The Province of New York was established after the naval invasion and absorption of the previous Dutch Colony of New Netherlands. The original proprietor was the Duke of York, the future James II of England and James VII of Scotland and younger brother of the then-King of England, Charles II. Its Colonial Charter was under authority from the Monarch, (the King or Queen of Great Britain) of the Kingdom of England and later of Great Britain, after the Act of Union of 1707 which united England and Wales and the formerly independent kingdom of Scotland