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William IV of the United Kingdom

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: British History
1750-1900; Monarchs of Great Britain

                         William IV
   King of the United Kingdom; King of Hanover (more...)
      Reign     26 June 1830 — 20 June 1837
   Predecessor  George IV
    Successor   Victoria
     Consort    Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen
                            Issue
   Princess Charlotte of Clarence
   Princess Elizabeth of Clarence
                          Full name
   William Henry
                           Detail
   Titles
   HM The King
   HRH The Duke of Clarence
   HRH The Prince William
   Royal house  House of Hanover
   Royal anthem God Save the King
      Father    George III
      Mother    Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
       Born     21 August 1765
                Buckingham House, London
     Baptised   18 September 1765
                St James's Palace, London
       Died     20 June 1837 (aged 71)
                Windsor Castle, Berkshire
      Burial    8 July 1837
                St George's Chapel, Windsor
    Occupation  Military (Naval)

   William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of
   the United Kingdom and of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death.
   William, the third son of George III and younger brother and successor
   to George IV, was the last king and penultimate monarch of the House of
   Hanover.

   During his youth, he served in the Royal Navy; he was, both during his
   reign and afterwards, nicknamed the Sailor King. His reign was one of
   several reforms: the poor law updated, municipal government
   democratised, child labour restricted and slavery abolished throughout
   the British Empire. The most important reform legislation of William
   IV's reign was the Reform Act 1832, which refashioned the British
   electoral system. William did not engage in politics so much as his
   brother or his father, though he did prove to be the most recent
   monarch to appoint a Prime Minister contrary to the will of Parliament
   (in 1834). He gave a liberal constitution to the Kingdom of Hanover,
   his other kingdom.

   William had two legitimate children, Princess Charlotte and Elizabeth;
   both of whom died as infants. He had ten children out of wedlock,
   George FitzClarence, 1st Earl of Munster among them. Though nine of his
   illegitimate children survived him, neither legitimate daughter did,
   thus, William was succeeded by his niece, Queen Victoria.

Early life

   William was born on 21 August 1765 at Buckingham House, the son of
   George III and Queen Charlotte. He had two elder brothers (Prince
   George, Prince of Wales and Prince Frederick, Duke of York), and was
   not expected to inherit the Crown. He was baptized in the Great Council
   Chamber of St James's Palace on 18 September 1765 and his godparents
   were the Duke of Gloucester, Prince Henry and Princess Augusta
   Charlotte.

   At the age of thirteen, he joined the Royal Navy as a midshipman, and
   was present at the Battle of Cape St. Vincent in 1780. He served in New
   York during the American War of Independence. While the prince was
   there, George Washington approved a plot to kidnap the prince, writing
   "The spirit of enterprise so conspicuous in your plan for surprising in
   their quarters and bringing off the Prince William Henry and Admiral
   Digby merits applause, and you have my authority to make the attempt in
   any manner, and at such a time, as your judgment may direct. I am fully
   persuaded, that it is unnecessary to caution you against offering
   insult or indignity to the person of the Prince...." The plot did not
   come to fruition; the British heard of it and doubled the prince's
   guard.

   William became a Lieutenant in 1785 and a Captain the following year.
   In 1786, he was stationed in the West Indies. Horatio Nelson wrote of
   William, "In his professional line, he is superior to two-thirds, I am
   sure, of the [Naval] list; and in attention to orders, and respect to
   his superior officer, I hardly know his equal."

   William sought to be made a Duke like his elder brothers, and to
   receive a similar Parliamentary grant; but his father was reluctant. To
   put pressure on him, William threatened to run for the House of Commons
   for the constituency of Totnes in Devon. Appalled at the prospect of
   his son making his case to the voters, George III created him Duke of
   Clarence and St Andrews and Earl of Munster on May 16, 1789, supposedly
   saying, "I well know it is one more vote added to the opposition."

Service and politics

   The newly created Duke ceased his active service in the Royal Navy in
   1790. He was promoted to Rear-Admiral upon retirement. When the United
   Kingdom declared war on France in 1793, he was anxious to serve his
   country, but was not put in command of a ship. Instead, he spent time
   in the House of Lords, where he defended the exorbitant spending of his
   brother, the Prince of Wales, who had applied to Parliament for a grant
   for relief of his debts. He also spoke in favour of the abolition of
   slavery (which, although it had virtually died out in the United
   Kingdom, still existed in the British colonies); he used his experience
   in the West Indies to defend his positions.

