     = [[Victorian era]]
|monarch   = {{Unbulleted list
 |[[George I of Great Britain|George I]]
 |[[George II of Great Britain|George II]]
 |[[George III]]
 |[[George IV]]
 |[[William IV]]}}
|leaders   = {{Unbulleted list
 |[[George II of Great Britain|George, Prince of Wales]]<ref name="Pryde1996">{{Cite book|editor-first=E. B. |editor-last=Pryde|title=Handbook of British Chronology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zcgxEvGAK_kC&pg=PA46|year=1996|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-56350-5|pages=46–47}}</ref>
 |[[Caroline of Ansbach|Queen Caroline]]<ref name="Pryde1996" />
 |[[George IV|George, Prince Regent]]<ref name="Pryde1996" />}}{{List collapsed |title=[[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime ministers]]
 |[[Robert Walpole|Sir Robert Walpole]]
 |[[Spencer Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmington|Lord Wilmington]]
 |[[Henry Pelham]]
 |[[Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle|Duke of Newcastle]]
 |[[William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire|Duke of Devonshire]]
 |[[John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute|Lord Bute]]
 |[[George Grenville]]
 |[[Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham|Lord Rockingham]]
 |[[William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham|Lord Chatham]]
 |[[Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton|Duke of Grafton]]
 |[[Frederick North, Lord North|Lord North]]
 |[[William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne|Lord Shelburne]]
 |[[William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland|Duke of Portland]]
 |[[William Pitt the Younger]]
 |[[Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth|Henry Addington]]
 |[[William Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville|Lord Grenville]]
 |[[Spencer Perceval]]
 |[[Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool|Lord Liverpool]]
 |[[George Canning]]
 |[[F. J. Robinson, 1st Viscount Goderich|Lord Goderich]]
 |[[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Duke of Wellington]]
 |[[Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey|Lord Grey]]
 |[[William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne|Lord Melbourne]]
 |[[Robert Peel|Sir Robert Peel]]}}
|year_start=1714|year_end=1830 (1837)
}}
{{Periods in English History}}

The '''Georgian era''' was a period in [[British history]] from 1714 to {{Circa|1830–1837}}, named after the [[House of Hanover|Hanoverian]] kings [[George I of Great Britain|George I]], [[George II of Great Britain|George II]], [[George III]] and [[George IV]]. The definition of the Georgian era is also often extended to include the relatively short reign of [[William IV]], which ended with his death in 1837. The subperiod that is the [[Regency era]] is defined by the regency of George IV as Prince of Wales during the illness of his father George III.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/George-III |title=George III King of Great Britain |author=John Steven Watson |website=Britannica |date=31 May 2023 }}</ref> The transition to the [[Victorian era]] was characterized in religion, social values, and the arts by a shift in tone away from rationalism and toward romanticism and mysticism.

The term ''[[wikt:Georgian|Georgian]]'' is typically used in the contexts of social and political history [[Georgian architecture|and architecture]].  The term ''[[Augustan literature]]'' is often used for [[Augustan drama]], [[Augustan poetry]] and [[Augustan prose]] in the period 1700–1740s. The term ''Augustan'' refers to the acknowledgement of the influence of Latin literature from the ancient [[Roman Republic]].<ref>Roger D. Lund,  ''Ridicule, Religion and the Politics of Wit in Augustan England'' (Ashgate, 2013), ch. 1.</ref>

The term ''Georgian era'' is not applied to the time of the two 20th-century British kings of this name, [[George V]] and [[George VI]]. Those periods are simply referred to as ''Georgian''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dictionary.com/browse/georgian |title=Georgian Definition & Meaning |work=Dictionary.com |accessdate=13 May 2022}}</ref>

== Arts and culture ==
Georgian society and its preoccupations were well portrayed in the novels of writers such as [[Daniel Defoe]], [[Jonathan Swift]], [[Samuel Richardson]], [[Henry Fielding]], [[Laurence Sterne]], [[Mary Shelley]] and [[Jane Austen]], characterised by the architecture of [[Robert Adam]], [[John Nash (architect)|John Nash]] and [[James Wyatt]] and the emergence of the [[Gothic Revival architecture|Gothic Revival]] style, which hearkened back to a supposed [[Golden Age|golden age]] of building design.

The flowering of the arts was most vividly shown in the emergence of the [[Romanticism|Romantic]] poets, principally through [[Samuel Taylor Coleridge]], [[William Wordsworth]], [[Percy Bysshe Shelley]], [[William Blake]], [[John Keats]], [[George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron|Lord Byron]] and [[Robert Burns]]. Their work ushered in a new era of poetry, characterised by vivid and colourful language, evocative of elevating ideas and themes.<ref>Aleksandr Georgievich, and David Minaevich Gamezardashvili Baramidze, ''Georgian literature'' (The Minerva Group, 2001).</ref>

The paintings of [[Thomas Gainsborough]], Sir [[Joshua Reynolds]] and the young [[J. M. W. Turner]] and [[John Constable]] illustrated the changing world of the Georgian period – as did the work of designers like [[Lancelot "Capability" Brown|Capability Brown]], the [[Landscape architecture|landscape designer]].

Fine examples of distinctive Georgian architecture are Edinburgh's [[New Town, Edinburgh|New Town]], [[Georgian Dublin]], [[Grainger Town]] in [[Newcastle upon Tyne]], the Georgian Quarter of [[Liverpool]] and much of Bristol and [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]].

The music of [[John Field (composer)|John Field]], [[George Frideric Handel|Handel]], [[Joseph Haydn|Haydn]], [[Muzio Clementi|Clementi]], [[Johann Christian Bach]], [[William Boyce (composer)|William Boyce]], [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]], [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]] and [[Felix Mendelssohn|Mendelssohn]] was some of the most popular in England at that time.

=== Grand Tour ===
The height of the [[Grand Tour]] coincided with the 18th century and is associated with Georgian high society. This custom saw young upper-class Englishmen travelling to Italy by way of France and the Netherlands for intellectual and cultural purposes.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Grand Tour |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095903557#:~:text=An%20extensive%20Continental%20journey%2C%20chiefly,women%20also%20made%20such%20journeys). |access-date=20 May 2022 |website=Oxford Reference}}</ref> Notable historian [[Edward Gibbon]] remarked of the Grand Tour as useful for intellectual self-improvement.<ref>E. Chaney, "Gibbon, Beckford and the Interpretation of Dreams, Waking Thoughts and Incidents", The Beckford Society Annual Lectures (London, 2004), pp. 25–50.</ref> The journey and stay abroad would usually take a year or more. This would eventually lead to the basis for the acquisition and spread of art collections back to England as well as fashions and paintings from Italy.<ref name=":0" /> The custom also helped popularise the [[Macaroni (fashion)|macaroni]] style that was soon to become [[1750–1775 in Western fashion|fashionable at the time.]]<ref name="Amelia Rauser 2004 p. 101">Amelia Rauser, ''Hair, Authenticity, The Self Made Macaroni'' (Johns Hopkins University Press, Fall 2004) p. 101.</ref>

== Social change ==
[[File:Old and new London - a narrative of its history, its people, and its places (1873) (14784141902).jpg|thumb|246x246px|18th-century London]]
It was a time of immense social change in Britain, with the beginnings of the [[Industrial Revolution]] which began the process of intensifying [[social class|class divisions]], and the emergence of rival [[political party|political parties]] like the [[British Whig Party|Whigs]] and [[Tories (British political party)|Tories]].

In rural areas, the [[British Agricultural Revolution|Agricultural Revolution]] saw huge changes to the movement of people and the decline of small communities, the growth of the cities and the beginnings of an integrated [[history of transport|transportation system]] but, nevertheless, as rural towns and villages declined and work became scarce there was a huge increase in [[emigration]] to Canada, the [[Thirteen Colonies|North American colonies]] (which became the United States during the period) and other parts of the [[British Empire]].

=== Evangelical religion and social reform ===
In England, the evangelical movement inside and outside the [[Church of England]] gained strength in the late 18th and early 19th century. The movement challenged the traditional religious sensibility that emphasised a code of honour for the upper class, and suitable behaviour for everyone else, together with faithful observances of rituals. [[John Wesley]] (1703–1791) and his followers preached revivalist religion, trying to convert individuals to a personal relationship with Christ through Bible reading, regular prayer, and especially the revival experience. Wesley himself preached 52,000 times, calling on men and women to "redeem the time" and save their souls. Wesley always operated inside the Church of England, but at his death, his followers set up outside institutions that became the [[Methodism|Methodist Church]].<ref>Anthony Armstrong, ''The Church of England: the Methodists and society, 1700–1850'' (1973).</ref>  It stood alongside the traditional [[Nonconformist (Protestantism)|Nonconformist]] churches, Presbyterians, Congregationalist, Baptists, Unitarians, and Quakers. The Nonconformist churches, however, were less influenced by revivalism.<ref>Asa Briggs, ''The age of improvement, 1783–1867'' (1959), pp. 66–73.</ref>

The Church of England remained dominant in England but it had a growing evangelical, revivalist faction, the "Low Church". Its leaders included [[William Wilberforce]] and [[Hannah More]]. It reached the upper class through the [[Clapham Sect]]. It did not seek political reform, but rather the opportunity to save souls through political action by freeing slaves, abolishing the duel, prohibiting cruelty to children and animals, stopping gambling, and avoiding frivolity on the Sabbath; they read the Bible every day. All souls were equal in God's view, but not all bodies, so evangelicals did not challenge the hierarchical structure of English society.<ref>John Rule, ''Albion's People: English Society 1714–1815'' (1992), ch. 2–6.</ref>  As R. J. Morris noted in his 1983 article "Voluntary Societies and British Urban Elites, 1780-1850," "[m]id-eighteenth-century Britain was a stable society in the sense that those with material and ideological power were able to defend this power in an effective and dynamic manner," but "in the twenty years after 1780, this consensus structure was broken."<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Morris|first=R. J.|date=March 1983|title=Voluntary Societies and British Urban Elites, 1780–1850: An Analysis|journal=The Historical Journal|volume=26|issue=1|page=99|doi=10.1017/S0018246X00019610|s2cid=162351383 }}</ref>  Anglican Evangelicalism thus, as historian Lisa Wood has argued in her book ''Modes of Discipline: Women, Conservatism, and the Novel After the French Revolution'', functioned as a tool of ruling-class social control, buffering the discontent that in France had inaugurated a revolution; yet it contained within itself the seeds for challenge to gender and class hierarchies.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Modes of Discipline: Women, Conservatism, and the Novel after the French Revolution|last=Wood|first=Lisa|publisher=Bucknell University Press|year=2003|location=Lewisburg, PA|pages=42–44}}</ref>

== Empire ==
The Georgian period saw  continual warfare, with France the primary enemy. Major episodes included  the [[Seven Years' War]], known in America as the [[French and Indian War]] (1754–1763), the [[American Revolutionary War]] (1775–1783), the [[French Revolutionary Wars]] (1792–1802), the [[Irish Rebellion of 1798]], and the [[Napoleonic Wars]] (1803–1815).  The British won most of the wars except for the American Revolution, where the combined weight of the United States, France, Spain and the Netherlands overwhelmed Britain, which stood alone without allies.<ref>Jeremy Black, ''Crisis of Empire: Britain and America in the Eighteenth Century'' (2010). {{ISBN?}} {{page?|date=August 2024}}</ref>
[[File:BritishEmpire1815.png|thumb|The [[British Empire]] at the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815]]
The loss of the [[Thirteen Colonies|13 American Colonies]] was a national disaster. Commentators at home and abroad speculated on the end of Britain as a [[great power]]. In Europe, the [[Napoleonic Wars|wars with France]] dragged on for nearly a quarter of a century, 1793–1815. Britain organised coalition after coalition, using its superb financial system to subsidise infantry forces, and built up its Navy to maintain control of the seas.  Victory over Napoleon at the [[Battle of Trafalgar]] (1805) and the [[Battle of Waterloo]] (1815) under  [[Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson|Admiral Lord Nelson]] and the [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Duke of Wellington]] brought a sense of triumphalism and political reaction.<ref>Eliga H. Gould, "American independence and Britain's counter-revolution", ''Past & Present'' (1997) #154 pp. 107–141.</ref>

