1714 - 1830

The Georgian period began with the accession in to the English throne in 1714 of George, Duke of the German state of Brunswick. Although well over fifty years old and thoroughly German the English preferred him to the Catholic Stuart alternative (of which there were some fifty individuals with a claim) as evidenced by legislation passed during the previous reign of Queen Anne which restricted the succession to a Protestant heir. The Scots, naturally at odds with anything English, tended to support the Stuarts and the early Georgian period was marked by Anglo-Scottish warfare, military and economic, with the latter defeated on all fronts. With the House of Brunswick established, Great Britain began a period of immense growth both militarily and economically. The British Empire became established abroad and the Industrial Revolution at home. Amblecote, strategically placed on the edge of the Staffordshire coalfield, possessed a head start; its existing glass industry providing entrepreneurs with both capital and technological know-how in the race to exploit resources and develop new industries. By the death of King William IV in 1830, modern Amblecote had emerged; a fascinating mixture of factories, mines and fields served by old roads made new and new canals that made fortunes.