Millie Norwich Inman

Character List

COLLISION COURSE PRIMARY CHARACTER LIST

Will there be a coup or a dreaded power behind the throne?

King George II, the second Protestant Stuart king of England from Hanover, Germany. The last king to lead British troops into battle. The son of George I. The father of Prince Frederick Lewis. Grandfather to Prince George

Frederick Lewis, age 44, the late very bright, very popular Prince of Wales. George II’s heir, who because his father was elderly, was due to be the third king of England in the Protestant Hanoverian Stuart line. He was a follower of Sir Henry St. John Bolingbroke who advocated for a populist, inclusive government, with the king “a father figure to all.” This put the prince at a subtle possible point of odds with the exclusive noble families ruling England.

 Prince of Wales George, 12 when the story opens, heir of the beloved, intellectual late crown prince, Frederick Lewis. Grandson of King George II and the late Queen Caroline, who passed shortly before his birth. Prince George was influenced by the ancient super-hero, Cato, who was willing to sacrifice self for the good of his nation.

3rd Earl of Bute (John Stuart,) 38, the handsome, Christian botanist-lawyer, academic, Scottish nobleman, descendent of the Stuart kings on his father’s side, and one of the most renown, intellectual families (Edinburg scholars, lawyers, judges, statesmen, bankers-businessmen, botanists) on his mother’s side, the Campbell Clan. The oldest son of James Stuart, 2^nd Earl of Bute, he inherited his father and grandfather’s title and their park-like Mount Stuart estate on the Isle of Bute. The original home reflected the modest godliness of the earlier generations compared to the newer, ostentatious palace that adorns the Mount Stuart park-like property today. Lord Bute was raised by his mother’s brothers after his father died when he was nine. Much of his life revolved around England’s parliamentary circles as his uncles were instrumental in the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and were distinguished in the House of Lords and in the Protestant kings’ cabinets. Lord Bute was educated at Eton and the University of Leiden, more academically selective than Oxford (considered to have too many radicals). After college, Bute spent two years as one of the elected Scottish representatives in the House of Lords. He became a close friend and advisor to the late Prince of Wales, FrederickLewis, after they met during a rainstorm pause at the Ascot races. The prince had sought a Whisk (Bridge) partner under a temporary shelter and his equerries retrieved Bute. Bute became a Lord of the Bed Chamber and a close advisor and family friend.

Augusta, Dowager (widow) Princess of Wales, was 29 when this story begins. She was a princess from Saxe-Gotha in Germany. She was the wife selected by George II for his heir, Frederick Lewis. Marriages to German princesses were political arrangements to keep alliances near Hanover while keeping the local Whig families from entrenchment “behind the throne.” Augusta arrived in England at seventeen and knew no English or French.

Duke of Cumberland (Prince William Augustus) was George II and Queen Caroline’s second son (after Frederick Lewis). He was their “favorite” son. It is the tradition that the second royal son become a military officer. Intellectual and industrious, the duke remained a bachelor and worked diligently to improve England’s land forces. A wounded heroic battle veteran, his father recalled him from Europe and promoted him to Commander-General on the emergency of the third Catholic Stuart-Highlander invasion. The Catholic “Bonnie Prince Charlie” and the highlanders had cut a bloody swath all the way to Derby on their way to retake the throne for the Catholic heir. The Duke of Cumberland spectacularly saved England. He made sure there would be no more invasions through Scotland by chasing down and killing the most war-like Highland chiefs.

 Horace Walpole, MP, was the youngest son of the late Sir Robert Walpole, George II’s first and favorite First Minister in the House of Commons. The British people did not want “a premier” or “prime minister,” because it took too much power from the king (executive). The king’s minister in the House of Commons would marshal the vote for the king’s agenda.  However, Sir Robert Walpole was arguably the first Prime Minister. Forceful, charismatic, and creative at bribes, he controlled the vote in the House of Commons for George II. He bragged he knew the price of all but three of the more than 400 MPs (Members of Parliament/ House of Commons). Horace Walpole had a family controlled seat in the House of Commons, coasted about on his late father’s coattails, was a loyal courtier to George II, a writer, collector of antiquities, and verbose social commentator. He was a virtuoso gossip.

2^nd Earl Waldegrave (James Waldegrave), on his father’s death, when he was twenty-seven he inherited his father’s peerage and his father’s informal position as King George II’s “favorite.” The king tried to appoint him to a real job several times but Henry Pelham (his first minister who had replaced Sir Robert Walpole) would never approve it. After Henry Pelham’s sudden death in 1752, the king appointed Lord Waldegrave governor to Prince George and Prince Edward, which came with a seat on the Privy Council. Waldegrave was a close friend of Horace Walpole, MP.