Marriage

   After he left the Royal Navy, the Duke of Clarence had a long affair
   with an Irish actress, Dorothea Bland, better known by her stage name,
   Mrs. Jordan (the title "Mrs" was assumed at the start of her stage
   career to explain an inconvenient pregnancy). From 1791, the couple had
   ten illegitimate children, who were given the surname "FitzClarence."
   The affair would last for twenty years before ending in 1811. In that
   same year, Clarence was appointed Admiral of the Fleet. When Princess
   Charlotte, Clarence's niece by the Prince Regent died in childbirth in
   1817, the King was left with twelve children, and no legitimate
   grandchildren. The race was on among the Royal Dukes to marry and
   produce an heir.

   William had a great advantage in this race--with his two older brothers
   both childless and estranged from their wives (both women were probably
   beyond childbearing anyway), he would almost certainly become King, if
   he lived long enough--which was likely, as the former sailor took more
   care with his health than either older brother. However, William's
   first choices to wed either met with the disapproval of the Prince
   Regent or turned him down. His younger brother, the Duke of Cambridge,
   was sent to Germany to scout out the available Protestant princesses,
   and, after coming up with one whom William laughingly turned down when
   it became clear that the Duke of Cambridge was in love with her himself
   (and shortly thereafter, married her), came up with one who was
   amicable, home-loving, and loved children (important, with William's
   ten children, most of whom had not yet reached adulthood). On 13 July
   1818, Clarence married Princess Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, daughter of
   the Duke of Saxe-Meiningen, a woman half his age. Though he had been
   able to father at least ten illegitimate children by Mrs Jordan,
   Clarence had only two short-lived children by his wife.

   The marriage, which lasted almost twenty years until William's death,
   was by all accounts happy. The new Duchess took both William and his
   finances in hand. Soon, the couple were living in economical fashion in
   Germany, William's debts were on the way of being paid (especially once
   he accepted the lower-than-requested allowance Parliament had passed
   for him and his wife), and William is not known to have had mistresses.

Lord High Admiral

   Clarence's elder brother, the Prince of Wales, had been Prince Regent
   since 1811 because of the mental illness of their father, George III.
   In 1820, the king died, leaving the Crown to the Prince Regent, who
   became George IV. The Duke of Clarence was now second in the line of
   succession to the Throne, preceded only by his brother, Frederick, Duke
   of York. When the Duke of York died in 1827, Clarence, then more than
   sixty years old, became heir presumptive. Later that year, George IV
   appointed Clarence to the office of Lord High Admiral, which had been
   in commission (that is, exercised by a board rather than by a single
   individual) since 1709. While in office, Clarence attempted to take
   independent control of naval affairs, although the law required him to
   act, under most circumstances, on the advice of at least two members of
   his Council. The King, through the Prime Minister, requested his
   resignation in 1828; the Duke of Clarence complied.

   Despite the difficulties which the Duke experienced, he did
   considerable good as Lord High Admiral, abolishing the cat o' nine
   tails for most offences other than mutiny and requiring regular reports
   of the condition and preparedness of each ship. He commissioned the
   first steam warship and advocated for more. William's biographer,
   Phillip Ziegler, points out that holding the office permitted William
   to make mistakes and learn from them - a process that might have been
   far more costly had he done so as King.

   As king, he would maintain his interest in the Royal Navy, in matters
   great and small. As a former sailor, well aware of the limited headroom
   on the vessels of the day, William gave the Royal Navy the privilege of
   drinking the sovereign's health sitting down while aboard ship.

   William spent the remaining time during his brothers' reign in the
   House of Lords. He supported the Catholic Emancipation Bill against the
   opposition of his brother (and eventual Hanoverian heir), Ernest, Duke
   of Cumberland, describing the latter's position on the Bill as
   "infamous", to the younger Duke's outrage.

Accession and the Reform Crisis

   William IV
   William IV
            British Royalty
            House of Hanover
               William IV
       Princess Charlotte of Clarence
       Princess Elizabeth of Clarence

   When George IV died in 1830 without surviving legitimate issue, the
   Duke of Clarence ascended the Throne, aged 64, as William IV - the
   oldest man ever to assume the throne. One legend has it that when
   informed, in the early morning, of his brother's passing, he stated his
   intent to return to bed, as he had long wished to sleep with a Queen.
   Unlike his extravagant brother, William was unassuming, discouraging
   pomp and ceremony. In contrast to George IV, who tended to spend most
   of his time in Windsor Castle, William was known, especially early in
   his reign, to walk, unaccompanied, through London or Brighton. Until
   the Reform Crisis eroded his standing, he was very popular among the
   people.

