1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

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1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, Volume 27

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

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See also United Kingdom (c. 1911 and present) on Wikipedia; and our 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica disclaimer. For maps see the pages for then-constituent countries of the United Kingdom—England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland—and the article on the British Empire.

16194381911 Encyclopædia Britannica, Volume 27 — United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND,^[1] the official title, since the 1st of January 1801, of the political unity composed of England and Wales, Scotland and Ireland. “Great Britain” was employed as a formal designation from the time of the union of the kingdoms of England and Scotland in 1707. Although the name (which apparently had its origin in Britannia Major, the name given to the island to distinguish it from Britannia Minor or Brittany) had, in earlier times, been often used both by English and by foreign writers, especially for rhetorical and poetical purposes, it was not till after the accession of James I. that it became a recognized part of the royal style. Its adoption was due to the king himself, who was anxious to give expression to the fact that he was sovereign of the undivided island, and not only of England or Scotland. As early as 1559 the Scottish congregation had formally proposed the union of the two crowns, and the adoption of the name of Great Britain for the common country (Teulet, Mêm. Caille à M. de la Mothe, Dec. 20). But in England the innovation at first met with great opposition. Various objections, sentimental and practical, were urged against it in parliament; and the judges, when appealed to by the king, declared that the adoption of the title would invalidate all legal processes. At length, on the 20th of October 1604, the king, weary of the discussion, cut the knot by assuming the title by royal proclamation, and in due course the inscription “J. D. G. Mag. Brit. F. et H. Rex” appeared on his coins. In November 1604 we find the king instructing the lords commissioners of the Gunpowder Plot to try and discover if the prisoner was the author of a most “cruel pasquil” against him for assuming the name of Britain.

For further details see Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series; and J. Spedding, Letters and Life of Lord Bacon, vol. iii. (London, 1861–1874).

England and Wales, Scotland and Ireland are politically united under a parliament (q.v.), consisting of the king, the House of Lords^[2] and the House of Commons,^[3] the prerogatives of the Crown being exercised through responsible ministers. The executive government is carried on under the supervision of the ministers of state (see Ministry), the more important of whom are united in the cabinet (q.v.). The first minister of the Crown or prime minister (q.v.) is appointed by the king, and having made choice of his colleagues, recommends them for appointment. (See the separate articles on the various offices. For the judiciary system, see Court; Appeal; &c.)

The table at the foot of this column shows the imperial revenue and expenditure, with the amount of revenue per head of population of the United Kingdom for various years. The financial year now ends on the 31st of March of the year following that quoted. The figures before 1907 did not include the revenue assigned to local purposes. The deficit in 1909 was due to delay in passing the Finance Act.

Year.	Total Revenue.	Total Expenditure.	Proportion of Revenue per head.
	£	£	£	s.	d.
1861	70,283,674	72,792,059	2	8	10
1871	69,945,220	69,548,539	2	4	5
1881	81,872,354	80,938,990	2	7	1
1891	89,489,112	87,732,855	2	6	2
1901	130,384,684	183,592,264	3	2	10
1902	142,997,999	195,522,213	3	12	11
1903	151,551,698	184,483,708	3	11	6
1904	141,545,597	146,961,136	3	6	2
1905	143,370,404	141,956,497	3	6	4
1906	143,977,575	140,511,955	3	5	11
1907	156,537,690	151,812,094	3	6	5
1908	151,578,295	152,292,395	3	5	0
1909	131,696,456	157,944,611	2	18	5

Year ending March 31st.

	1891.	1896.	1901.	1906.	1910.
	£	£	£	£	£
Funded debt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	579,472,082	589,146,878	551,182,153	634,047,429	614,868,547
Terminable annuities . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	66,550,579	49,183,748	60,154,800	43,459,548	35,876,861
Unfunded debt . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	36,140,079	9,975,800	78,133,000	65,713,000	62,500,000
Other capital liabilities^*. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	1,317,719	3,979,940	14,464,396	45,770,210	49,218,217
Total gross liabilities of the state . . . .	683,480,459	652,286,366	703,934,349	788,990,187	762,463,625
Assets—
Suez Canal shares . . . . . . . . . .	3,532,040†	22,627,000‡	25,806,000‡	31,080,000‡	35,295,000
Other assets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	1,740,397	939,354	712,760	2,586,799	4,118,352
Exchequer balances at banks of England and Ireland	6,370,897	8,975,201	5,596,918	10,451,487	2,831,248

^* These are in respect of sums borrowed under certain acts.† Nominal value.
‡ Estimated market value on the 31st of March each year.

In separate articles throughout this Encyclopaedia the main subjects of interest in connexion with British institutions are fully dealt with; and it is only necessary here to give such details as are needed to supplement those given under the subject-heading. See Agriculture; Navy (also Ship and Ship-Building); Education; English Finance; English History; Civil Service; National Debt; Police; Poor Law; &c. A separate section, however, is devoted to the army, the constitution of which in 1910 is described; the history is given under Army.