Far from being extinguished by the death
of James II, the Jacobite cause seemed to
have been given fresh impetus. Its focus
now was James’s only surviving legitimate
son, James Francis Edward Stuart. His
supporters proclaimed him James III of
England and Ireland, and James VIII of
Scotland. He was also formally
recognised as such by Louis XIV and
Pope Clement XI. James later became
known as ‘the Old Pretender’ to
distinguish him from his son, Charles
Edward Stuart, ‘the Young Pretender’.
The fact that William and Mary had died
without direct heirs bolstered the Jacobite
movement. Moreover, the throne had
passed to Mary’s younger sister, Anne,
whose only surviving child, William, Duke
of Gloucester, had died nearly two years
before her accession. Her most likely
successor was George Louis, prince-
elector of Hanover, whose mother Sophia
was a granddaughter of James I and VI.
The Jacobite faction therefore offered the
enticing prospect to Anne’s subjects of
placing a British, rather than a German-
born, king on the throne.
In 1708, the Old Pretender garnered
considerable French support for an
invasion of Britain. Together with 4,000
French troops and around 30 ships from
the French navy, he sailed for the Firth
of Forth but was intercepted by the
Royal Navy and forced to make an
ignominious retreat.
It was not until 1715, by which time
Anne was dead and George Louis had
been crowned George I, that the next
serious Jacobite invasion attempt was
launched. Even the new king’s own
mother acknowledged the Old Pretender
as Prince of Wales, while the anti-
Hanoverian feeling ran particularly high
among the disgruntled Scots, who saw
little advantage of the union with England.
Although the English Jacobites were soon
rounded up, the Scots posed a much
more dangerous threat. In November
1715, the Earl of Mar led thousands of
Highlanders into battle with ‘German
George’s’ troops. Although the English
were outnumbered, they won the day;
even the arrival of the Old Pretender
himself in December failed to rouse Mar’s
troops to victory, and he and the Earl were
obliged to retreat to France.
For the remainder of George’s reign, he
was dogged by Jacobite plots, spies and
traitors, and could never feel truly secure
on his throne – neither could his son andJacobitism after James II
“The throne had
passed to Mary’s
younger sister Anne,
whose only surviving
child, William, Duke of
Gloucester, had died
two years before
her accession”
successor, George II. By far the most
serious threat to his reign came in 1744,
when Louis XV of France lent his support
for a large-scale invasion of England. This
time it was led by the Young Pretender,
Charles (also known as ‘Bonnie Prince
Charlie’), who had been in exile in Rome
with his father but who now rushed to
France to join the preparations. A fleet of
barges had begun embarking 10,000
troops from the French coast when a
storm wreaked havoc, sinking many of the
ships with the loss of all on board.
Undeterred, Charles whipped up
support for a new invasion, and in July
1745 he succeeded in reaching Scottish
soil. More and more Scots rallied to his
cause and, with many British troops
fighting abroad in the War of the AustrianSuccession, the chances of restoring the
Stuarts to the throne seemed stronger
than ever. Charles and his growing army
marched south to England and, by
December 1745, they had reached Derby.
But conflict between Charles and his
fellow commander, Lord George Murray,
weakened their attack and they were soon
driven northwards by the king’s troops.
Although the Jacobites succeeded in
taking Falkirk in January 1746, British
forces – led by George II’s younger son,
William, Duke of Cumberland – gained the
initiative and won a crushing victory at
Culloden on 16 April 1746. The Hanoverian
dynasty was now accepted by the people
of Great Britain, laying the foundations for
the kingdom’s emergence as a European
CORBIS/MICHAEL NICHOLSON and world power. Tracy Borman
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