The expansion of empire in Asia was primarily  the work of the British [[East India Company]], especially under the leadership of [[Robert Clive]].<ref>P. Bruce Buchan, "The East India Company 1749–1800: The evolution of a territorial strategy and the changing role of the directors." ''Business and Economic History'' (1994): 52–61.</ref> [[James Cook|Captain James Cook]] was perhaps the most prominent of the many explorers and geographers using the resources of the Royal Navy to develop the Empire and make many scientific discoveries, especially in Australia and the Pacific.<ref>John  McAleer, and Nigel Rigby, ''Captain Cook and the Pacific: art, exploration and empire'' (Yale UP, 2017). {{ISBN?}}</ref> Instead of trying to recover the lost colonies in North America, the British built up in Asia a largely new  Second British Empire. That new empire flourished during the [[Victorian era|Victorian]] and [[Edwardian era]]s which were to follow.<ref>G. C. Bolton, "The Founding of the Second British Empire." ''Economic History Review'' 19.1 (1966): 195–200.</ref>

=== The trading nation ===
[[File:East Indiaman Asia.jpg|thumb|[[East Indiaman]] in the China Seas]]
The era was prosperous as entrepreneurs extended the range of their business around the globe. By the 1720s Britain was one of the most prosperous countries in the world, and [[Daniel Defoe]] boasted:
:we are the most "diligent nation in the world. Vast trade, rich manufactures, mighty wealth, universal correspondence, and happy success have been constant companions of England, and given us the title of an industrious people."<ref>[[Julian Hoppit]], ''A Land of Liberty?: England 1689–1727'' (2000), p. 344. {{ISBN?}}</ref>

While the other major powers were primarily motivated towards territorial gains, and protection of their dynasties (such as the Habsburg and Bourbon dynasties, and the [[House of Hohenzollern]]), Britain had a different set of primary interests.  Its main diplomatic goal (besides protecting the homeland from invasion)  was building a worldwide trading network for its merchants, manufacturers, shippers and financiers.  This required a hegemonic [[Royal Navy]] so powerful that no rival could sweep its ships from the world's trading routes, or invade the British Isles.  The London government enhanced the private sector by incorporating numerous privately financed London-based companies for establishing trading posts and opening import-export businesses across the world. Each was given a monopoly of trade to the specified geographical region. The first enterprise was the [[Muscovy Company]] set up in 1555 to trade with Russia.  Other prominent enterprises included the [[East India Company]], and the  [[Hudson's Bay Company]] in Canada.  The Company of Royal Adventurers Trading to Africa  had been set up in 1662 to trade in gold, ivory and slaves in Africa; it was re-established as the [[Royal African Company]] in 1672 and focused on the slave trade. British involvement in each of the four major wars, 1740 to 1783, paid off handsomely in terms of trade.  Even the loss of the 13 colonies was made up by a very favourable trading relationship with the new United States of America.  British gained dominance in the trade with India, and largely dominated the highly lucrative slave, sugar, and commercial trades originating in West Africa and the West Indies. China would be next on the agenda. Other powers set up similar monopolies on a much smaller scale; only the Netherlands emphasized trade as much as England.<ref>Eric J. Evans, ''The forging of the modern state: early industrial Britain, 1783–1872'' (1996), p. 31. {{ISBN?}}</ref><ref>Ann M. Carlos and Stephen Nicholas. "'Giants of an Earlier Capitalism': The Chartered Trading Companies as Modern Multinationals." ''Business history review'' 62#3 (1988): 398–419. {{jstor|3115542}}</ref>
[[File:Microcosm of London Plate 049 - Lloyd's Subscription Room edited.jpg|thumb|right|The subscription room at [[Lloyd's of London]] in the early 19th century]]
[[Mercantilism]] was the basic policy imposed by Britain on its colonies.<ref>Max Savelle, [https://books.google.com/books?id=hIgl_HNozQsC&pg=PA204 ''Seeds of Liberty: The Genesis of the American Mind'' (2005), pp. 204–211]</ref> Mercantilism meant that the government and the merchants became partners with the goal of increasing political power and private wealth, to the exclusion of other empires. The government protected its merchants—and kept others out—by trade barriers, regulations, and subsidies to domestic industries in order to maximise exports from and minimise imports to the realm. The government had to fight smuggling, which became a favourite American technique in the 18th century to circumvent the restrictions on trading with the French, Spanish or Dutch. The goal of mercantilism was to run trade surpluses, so that gold and silver would pour into London. The government took its share through duties and taxes, with the remainder going to merchants in Britain. The government spent much of its revenue on a large and powerful Royal Navy, which not only protected the British colonies but threatened the colonies of the other empires, and sometimes seized them. The colonies were captive markets for British industry, and the goal was to enrich the mother country.<ref>William R. Nester, ''The Great Frontier War: Britain, France, and the Imperial Struggle for North America, 1607–1755'' (Praeger, 2000), p. 54. {{ISBN?}}</ref>

