Hanover Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg, colloquially known as the Electorate of Hanover after Calenberg's capital (see also: House of Hanover). Its Electors later become monarchs of Great Britain (and from 1801, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland). The first of these was George I Louis, who acceded to the British throne in 1714. The last British monarch who reigned in Hanover was William IV. Semi-Salic law, which required succession by the male line if possible, forbade the accession of Queen Victoria in Hanover. As a male-line descendant of George I, Queen Victoria was herself a member of the House
House of Hanover Act 1705. According to the decision taken by a court of the House of Lords, all family members bear the last name "Guelph" in the UK and are styled Royal Highnesses in their documents. Many towns and provinces across the British Empire were named after the ruling House of Hanover and its members, among them the U.S. state of Georgia, U.S. towns Hanover, Massachusetts, Hanover, New Hampshire, Hanover, Pennsylvania, Hanover Township, Jo Daviess County, Illinois, counties Hanover County, Virginia, Caroline County, Virginia, Brunswick County, Virginia, Brunswick County, North Carolina, places named Georgia in New Jersey, Vermont, Arkansas and South Dakota,