| Succession: | Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh | ||||||||
| Reign: | 19 November 1764 – 25 August 1805 | ||||||||
| Reign-Type: | Tenure | ||||||||
| Successor: | William Frederick | ||||||||
| Prince William Henry | |||||||||
| Issue: | Princess Sophia Princess Caroline Prince William Frederick | ||||||||
| House: | Hanover | ||||||||
| Father: | Frederick, Prince of Wales | ||||||||
| Mother: | Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha | ||||||||
| Birth Date: | 25 November 1743 | ||||||||
| Birth Place: | Leicester House, Westminster | ||||||||
| Death Place: | Gloucester House, Westminster | ||||||||
| Burial Date: | 4 September 1805 | ||||||||
| Burial Place: | St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle | ||||||||
| Signature: | Signature of Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh.svg | ||||||||
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Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh (25 November 1743 – 25 August 1805), was a grandson of George II and a younger brother of George III of the United Kingdom.
Prince William Henry was born at Leicester House, Westminster. 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 baptized at Leicester House eleven days later. His godparents were his paternal uncle by marriage, the Prince of Orange; his paternal uncle, the Duke of Cumberland; and his paternal aunt, Princess Amelia. He was fourth in the line of succession at birth.
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. He had been made a Knight of the Garter 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.[1]
He initially wished for active service in the military, but his health and intelligence both proved insufficient. Instead he was appointed colonel of the 13th Regiment of Foot 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 Duke and Maria lived at St Leonard's Hill in Clewer, 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 George II.
In 1767, he was promoted to major-general and made colonel of the 3rd Regiment of Foot Guards. The same year he was made Warden of Windsor Forest, gaining the post's official residence at Cranbourne Lodge.[2] In 1768, he employed the renowned violin maker Richard Duke as his official instrument maker; giving him private lodgings in Old Gloucester Street and workshops in Gloucester Place.[3] He was made the thirteenth Chancellor of the University of Dublin in 1771, holding the post until 1805.The Duke and Maria had three children:
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, and he became a field marshal on 18 October 1793. He went on to be General Officer Commanding Northern District in 1796,[5] a command that he held until 1802.[6]
In 1780, the Duke was made a Fellow of the Royal Society and remained interested in medical and scientific matters of the day.[7] In 1797, he invited Norwich surgeon Philip Meadows Martineau to dine with him at Raynham Hall, the home of George Townshend, 1st Marquess Townshend[8] whose first cousin was Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney, after whom Sydney, Australia was named. Martineau's first cousin, Lt. David Blackburn (1753–1795)) had helped establish the first settlement at Sydney Cove having been Master of HMS Supply, a ship of the First Fleet.[9] [10] The Marquess, like Martineau was a Whig and, at this time, Lord Lieutenant of Norfolk.[11] [12] In 1825, Sir William Beechey exhibited his portraits of both Martineau and the Duke at the Royal Academy.[13]
Addionally, in 1782, an illegitimate daughter was born to the Duke,
Her mother was the Duke's mistress Lady Almeria Carpenter, a daughter of the first Earl of Tyrconnell.[14]
The Duke died at Gloucester House in London in 1805 and was succeeded as duke by his son William Frederick. He was buried at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.[15]
His peerages were gazetted on 17 November 1764.
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.[17]
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