Sir Augustus Frederick d'Este, KCH (13 January 1794 – 28 December 1848) was the only son of

Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex (27 January 1773 – 21 April 1843), was the sixth son and ninth child of George III, King George III and his queen consort, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. He was the only surviving son of George III ...

and his wife

Lady Augusta Murray Lady Augusta De Ameland (''born'' Murray; 27 January 1761 – 4 March 1830) was a Scottish aristocrat and the first wife of Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex, the sixth son of George III. They married on 4 April 1793 in Rome. Their unio ...

. He was a grandson of

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...

, nephew of

George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 29 January 1820 until his death in 1830. At the time of his accession to the throne, h ...

and

William IV William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded hi ...

, and a first cousin to

Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days, which was longer than tho ...

. He is the earliest recorded person for whom a definite diagnosis of multiple sclerosis can be made.

Family and career

D'Este was the son of

, and

, and a grandson of

King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...

. His parents were secretly married on 4 April 1793, in a Church of England ceremony in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

at the Hotel Sarmiento, and later married again on 5 December 1793 at

St George's, Hanover Square St George's, Hanover Square, is an Church of England, Anglican church, the parish church of Mayfair in the City of Westminster, central London, built in the early eighteenth century as part of a project to build fifty new churches around London ...

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

, using their correct names but without revealing their identities. Both marriages were in defiance of the

Royal Marriages Act 1772 The Royal Marriages Act 1772 (12 Geo. 3. c. 11) was an Act of Parliament, 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 ...

and were thus legally null and void, at least in

English law English law is the common law list of national legal systems, legal system of England and Wales, comprising mainly English criminal law, criminal law and Civil law (common law), civil law, each branch having its own Courts of England and Wales, ...

. After the birth of their first child, the marriage was discovered by the King and formally annulled, making their son illegitimate in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

. Christened "Augustus Frederick", he was briefly given the surname of "Hanover", but later took the name of

d'Este The House of Este ( , , ) is a European dynasty of North Italian origin whose members ruled parts of Italy and Germany for many centuries. The original House of Este's elder branch, which is known as the House of Welf, included dukes of Bavaria ...

. He attended

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (school founder), John Lyon, a local landowner an ...

. He was commissioned into the Army as a lieutenant in the

7th Regiment of Foot Seventh is the ordinal form of the number seven. Seventh may refer to: * Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution * A fraction (mathematics), , equal to one of seven equal parts Film and television *"The Seventh", a second-season epi ...

in 1811. He was promoted to be captain of a company in the York Chasseurs in 1815, shortly afterwards transferring to the

12th Regiment of Foot 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, and then to the captaincy of a troop in the 9th Regiment of Light Dragoons in 1817. In 1822 he purchased the rank of major in the

11th Regiment of Foot In music theory, an eleventh is a compound interval consisting of an octave plus a fourth. A perfect eleventh spans 17 and the augmented eleventh 18 semitones, or 10 steps in a diatonic scale. Since there are only seven degrees in a diaton ...

, exchanging into the 4th Regiment of Dragoon Guards later that year. He was promoted by purchase to lieutenant-colonel on the unattached list in 1824, and granted the brevet rank of colonel in 1838. In 1830 the new king William IV appointed him a knight commander in the civil division of the Hanoverian

Guelphic Order The Royal Guelphic Order (), sometimes referred to as the Hanoverian Guelphic Order, is a Hanoverian order of chivalry instituted on 28 April 1815 by the Prince Regent (later King George IV). It takes its name from the House of Guelph, of whic ...

and a British

knight bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised Order of chivalry, orders of chivalry; it is a part of the Orders, decorations, and medals ...

. He was also granted a civil list pension and made deputy ranger of St James's Park and Hyde Park. An active member of the Aborigines Protection Society particularly interested in Native Americans, d'Este gave considerable assistance to Peter Jones, the

Mississauga Mississauga is a Canadian city in the province of Ontario. Situated on the north-western shore of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, it borders Toronto (Etobicoke) to the east, Brampton to the north, Milton to the northwest, ...

missionary and leader, who argued for Native Americans to have title to their lands in

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada () was a Province, part of The Canadas, British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the Province of Queb ...

. When his father died in 1843, Sir Augustus d'Este attempted to claim his dukedom of Sussex and other peerages, but the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

decided against his claim, as the prince's marriage had been null and void. Although he had affairs with women, he never married and, therefore, even if he had succeeded to his father's titles, they would have become extinct on his own death.

Illness

Augustus d'Este is the earliest recorded person for whom a definite diagnosis of

multiple sclerosis Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease resulting in damage to myelinthe insulating covers of nerve cellsin the brain and spinal cord. As a demyelinating disease, MS disrupts the nervous system's ability to Action potential, transmit ...

can be made. The course of his MS, which was not diagnosed during his lifetime, is known from the diaries he kept. D'Este left a detailed diary describing his 22 years living with the disease. He began his diary in 1822 and it had its last entry in 1846; only to remain unknown until 1948. His symptoms began at age 28, with a sudden transient visual loss after the funeral of a friend. During the course of his disease he developed weakness of the legs, clumsiness of the hands, numbness, dizziness, bladder disturbances, and

erectile dysfunction Erectile dysfunction (ED), also referred to as impotence, is a form of sexual dysfunction in males characterized by the persistent or recurring inability to achieve or maintain a Human penis, penile erection with sufficient rigidity and durat ...

. By 1843 he was experiencing persistent symptoms including tremor and nocturnal spasms, and in 1844 he began to use a

wheelchair A wheelchair is a mobilized form of chair using two or more wheels, a footrest, and an armrest usually cushioned. It is used when walking is difficult or impossible to do due to illnesses, injury, disabilities, or age-related health conditio ...

. In his last years he was confined to his bed. Despite his illness, he kept an optimistic view of life.

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:D'Este, Augustus 1794 births 1848 deaths Augustus D'Este Deaths from multiple sclerosis Neurological disease deaths in England Equerries Illegitimate children of British royalty Knights Bachelor People educated at Harrow School People educated at Winchester College People with multiple sclerosis British wheelchair users British royalty and nobility with disabilities 4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards officers 9th Queen's Royal Lancers officers Royal Fusiliers officers Devonshire Regiment officers Suffolk Regiment officers British Army personnel of the War of 1812