Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh, (25 November 1743 – 25 August 1805), was a grandson of King George II and a younger brother of

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

of the United Kingdom.

Life

Youth

William Henry, Duke of Gloucester 1754 by Liotard

Prince William Henry was born at Leicester House, Westminster. His parents were

Frederick, Prince of Wales Frederick, Prince of Wales, (Frederick Louis, ; 31 January 170731 March 1751), was the eldest son and heir apparent of King George II of Great Britain. He grew estranged from his parents, King George and Queen Caroline. Frederick was the fa ...

, eldest son of

George II George II or 2 may refer to: People * George II of Antioch (seventh century AD) * George II of Armenia (late ninth century) * George II of Abkhazia (916–960) * Patriarch George II of Alexandria (1021–1051) * George II of Georgia (1072–1089) ...

and Caroline of Ansbach, and Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha, then Princess of Wales. He was baptized at Leicester House eleven days later. His godparents were his paternal uncle by marriage, the

Prince of Orange Prince of Orange (or Princess of Orange if the holder is female) is a title originally associated with the sovereign Principality of Orange, in what is now southern France and subsequently held by sovereigns in the Netherlands. The title ...

; his paternal uncle, the

Duke of Cumberland Duke of Cumberland is a peerage title that was conferred upon junior members of the British Royal Family, named after the historic county of Cumberland. History The Earldom of Cumberland, created in 1525, became extinct in 1643. The dukedom ...

; and his paternal aunt (via a proxy marriage), Princess Amelia. He was fourth in the

line of succession An order of succession or right of succession is the line of individuals necessitated to hold a high office when it becomes vacated such as head of state or an honour such as a title of nobility.Prince George, heir-apparent to the throne. He succeeded as George III on 25 October 1760, and created William

Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh () was a British title (after Gloucester and Edinburgh) in the Peerage of Great Britain; the sole creation carried with it the subsidiary title of Earl of Connaught. It existed for the brother of King George ...

and

Earl of Connaught Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particular ...

on 19 November 1764. He had been made a

Knight of the Garter The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. It is the most senior order of knighthood in the British honours system, outranked in precedence only by the Victoria Cross and the George ...

on 27 May 1762, and invested on 22 September of that year. In 1764 he began to court Maria Walpole, the Dowager Countess of Waldegrave, an illegitimate granddaughter of Sir Robert Walpole.

Career and marriage

WilliamHenryDukeOfGloucesterThomasGainsborough

He initially wished for active service in the military, but his health and intelligence both proved insufficient. Instead he was appointed

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

of the

13th Regiment of Foot In music or music theory, a thirteenth is the note thirteen scale degrees from the root of a chord and also the interval between the root and the thirteenth. The interval can be also described as a compound sixth, spanning an octave p ...

in 1766. That same year he and Maria married in secret in his home on Pall Mall. This marriage only became known to the King after the passing of the

Royal Marriages Act 1772 The Royal Marriages Act 1772 (12 Geo 3 c. 11) was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain which prescribed the conditions under which members of the British royal family could contract a valid marriage, in order to guard against marriages t ...

. The Duke and Maria lived at

St Leonard's Hill St Leonard's Hill was a large mansion near Clewer in Berkshire. History The house, originally known as Forest Court, was built by Thomas Sandby for Countess Waldegrave in the 1760s. She named it Gloucester Lodge following her marriage to the Du ...

Clewer Clewer (also known as Clewer Village) is an ecclesiastical parish and an area of Windsor in the county of Berkshire, England. Clewer makes up three wards of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, namely Clewer North, Clewer South and Cl ...

, near Windsor and had three children, all of whom were styled ''Highness'' from birth and used the territorial designation of Gloucester in conjunction with their princely styles, as great-grandchildren in the male line of

. In 1767 he was promoted to major-general and made colonel of the

3rd Regiment of Foot Guards The Scots Guards (SG) is one of the five Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. Its origins are as the personal bodyguard of King Charles I of England and Scotland. Its lineage can be traced back to 1642, although it was only placed on the ...