Most of the companies earned good profits, and enormous personal fortunes were created in India, but there was one major fiasco that caused heavy losses. The [[South Sea Bubble]] was a business enterprise that exploded in scandal. The [[South Sea Company]] was a private business corporation supposedly set up much like the other trading companies, with a focus on South America. Its actual purpose was to renegotiate previous high-interest government loans amounting to £31&nbsp;million through [[market manipulation]] and speculation. It issued stock four times in 1720 that reached about 8,000 investors. Prices kept soaring every day, from £130 a share to £1,000, with insiders making huge paper profits. The Bubble collapsed overnight, ruining many speculators. Investigations showed bribes had reached into high places—even to the king.  The future prime minister [[Robert Walpole]] managed to wind it down with minimal political and economic damage, although some suffering extreme loss fled to exile or committed suicide.<ref>Hoppit, ''A Land of Liberty?: England 1689–1727'' (2000), pp. 334–338. {{ISBN?}}</ref><ref>Julian Hoppit, "The Myths of the South Sea Bubble", ''Transactions of the Royal Historical Society'' (1962), 12#1 pp. 141–165.</ref>

== Political and social revolt ==
[[File:Microcosm of London Plate 058 - Old Bailey edited.jpg|thumb|An [[Old Bailey]] trial, c. 1808]]
The beginning of the Georgian era witnessed rioting by [[Jacobitism|Jacobite]] and [[High Church]] mobs in protest against the Hanoverian succession and which included attacks on the [[English Dissenters|Dissenters]]' places of worship. These included the 1714 [[coronation riots]], which occurred on the day of George I's coronation, and the [[1715 England riots|riots of 1715]]. In response, Parliament passed the [[Riot Act]], which granted the authorities greater powers to put down rioting.<ref>Nicholas Rogers, 'Riot and Popular Jacobitism in Early Hanoverian England', in Eveline Cruickshanks (ed.), ''Ideology and Conspiracy: Aspects of Jacobitism, 1689–1759'' (Edinburgh: John Donald, 1982), pp. 70–88.</ref><ref>Paul Kleber Monod, ''Jacobitism and the English People, 1688–1788'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993), pp. 173-194.</ref>

Although religious toleration was extensive by the standards of continental Europe, hostility to religious minorities was widespread in Britain during the eighteenth century and sometimes expressed itself in rioting.<ref>Paul Langford, ''A Polite and Commercial People: England, 1727–1783'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), p. 291.</ref> The [[Jewish Naturalisation Act 1753]] was repealed a year after it had been passed because of widespread opposition and the 1780 [[Gordon Riots]] in London were directed against Catholics after the [[Papists Act 1778]] removed some of their legal disabilities. During the 1791 [[Priestley Riots]] in Birmingham, the mob targeted Dissenters, including the prominent Radical [[Joseph Priestley]].<ref>Langford, pp. 291-292.</ref>
[[File:Four Times of the Day - Morning - Hogarth.jpg|thumb|180px|left|Life in the streets of London, by [[William Hogarth]]]]
The [[Black Act 1723|Black Act of 1723]], sponsored by Robert Walpole, strengthened the criminal code for the benefit of the upper class.<ref>{{Cite book|editor=A. J. Graham Cummings and Jack Fruchtman|title=Britain in the Hanoverian Age, 1714–1837: An Encyclopedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZhaBz_5OZiUC&pg=PA58|year=1997|page=58|publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-8153-0396-1}}</ref> It specified over 200 capital crimes, many with intensified punishment. The crime of arson, for example, was expanded to include of burning or the threat of burning haystacks. The legal rights of defendants were something different from today. For example, suspects who refused to surrender within 40 days could be summarily judged guilty and sentenced to execution if apprehended. Local villages were punished if they failed to find, prosecute and convict alleged criminals, due to the increase in crime at the time.<ref>Leon Radzinowicz, "The Waltham Black Act: A study of the legislative attitude towards crime in the eighteenth century". ''Cambridge Law Journal'' (1945). 9#1 pp. 56–81.</ref>

With the ending of the [[Napoleonic Wars|War with France]] in 1815, Great Britain entered a period of greater economic depression and political uncertainty, characterised by social discontent and unrest. The [[Radicals (UK)|Radical]] political party published a leaflet called ''The Political Register'', also known as "The Two Penny Trash" to its rivals. The so-called [[Blanketeers|March of the Blanketeers]] saw 400 [[spinning (textiles)|spinners]] and [[Weaving|weavers]] march from [[Manchester]] to London in March 1817 to hand the Government a petition. The [[Luddite]]s destroyed and damaged machinery in the industrial north-west of England. The [[Peterloo Massacre]] in 1819 began as a protest rally which saw 60,000 people gathering to protest about their living standards, but was quelled by military action and saw eleven people killed and 400 wounded. The [[Cato Street Conspiracy]] of 1820 sought to blow up the [[Cabinet (government)|Cabinet]] and then move on to storm the [[Tower of London]] and overthrow the government. This too was thwarted, with the conspirators executed or [[penal transport|transported]] to Australia.

== Enlightenment ==
{{Further|Age of Enlightenment}}
{{Distinguished men of science of Great Britain 1806-7|align=right}}
Historians have long explored the importance of the Scottish Enlightenment, as well as the American Enlightenment,<ref>Adrienne Koch, ed., ''The American enlightenment: The shaping of the American experiment and a free society'' (1965).</ref> while debating the very existence of the English Enlightenment.

