On 1 May 1707,the United Kingdom of Great Britain,[14] usually referred to thereafter as the Kingdom of Great Britain,was created by the political union of the Kingdom of England (which included the once independent Principality of Wales) and the Kingdom of Scotland.This event was the result of the Treaty of Union that was agreed on 22 July 1706,[15] and then ratified by the Parliaments of England and Scotland each passing an Act of Union in 1707.Almost a century later,the Kingdom of Ireland,which had been brought under English control between 1541 and 1691,joined the Kingdom of Great Britain with the passing of the Act of Union 1800.[16] Although England and Scotland had been separate countries prior to 1707,they had been in personal union since 1603,when James VI King of Scots had inherited the throne of the Kingdom of England,becoming King James I of England,and left Edinburgh for London.[17]