   Upon taking the throne, William did not forget his nine surviving
   illegitimate children, creating his eldest son Earl of Munster and
   granting the other children the precedence of a younger son (or
   daughter) of a marquess, except where a daughter had attained a higher
   rank by marriage (as one daughter had by marrying an earl).

   At the beginning of William IV's reign, Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of
   Wellington was Prime Minister. During the general election of 1830 (the
   death of the monarch then required fresh elections), however,
   Wellington's Tories lost to the Whig Party under Charles Grey, 2nd Earl
   Grey. When he became Prime Minister, Lord Grey immediately announced
   that he would attempt to reform an electoral system that had seen few
   changes since the fifteenth century. The ineqities in the system were
   great; for example, large towns such as Manchester and Birmingham
   elected no members (though they were part of county constituencies),
   whilst minuscule boroughs such as Old Sarum (with seven voters) elected
   two members of Parliament each. Often, the small boroughs—also known as
   rotten boroughs and pocket boroughs—were "owned" by great aristocrats,
   whose "nominees" would invariably be elected by the constituents--who
   were, most often, their tenants--especially since the secret ballot was
   not yet used in Parliamentary elections.

   Monarchical Styles of
   King William IV of the United Kingdom
    Reference style  His Majesty
     Spoken style    Your Majesty
   Alternative style Sir

   As monarch, William IV played an important role in the Reform Crisis.
   When the House of Commons defeated the First Reform Bill in 1831, Lord
   Grey's ministry urged an immediate dissolution of Parliament and a new
   general election. At first, William hesitated to exercise the power to
   dissolve Parliament, elections having just been held the year before.
   He was, however, irritated by the conduct of the Opposition, which
   formally requested the passage of an Address, or resolution, in the
   House of Lords, against dissolution. Regarding the Opposition's motion
   as an attack on his power, William IV went in person to the House of
   Lords, where debate on the Address was raging, and prorogued
   Parliament. Had he sent commissioners on his behalf, as was (and still
   is) normally done, they would have had to await the end of the debate,
   whereas the arrival of the monarch ended all debate. This forced new
   elections for the House of Commons, which yielded a great victory for
   the reformers. But although the House of Commons was clearly in favour
   of parliamentary reform, the House of Lords remained implacably opposed
   to it.

   The crisis saw a brief interlude for the celebration of the King's
   Coronation on 9 September 1831. At first, the King wished to dispense
   with the coronation entirely, feeling that his wearing the crown while
   proroguing Parliament answered any need. He was persuaded otherwise by
   traditionalists. He refused, however, to celebrate the coronation in
   the expensive way his brother had, dispensing with the banquet, and
   budgeting less than a tenth of what had been expended ten years
   previously--and the event was brought in well under budget. When
   traditionalist Tories threatened to boycott what they called the " Half
   Crown-nation", the King retorted that they should go ahead, and that he
   anticipated greater convenience of room and less heat. They did not do
   so.

   After the rejection of the Second Reform Bill (1831) by the Upper
   House, people across the country began to agitate for reform; some grew
   violent, participating in several "Reform Riots". The nation saw a
   political crisis greater than any since the Glorious Revolution in
   1688.

   In the face of popular excitement, the Grey ministry refused to accept
   defeat in the House of Lords, and re-introduced the Bill. It passed
   easily in the House of Commons, but was once again faced with
   difficulties in the House of Lords. Bowing to popular pressure, the
   Lords did not reject the bill outright, but were prepared to change its
   basic character through amendments. Frustrated by the Lords'
   recalcitrance, Grey suggested that the King "swamp" the House of Lords
   by creating a sufficient number of new peers to ensure the passage of
   the Reform Bill.

