William IV of the United Kingdom

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

William IV
King of the United Kingdom; King of Hanover (more...)
William IV, painted by Sir Martin Archer Shee, 1833
Reign	26 June 1830 – 20 June 1837
Predecessor	George IV
Successor	Victoria (in the United Kingdom) Ernest Augustus I (in Hanover)
Consort	Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen
Issue
Princess Charlotte of Clarence Princess Elizabeth of Clarence
Full name
William Henry
Detail Titles and styles
HM The King HRH The Duke of Clarence and St Andrews 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(1765-08-21) Buckingham House, London
Baptised	20 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 Hanover and of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 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.

He served in the Royal Navy in his youth and was, both during his reign and afterwards, nicknamed the Sailor King. He served in North America and the Caribbean, but saw little actual fighting. As a result of the deaths and childlessness of his two older brothers, he inherited the throne when he was sixty-four years old. His reign saw several reforms: the poor law was updated, child labour restricted and slavery abolished throughout the British Empire. One of the most important pieces of legislation was the Reform Act 1832, which refashioned the British electoral system. Though William did not engage in politics as much as his brother or his father, he was the most recent monarch to appoint a Prime Minister contrary to the will of Parliament. During his reign, his other kingdom, Hanover, adopted a liberal constitution.

At his death William had no surviving legitimate children. He was succeeded in the United Kingdom by his niece, Victoria, and in Hanover by his brother, Ernest Augustus.

[edit] Early life

William was born in the early hours of the morning on 21 August 1765 at Buckingham House, the third child and son of George III and Queen Charlotte.^[1] 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 20 September 1765 and his godparents were his paternal uncles, The Duke of Gloucester and Prince Henry, and his paternal aunt, The Hereditary Duchess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel.^[2]

Most of his early life was spent at Richmond and Kew, where he was educated by private tutors.^[3] At the age of thirteen, he joined the Royal Navy as a midshipman,^[4] and was present at the Battle of Cape St. Vincent in 1780.^[5] His experiences in the navy seem to have been little different than those of other sailors, doing his share of the cooking^[6] and getting arrested with his shipmates after a drunken brawl on Gibraltar (he was hastily released when his identity became known).^[7] He served in New York during the American War of Independence, becoming the first British monarch-to-be to visit the United States (each of his successors, excepting Victoria, has done so either before or after accession). While the prince was in America, George Washington approved a plot to kidnap him, 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 persons of the Prince or Admiral…"^[8][9] The plot did not come to fruition; the British heard of it and assigned guards to the prince, who had up till then walked around New York unescorted.^[10]

William became a Lieutenant in 1785 and Captain of HMS Pegasus the following year.^[11] In mid-1786, he took his command to Newfoundland and then to Halifax, Nova Scotia,^[12] becoming the first future British monarch to touch what would be Canadian soil (each of his successors, again excluding Victoria, has followed him there). Later that year, he was stationed in the West Indies under Horatio Nelson, who 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."^[13] On his return, he visited the South of Ireland, where he openly socialised with Catholic families, much to his father's disapproval.^[14] He was given command of the frigate HMS Andromeda in 1788, and was promoted to Rear-Admiral in command of HMS Valiant the following year.^[15]

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 16 May 1789,^[16] supposedly saying, "I well know it is another vote added to the Opposition."^[17] Although he allied himself publicly with the Whigs and his elder brothers (who were known for their conflict with their father), the Prince of Wales and the Duke of York, William's record was inconsistent and cannot, like many politicians of the time, be certainly ascribed to a single party.^[18]

[edit] Service and politics

William in dress uniform painted by Sir Martin Archer Shee, c.1800 (detail)

The newly created Duke ceased his active service in the Royal Navy in 1790.^[19] When the United Kingdom declared war on France in 1793, he was anxious to serve his country and expected a command, but was not given a ship, perhaps at first because he had broken his arm by falling down some stairs drunk, but later because he gave a speech in the House of Lords opposing the war.^[20] The following year he spoke in favour of the war, expecting a command after his change of heart. None came. The Admiralty did not even reply to his request.^[21] He did not lose hope of being appointed to an active post, but when he was made an admiral in 1798, the rank was purely titular.^[22] Despite repeated petitions, he was never given a command throughout the Napoleonic Wars.^[23] In 1811, he was appointed to the honorary position of Admiral of the Fleet. In 1813, he came nearest to any actual fighting, when he visited the British troops fighting in the Low Countries. Watching the bombardment of Antwerp from a church steeple, he came under fire. A bullet pierced his coat.^[24]

