Great Britain

General information
Continent	Europe
Points of interest	England Scotland
Notable inhabitants	King George II Queen of Great Britain Lord John Carteret Prime Minister Henry Pelham Weatherby Swann James Norrington Joshamee Gibbs Davy Jones Cutler Beckett Dix
Societal
Population	English & Scottish settlers
Affiliation	British Empire
Behind the scenes
First appearance	On Stranger Tides
Latest appearance	On Stranger Tides

"You are in the presence of George Augustus, Duke of Brunswick-Luneburg, Archtreasurer and Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire, King of Great Britain and Ireland...and of you."

―Henry Pelham to Jack Sparrow

The Kingdom of Great Britain was a state formed in 1707 by the unification of the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland. During the first half of the 18th century, Great Britain had the world's strongest navy and army. It also was the world's largest empire, containing at it's peak one-fourth of the world's land area.

History

British Empire

"The charge...is conspiring to set free a man convicted of crimes against the Crown and Empire, and condemned to death. For which the..."
"For which the punishment, regrettably, is also death."

―Weatherby Swann and Cutler Beckett

In 1578 Sir Humphrey Gilbert was granted a patent by Queen Elizabeth I for discovery and overseas exploration, and set sail for the West Indies with the intention of first engaging in piracy and on the return voyage, establishing a colony in North America. The expedition failed at the outset beacause of bad weather. In 1583 Gilbert embarked on a second attempt, on this occasion to the island of Newfoundland where he formally claimed for England the harbour of St. John's, though no settlers were left behind to colonise it. Gilbert did not survive the return journey to England, and was succeeded by his half-brother, Walter Raleigh, who was granted his own patent by Elizabeth in 1584, in the same year founding the colony of Roanoke on the coast of Carolina. Lack of supplies caused the colony to fail.

In 1603, King James VI of Scotland ascended to the English throne and in 1604 negotiated the Treaty of London, ending hostilities with Spain. Now at peace with its main rival, English attention shifted form preying on other nations' colonial infrastructure to the busines of establishing its own overses colonies. Althought its beginnings were hit-and-miss, the British Empire began to take shape durign the early 17th century, with the English settlement of North America and the smaller islands of the Caribbean, and the establishment of a private company, the East India Trading Company, to trade with Asia.

Reign of King George II

Throughout his reign as King of Great Britain and Ireland, George Augustus resided in St. James's Palace in London, England. Several years after the War Against Piracy, King George and his ministers would learn that King Ferdinand of Spain had located the Fountain of Youth. In an attempt to solve the issue of finding the Fountain, the King and the Royal Navy tried to enlist help from the notorious pirate Jack Sparrow, who had knowledge of the route to the Fountain, after having heard rumors that Jack was recruiting a crew in London. After Sparrow's escape, King George sent Hector Barbossa, a reformed pirate and privateer, aboard the HMS Providence with a crew to find the Fountain before the Spanish did. The British ultimately failed their mission to secure the Fountain in the King's name, with almost all of Providence crew were killed and Barbossa himself returned to piracy.

Behind the scenes

• Great Britian was first mentioned in the 2003 video game Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. Various media relating to the 2011 film Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, beginning with the junior novelization, featured Great Britain first appearance through London, England.
• Zizzle's action figures for Dead Man's Chest named the "Place of Origin" for several characters, listing James Norrington's origin as Great Britain, and Davy Jones's origin described as "Presumed to be Great Britain". Although Jones' "Place of Origin" has since been named "Unknown" in the official Pirates website circa 2010, Great Britain was retained as Norrington's origin, along with Weatherby Swann and Joshamee Gibbs.

Appearances

• Jack Sparrow: City of Gold (Mentioned only)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (video game) (First mentioned)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (junior novelization) (First appearance)
• The Brightest Star in the North: The Adventures of Carina Smyth
• LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game (Non-canonical appearance)

Sources

• Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides: The Visual Guide

External links

• Kingdom of Great Britain on Wikipedia
• United Kingdom on Wikipedia

Notes and references

Locations in Pirates of the Caribbean
Africa Barbary Coast – Calabar – Egypt – Kerma – Slave Coast – Tripoli The Americas Boston – Florida – Louisiana – Mexico – New Orleans – North Carolina Panama – Peru – Savannah – Virginia – Yucatán Peninsula Asia Bombay – China – Hong Kong – India – Nippon – Shanghai – Singapore The Bahamas Andros – Nassau – New Avalon – New Providence The Caribbean Antigua – Black rock island – Cuba – Devil's Triangle – Hangman's Bay – Hispaniola Ile d'Etable de Porc – Isla De La Avaricia – Isla Cruces – Isla de Muerta – Isla de Pelegostos Martinique – Padres Del Fuego – Port Royal – Poseidon's Tomb Puerto Rico – Saint Martin – Shipwreck Island – Tortuga – Unnamed Island Europe Cádiz – France – Gibraltar – Great Britain – Holland London – Marseille – Portugal – Spain Other locations Davy Jones' Locker – Farthest Gate – Ice Passage – Isla Sirena
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