=== Scottish Enlightenment ===
{{Main|Scottish Enlightenment}}
English historian [[Peter Gay]] argues that the Scottish Enlightenment "was a small and cohesive group of friends – David Hume, Adam Smith,  Adam Ferguson, and others – who knew one another intimately and talked to one another incessantly".<ref>Peter Gay, ed.  ''The Enlightenment: A comprehensive anthology'' (1973), p. 15.</ref> Education was a priority in Scotland, both at the local level and especially in four universities. The Enlightenment culture was based on close readings of new books, and intense discussions that took place daily at such intellectual gathering places in Edinburgh as [[The Select Society]] and, later, [[The Poker Club]] as well as within Scotland's [[Ancient universities of Scotland|ancient universities]] ([[University of St Andrews|St Andrews]], [[Glasgow University|Glasgow]], [[Edinburgh University|Edinburgh]] and [[Aberdeen University|Aberdeen]]).<ref>Matthew Daniel Eddy, "Natural History, Natural Philosophy and Readership", in Stephen Brown and Warren McDougall, eds., ''The Edinburgh History of the Book in Scotland, Vol. II: Enlightenment and Expansion, 1707–1800'' (2012), pp. 297–309 [https://www.academia.edu/3770441/Natural_History_Natural_Philosophy_and_Readership_in_Stephen_Brown_and_Warren_McDougall_eds._The_Edinburgh_History_of_the_Book_in_Scotland_Vol._II_Enlightenment_and_Expansion_1707-1800_Edinburgh_University_of_Edinburgh_Press_2012_297-309 online]</ref> Sharing the [[humanism|humanist]] and [[Rationalism|rationalist]] outlook of the [[Age of Enlightenment|European Enlightenment]] of the same time period, the thinkers of the Scottish Enlightenment asserted the importance of human reason combined with a rejection of any authority that could not be justified by reason. In Scotland, the Enlightenment was characterised by a thoroughgoing [[empiricism]] and practicality where the chief values were improvement, virtue, and practical benefit for the individual and society as a whole. Among the fields that rapidly advanced were philosophy, economics, history, architecture, and medicine. Leaders included  [[Francis Hutcheson (philosopher)|Francis Hutcheson]], [[David Hume]], [[Adam Smith]], [[Dugald Stewart]], [[Thomas Reid]], [[William Robertson (historian)|William Robertson]], [[Henry Home, Lord Kames]], [[Adam Ferguson]], [[John Playfair]], [[Joseph Black]] and [[James Hutton]].<ref>David  Daiches, Peter Jones, Jean Jones, eds., ''A Hotbed of Genius: The Scottish Enlightenment 1731–1790'' (Edinburgh UP, 1986).</ref>

=== English Enlightenment ===
[[File:Dr Jenner performing his first vaccination, 1796 Wellcome M0000144.jpg|thumb|[[Edward Jenner]] performing his first [[vaccination]] in 1796]]
The very existence of an English Enlightenment has been debated by scholars. The majority of textbooks and standard surveys make no room for an English Enlightenment. Some European surveys include England, others ignore it but do include coverage of such major intellectuals as [[Joseph Addison]], [[Edward Gibbon]], [[John Locke]], [[Isaac Newton]], [[Alexander Pope]] and [[Joshua Reynolds]].<ref>Peter Gay, ed. ''The Enlightenment: A comprehensive anthology'' (1973), p. 14.</ref>

According to [[Derek Hirst]], the 1640s and 1650s saw a revived economy characterised by growth in manufacturing, the elaboration of financial and credit instruments, and the commercialisation of communication. The gentry found time for leisure activities, such as horse racing and bowling. In the high culture important innovations included the development of a mass market for music, increased scientific research, and an expansion of publishing. All the trends were discussed in depth at the newly established [[English coffeehouses in the 17th and 18th centuries|coffee houses]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hirst |first=Derek |date=1996 |title=Locating the 1650s in England's Seventeenth Century |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24423269 |journal=History |volume=81 |issue=263 |pages=359–383 |doi=10.1111/1468-229X.00016 |jstor=24423269 |issn=0018-2648}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Enlightenment (1650–1800): The English Enlightenment |url=https://www.sparknotes.com/history/european/enlightenment/section2/ |access-date=2023-12-18 |website=SparkNotes |language=en}}</ref> Education was also a priority in England. English institutions expanded rapdly, including the formation of the [[Royal Society]], which is the oldest national scientific institution in the world.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-06-29 |title=Royal Society {{!}} British Science, History & Impact {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Royal-Society |access-date=2024-08-21 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>

[[Roy Porter]] argues that the reason for the neglect was the assumption that the movement was primarily French-inspired, that it was largely a-religious or anti-clerical, and it stood in outspoken defiance to the established order.<ref>Roy Porter, "England" in Alan Charles Kors, ed., ''Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment'' (2003) 1:409–15.</ref> Porter admits that after the 1720s, England could claim thinkers to equal Diderot, Voltaire or Rousseau. Indeed, its leading intellectuals, such as [[Edward Gibbon]],<ref>Karen O'Brien, "English Enlightenment Histories, 1750–c.1815"  in {{Cite book|author=José Rabasa et al. eds.|title=The Oxford History of Historical Writing|volume=3: 1400–1800|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HcVZeiGg4awC&pg=PA518|year=2012|publisher=OUP Oxford|pages=518–35|isbn=978-0-19-921917-9}}</ref> [[Edmund Burke]] and [[Samuel Johnson]] were all quite conservative and supported the standing order.  Porter says the reason was that Enlightenment had come early to England, and had succeeded so that the culture had accepted political liberalism, philosophical empiricism and religious toleration of the sort that intellectuals on the continent had to fight for against powerful odds. The coffee-house culture provided an ideal venue for enlightened conversation. Furthermore, England rejected the collectivism of the continent, and emphasized the improvement of individuals as the main goal of enlightenment.<ref>Roy Porter, ''The creation of the modern world: the untold story of the British Enlightenment'' (2000), pp. 1–12, 36–37, 482–84.</ref>