Instead of serving at sea, he spent time in the House of Lords, where he spoke in opposition to the abolition of slavery, which although not legal in the United Kingdom still existed in the British colonies. Freedom would do the slaves little good, he argued. He had travelled widely and, in his eyes, the living standard among freemen in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland was worse than that among slaves in the West Indies.^[25] Freedom did not necessarily bring prosperity. He thought conditions should be improved but full emancipation would imperil the well-being of former slaves by destroying the economy, and ruin Britain's maritime strength by cutting off its trade routes. He claimed that the slave trade benefitted native Africans who would otherwise be killed by their warlike neighbours if not sold into bondage. His experience in the West Indies lent gravitas to his position, which was perceived as well-argued and just by some of his contemporaries.^[26] Others thought it "shocking that so young a man, under no bias of interest, should be earnest in continuance of the slave trade".^[27] As pointed out by one of his biographers, it is so obvious today that slavery is evil that it is easy to condemn William's point of view but at the time his arguments, in favour of improved conditions but ultimate maintenance of the system, were considered moderate by many of his peers.^[28] On other issues he was more liberal, such as supporting moves to abolish penal laws against dissenting Christians.^[29]

In 1797, the Duke was appointed Ranger of Bushy Park, which carried with it residence at Bushy House. He would use Bushy as his principal residence until he became King.^[30] His London residence, Clarence House, was constructed to the designs of John Nash between 1825 and 1827.^[31]

[edit] Relationships and marriage

From 1791, the Duke of Clarence lived for twenty years with an Irish actress, Dorothea Bland, better known by her stage name, Mrs. Jordan,^[19] the title "Mrs" was assumed at the start of her stage career to explain an inconvenient pregnancy^[32] and "Jordan" because she had "crossed the water" from Ireland to Britain.^[33]

William was part of the first generation to grow to maturity under the Royal Marriages Act 1772, which forbade descendants of George II from marrying unless they obtained the monarch's consent, or, if over the age of 25, giving twelve months' notice to the Privy Council. Several of George III's sons, including William, chose to cohabit with the women they loved, rather than seeking a wife. After all, the younger sons, including William, were not expected to figure in the succession, which was considered secure once the Prince of Wales married and had a daughter, Princess Charlotte.

While William had an eye for the ladies as a young man, he appeared to enjoy the domesticity of his life with Mrs. Jordan. The Duke remarked to a friend, "Mrs. Jordan is a very good creature, very domestic and careful of her children. To be sure she is absurd sometimes and has her humours. But there are such things more or less in all families." The couple, while living quietly, enjoyed entertaining, with Mrs. Jordan writing in late 1809: "We shall have a full and merry house this Christmas, 'tis what the Duke delights in." The King, generally somewhat of a prude, was accepting of his son's relationship with the actress (though recommending that he halve her allowance) and in 1797, created William as Ranger of Bushy Park, which included a large residence for William's growing family.^[34]

The couple had ten illegitimate children, five sons and five daughters, who were given the surname "FitzClarence".^[35][36] The affair would last for twenty years before ending in 1811. Mrs. Jordan at least had no doubt as to the reason for the breakup, "Money, money, my good friend, has, I am convinced made HIM at this moment the most wretched of men," adding, "With all his excellent qualities, his domestic virtues, his love for his lovely children, what must he not at this moment suffer?"^[37] While the prospect of the Duke righting his financial ship through marriage was no doubt a factor, a total of at least thirteen pregnancies (counting the three from prior relationships) had left her figure "large, soft and generous like her soul."^[38] Mrs. Jordan was given a financial settlement of £4400 per year and custody of the daughters, on condition she did not resume the stage. When she did take up her acting career again, to repay debts incurred by her son-in-law (the husband of one of Mrs. Jordan's daughters from a previous relationship), the Duke took custody of the daughters and stopped paying the £1500 designated as for their maintenance. With her career failing, she fled to France to escape her creditors, and died, impoverished, near Paris in 1816.^[39] William had another illegitimate son, William, before he met Mrs. Jordan and whose mother is unknown, who drowned off Madagascar in 1807.^[40] Caroline von Linsingen, whose father was a general in the Hanoverian infantry, claimed to have had a son, Heinrich, by William in around 1790 but William was not in Hanover at the time that she claims and the story is considered implausible.^[41]