Duke of Newcastle (Thomas Pelham) was a titled peer in the House of Lords. He was a stalwart in George II’s cabinet, and along with his half-brother, was one of the king’s closest advisors for years. Newcastle was from the Pelham family and when his brother, the king’s popular First Minister in the House of Commons, suddenly died, Newcastle took the opportunity to step into his brother’s big shoes and made himself (with the king’s approval) the dominate minister with a puppet named “king’s minister” in the House of Commons. It was an unorthodox power play to try to control the House of Commons from the House of Lords, who are appointed not elected.

Henry Fox, MP, from a humble background, Fox became a capable powerhouse influencer with seniority in the House of Commons. He was politically associated with the Duke of Cumberland, the king’s second, and favorite son, in the House of Lords, who was also Commander-General of the army. When the Duke of Cumberland needed legislation for army interests, he used Henry Fox as his spokesperson-influencer in the House of Commons.

 William Pitt, MP, dropped out of Oxford because of his recurring gout attacks. He made his own academic regimen and was a prolific reader. Pitt had a military background as a commissioned officer, Coronet of the Horse in the Dragoons of the king’s army. (Dragoons rode into battle, and dismounted for hand to hand combat). He never saw battle but became a distinguished leader in the House of Commons, and poignant government critic of the influential “Cousins” faction. He was especially known for his powerful oratory and his “eagle eye” on the House of Commons floor. He lost his military commission and the king’s favor for siding with the late Prince of Wales’ opposition. William’s older brother, the family heir, who had led William into the opposition, lost the bulk of the family’s wealth for the king and Robert Walpole’s retribution. The elder Pitt brother was forced to mortgage the two family owned boroughs that provided the brothers a “pocket borough” seats in the House of Commons.

1st Earl Temple (Richard (Dick) Grenville). The oldest Grenville son, Richard inherited the Temple title and the fabulous Stowe property on his mother’s death in 1752. On her death, Richard also inherited from her Wooton of Underwood, the Grenville home of his late father, where he’d grown up. Richard married into more wealth, so was a big political splash. When he became Lord Temple, he left his seat in the House of Commons and entered the House of Lords. He was close friends with William Pitt and a senior member of the Cousinhood opposition faction. Add in his arrogance, and King George II hated him.

George Grenville, MP, Richard’s younger brother and also a politician. Arguably the brightest and most capable of the three living Grenville brothers, George had a seat in the House of Commons and was gifted in finance. He lived in the Wooton of Underwood Grenville estate home with his wife and family. George, often called “Grenville,” was also a key player in the Cousinhood or Cousin faction in the House of Commons with Richard (Lord Temple) and William Pitt, that had been instrumental in the late Prince Frederick Lewis’ opposition “Patriots” to his father’s government.

George Lyttelton, MP, is the cousin part of the influential Cousinhood faction in the House of Commons. He was an Oxford graduate, notably bright and literary. He was also a gifted orator and a leader in the Cousinhood. Lyttelton’s mother and the Grenvilles’ mother were sisters: Hester Temple Grenville and Christian Temple Lyttelton. After the Grenvilles’ father died, their mothers’ acclaimed brother, Uncle Richard Temple, Viscount Cobham, mentored his aspiring statesmen nephews and their close buddy, William Pitt. George Lyttelton and William Pitt became infamous in the House of Commons as the silver-tongued “Cobham’s Cubs” during the years that Prince Frederick Lewis ran the opposition “Patriots” to his father, George II’s, government. George Lyttelton’s older sister was married to Pitt’s older brother.

William Murray, MP, a brilliant jurist and Scottish academic. He was a Christian and close friend of Lord Bute. He was George II’s Solicitor General in the beginning of Collision Course. He was loyal to George II and his government (a Cabinet member). A venerated, outstanding orator for the government, Murray was naturally shy and tried to avoid the spit-in-your-face dogfights on the small House of Commons floor in St. Stephens Chapel.

* DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. What are the deathbed fears of the Prince of Wales Frederick Lewis?
2. The British feared an unaccountable power behind the throne with tyrannical ambitions. Who might become a power behind Prince George’s throne? Can you name an American administration where someone other than the elected president was making executive policy decisions?
3. The British also feared a standing army that could be used against the citizens in a coup. The untimely death of Prince Frederick Lewis reminded everyone of the blood-curdling tale of Richard III’s rise to the throne. On his brother, King Edward’s early death, Edward’s eleven and twelve-year-old sons were heirs. Because they were juveniles, Uncle Richard was named regent. The boys were locked in the Tower of London where they went missing to wide speculation they were murdered. William Shakespeare immortalized the chilling story in a popular historical play. The play was revived and rerun to rave reviews as soon as public awareness piqued that our Princes George and Edward needed a regent. Who became a coup prospect and why?
4. What was the purpose behind Earl Waldegrave and Horace Walpole’s meetings? Did you enjoy the humor? Which character delighted in the prospect of scandal? Did Walpole fan the flames for ambition? What was Horry Walpole’s motive in scandalizing the junior court? Why did he want to embarrass the Duke of Newcastle?
5. There are three admirable women in this story.

–Did you enjoy seeing the dowager Princess Augusta grow? What was her background? Did Prince Frederick treat her like his father had treated the late Queen Caroline? Or lady Yarmouth? Why did Princess Augusta choose the Earl of Bute as her counselor? As Prince George’s finishing tutor? Were these good choices? How did the men feel about her new assertiveness? What concerns for her children did she have that are the same for mom’s today? In signing an alliance with Pitt, what was her biggest fear for her son? Did George III inherit a war-ravaged England?

–What qualities did you like in Hester Grenville?  Why had William Pitt never considered her for a partner? In what ways was she an asset to him? Do you think Pitt sought his wife’s political counsel?

­–Comment on Mary Stuart as a wife and mother. What was her background? Why did she and the third Earl of Bute (John Stuart) elope? What was her worry for John? What were her sacrifices for his cause? Or do you think it was their cause? Was her counsel to her husband wise?

6. There were two possible routes for promotion for the politically ambitious: The favor of the king and his ministers or the favor of the people. Which did William Pitt, “the Great Commoner” choose? Why? What influential groups did Pitt go after so his Cousinhood faction in the House of Commons could broaden its influence to over-rule George II and his ministers. The controlled or “formed” opposition would vote against the government’s policies in favor of the late Prince of Wales and Prince George’s platform: fiscal responsibility, non-involvement in Continental wars, a two-party system of government (instead of one party cabal composed of a small group of elitist families). Once the opposition was “formed,” how did it benefit Cousinhood leadership? What was William Pitt’s point of conflict with George Lyttelton? With the Duke of Newcastle? Why was George Grenville not a threat? Why were the other Grenville brothers—Richard and Jemmy—not a threat?
7. Pitt’s motto was sui juris which means “independent.” How did his marriage to Hester Grenville serve his intentions?
8. Comment on the relationship between William Pitt and Lord Bute (John Stuart). What did you see in each man’s integrity? Motivations? Sacrifices? Depth of faith? Was one a more capable statesman? Why did Bute aid Pitt’s rise to George II’s Cabinet?
9. Part of America’s heritage from Britain was the tenant of a representative government with checks and balances between executive, legislative, and judicial branches best served the people. How was all that working in England? Was election fraud viable? What was a pocket borough? How were the votes controlled? George II lamented, ministers are the real kings. Yet, Englishmen feared a prime minister or premier because it gave too much power to one person. Who do you think was the first Prime Minister of Great Britain?
10. Pitt spent most of the second half of the story forcing his way into the king’s Cabinet. For what purpose? When did you realize Pitt was on a collision course with the prince and Bute? Which man was devastated? Was Bute ambitious? Why did Bute evoke so much jealousy?
11. At twenty-two, do you think Prince George was well-prepared to be the patriot king his father had envisioned?
12. Was America’s successful bid for independence assured before George III mounted the British throne? Why or why not? Why was American representation in Parliament impractical?

Prompt: Before Pitt took control of the French and Indian War (Seven Years War), the French used Quebec as a staging point for incursions into the Ohio Valley. How did the removal of land competitors from England’s colonies aid an American revolution? How did Pitt’s perspective on France— even during the peace process—exacerbate France’s animosity and hunger for revenge? How did this help the American cause? What new military training and experience did Americans have?

The dowager’s greatest fears became reality. Britain was bankrupt, ravaged by debt, creditors and unrest. Every attempt to tax was violently resisted. Who did the new king want to take over the treasury? But the London mob in Pitt’s opposition machine was now turned on Bute, who had replaced their darling and was initiating taxes to satisfy creditors. In America, the Indians who had been paid by the French were more hostile than ever toward Brits. Exorbitant costs for protecting the vast newly acquired territories heaped on even more revenue needs. After Bute retired, George III was forced to bring George Grenville into his Cabinet to address the financial disaster. It was Grenville who set the taxes on America that pushed her over the edge.

13. Would you like to visit Kew, Caenwood (Kenwood), Mount Stuart, Stowe gardens?