   When William IV refused, citing the difficulties with a permanent
   expansion of the Peerage, Grey and his fellow ministers resigned. The
   King attempted to restore the Duke of Wellington to office, but first
   heard of an official resolution of the House of Commons requesting
   Grey's return. On the Duke of Wellington's advice, the King agreed to
   reappoint Grey's ministry. The King also agreed to create new peers if
   the House of Lords continued to pose difficulties, but did not have to
   resort to such an extraordinary course of action when the bill's
   opponents agreed to abstain. Consequently, Parliament passed the bill,
   which became the Reform Act 1832. Parliament proceeded to other
   reforms, including the abolition of slavery throughout the British
   Empire and the restriction of child labour, but William IV had little
   to do with their passage.

Later life

   Half-Crown of William IV, 1836. The inscription reads GULIELMUS IIII
   D(ei) G(ratia) BRITANNIAR REX F(idei) D(efensor) (William IV by the
   Grace of God King of the Britons, Defender of the Faith)
   Half-Crown of William IV, 1836. The inscription reads GULIELMUS IIII
   D(ei) G(ratia) BRITANNIAR REX F(idei) D(efensor) (William IV by the
   Grace of God King of the Britons, Defender of the Faith)

   For the remainder of his reign, William interfered actively in politics
   only once, in 1834; when he became the last Sovereign to choose a Prime
   Minister contrary to the will of Parliament. Two years after the
   passage of the Reform Act of 1832, the ministry had become unpopular
   and also lost the King's support due to its support for the reform of
   the Church of Ireland. In 1834, Lord Grey resigned; one of the Whigs in
   his cabinet, William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, replaced him. The
   Melbourne administration, for the most part, included the same members
   as the Grey administration; though disliked by many in the country, it
   retained an overwhelming majority in the House of Commons. Some members
   of the Government, however, were obnoxious to the King.

   In October 1834, the Leader of the House of Commons and Chancellor of
   the Exchequer, John Charles Spencer, Viscount Althorp, inherited a
   peerage, thus removing him from the House of Commons to the Lords.
   Because of this, he was forced to relinquish his posts—a member of the
   House of Lords could, of course, not hold a position in the House of
   Commons, and traditionally, a member of the Commons was Chancellor of
   the Exchequer. All agreed that this required a partial reconstruction
   of the Cabinet, but William IV claimed that the ministry had been
   weakened beyond repair. He used the removal of Lord Althorp—not from
   the Government, but from one House to the other—as the pretext for the
   dismissal of the entire ministry.

   With Lord Melbourne gone, William IV chose to entrust power to a Tory,
   Sir Robert Peel. Since Peel was then in Italy, the Duke of Wellington
   was provisionally appointed Prime Minister. When Peel returned and
   assumed leadership of the ministry for himself, he saw the
   impossibility of governing because of the large Whig majority in the
   House of Commons. Consequently, the King dissolved Parliament and
   forced fresh elections. Although the Tories won more seats than the
   previous election, they were still in the minority. Peel remained in
   office for a few months, but resigned after a series of parliamentary
   defeats. Lord Melbourne was restored to the Prime Minister's office,
   remaining there for the rest of William's reign.

   While William was King of Hanover as well as the United Kingdom, he
   never visited Hanover as King. His brother, the Duke of Cambridge,
   acted as regent throughout his reign. In 1833 Hanover was given a
   constitution which gave political power to the middle class, and some
   limited power to the lower classes. The Constitution also expanded the
   power of the parliament of Hanover. The constitution was revoked after
   William's death by the new king, William's brother, HRH Prince Ernest
   Augustus, Duke of Cumberland on the grounds that his consent, as heir
   presumptive to the Hanoverian throne, had not been asked.

   Both the King and Queen were fond of their niece, HRH Princess Victoria
   of Kent. Their attempts to forge a close relationship with the girl
   were frustrated by the conflict between the King and the Duchess of
   Kent, the young princess's mother. The King, angered at what he took to
   be disrespect from the Duchess to his wife, publicly expressed his hope
   that he would survive until Princess Victoria was 18--the age at which
   she would no longer need a regency. He would survive to that point, and
   surpass it by one month.

   William IV died from heart failure in 1837 in Windsor Castle, where he
   was buried. As he had no living legitimate issue, the Crown of the
   United Kingdom passed to Princess Victoria. Under the Salic Law, a
   woman could not rule Hanover; thus, the Hanoverian Crown went to
   William IV's brother, HRH Prince Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland.
   William's death thus ended the personal union of Britain and Hanover,
   which had persisted since 1714. Although William IV had no legitimate
   children, and is, therefore, not the direct ancestor of the later
   monarchs of the United Kingdom, he has many descendants through his
   illegitimate family with Mrs Jordan, including Conservative leader
   David Cameron, the TV presenter Adam Hart-Davis and author and
   statesman Duff Cooper.