When Clarence's niece, Princess Charlotte, the second-in-line to the throne, 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 great advantages in this race—his two older brothers were both childless and estranged from their wives, who were in any case both probably beyond childbearing age, and William was the healthiest of the three.^[42] If he lived long enough and could procure a healthy young bride, he could become King and sire the next monarch. However, William's first choices to wed either met with the disapproval of the Prince Regent or turned him down. Princess Anne of Denmark, appalled at the difference in their ages, refused the match on the ground that she was too young to leave her parents ("for which I much admire her", stated William gallantly.)^[43] His younger brother, the Duke of Cambridge, was sent to Germany to scout out the available Protestant princesses; he came up with Princess Augusta of Hesse-Cassel, but her father declined the match.^[44] Two months later, the Duke of Cambridge married her himself. Eventually, a princess was found who was amicable, home-loving, and was willing to accept, even enthusiastically welcome, William's nine surviving children, several of whom had not yet reached adulthood.^[45] At Kew on 11 July 1818,^[46] Clarence married Princess Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, the daughter of the Duke of Saxe-Meiningen. At 25, Adelaide was half William's age.

The marriage, which lasted almost twenty years until William's death, was a happy one. The new Duchess took both William and his finances in hand. For their first year of marriage, the couple lived in economical fashion in Germany, William's debts were soon on the way to being paid, especially since Parliament had voted him an increased allowance, which he reluctantly accepted after his requests to increase it further were refused.^[47] William is not known to have had mistresses.^[48][15][49] The major sorrow of the marriage is that they did not have healthy children which would have secured the succession. The couple had two short-lived daughters, and Adelaide suffered three miscarriages.^[50] Despite this, false rumours that Adelaide was pregnant persisted into William's reign—he dismissed them as "damned stuff".^[51]

[edit] 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 line to the Throne, preceded only by his brother, Frederick, Duke of York. Reformed since his marriage, William walked for hours, ate relatively frugally, and the only drink he imbibed in quantity was barley water flavoured with lemon.^[52] Both of his brothers were unhealthy. When the Duke of York died in 1827, Clarence, then more than sixty years old, became heir presumptive. Later that year, the incoming Prime Minister, George Canning, 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 almost all circumstances, on the advice of his Council. The King, through the Prime Minister, by now Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, requested his resignation in 1828; the Duke of Clarence complied.^[48]

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, attempting to improve the standard of naval gunnery, and requiring regular reports of the condition and preparedness of each ship. He commissioned the first steam warship and advocated for more.^[53] Holding the office permitted William to make mistakes and learn from them—a process that might have been far more costly had he not learnt before becoming King that he could act only with the advice of his councillors.^[54][48]

William spent the remaining time during his brother's reign in the House of Lords. He supported the Catholic Emancipation Bill against the opposition of his younger brother, the Duke of Cumberland, describing the latter's position on the Bill as "infamous", to the younger Duke's outrage.^[55] George IV's health was increasingly bad; it was obvious by early 1830 that he was near death. William's genuine affection for his older brother could not mask his rising anticipation that he would soon be King.^[56]

[edit] Accession and the Reform Crisis

William IV

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

When George IV died on 26 June 1830 without surviving legitimate issue, the Duke of Clarence ascended the Throne, aged 64, as William IV—the oldest person ever to assume the British throne.^[57] 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.^[58] 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, who saw him as more approachable and down-to-earth than his brother.^[59]

The King immediately proved himself a conscientious worker. The King's first Prime Minister, the Duke of Wellington, stated that he had gotten through more business with King William in ten minutes than he had with George IV in as many days.^[60] Lord Brougham described him as an excellent man of business, asking enough questions to help him understand the matter—whereas George IV feared to ask questions lest he display his ignorance and George III would ask too many and then not wait for a response.^[61] George IV, through illness and indolence, had left a backlog of 48,000 state papers, all requiring the King's signature. King William patiently worked though the backlog, with Queen Adelaide by his side with a blotter and a bowl of warm water, in which the King might bathe his fingers when they became cramped.^[62]

