It was during Queen Anne's reign that England and Scotland were, in the words of the Treaty of Union (1706), "United into One Kingdom by the Name of Great Britain". The Acts of Union were passed in 1706 in England, and 1707 in Scotland.
Queen Anne bore 14 children, but eight of them were stillborn and three more survived for less than 24 hours. A further two died at the ages of 20 months and 8 months, respectively; only one – Prince William, Duke of Gloucester – lived for more than two years, and he died in 1700 at the age of 11.
The Act of Settlement, passed in 1701, disqualified Roman Catholics – or anyone married to one – from succeeding to the throne. It settled the succession on the Electress Sophia of Hanover and her Protestant descendants. Sophia was the grand–daughter of James I (of England), through his daughter Elizabeth; Anne was James's great–grand–daughter, so Sophia was her second cousin, once removed upwards. She was 35 years older than Anne, and she died in 1714 at the age of 83. When Anne died less than two months later, the British crown passed to Sophia's eldest son, George – Anne's second cousin.
© Haydn Thompson 2021