Britain was first called the ‘United Kingdom’ on May 1, 1707. The new name indicated that the parliament of England and the parliament of Scotland had merged to form one ‘united’ parliament. This merging of parliaments was called the ‘The Acts of Union’ and was passed individually by the English and Scottish parliaments as two Acts. The parliament of England passed the Union with Scotland Act in 1706 and the parliament of Scotland passed the Union with England Act in 1707.
With the merger of the two parliaments, England and Scotland became one country with one unified parliament. The events leading to this merger began with the death of Queen Elizabeth I on March 24, 1603. As Elizabeth I was childless, her first cousin, King James VI of Scotland, inherited the throne of England as well. He became the king of both Scotland and England in a Union of Crowns which took place on March 24, 1603. This union of crowns eventually led to the Acts of Union in 1706 and 1707.
When King James died, his son King Charles I came into power in 1625. King Charles attempted to get rid of the parliament in a bid for absolute power. This led to the English Civil War and the beheading of King Charles in 1649. A period followed in Britain’s history where there was no monarch and the country was ruled as a commonwealth rather than a kingdom. This eventually led to the Acts of Union where power finally rested in the hands of the parliament.
The Scottish parliament and the English parliament united to form the Parliament of Great Britain, based in the Palace of Westminster in London, which was the home of the English Parliament.
Eventually the monarchy came back into power and continues till today.
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