=== Science and medicine ===
The British sponsored numerous scientists who made major discoveries in the small laboratories. [[Joseph Priestley]] investigated electricity. Chemist [[Henry Cavendish]] identified hydrogen in 1772. [[Daniel Rutherford]] isolated nitrogen in 1774, while Priestley discovered oxygen and ammonia. Antiquarians and archaeologists mapped the past.<ref>Rosemary Sweet, ''Antiquaries: the discovery of the past in eighteenth-century Britain'' (A&C Black, 2004).</ref> In medicine, in 1717 [[Lady Mary Wortley Montagu]] introduced inoculation against smallpox to Britain, and by 1740 it was in wide usage. [[Guy's Hospital]] was founded in 1721; the [[Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh]] in 1729; [[Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital|Queen Charlotte's maternity hospital]] in 1739 and the [[Middlesex Hospital]] in 1745. Asylums for the mentally ill were established, notably Bethel Hospital in Norwich (1713); a ward for incurable lunatics at Guy's Hospital (1728); and lunatic hospitals in Manchester (1766) and York in (1777)—York was the first to be called an asylum.<ref>William Li Parry-Jones, "Asylum for the mentally ill in historical perspective." ''Bulletin of the Royal College of Psychiatrists'' 12.10 (1988): 407-410 [https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/0411C25A2060DE7503EAEE3A90C96300/S0140078900041377a.pdf/asylum_for_the_mentally_ill_in_historical_perspective.pdf online].</ref>

== Ending ==
Historians debate the exact ending, with the deaths of George IV in 1830 or William IV in 1837 as the usual marker. In most social and cultural trends, the timing varied. The emergence of Romanticism and literature began as early as the 1780s, but religious changes took much longer and were incomplete until around a century later. The 1830s saw important developments such as the emergence of the [[Oxford Movement]] in religion and the demise of classical architecture. Victorians typically were disapproving of the times of the previous era. By the late 19th century, the "Georgian era" was a byword for a degenerate culture.<ref>Nicholas Dixon, "From Georgian to Victorian", ''History Review'' (Dec 2010), Issue 68.</ref> [[Charles Abbey]] in 1878 argued that the Church of England:
:partook of the general sordidness of the age; it was an age of great material prosperity, but of moral and spiritual poverty, such as hardly finds a parallel in our history. Mercenary motives were to predominate everywhere, in the Church as well as in the state.<ref>Charles John Abbey, ''The English Church in the Eighteenth Century'' (1878) vol 2 p. 4.</ref>

== Timeline ==
;1714: Upon the death of his second cousin '''[[Anne, Queen of Great Britain|Queen Anne]]''', ''George Louis, Elector of Hanover'', succeeds as the new King, '''[[George I of Great Britain|George I]]''', of [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]] and [[Kingdom of Ireland|Ireland]], the former of which had itself been established in 1707. This is the beginning of the [[House of Hanover]]'s reign over the [[British Crown]].

;1715: The [[Whigs (British political party)|Whig Party]] wins the [[1715 British general election|British parliamentary election]] for the [[House of Commons of Great Britain|House of Commons]]. This party is dominant until 1760.

;1727: '''George I''' dies on 11 June. His son ''George, Prince of Wales'', ascends to the throne as '''[[George II of Great Britain|George II]]'''.
[[File:The Battle of Culloden.jpg|thumb|''[[An Incident in the Rebellion of 1745]]'', depicting the [[Battle of Culloden]] of 1746, where British troops defeated the [[Jacobite Army (1745)|Jacobite Army]]]]
;1745: The [[Jacobite rising of 1745|final Jacobite rising]] is crushed at the [[Battle of Culloden]] in April 1746.

;1760: '''George II''' dies on 25 October, and his grandson ''George, Prince of Wales'', ascends to the throne as '''[[George III of the United Kingdom|George III]]'''.

;1763: Britain is [[Great Britain in the Seven Years' War|victorious in the Seven Years' War]]. The [[Treaty of Paris (1763)|Treaty of Paris of 1763]] grants Britain domain over vast new territories around the world.

;1765: The [[Stamp Act 1765|Stamp Act]] is passed by the [[Parliament of Great Britain]], causing much unrest in the [[Thirteen Colonies]] in North America.

;1769–1770: Australia and New Zealand are claimed as [[Great Britain|British]] colonies.

;1773: The [[Inclosure Act 1773]] is put into place by the British Parliament. This act brought about the [[enclosure]] of land and removing the right of [[common land]] access. This began an internal mass movement of rural poor from the countryside into the cities.

;1775: The [[American Revolutionary War]] begins in the Thirteen Colonies, specifically in [[Massachusetts]]; all royal officials are expelled.

;1776: The Thirteen Colonies in North America [[U.S. Declaration of Independence|declare their independence]]. King George III is determined to recover them.
[[File:Surrender of General Burgoyne.jpg|thumb|British general [[John Burgoyne]] shown surrendering at Saratoga in 1777]]
;1777: The main British invasion army under Gen. Burgoyne [[Saratoga campaign|surrenders at Saratoga]]; the French increase their aid to the Americans.

;1778: [[France in the American Revolutionary War|France]] forms in a military alliance with the United States and declares war on Britain. The Netherlands and Spain support France; Britain has no major allies.

;1781: The British Army in America under [[Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis|Lord Cornwallis]] surrenders to [[George Washington]] after its defeat in [[Battle of Yorktown (1781)|Yorktown, Virginia]], in October 1781. The French Navy controls the seas.

;1782: [[Battle of the Saintes]]: Admiral Sir George Rodney defeated a French fleet under the Comte de Grasse, enabling the Royal Navy to control the West Indies.

;1783: Great Britain formally recognises the [[American Revolution|independence of the original 13 American States]] in the [[Treaty of Paris (1783)|Treaty of Paris of 1783]]. The geographical terms are very generous to the Americans, and the expectation that Anglo-American trade will become of major importance.

;1788: Australia is settled through [[penal transportation]] to the colony of [[New South Wales]] from 26 January.

;1789: [[Thomas Robert Malthus]], an Anglican cleric, authors ''[[An Essay on the Principle of Population]]''. This work, the origin of [[Malthusianism]], posited a need for [[population control]] to avoid poverty and famine or conflict over scarce resources.

