Queen Anne
Queen of Great Britain and Ireland
1664 – 1714 A.D.

Anne, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, the last member of the house of Stuart who sat upon the English throne.

In 1863 she was married to Prince George, brother of Christian V, King of Denmark. Of the seventeen children she bore to her husband, only one survived infancy, the Duke of Gloucester, who died at the age of eleven. On the death of King William in 1702, Mary having previously died without heirs, Anne ascended the throne.

Though feeble in character, she pursued the plan of her predecessor against the ambition of Louis XIV, and renewed the triple alliance against France. The most important conquest made by England during her reign was the fortress of Gibraltar, and the great political event was the union of England with Scotland in 1707.

After the Treaty of Utrecht was signed in 1713, the new leaders were not harmonious, and the following year, wearied with the wrangling and cabals of her ministers, the queen suddenly died.

Anne was deficient in mental vigor, but amiable. Her reign, distinguished by successful wars, has also been called the Augustan period of English literature. The writings of Addison, Pope, Steele, Swift and Defoe adorned the age, and periodical sheets and newspapers then first came into fashion.

~*~

Reference: Famous Women; An Outline of Feminine Achievement Through the Ages With Life Stories of Five Hundred Noted Women By Joseph Adelman. Copyright, 1926 by Ellis M. Lonow Company.