In both 1715 and 1745 there was a major military challenge in Britain to
the thrones of George I and George II, posed by Jacobite supporters of
the exiled Stuart claimant. This book examines the responses of those
loyal to the Hanoverian dynasty, whose efforts have been ignored or
disparaged compared to the military perspective or that of the
Jacobites.
These efforts included those of the clergy who gave loyalist sermons,
accompanied the volunteer forces against the Jacobites and even stood up
to the Jacobite forces in person. The lords lieutenant organized militia
and volunteer forces to support the status quo. Official bodies, such as
the corporations, parishes, quarter sessions and sheriffs, organized
events to celebrate loyalist occasions and dealt with local Jacobite
sympathisers. The press, both national and regional, was uniformly
loyal. Finally, both the middling and common people acted, often
violently, against those thought to be hostile towards the status quo.
The effectiveness of these bodies had limits, but was at times decisive,
and showed that the dynasty was not without popular support in its hours
of crisis.
This volume is essential reading for all those interested in the
Jacobite rebellions and the early English Georgian state, church and
society.