;1801: The [[Act of Union 1800]] comes into effect on 1 January, uniting the Kingdoms of [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]] and of [[Kingdom of Ireland|Ireland]] into the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland]]

;1807: The [[Abolition of the Slave Trade Act]] became law, making it illegal to engage in the [[History of slavery|slave trade]] throughout the [[British Empire]], partly as a result of a twenty-year parliamentary campaign by [[William Wilberforce]].

;1811: ''George, Prince of Wales'', begins his nine-year period as the [[Prince regent|regent]] (he became known as ''[[George IV of the United Kingdom|George, Prince Regent]]'') for George III, who had become delusional. This sub-period of the Georgian era is known as the [[Regency era]].

;1815: [[Napoleon]] I of France is defeated by the [[Hundred Days|Seventh Coalition]] under [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|The Duke of Wellington]] at the [[Battle of Waterloo]].

;1819: The [[Peterloo Massacre]] occurs.

;1820: '''[[George III of the United Kingdom|George III]]''' dies on 29 January, and his son ''George, Prince Regent'', ascends to the throne of the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland]] as '''[[George IV of the United Kingdom|George IV]]'''. He had been the effective ruler since 1811 as regent for his seriously ill father.

;1830: '''[[George IV of the United Kingdom|George IV]]''' dies on 26 June. Some historians date this as the end of the Georgian era of the House of Hanover. However, many other authorities continue this era during the relatively short reign of his younger brother, who became '''[[William IV of the United Kingdom|King William IV]]'''.

;1833: [[Slavery Abolition Act 1833|Slavery Abolition Act]] passed by Parliament through the influence of William Wilberforce and the Evangelical movement. The slaveowners are generously paid off.

;1837: Transition to the [[Victorian era]]. King William IV dies on 20 June, ending the Georgian era. He was succeeded by his niece, '''[[Queen Victoria]]'''.

== Monarchs ==
{{multiple image|align=center|caption_align=center
| image1 = King George I by Sir Godfrey Kneller, Bt (3).jpg|caption1=[[George I of Great Britain|George I]]|width1=140
| image2 = King George II by Charles Jervas.jpg|caption2=[[George II of Great Britain|George II]]|width2=116
| image3 = Allan Ramsay - King George III in coronation robes - Google Art Project.jpg|caption3=[[George III of the United Kingdom|George III]]|width3=127
| image4 = George IV 1821 color.jpg|caption4=[[George IV of the United Kingdom|George IV]]|width4=136
| image5 = William IV crop.jpg|caption5=[[William IV of the United Kingdom|William IV]]|width5=148
}}

== See also ==
* [[Bloody Code]]
* [[Early modern Britain]]
* [[Historiography of the British Empire]]
* [[Historiography of the United Kingdom]]
* [[International relations 1648–1814]]
* [[The Georgian Group]]

