GEORGE III (1738-1820, King of Great Britain)

Fine document signed at the head, printed with manuscript details, appointing Thomas Inglis to be "Lieutenant of that Company ... Our Thirty Ninth Regiment of foot, commanded by Our Trusty and Wellbeloved Liutuenant General Robert Boyd", countersigned by the Commissary General of Musters, John HESSE and by The Viscount STORMONT (David Murray, 2nd Earl of Mansfield, 1727-1796, Politiican, Secretary of State), 1 side oblong folio on vellum with remains of papered seal and revenue stamp, Court at St James's, 5th January

This document comes from the height of the American War of Independence when George III lost his sovereignty of the United States. George III is often accused of obstinately trying to keep Great Britain at war with the revolutionaries in America, despite the opinions of his own ministers. In the words of the Victorian author George Trevelyan, the King was determined "never to acknowledge the independence of the Americans, and to punish their contumacy by the indefinite prolongation of a war which promised to be eternal." The King wanted to "keep the rebels harassed, anxious, and poor, until the day when, by a natural and inevitable process, discontent and disappointment were converted into penitence and remorse". However, more recent historians defend George by saying in the context of the times no king would willingly surrender such a large territory, and his conduct was far less ruthless than contemporary monarchs in Europe

Item Date:  1780

Stock No:  39616