Act of Settlement

1701

An act passed by a British Tory government in 1701 after the death of Princess Anne's only surviving child, the Duke of Gloucester. The act dealt not only with the succession, but aimed to secure the 'further limitation of the Crown, and … the rights and liberties of the subject'. After the descendants of William III and Princess Anne, the crown was to pass to the Electress Sophia of Hanover, a granddaughter of James I, and her heirs, 'being Protestants'. Thus was excluded the elder Stuart line, the Roman Catholic descendants of James II.

The act specified that future sovereigns should join in communion with the Church of England, if foreign-born should not engage England in foreign wars to defend their foreign possessions, and could not leave England without the consent of Parliament. As an additional check on possible foreign influence, no foreign-born person could sit in Parliament or hold civil or military office. A further clause stated that judges might be removed from office upon petition to the Crown by both Houses of Parliament.

© JM Dent/Historybookshop.com