The King did his best to endear himself to the people. Lady Charlotte Williams-Wynn wrote shortly after his assession, "Hitherto the King has been indefatigable in his efforts to make himself popular, and do good natured and amiable things in every possible instance."^[63] The Times, on 15 July 1830 noted "the blunt and unaffected—even should it be grotesque—cordiality of his demeanour."^[64] Noted the diarist Emily Eden, "He is an immense improvement on the last unforgiving animal, who died growling sulkily in his den at Windsor. This man at least wishes to make everybody happy, and everything he has done has been benevolent."^[65]

William divorced himself from his brother's extravagances. He dismissed his brother's French chefs and German band, replacing them with English ones to public approval. He gave much of George IV's painting collection to the nation, and, not being as interested in horses as was his brother, reduced the royal stud. George IV had begun an extensive (and expensive) renovation of Buckingham Palace; his brother refused to reside there, and twice tried to give the palace away, once to the Army as a barracks, and once to Parliament after the Houses of Parliament burned down in 1834.^[66] His informality could be startling: When in residence at the Royal Pavilion in Brighton, King William would send to the hotels for a list of their guests and invite anyone whom he knew to dinner, urging invitees not to "bother about clothes. The Queen does nothing but embroider flowers after dinner."^[67]

Wrote Charles Greville, Clerk to the Privy Council, "Etiquette is a thing he cannot comprehend. He wanted to take the King of Würtemberg with him in his [state] coach, until he was told it was out of the question. In his private carriage he continues to sit backwards, and when he goes with men, makes one sit by him and not opposite to him. Yesterday, after the House of Lords, he drove all over the town in an open calèche with the Queen, Princess Augusta and the King of Würtemberg; and coming home he set down the King ('dropped him', as he calls it) at Grillon's Hotel. The King of England dropping another King at a tavern."^[68]

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. Despite this his children importuned for greater opportunities, disgusting elements of the press which reported that the "impudence and rapacity of the FitzJordans is unexampled".^[69] The relationship between William and his sons "was punctuated by a series of savage and, for the King at least, painful quarrels" over money and honours.^[70] His daughters, on the other hand, proved an ornament to his court, as Lady Wharncliffe commented, "They are all, you know, pretty and lively, and make society in a way that real princesses could not."^[71]

At the time, the death of the monarch required fresh elections and, in the general election of 1830, Wellington's Tories lost ground to the Whigs under Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, though the Tories still had the largest number of seats. With the Tories bitterly divided, Wellington was defeated in the House of Commons in November, and Lord Grey formed a government. Lord Grey pledged to reform the electoral system, which had seen few changes since the fifteenth century. The inequities in the system were great; for example, large towns such as Manchester and Birmingham elected no members (though they were part of county constituencies), while small boroughs—known as rotten or pocket boroughs—such as Old Sarum with just seven voters, elected two members of Parliament each. Often, the rotten boroughs were controlled 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. Landowners who controlled seats were even able to sell them to prospective candidates.^[72]

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 his power to dissolve Parliament because elections had just been held the year before and the country was in a state of high excitement which might boil over into violence. He was, however, irritated by the conduct of the Opposition, which formally moved 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, and at the urgent request of Lord Grey and his ministers, William IV prepared to go in person to the House of Lords, where debate on the Address was raging, and prorogue Parliament.^[73] When initially told that his horses could not be ready at such short notice, William is supposed to have said, "Then I will go in a hackney cab!"^[74] Coach and horses were assembled quickly and William immediately proceeded to Parliament. The House was in uproar; Lord Londonderry brandished a whip, threatening to thrash the Government supporters, and was held back by four of his colleagues. William hastily put on the crown and dissolved Parliament.^[75] 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.^[76]

The crisis saw a brief interlude for the celebration of the King's Coronation on 8 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.^[77] He was persuaded otherwise by traditionalists. He refused, however, to celebrate the coronation in the expensive way his brother had—the 1821 coronation had cost ₤240,000 (of which ₤16,000 was merely to hire the jewels). At William's instructions, the Privy Council budgeted less than ₤30,000 for the coronation.^[78] When traditionalist Tories threatened to boycott what they called the "Half Crown-nation",^[79] the King retorted that they should go ahead, and that he anticipated "greater convenience of room and less heat".^[80]

