The Kingdom of Great Britain, also sometimes known as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', was created by the
merging of the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England under the 1707 Act
of Union to create a single kingdom encompassing the whole of Great
Britain. A single parliament and government, based in Westminster in
London, controlled the new kingdom. The two former kingdoms had shared the same monarch
since King James VI of Scotland became King James I of England
in 1603.
From 1707 onward, a joint "British" throne replaced the English and Scottish thrones and a joint Parliament of Great Britain replaced the Scottish and
English parliaments. Scotland and England were given seats in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords
of the new parliament. Although Scotland's representation in both houses was smaller than its population indicated it should have
been, representation in parliament was at that time based not on population but on taxation, and Scotland was given a greater
number of MPs than its share of taxation warranted. Under the treaty, Scotland elected forty-five members to the Commons and sent
sixteen representative peers to the Lords. The Kingdom of
Great Britain was superseded by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801 when the Kingdom of Ireland was absorbed with
the enactment of the Act of Union 1801.
Monarchs of Great Britain
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