Happy Hour: King George IV: The Worst Ruler in British History?

Sponsored by the ESU Richmond Branch.
British historian, Sir Spencer Walpole, described King George IV (1762-1830) as “a bad son, a bad husband, a bad father, a bad subject, a bad monarch, and a bad friend.” The Duke of Wellington was more charitable of the king, “[King George IV] was indeed the most extraordinary compound of talent, wit, buffoonery, obstinacy, and good feeling–in short, a medley of the most opposite qualities–with a great preponderance of good–that I ever saw in any character in my life.” King George IV was known for his manners and charm but also for his drunkenness, spendthrift ways, and scandalous love life.
 
Learn more about King George III’s son, who left the Crown weaker and less popular, but immeasurably richer in architecture, the fine and decorative arts, in this ESU Happy Hour hosted by James C. Kelly, Ph.D., of ESU’s Richmond Branch, who recently retired after a half-century-long curatorial career. This ESU Happy Hour is sponsored by the ESU Richmond VA Branch. ESU Happy Hour programs are online, free, and open to all members and the public. Registration is required. All Happy Hours take place on Eastern Time.

About Dr. James Kelly

James C. Kelly, a native of Philadelphia, received a Ph.D. in history from Vanderbilt University. He has been, successively, Executive Director of the Tennessee American Revolution Bicentennial Commission, Chief Curator of the Tennessee State Museum, Assistant Director for Museums at the Virginia Historical Society, and until his retirement on July 31, 2024, Chief of Museum Programs Division of the U.S. Army Center of Military History. Among his publications are articles of Anglo-Cherokee relations in the eighteenth century, Bound Away: Virginia and the Westward Movement; The Virginia Landscape: A Cultural History; and Jamestown, Quebec, Santa Fe: Three North American Beginnings. 
A long-time member of the Richmond Branch of the ESU, he attended the Royal Collection Studies at Windsor Castle, where he was on the memorable 11th of September 2001, and he contributed a chapter on Queen Elizabeth’s formative years for The Queen and the U.S.A., published in conjunction with Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee.