The Children of Adam and Eve

George II (of Great Britain and Ireland) (1683-1760), king of Great
Britain and Ireland (1727-60), and elector of Hanover (1727-60), the son
of King George I.

George was born at Herrenhausen Palace in Hanover (now in Lower Saxony
state, Germany) on November 10, 1683, and he grew up a German prince. In
1705 he married Caroline of Ansbach, an intelligent woman who wielded
great influence over her husband and thereby on government. Like his
father, George II was More interested in Hanover than in Great Britain,
and during his many absences from London Caroline frequently acted as
regent. During the war of the Austrian Succession (1740-48), the king
subordinated the interests of Great Britain to those of his German
principality. This policy was unpopular in Great Britain, but the king won
admiration for his courage at the Battle of Dettingen in Bavaria (1743),
the last engagement in which a British monarch participated in person.
George II contributed to the material progress of Great Britain, mainly
because he was shrewd enough to listen to his wife and heed the advice of
his ministers. He retained Sir Robert Walpole as chief minister only upon
Caroline's insistence, and he later relied on Henry Pelham (1696-1754),
and, toWard the end of his reign, William Pitt the Elder, although he
originally had a great dislike for him. George's reign was Marked by the
suppression of the last major Jacobite rebellion and by the successful
pRosecution at Pitt's initiative of the Seven Years' War. He was succeeded
by his grandson George III. George died at Kensington Palace, London, on
October 25, 1760.