After the rejection of the Second Reform Bill by the Upper House in October 1831, agitation for reform grew across the country; demonstrations grew violent in so-called "Reform Riots". In the face of popular excitement, the Grey ministry refused to accept defeat in the House of Lords, and re-introduced the Bill, which still faced difficulties in the House of Lords. Frustrated by the Lords' recalcitrance, Grey suggested that the King create a sufficient number of new peers to ensure the passage of the Reform Bill. The King objected—he had already created 22 new peers in his coronation honours^[81]—but reluctantly agreed to the creation of the number of peers sufficient "to secure the success of the bill".^[82] However, the King, citing the difficulties with a permanent expansion of the Peerage, told Grey that the creations must be restricted as much as possible to the eldest sons and collateral heirs of existing peers, so that the created peerages would eventually be absorbed as subsidiary titles. Bowing to popular pressure, the Lords did not reject the bill outright, but began preparing to change its basic character through amendments. Grey and his fellow ministers decided to resign if the King did not agree to an immediate and large creation to force the bill through in its entirety.^[83] The King refused, and accepted their resignations. The King attempted to restore the Duke of Wellington to office, but Wellington had insufficient support to form a ministry and the King's popularity sunk to an all-time low. Mud was slung at his carriage and he was publicly hissed. On Wellington's advice, and after mass public meetings demanding reform, the King agreed to reappoint Grey's ministry, and to create new peers if the House of Lords continued to pose difficulties. Concerned by the threat of the creations, most of the bill's opponents abstained and the Reform Act 1832 was passed. The mob blamed William's poor judgement on the influence of his reactionary wife and brother, and his popularity recovered.^[84]

[edit] Foreign policy

William distrusted foreigners, particularly anyone French,^[85] which he acknowledged as a "prejudice".^[86] However, he also felt strongly that Britain should not interfere in the internal affairs of other nations, which brought him into conflict with the interventionist Foreign Secretary, Lord Palmerston.^[87] William was supportive of Belgian independence and, after unacceptable Dutch and French candidates were put forward, favoured Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the widower of his niece, Charlotte, as a candidate for the newly-created Belgian throne.^[88] The greatest breach with Palmerston was over Hanover. William never visited Hanover as its King. His brother, the Duke of Cambridge, acted as regent throughout his reign. In 1832, Metternich introduced laws which curbed fledging liberal movements in Germany. The Hanoverian government supported Metternich, much to Palmerston's dismay, but Palmerston had no power over Hanoverian policy and so Hanover favoured Metternich, while Britain was against him.^[89] In 1833, Hanover was given a constitution which empowered the middle class, gave limited power to the lower classes, and expanded the role of the parliament of Hanover. The constitution was revoked after William's death by the new king, William's brother, Prince Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland.

Though he had a reputation for tactlessness and buffoonery, William could be shrewd and diplomatic. He foresaw that the potential construction of a canal at Suez would make good relations with Egypt vital to Britain.^[90] Later in his reign he flattered the American ambassador at a dinner by announcing that he regretted not being "born a free, independent American, so much did he respect that nation, which had given birth to George Washington, the greatest man that ever lived".^[91] By exercising his personal charm, William assisted in the repair of Anglo-American relations, which had been so deeply damaged during the reign of his father.^[92]

[edit] 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 Britains, 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 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 anathema to the King, and increasingly left-wing policies concerned him. The previous year Grey had already pushed through a bill reforming the Protestant Church of Ireland. The Church collected tithes throughout Ireland, supported multiple bishoprics and was wealthy. However, barely an eighth of the Irish population belonged to the Church of Ireland. In some parishes, there were no Church of Ireland members at all, but there was still a priest paid for by tithes collected from the local Catholics and Presbyterians, leading to charges that idle priests were living in luxury at the expense of the Irish living at the level of subsistence. Grey's bill had reduced the number of bishoprics by half, abolished some of the sinecures and overhauled the tithe system. Further measures to appropriate the surplus revenues of the Church of Ireland were contemplated by the more radical members of the government.^[93]