== Further reading ==
* Andress, David. ''The savage storm: Britain on the brink in the age of Napoleon'' (2012).
* Armstrong, Anthony. ''The Church of England: the Methodists and society, 1700–1850'' (1973).
* Bannister, Jerry, and Liam Riordan, eds. ''The Loyal Atlantic: Remaking the British Atlantic in the Revolutionary Era'' (U of Toronto Press, 2012).
* Bates, Stephen. ''Year of Waterloo: Britain in 1815'' (2015).
* Begiato, Joanne. "Between poise and power: embodied manliness in eighteenth-and nineteenth-century British culture." ''Transactions of the Royal Historical Society'' 26 (2016): 125–147. [https://radar.brookes.ac.uk/radar/file/29e34af3-ed18-4856-bd3e-72d12a1c4b9a/1/begiato2016between.pdf Online]
* [[Jeremy Black (historian)|Black, Jeremy]]. "Georges I & II: Limited monarchs." ''History Today'' 53.2 (2003): 11+
* Black, Jeremy. ''The Hanoverians: The History of a Dynasty'' (2004), 288 pp.
* Briggs, Asa. ''The making of modern England, 1783–1867: The age of improvement'' (1959) [https://archive.org/details/makingofmodernen00brig online].
* Chandler, Timothy. "The development of a sporting tradition at Oxbridge, 1800-1860" ''Canadian Journal of History of Sport'' (1988) vol 19 pp:1-29. Emergence of cricket and rowing at Cambridge and Oxford.
* Curl, James Stevens. ''Georgian Architecture'' (English Heritage, 2011).
* Ellis, Joyce. ''The Georgian Town, 1680–1840'' (2001).
* Evans, E. J. ''Britain before the Reform Act: politics and society 1815–1832'' (1989).
* Gould, Eliga H. "American independence and Britain's counter-revolution", ''Past & Present'' (1997) #154 pp.&nbsp;107–41.
* [[Gregg, Pauline]]. ''A Social and Economic History of Britain: 1760–1950'' (1950) [https://archive.org/details/dli.ernet.12867 online]
* Hochschild, Adam. ''Bury the Chains, The British Struggle to Abolish Slavery'' (Basingstoke: Pan Macmillan, 2005).
* Holmes, Richard. ''The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science'' (2009).
* Hunt, Tamara L. ''Defining John Bull: political caricature and national identity in late Georgian England'' (Taylor & Francis, 2017).
* Hunt, William. ''The History of England from the Accession of George III to the close of Pitt's first Administration'' (1905), highly detailed on politics and diplomacy, 1760–1801. [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.203898 online]
* Leadam, I. S. ''The History of England From The Accession of Anne To The Death of George II'' (1912) [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.459426 online], highly detailed on politics and diplomacy 1702–1760.
* [[Mokyr, Joel]]. ''The Enlightened Economy: An Economic History of Britain 1700–1850'' (2010).
* Mori, Jennifer. ''Britain in the Age of the French Revolution: 1785–1820'' (Routledge, 2014).
* {{Cite book|editor=Newman, Gerald|title=Britain in the Hanoverian Age, 1714–1837: An Encyclopedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZhaBz_5OZiUC&pg=PR11|year=1997|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-0-8153-0396-1}} [http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03612759909604247 online review]; 904pp; short articles by experts
* O'Brien, Patrick K. "The political economy of British taxation, 1660‐1815", in ''Economic History Review'' (1988) 41#1 pp: 1–32. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2597330 in JSTOR]
* Parsons, Timothy H. ''The British imperial century, 1815–1914: A world history perspective'' (Rowman & Littlefield, 2019).
* Plumb, J. H. ''The First Four Georges''. Revised ed. Hamlyn, 1974.
* Porter, Roy. ''English Society in the Eighteenth Century'' (1991) [https://www.amazon.com/English-Society-Eighteenth-Century-Pelican-dp-0713914173/dp/0713914173/  excerpt]
* Rendell, Mike. ''Trailblazing Women of the Georgian Era: The Eighteenth-Century Struggle for Female Success in a Man's World'' (Pen and Sword, 2018).
* Robertson, Charles. ''England under the Hanoverians'' (1911) [https://archive.org/stream/cu31924014654044#page/n17/mode/1up online]
* Robson, Eric. "The American Revolution Reconsidered." ''History Today'' (Feb 1952) 3#3 pp 126–132.
* Royle, Edward, and James Walvin. ''English radicals and reformers, 1760–1848'' (UP of Kentucky, 1982).
* Rule. John. ''Albion's People: English Society 1714–1815'' (1992)
* Schweizer, Karl W., and Jeremy Black, eds. ''Politics and the Press in Hanoverian Britain'' (E. Mellon Press, 1989).
* {{Cite journal| doi = 10.1111/j.1468-229X.1985.tb02477.x| author=Thomas, Peter D. G. | year = 1985 | title = George III and the American Revolution | journal=History | volume = 70 | issue = 228| pages = 16–31 }}
* [[G. M. Trevelyan|Trevelyan, G. M.]] ''British History in the Nineteenth Century (1782–1901)'' (1901) [https://books.google.com/books?id=P_Q13RZ_NkMC&dq=British+history+in+the+19th+century+1782&pg=PR1 online]
* Turner, M. J. ''The Age of Unease: government and reform in Britain, 1782–1832'' (2000)
* Watson J. Steven. ''The Reign of George III: 1760–1815'' (1960), scholarly survey; [https://archive.org/details/reignofgeorgeiii0000wats online]
* Webb, R. K. ''Modern England: from the 18th century to the present'' (1968) [https://archive.org/details/modernenglandfro00webb online] university textbook
* [[Basil Williams (historian)|Williams, Basil]]. ''The Whig Supremacy 1714–1760'' (1939) [https://archive.org/details/whigsupremacy171001761mbp online edition], wide-ranging survey
* Wilson, Charles. ''England's apprenticeship, 1603–1763'' (1967), comprehensive economic and business history.
* Woodward; E. L.  ''The Age of Reform, 1815–1870'', (1938), wide-ranging survey [https://archive.org/details/dli.ernet.524474 online]

=== Historiography and memory ===
* Boyd, Hilton. ''A Mad, Bad, and Dangerous People?: England 1783–1846'' (2008) 783pp; wide-ranging survey with emphasis on historiography
* Bultmann, William A. "Early Hanoverian England (1714–60): Some Recent Writings." ''Journal of Modern History'' 35.1 (1963): 46-61 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/1899144 online in JSTOR]; also reprinted in Elizabeth Chapin Furber, ed. ''Changing views on British history: essays on historical writing since 1939'' (Harvard UP, 1966), pp.&nbsp;181–205.
* Dixon, Nicholas, "From Georgian to Victorian,"  ''History Review'', (Dec 2010), Issue 68
* O'Gorman, Frank. "The Recent Historiography of the Hanoverian Regime." ''Historical Journal'' 29#4 (1986): 1005–1020. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2639368 online]
* [[E. A. Reitan|Reitan, E. A.]] (editor) (1964). ''George III, Tyrant Or Constitutional Monarch?''. scholarly essays
* Simms, Brendan and Torsten Riotte, eds. ''The Hanoverian Dimension in British History, 1714–1837'' (2009) [https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/the-hanoverian-dimension-in-british-history-17141837/FD4E8BAD0B3AB46A4BF08096A45E0500 online], focus on Hanover
* Snyder, Henry L. "Early Georgian England", in Richard Schlatter, ed., ''Recent Views on British History: Essays on Historical Writing since 1966'' (Rutgers UP, 1984), pp.&nbsp;167–196, historiography

''Note: In the twentieth century, the period 1910–1936 was informally called the Georgian Era during the reign of [[George V of the United Kingdom|George V]] (following the [[Edwardian Era]]), and is sometimes still referred to as such;<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.bartleby.com/61/83/G0098300.html |title=Georgian |encyclopedia=The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language |edition=4th |access-date=4 July 2008 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080312135222/http://www.bartleby.com/61/83/G0098300.html |archive-date=12 March 2008}}</ref> see [[Georgian Poetry]].''

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
{{Wikiquote}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20130523191653/http://www.motco.com/MAP/81002/ Rocque's Map of London Online, 1746]
*[http://www.bl.uk/learning/histcitizen/georgians/georgianhome.html Georgians] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150425115604/http://www.bl.uk/learning/histcitizen/georgians/georgianhome.html |date=25 April 2015 }} British Library history resources about the Georgian era, featuring collection material and text by Dr. Matthew White.
*[http://www.bl.uk/timeline British Library Timelines: Sources from History] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100201134618/http://www.bl.uk/timeline |date=1 February 2010 }}

{{United Kingdom topics|state=collapsed}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Georgian Era}}
[[Category:Georgian era| ]]
[[Category:History of the United Kingdom by period]]
[[Category:Historical eras]]