Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh
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The Duke of Gloucester painted ca. 1780 by Johann Zoffany
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| Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh | |||||
| Successor | Prince William (yr.) | ||||
| Born | 25 November 1743 Leicester House, Westminster |
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| Died | 25 August 1805 (aged 61) Gloucester House, Westminster |
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| Burial | 4 September 1805 St George's Chapel, Windsor |
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| Spouse | Maria Walpole | ||||
| Issue | Princess Sophia of Gloucester Princess Caroline of Gloucester Prince William, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh |
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| House | House of Hanover | ||||
| Father | Frederick, Prince of Wales | ||||
| Mother | Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha | ||||
Prince William, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh KG PC FRS (William Henry; 25 November 1743 – 25 August 1805), was a grandson of King George II and a younger brother of King George III of the United Kingdom.
Contents
Early life[edit]
Prince William Henry was born at Leicester House, London. His parents were Frederick, Prince of Wales, eldest son of George II and Caroline of Ansbach, and Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha, then Princess of Wales. He was christened at Leicester House eleven days later. His godparents were his paternal uncle by marriage, The Prince of Orange (for whom someone stood proxy); his paternal uncle, The Duke of Cumberland; and his paternal aunt, The Princess Amelia.[1] As a grandchild of the sovereign, he was styled His Royal Highness Prince William at birth. He was fourth in the line of succession at birth.
Prince William later joined the British Army. His father died in 1751, leaving the Prince's elder brother, Prince George, heir-apparent to the throne. He succeeded as George III on 25 October 1760, and created William Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh and Earl of Connaught on 19 November 1764.[2] He had been made a Knight of the Garter on 27 May 1762, and invested on 22 September of that year.[3]
Marriage[edit]
The Duke was Warden of Windsor Forest and resided at Cranbourne Lodge. He was most known for his secret marriage in 1766 to Maria Walpole, the Dowager Countess of Waldegrave, an illegitimate granddaughter of Sir Robert Walpole, from nearby Frogmore House. This marriage only became known to the King after the passing of the Royal Marriages Act 1772. They lived at St Leonard's Hill in Clewer, near Windsor, and had three children:
- HRH Princess Sophia of Gloucester (Sophia Matilda; 29 May 1773 – 29 November 1844)
- HH Princess Caroline of Gloucester (Caroline Augusta Maria; 24 June 1774 – 14 March 1775)
- HRH Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh (15 January 1776 – 30 November 1834)
Princess Caroline died aged nine months following a smallpox inoculation, intended to protect her from the disease.[4] She had been christened privately on 22 July 1774 - her godparents were The Duchess of Gloucester (her mother), The Hereditary Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg (her paternal aunt) and The Hereditary Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (her uncle by marriage).[1] As great-grandchildren in the male line of George II, Prince William's children were styled Highness from birth and used the territorial designation of Gloucester in conjunction with their princely styles. After the younger William married his cousin Princess Mary, he and his surviving sister Sophia received the style of Royal Highness.
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Illegitimate issue[edit]
The Duke also had an illegitimate daughter by his mistress Lady Almeria Carpenter, a daughter of the first Earl of Tyrconnell.
- Louisa Maria La Coast (6 January 1782 Esher, Surrey – 10 February 1835 Bossall, Yorkshire), who was married on 29 December 1803 in Norwich, Norfolk to Godfrey Macdonald, 11th Baronet Macdonald of Slate, later the 3rd Baron Macdonald of Slate. They had three children born before their marriage (legitimized by Scottish law, but not by Irish law) and ten children born after their marriage. (A previous marriage in Scotland was considered of doubtful validity.) These children and their posterity are the only descendants of Prince William, 1st Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh.
Later life[edit]
The Duke was appointed colonel of the 13th Regiment of Foot in 1766. In 1767 he was promoted to major-general and made colonel of the 3rd Regiment of Foot Guards.[5] He later transferred to the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards, and he became a field marshal on 18 October 1793.[6]
He served as the thirteenth Chancellor of Trinity College, Dublin from 1771 to 1805.
He died at Gloucester House in London.
Titles, styles, honours and arms[edit]
Titles and styles[edit]
- 25 November 1743 – 19 November 1764: His Royal Highness Prince William[7]
- 19 November 1764 – 25 August 1805: His Royal Highness The Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh
His peerages were gazetted on 17 November.[8]
Honours[edit]
- 27 May 1762: Knight of the Garter (KG)
- Privy Counsellor (PC)
- Royal Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS)
Arms[edit]
William was granted use of the arms of the kingdom, differenced by a label argent of five points, the centre bearing a fleur-de-lys azure, the other points each bearing a cross gules.[9]
Ancestors[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ a b Yvonne's Royalty Home Page: Royal Christenings
- ^ Yvonne's Royalty: Peerage
- ^ The London Gazette: no. 10247. p. 1. 25 September 1762.
- ^ Berkshire History: Biographies: Maria Walpole, Duchess of Gloucester (1737-1807)
- ^ The London Gazette: no. 10796. p. 3. 5–9 January 1768. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
- ^ The London Gazette: no. 13582. p. 913. 15 October 1793. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
- ^ The London Gazette calls him "His Royal Highness Prince William" The London Gazette: no. 10212. p. 2. 25 May 1762.; The London Gazette: no. 10247. p. 1. 25 September 1762.; The London Gazette: no. 10411. p. 1. 21 April 1764.
- ^ The London Gazette: no. 10470. p. 1. 17 November 1764.
- ^ Marks of Cadency in the British Royal Family
External links[edit]
- Wikiquotes of Edward Gibbon, for the Duke's remark on The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
- Royal Berkshire History: Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester
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Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh
Cadet branch of the House of Welf
Born: 14 November 1743 Died: 25 August 1805 |
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| Military offices | ||
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| Preceded by Harry Pulteney |
Colonel of the 13th Regiment of Foot 1766–1767 |
Succeeded by James Murray |
| Preceded by The Earl of Rothes |
Colonel of the 3rd Regiment of Foot Guards 1767–1770 |
Succeeded by The Earl of Loudoun |
| Preceded by The Earl Ligonier |
Colonel of the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards 1770–1805 |
Succeeded by The Duke of York and Albany |
| Peerage of Great Britain | ||
| New creation | Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh 1764–1805 |
Succeeded by Prince William (yr.) |
| Peerage of Ireland | ||
| New creation | Earl of Connaught 1764–1805 |
Succeeded by Prince William (yr.) |
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- Princes of Great Britain
- Princes of the United Kingdom
- House of Hanover
- British field marshals
- Grenadier Guards officers
- Scots Guards officers
- Somerset Light Infantry officers
- Dukes in the Peerage of Great Britain
- Dukes of Gloucester and Edinburgh
- Knights of the Garter
- Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain
- People from Westminster
- People from Windsor, Berkshire
- People associated with Trinity College, Dublin
- Chancellors of the University of Dublin
- Burials at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle
- 1743 births
- 1805 deaths