In November 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. Melbourne had to appoint a new Commons leader, but the only candidate that Melbourne felt suitable to replace Althorp was Lord John Russell, who William (and many others) found unacceptable. William claimed that the ministry had been weakened beyond repair and 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 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.^[94] When Peel returned and assumed leadership of the ministry for himself, he saw the impossibility of governing because of the Whig majority in the House of Commons. Consequently, Parliament was dissolved to force 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.^[95] Melbourne's government mooted more ideas to introduce greater democracy, such as the devolvement of powers to the Legislative Council of Lower Canada, which greatly alarmed the King, who feared it would eventually lead to the loss of the colony.^[96] After an outburst in which he expressed his disapproval, as was his way, he became more contrite and approved the Cabinet's recommendations for reform.^[97]

Both the King and Queen were fond of their niece, 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, expressed publicly with typically blunt candour in the presence of Adelaide, the Duchess and Victoria, his hope that he would survive until Princess Victoria was 18 so that the Duchess of Kent would never be appointed Regent. The speech was so shocking that Victoria burst into tears, and it undoubtedly contributed to her tempered view of him as "a good old man, though eccentric and singular".^[98] He would survive, though mortally ill, to the month after Victoria's coming of age. "Poor old man!", Victoria wrote as he lay dying, "I feel sorry for him; he was always personally kind to me."^[99]

William was "very much shaken and affected" by the death of his eldest daughter, Sophia, Lady de L'Isle, in childbirth in April 1837.^[100] William and his eldest son, George, Earl of Munster, were estranged at the time, but William hoped that a letter of condolence from Munster signalled a reconciliation. His hopes were not fulfilled and Munster, still thinking he had not been given sufficient money or patronage, remained bitter to the end, despite being created an Earl just a few years before.^[101]

Queen Adelaide stayed beside William's deathbed devotedly, not going to bed herself for more than ten days.^[102] William IV died from heart failure in the early hours of the morning of 20 June 1837 at 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, Prince Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland. William's death thus ended the personal union of Britain and Hanover, which had persisted since 1714. The main beneficiaries of his will were his eight surviving children by Mrs. Jordan.^[48] Although William IV is 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.^[103][104]

[edit] Legacy

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 its passage.

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 Fox-North Coalition, and 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. The King's ability to influence the opinion of the people, and therefore national policy, had been reduced. None of William's successors has attempted to remove a ministry or appoint another against the wishes of Parliament. William understood that as a constitutional monarch he was powerless to act against the opinion of Parliament. He said, "I have my view of things, and I tell them to my ministers. If they do not adopt them, I cannot help it. I have done my duty."^[105]

During his reign great reforms were enacted by Parliament including the Factory Act, preventing child labour, the Abolition Act, emancipating slaves in the colonies, and the Poor Law, standardising provision for the destitute.^[15] He attracted criticism from reformers, who felt that reform did not go far enough, and from reactionaries, who felt that reform went too far. The modern interpretation is that he failed to satisfy either political extreme by trying to find compromise between two bitterly opposed factions, but in the process proved himself more capable as a constitutional monarch than many had supposed.^[106][107]

[edit] In popular culture

In Patrick O'Brian's final novel of the Aubrey-Maturin series, Captain Jack Aubrey is obliged to accept as midshipman a bastard son of the Duke of Clarence, as a "first voyager". The novel paints a colourful picture of the Duke and acknowledges his reputation as a competent seaman and commander.

He is portrayed by Ernst G. Schiffner in the German film Mädchenjahre einer Königin (1936), based on the play by Geza Silberer about the early life of Queen Victoria. In the TV miniseries Victoria and Albert (2001), he was portrayed by Peter Ustinov. In the 2006 film Amazing Grace he was portrayed by Toby Jones and is incorrectly seen sitting in the House of Commons. In the forthcoming The Young Victoria (2008) he is played by Jim Broadbent.

[edit] Titles, styles, honours and arms

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

[edit] Titles and styles

• 21 August 1765 – 16 May 1789: His Royal Highness The Prince William
• 16 May 1789 – 26 June 1830: His Royal Highness The Duke of Clarence and St Andrews
• 26 June 1830 – 20 June 1837: His Majesty The King

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.

