Eight years after the Zakynthos democrats unsuccessful bid to bring in the English, three English frigates with 3,000 soldiers sailed into Zakynthos on 19 September 1809, took the fortress and hoisted the English flag.
To begin with the English carried out a series of beneficial measures for the daily life and administration of the island, especially with regard to public health, which until then had been badly neglected, particularly among the lower classes. Another important event of that time was the foundation of a public printing-house in Zakynthos which, among other publications, brought out the Newspaper of the Free lslands.
In 1814 England, Russia, Austria and Prussia agreed that the islands of the Ionian should become independent and form the United State of the Ionian Isles. The English made sure of retaining for themselves exclusively the protection of the islands,which meant, essentially, the government. An English High Commissioner was appointed, with his seat in Corfu. A new constitution of 1817 laid the groundwork for tyrannical behaviour by the English, and the people began to rebel again. The first High Commissioner, Thomas Maitland, proved inflexible, violent and unjust, and the Eptanissos islands were once more the victims of their overlords' self seeking.
The people of Zakynthos now began a number of moves against the British empire. On 23 February 1821 they despatched a petition to George IV, King of England, asking for the revision of the oppressive constitution. The petition was signed by thirty-two leading personalities of Zakynthos, including the chief prosecutor and legislator of the Ionian State, Anastassios Flambouriaris. Although this particular petition had little effect, it was important for being the first of a series of official complaints and accusations by the people of Zakynthos against the English oppressors.