In provincial Boston, the birth of a prince of England caused a big, big celebration. When news of the birth of Prince George William reached the colonists in March 1718, gunners discharged cannons, people partied at the Old State House and crowds gathered to cheer “huzzah.”
King George III
Bostonians didn’t just celebrate royal births. They celebrated royal birthdays, accessions, coronations and anniversaries of coronations. They did it with pageantry and ceremony. Richard Bushman, in King and People in Provincial Massachusetts, refers to “incessant round of ceremonies exalting the king.”
Old State House 1793
Bushman argued the demonstrative allegiance to the monarchy had to do with the belief that the king had a reciprocal obligation: to protect his people. When the king showed he no longer intended to provide that protection, the people no longer had an obligation of loyalty to him.
Though the colonists didn’t always agree with their monarch, they demonstrated their loyalty to him up until the eve of the Boston Tea Party.
Any Royal Reason for a Party
King William
Puritan Bostonians sympathized with the Parliamentarians during the English civil wars. So they didn’t get too excited with the accession of the Roman Catholic James II to the throne in 1685. But when ordered to proclaim him king, thousands assembled in High Street to cheer with “huzzahs.” They also listened the drums beat, the trumpets sound and the volleys fired.
When the Protestant King William was proclaimed king in Boston on May 29, 1689, the colony threw the biggest, happiest celebration ever. People came from all over to view the procession of provincial leaders and gentlemen, followed by a militia regiment and companies of horse and foot from all over the countryside. Dinner was served to the upper classes at the Old State House, and wine was served to the crowds in the street. Cheering filled the air until 9 p.m., when the bells rang and people went home.
Birthday celebrations for William were well attended until his death in 1702. Diarist Samuel Sewall reported many people mourned him. As the years went by, the celebrations for the English monarch grew more elaborate.
In 1716, the Boston News-Letter described King George’s accession to the throne. The artillery of the fort at Castle William was discharged, and the Town House was “finely illuminated” with toasts given to the royal family, the royal governor and others.
Celebrating the Birth of a Prince
Prince George William
On March 17, 1718, the Boston News-Letter reported on the celebration of the birth of a prince: George William. A “handsome entertainment” was held at the Old State House for the governor, his council, civil and military officers, gentlemen and merchants.” Great demonstrations of joy followed the firing of artillery.
News traveled so slowly in those days. So the colonists hadn’t yet learned the infant prince, born in November, had already died on February 17.
On May 30, 1720, Samuel Sewall noted in his diary “Colours are out, and Guns fire for K. Charles 2d Birth, Return.” King Charles II had returned to England to claim the throne on his 30th birthday – in 1660, 60 years earlier.
Loyal Zeal
When King George II acceded to the throne in 1727, Boston celebrated. The town demonstrated “loyal zeal and affection, and with much more state solemnity and magnificence than was ever before seen among us,” according to the New-England Weekly Journal.
Three militia regiments and five troops of horse formed in front of the Old State House and people covered the roofs. Bells rang all day, and at night the people lit bonfires and set off fireworks. And on Boston’s main streets, three and four rows of candles illuminated the windows of houses.
King George II
Birth of a Prince, Again
The Boston News-Letter reported the birth of another royal baby on May 14, 1738. The new prince, the grandson of King George II, would become King George III.
In late 1760, the news of George II’s death reached Boston. Royal Gov. Francis Bernard led a procession under military escort from the Old State House to Council chambers. Outside stood a militia regiment and a vast crowd of people. They listened to the proclamation of George as king from the balcony.
We…do now, with full Voice and Consent of Tongue and Heart, Publish and Proclaim, That the High and Mighty Prince George, Prince of Wales, is now … become our only Lawful and Rightful Liege Lord George the Third … To Whom we acknowledge all Faith and constant Obedience, with all hearty and humble affection: Beseeching God … to bless the Royal King George the Third, with long and happy Years to Reign over us.
Huzzahs
He concluded with “God save the king” and the crowd gave three huzzahs. The militia fired three volleys, and gunners discharged 63 cannon at Castle William. That night candles illuminated the town and Faneuil Hall hosted an entertainment.
Boston would celebrate the anniversary of King George III’s coronation every year thereafter. On Dec. 22, 1772, 13-year-old Anna Green Winslow wrote in her diary:
The king’s coronation day. In the evening I went with mamma to Col. Marshal’s in King Street to see the fireworks.
That marked the last official celebration of an English monarch’s coronation in Boston. The next year, the events leading up to the Boston Tea Party would overshadow George’s coronation.
This story was updated in 2022.