[edit] Honours

British Honours

• KT: Knight of the Thistle, 1770
• KG: Knight of the Garter, 1782

[edit] Arms

As a son of the sovereign, the Duke of Clarence was granted use of the arms of the kingdom, differenced by a label argent of three points, the centre point bearing a cross gules, the outer points each bearing an anchor azure.^[108] His arms were those of his two kingdoms, the United Kingdom and Hanover, superimposed:- 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.

[edit] Ancestors

[edit] Issue

All legitimate issue of William IV were born, and died, before his accession to the throne. They were therefore styled as Prince/Princess of Clarence with the style of Royal Highness.

[edit] Note and sources

[edit] References

• Allen, W. Gore (1960). King William IV. London: Cresset Press.
• Brock, Michael (2004), “William IV (1765–1837)”, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press), doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/29451, <http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/29451>. Retrieved on 6 July 2007  (Subscription required).
• Molloy, Fitzgerald (1903). The Sailor King: William the Fourth, His Court and His Subjects. London: Hutchinson & Co.
• Somerset, Anne (1980). The Life and Times of William IV. London, Weidenfeld and Nicholson.
• Van der Kiste, John (1994). George III's Children. Stroud: Sutton Publishing Ltd.
• Ziegler, Philip (1971). King William IV. London: Collins. ISBN 0-00-211934-X.

[edit] Further reading

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

William IV of the United Kingdom

• Royal Genealogies
• Memoir of His Royal Highness the Duke of Clarence (a contemporary biography) in The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, Supplement to Volume 10, No. 291, December 1827

v • d • e British Monarchs Kingdom of Great Britain Anne · George I · George II · George III United Kingdom George III · George IV · William IV · Victoria · Edward VII · George V · Edward VIII · George VI · Elizabeth II

v • d • e First Sea Lords of the Royal Navy Admiral of the Fleet The Earl Howe · Sir Peter Parker · Prince William, Duke of Clarence First Naval Lords (1828–1904) Sir George Cockburn · Sir Thomas Hardy · The Hon. George Dundas · Charles Adam · Sir George Cockburn · Sir Charles Adam · Sir George Cockburn · Sir William Parker · Sir Charles Adam · James Dundas · The Hon. Maurice Berkeley · Hyde Parker · The Hon. Maurice Berkeley · The Hon. Sir Richard Dundas · William Martin · The Hon. Sir Richard Dundas · The Hon. Sir Frederick Grey · Sir Alexander Milne · Sir Sydney Dacres · Sir Alexander Milne · Sir Hastings Yelverton · George Wellesley · Sir Astley Key · Sir Arthur Hood · Lord John Hay · Sir Arthur Hood · Sir Richard Hamilton · Sir Anthony Hoskins · Sir Frederick Richards · Lord Walter Kerr First Sea Lords (1904–present) Sir John Fisher · Sir Arthur Wilson · Sir Francis Bridgeman · Prince Louis of Battenberg · The Baron Fisher of Kilverstone · Sir Henry Jackson · Sir John Jellicoe · Sir Rosslyn Wemyss · The Earl Beatty · Sir Charles Madden, Bt · Sir Frederick Field · The Lord Chatfield · Sir Roger Backhouse · Sir Dudley Pound · The Lord Cunningham of Hyndhope · Sir John Cunningham · The Lord Fraser of North Cape · Sir Rhoderick McGrigor · The Earl Mountbatten of Burma · Sir Charles Lambe · Sir Caspar John · Sir David Luce · Sir Varyl Begg · Sir Michael Le Fanu · Sir Peter Hill-Norton · Sir Michael Pollock · Sir Edward Ashmore · Sir Terence Lewin · Sir Henry Leach · Sir John Fieldhouse · Sir William Staveley · Sir Julian Oswald · Sir Benjamin Bathurst · Sir Jock Slater · Sir Michael Boyce · Sir Nigel Essenhigh · Sir Alan West · Sir Jonathon Band

v • d • e Rulers of Hanover Electors of Hanover Ernest Augustus (Elector-elect) · George Louis* · George II* · George III* Monarchs of the Kingdom of Hanover George III* · George IV* · William IV* · Ernest Augustus I · George V * Also monarch of the Kingdom of Great Britain or the United Kingdom.