Person    | Male  Born 4/6/1738  Died 29/1/1820

King George III

Born in St James's Square (not the public garden, one of the houses, obviously). Crowned in 1760, the first monarch since Queen Anne to be truly British. It was during his rule that many of the American colonies were lost in the American Revolutionary War. Later in life suffered from an intermittent mental illness which made him eventually too mad to rule and his eldest son ruled as Prince Regent, becoming George IV on his father's death, at Windsor. His consort was Queen Charlotte. In recent years the accepted diagnosis has been manic depression.

George III was a strong supporter of Eton College (his local school) and, in return, the school made the King's birthday a holiday and the 'Fourth of June' became a traditional day of festivities even though it is seldom celebrated on June 4.

Journal of the American Revolution describes the toppling of a Manhattan statue of George III in 1776. This had been erected only about 10 years previously but when the States declared their independence a group of New Yorkers celebrated by pulling it down.  A 2021 meme: "After hearing a reading of the newly adopted Declaration of Independence, New Yorkers "Destroy History" by toppling a statue of King George III. And that's why no one knows who won the American Revolution.”

Invested in and was governor of the South Sea company whose trade was slavery. During the campaign to end the slave trade George supported neither side, which, given his position, was helpful to those in favour of retention.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
King George III

Commemorated ati

Duke of York's column

Bronze statue by Westmacott of "The Grand Old Duke of York" of nursery rhyme ...

Read More

General Roy's cannon - south

The cannon was installed in 1791 by Mudge. The plaque came later in 1926. Fr...

Read More

George III at Trinity House

This building was erected during his reign.

Read More

George III in Cockspur Street

Considered to be Wyatt's best work.

Read More

George III with the River god

Bronze statue erected in 1789 showing the king who had commissioned the rebui...

Read More

Show all 16

Other Subjects

Carl Linnaeus

Carl Linnaeus

Born Stenbrohult, Småland in southern Sweden. Inventor of a system for naming, ranking, and classifying organisms. One of the great collectors of the 18th century. At his death Joseph Banks tried b...

Person, Race Issues, Science, Sweden

2 memorials
Olive Morris

Olive Morris

Activist and community leader. Born in St Catherine, Jamaica, and moved to Britain at the age of nine. She was a founding member of the Organisation of Women of African and Asian Descent (OWAAD) in...

Person, Gender Issues, Race Issues, Social Welfare, Caribbean Islands

2 memorials
Robert, Lord Clive, Clive of India

Robert, Lord Clive, Clive of India

Soldier and administrator. Born Shropshire. With the East India Company he effectively founded the British Empire. Spent much of his adult life in India, making his fortune there and becoming Gover...

Person, Armed Forces, Politics & Administration, Race Issues, Bengal, India

2 memorials
Universal Negro Improvement Association

Universal Negro Improvement Association

Founded by Marcus Garvey in Jamaica. It campaigned against lynching, denial of black voting rights and racial discrimination. It aimed to 'clear out' white people from Africa (maybe back in 1914 th...

Group, Race Issues, Jamaica

2 memorials
Dorothy 'Cherry' Groce

Dorothy 'Cherry' Groce

Shooting victim. She was shot by the Metropolitan Police, on 28 September 1985, while they were searching for her son who was suspected of firearm offences. This led to the 1985 Brixton riot. She w...

Person, Race Issues, Tragedy, Caribbean Islands

1 memorial

Previously viewed

Michael Faraday

Michael Faraday

Experimental physicist, especially electro-magnetics (remember Faraday's Law?). Born in Newington Butts but brought up near Oxford Street. Trained as a bookbinder and here he was given tickets to s...

Person, Science, Seriously Famous

9 memorials
Lindsay Anderson

Lindsay Anderson

Film and theatre director, critic and writer, ‘This sporting Life', ‘If', ‘The Whales of August', awarded the 1955 Oscar for Best Documentary Short. Born India, died France.

Person, Cinema, Theatre, France, India

1 memorial
English Heritage

English Heritage

English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts,...

Group, Architecture, History, Property

415 memorials
Georgette Heyer

Georgette Heyer

Novelist. Born at 103 Woodside, Wimbledon. From 1932, she produced one romance novel and one thriller each year. In all she wrote nearly sixty volumes. Died at Guy's Hospital.

Person, Literature

1 memorial
Alhambra Theatre

Alhambra Theatre

The image shows the old theatre, the Charing Cross Road facade and bottom, the Leicester Square facade, now the Odeon cinema.

Building, Theatre

1 memorial