Act of Settlement 1701 - Original Context

Original Context

Following the Glorious Revolution, the line of succession to the English throne was governed by the Bill of Rights 1689, which declared that the flight of James II from England to France during the revolution amounted to an abdication of the throne and that James' son-in-law and nephew William of Orange, and his wife, James' daughter, Mary, were James' successors, who ruled jointly as William III and Mary II. The Bill of Rights also provided that the line of succession would go through their descendants, then through Mary's sister Princess Anne, and her descendants, and then to the issue of William III by a later marriage (if he were to marry again after the death of Mary II).

But Mary II died childless in 1694, after which William III did not remarry. In 1700, Prince William, Duke of Gloucester, who was the only child of Princess Anne to survive infancy, died of a fever at the age of 11. It seemed unlikely that Anne would have any more children, in view of her age and the large number of miscarriages she had previously suffered. Thus Parliament saw the need for a new law to

• ensure the continuance of the succession following the death of Princess Anne, the last legal heir under the Bill of Rights;
• guarantee that the line of succession would continue in the Protestant line;
• exclude any possible claims by the deposed James II or his son and daughter, James Francis Edward and Louisa Maria Teresa Stuart.