Sophia Naturalization Act 1705

Sophia Naturalization Act 1705
Dates
Parliament of England
Long title	Act for the Naturalization of the Most Excellent Princess Sophia, Electress and Duchess Dowager of Hanover, and the Issue of her Body
Citation	4 & 5 Anne c. 16
Territorial extent	Kingdom of England (1705–07) Kingdom of Great Britain (1707–1800) United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1801–1877) British Empire (1877–1947) United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (1947–48)
Repealed	1 January 1949
Other legislation
Repealed by	British Nationality Act 1948
Relates to	Bill of Rights 1689 Act of Settlement 1701 Royal Marriages Act 1772
Status: Repealed

The Act for the Naturalization of the Most Excellent Princess Sophia, Electress and Duchess Dowager of Hanover, and the Issue of her Body was an Act of the Parliament of England (4 & 5 Ann. c. 16.) in 1705. It followed the Act of Settlement 1701 whereby Dowager Electress Sophia of Hanover and her Protestant descendants were declared to be in the line of succession to the throne (her son George I later became king).

Sophia, a granddaughter of James I of England, was not considered to be an Englishwoman as she had not been born in England. This Act naturalized her and "the issue of her body", if Protestant, as English subjects. Any person born to a descendant of Sophia could also claim to be the "issue of her body".

This was first tested between 1955 and 1957 when Prince Ernest Augustus of Hanover (pretender to the kingdom of Hanover as Ernest Augustus IV, father of the current pretender, Ernst August V) successfully claimed British nationality on this basis^[1]^[2] after considerable litigation. See the thorough discussion by A. Lyon at Statute Law Review 20:2 (1999) 174-84. In 1947 Prince Frederick of Prussia also succeeded in his claim.

The Act was repealed by section 34 of, and Part II of Schedule 4 to, the British Nationality Act 1948. However, any Protestant descendant of the Electress who had already been born when the repealing statute was enacted had already automatically acquired the status of a British subject, and so there are still people alive today who can claim British nationality under the Sophia Naturalization Act. That was the case of Ernest Augustus himself, who was only recognized by the Courts as a British subject in 1957, years after the repeal of the Sophia Naturalization Act; because he was born and was a Protestant when the Act was still in force, the Courts recognized that by that fact he had already acquired citizenship, so that the repeal of the statute did not affect his status. However, in the present time, most people concerned who would claim citizenship would basically only reach the status of British Overseas citizen.^[2]

References

↑ Attorney-General v HRH Prince Ernest Augustus of Hanover [1957] 1 All ER 49
1 2 Hanover (Electress Sophia of), gov.uk: Nationality instructions: volume 2

British nationality law

Nationality

Principal	British citizen British Overseas Territories citizen British Overseas citizen British National (Overseas)

Other	British subject Commonwealth citizen British protected person Belonger status EU citizen

Legislation

Current	British Nationality Act 1981 British Overseas Territories Act 2002 Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006

Previous	Sophia Naturalization Act 1705 British Nationality Act 1948 Ireland Act 1949 British Nationality (Falkland Islands) Act 1983

General	British Nationality Act

History

Immigration

United Kingdom legislation

Pre-Parliamentary legislation	List of English statutes Charter of Liberties Magna Carta

Acts of Parliament by states preceding the Kingdom of Great Britain	Acts of the Parliament of England to 1483 1485–1601 1603–1641 Interregnum (1642–1660) 1660–1699 1700–1706 Acts of the Parliament of Scotland Acts of the Parliament of Ireland to 1700 1701–1800

Acts of Parliament of the Kingdom of Great Britain	1707–1719 1720–1739 1740–1759 1760–1779 1780–1800

Acts of Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland	1801–1819 1820–1839 1840–1859 1860–1879 1880–1899 1900–1919 1920–1939 1940–1959 1960–1979 1980–1999 2000 to date Halsbury's Statutes UK Statute Law Database Short titles

Church of England measures	List Church of England Assembly (Powers) Act 1919

Legislation of devolved institutions	Acts of the Scottish Parliament Acts and Measures of the National Assembly for Wales Acts of the Northern Ireland Assembly Acts of the Parliament of Northern Ireland Orders in Council for Northern Ireland

Orders-in-Council	Order in Council

Secondary legislation	United Kingdom Statutory Instruments Scottish Statutory Instruments Act of Sederunt, Act of Adjournal

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Sophia Naturalization Act 1705

See also

References