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KF5JRV > TODAY 29.01.19 15:22l 36 Lines 1750 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 30266_KF5JRV
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Jan 29
Path: IW8PGT<CX2SA<N3HYM<KF5JRV
Sent: 190129/1315Z 30266@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA BPQ6.0.18
Ten years after mental illness forced him to retire from public life,
King George III, the British king who lost the American colonies, dies
at the age of 82.
In 1760, 20-year-old George succeeded his grandfather, George II, as
king of Great Britain and Ireland. Although he hoped to govern more
directly than his predecessor had, King George III was unable to find a
minister he could trust, until 1770, when he appointed Lord North as his
chief minister. Lord North proved able to manage Parliament and willing
to follow royal leadership, but George’s policy of coercion against the
American colonists led to the outbreak of the American War for
Independence.
The subsequent loss of England’s most profitable colonies contributed to
growing opposition to the king, but in 1784 his appointment as prime
minister, William Pitt (the younger), succeeded in winning a majority in
Parliament. After Pitt’s ascendance, the king retired from active
participation in government, except for occasional interference in major
issues such as Catholic Emancipation, which was defeated in 1801.
In 1765, the king suffered a short nervous breakdown and in the winter
of 1788-89 a more prolonged mental illness. By 1810, he was permanently
insane. It has been suggested that he was a victim of the hereditary
disease porphyria, a defect of the blood that can cause mental illness
when not treated. He spent the rest of his life in the care of his
devoted wife, Charlotte Sophia, whom he had married in 1761. Following
his retirement from public life, his son, the Prince of Wales, was named
regent and upon his father’s death in 1820 ascended to the throne as
King George IV.
73 de Scott KF5JRV
Pmail: KF5JRV@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA
email: KF5JRV@ICLOUD.COM
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