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Titles

     * 1765- 1789: His Royal Highness The Prince William
     * 1789- 1830: His Royal Highness The Duke of Clarence
     * 1830- 1837: His Majesty The King

Styles

   William's official style as King was, "William the Fourth, by the Grace
   of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, King,
   Defender of the Faith".

Honours

   British Honours
     * KT: Knight of the Thistle, 1770
     * KG: Knight of the Garter, 1782

Arms

   His arms were:- Quarterly, I and IV Gules three lions passant guardant
   in pale Or (for England); II Or a lion rampant within a tressure
   flory-counter-flory Gules (for Scotland); III Azure a harp Or stringed
   Argent (for Ireland); overall an escutcheon tierced per pale and per
   chevron (for Hanover), I Gules two lions passant guardant Or (for
   Brunswick), II Or a semy of hearts Gules a lion rampant Azure (for
   Lüneburg), III Gules a horse courant Argent (for Westfalen), the whole
   inescutcheon surmounted by a crown.

Ancestors

   CAPTION: William IV's ancestors in three generations

   William IV of the United Kingdom Father:
   George III of the United Kingdom Paternal grandfather:
   Frederick, Prince of Wales Paternal great-grandfather:
   George II of Great Britain
   Paternal great-grandmother:
   Caroline of Ansbach
   Paternal grandmother:
   Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha Paternal great-grandfather:
   Frederick II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
   Paternal great-grandmother:
   Magdalena Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst
   Mother:
   Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz Maternal grandfather:
   Duke Charles Louis Frederick of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Prince of Mirow
   Maternal great-grandfather:
   Adolf Frederick II, Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
   Maternal great-grandmother:
   Christiane Emilie von Schwarzburg-Sondershausen
   Maternal grandmother:
   Princess Elizabeth Albertine of Saxe-Hildburghausen Maternal
   great-grandfather:
   Ernst Frederick I, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen
   Maternal great-grandmother:
   Sophia Albertine of Erbach-Erbach

Issue

   All legitimate issue of William IV were born, and died, before his
   accession to the throne. They were therefore styled as Prince/ ss of
   Clarence with the style of Royal Highness.
   Name Birth Death Notes
   Princess Charlotte of Clarence 21 March 1819, The Furstenhof, Hanover
   21 March 1819, Hanover Charlotte Augusta Louisa
   Princess Elizabeth of Clarence 10 December 1820, St. James's Palace 4
   March 1821, London Elizabeth Georgiana Adelaide
   Twin boys 23 April 1822, Bushy Park stillborn

Legacy

   A statue of William IV in Göttingen, Germany
   A statue of William IV in Göttingen, Germany

   William's reign was short, but eventful. The ascendancy of the House of
   Commons and the corresponding decline of the House of Lords was marked
   by the Reform Crisis, during which the threat of flooding the Upper
   House with peers was used effectively for the first time by a ministry.
   The weakening of the House of Lords continued during the nineteenth
   century, and culminated during the twentieth century with the passage
   of the Parliament Act 1911. The same threat which had been used during
   the Reform Crisis—the threat to flood the House of Lords by creating
   several new peers—was used to procure the passage of the Parliament
   Act.

   The reduction in the influence of the Crown was clearly indicated by
   the events of William's reign, especially the dismissal of the
   Melbourne ministry. The crisis relating to Melbourne's dismissal also
   indicated the reduction in the King's influence with the people. During
   the reign of George III, the King could have dismissed one ministry,
   appointed another, dissolved Parliament, and expected the people to
   vote in favour of the new administration. Such was the result of a
   dissolution in 1784, after the dismissal of the Coalition Ministry;
   such was the result of a dissolution in 1807, after the dismissal of
   William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville. But when William IV
   dismissed the Melbourne ministry, the Tories under Sir Robert Peel were
   not able to win the ensuing elections. Thus, the King's ability to
   influence the opinion of the people, and therefore generally dictate
   national policy, had been reduced. None of William's successors has
   attempted to remove a ministry and appoint another against the wishes
   of Parliament.

Popular culture

   "Silly Billy" — so recalled by Mrs Goodbody in Agatha Christie's novel,
   Hallowe'en Party, 1969 (Chapter 16).

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