. The same year he was made Warden of

Windsor Forest Windsor may refer to: Places Australia *Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland ** Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

, gaining the post's official residence at

Cranbourne Lodge Cranbourne Lodge was a keeper's lodge for the royal hunting grounds of Cranbourne Chase, once adjoining but now part of Windsor Great Park in the English county of Berkshire. All that remains of it today is the Grade II* listed Cranbourne Tower ...

. In 1768 he employed the renowned violin maker

Richard Duke Richard Duke (13 June 1658 – 11 February 1711) was an English clergyman and poet, associated with the Tory writers of the Restoration era. Life He was born in London, son of Richard Duke, and was admitted to Westminster School in 1670. He w ...

as his official instrument maker; giving him private lodgings in Old Gloucester Street and workshops in Gloucester Place. He was made the thirteenth Chancellor of Trinity College, Dublin in 1771, holding the post until 1805. The Duke and Maria's first child, Princess Sophia of Gloucester (''Sophia Matilda''; 29 May 1773 – 29 November 1844), was born in 1773.

Princess Caroline of Gloucester Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh, (25 November 1743 – 25 August 1805), was a grandson of George II of Great Britain, King George II and a younger brother of George III of the United Kingdom. Life Youth Prince William H ...

(''Caroline Augusta Maria''; 24 June 1774 – 14 March 1775) followed just over a year later and was 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). However, Princess Caroline died aged just nine months following a

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

inoculation, intended to protect her from the disease. The Duke and Maria had a third and final child in 1776, Prince William Frederick (15 January 1776 – 30 November 1834). With the outbreak of the American War of Independence, the Duke hoped for a field command, but George refused. He made a request to serve in the forces of Frederick II of Prussia during the War of Bavarian Succession (1777–1779) – George consented but Frederick himself turned down the offer. He later transferred to the

1st Regiment of Foot Guards "Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it." , colors = , colors_label = , march = Slow: " Scipio" , mascot = , equipment = , equipment ...

, and he became a field marshal on 18 October 1793. He went on to be General Officer Commanding Northern District in 1796, a command that he held until 1802.

Later life

In 1782 an illegitimate daughter was born to the Duke,

Louisa Maria La Coast Louisa may refer to: Places ;Australia * Louisa Island (Tasmania) ;Canada * Louisa or Lac-Louisa, a community in Wentworth, Quebec ;Malaysia * Louisa Reef, Sabah ;United States * Louisa, Kentucky * Louisa, Missouri * Louisa, Virginia * Louisa ...

(6 January 1782 – 10 February 1835). Her mother was the Duke's mistress Lady

Almeria Carpenter Lady Almeria Carpenter (1752 – 1809) was a British courtier. She is most known for being the mistress of Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh from circa 1780 until his death in 1805. Life She was the daughter of the politic ...

, a daughter of the first

Earl of Tyrconnell Earl of Tyrconnell is a title that has been created four times in the Peerage of Ireland. It was first created in 1603, for Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell, formerly king of Tyrconnell, along with the subsidiary title Baron Donegal. The 1s ...

The Duke died at Gloucester House in London in 1805 and was succeeded as duke by his son William Frederick.

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Titles and styles

*25 November 1743 – 19 November 1764: ''His Royal Highness'' Prince William *19 November 1764 – 25 August 1805: ''His Royal Highness'' The Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh His peerages were gazetted on 17 November 1764.

Honours

*27 May 1762: Royal Knight of the Garter (KG) *

Privy Counsellor The Privy Council (PC), officially His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its membership mainly comprises senior politicians who are current or former members of ei ...

(PC) *Royal

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemat ...

(FRS)

Arms

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''.Marks of Cadency in the British Royal Family
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Ancestors

References

External links

* Wikiquotes of Edward Gibbon, for the Duke's remark on

The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire ''The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'' is a six-volume work by the English historian Edward Gibbon. It traces Western civilization (as well as the Islamic and Mongolian conquests) from the height of the Roman Empire to th ...

Royal Berkshire History: Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:William Henry of Gloucester And Edinburgh, Duke, Prince 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 101 Peers of Great Britain created by George III Peers of Ireland created by George III Knights of the Garter Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain People from Westminster People from Windsor, Berkshire Chancellors of the University of Dublin Gloucester, William Henry Military personnel from London 1743 births 1805 deaths Children of Frederick, Prince of Wales