Prince Henry, Duke of Cumberland and Strathearn (Henry Frederick;He is called simply "(His Royal Highness) Prince Henry" in the ''London Gazette'
8 September 176125 May28 December 176514 December 1771
/ref> 7 November 1745 – 18 September 1790) was the sixth child and fourth son of

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 fath ...

, and

Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg ( – 8 February 1772) was Princess of Wales by marriage to Frederick, Prince of Wales, eldest son and heir apparent of King George II. She never became queen consort, as Frederick predeceased his father ...

, 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 ...

. His 1771 marriage to a commoner against the King's wishes prompted the

Royal Marriages Act of 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 aga ...

Early life

Henry Frederick, Duke of Cumberland 1754 by Liotard

Prince Henry of Wales was born on 7 November 1745 at Leicester House,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, to

, 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 , father = John Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach , mother = Princess Eleonore Erdmuthe of Saxe-Eisenach , birth_date = , birth_place = Ansbach, Principality of Ansbach, Holy Roman Empire , death_date = , death_place = St James's Pala ...

, and his wife The Princess of Wales. He was christened at Leicester House twenty-three days later. He was Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg from birth.

Royal Dukedom

Henry Duke of Cumberland by David Morier 1765

On 22 October 1766, just prior to his twenty-first birthday, the prince was created

Duke of Cumberland and Strathearn Duke of Cumberland and Strathearn was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain that was conferred upon a member of the British royal family. It was named after the county of Cumberland in England, and after Strathearn in Scotland. History T ...

and Earl of Dublin. He was Ranger of Windsor Forest and Great Park, from 1766-90. He became a Privy Councillor in 1766 and was appointed

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 ...

the following year (1767).

Allegations

On 4 March 1767, the Duke of Cumberland allegedly married Olive Wilmot (later Mrs Payne), a commoner, in a secret ceremony. There reportedly was one child, Olivia Wilmot (1772–1834), from this relationship, though the duke's paternity was never proven, and a jury found unanimously that Olivia Wilmot had forged the evidence. A landscape painter and novelist, Olivia Wilmot married John Thomas Serres (1759–1825) and later, controversially, assumed the title of "Princess Olivia of Cumberland". Cumberland's mistresses included Ann Elliot who had been an actress before another had taken her off the stage. Cumberland set her up in a house in Greek Street in

Soho Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develop ...

where she died after an illness in 1769. Cumberland arranged for her burial and memorial and gave a large sum to her estate. In 1769, the Duke of Cumberland was sued by Lord Grosvenor for "

criminal conversation At common law, criminal conversation, often abbreviated as ''crim. con.'', is a tort arising from adultery. "Conversation" is an old euphemism for sexual intercourse that is obsolete except as part of this term. It is similar to breach of p ...

" (that is,

adultery Adultery (from Latin ''adulterium'') is extramarital sex that is considered objectionable on social, religious, moral, or legal grounds. Although the sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the social, religious, and legal ...

) after the Duke and Lady Grosvenor were discovered ''

in flagrante delicto ''In flagrante delicto'' (Latin for "in blazing offence") or sometimes simply ''in flagrante'' ("in blazing") is a legal term used to indicate that a criminal has been caught in the act of committing an offence (compare ). The colloquial "caught ...

''. Lord Grosvenor was awarded

damages At common law, damages are a remedy in the form of a monetary award to be paid to a claimant as compensation for loss or injury. To warrant the award, the claimant must show that a breach of duty has caused foreseeable loss. To be recognised at ...

of £10,000, which together with

costs In production, research, retail, and accounting, a cost is the value of money that has been used up to produce something or deliver a service, and hence is not available for use anymore. In business, the cost may be one of acquisition, in which ...

amounted to an award of £13,000 ().

Royal Navy

In 1768, at the fairly late age of 22, the Duke entered the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

as a

midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada (Naval Cadet), Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Afr ...

and was sent to

Corsica Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...

in HMS ''Venus''. However, he returned in September when the ship was recalled following the French invasion of the

Corsican Republic In November 1755, Pasquale Paoli proclaimed Corsica a sovereign nation, the Corsican Republic ( it, Repubblica Corsa), independent from the Republic of Genoa. He created the Corsican Constitution, which was the first constitution written in Itali ...

. He was promoted to

Rear-Admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarded ...

the following year and Vice-Admiral in 1770.The Oxford

Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

Marriage

On 2 October 1771 the Duke married

Anne Horton Anne, Duchess of Cumberland and Strathearn (née Luttrell, later Horton; 24 January 1743 – 28 December 1808) was a member of the British royal family, the wife of Prince Henry, Duke of Cumberland and Strathearn. Her sister was Lady Elizabet ...

(1743–1808), daughter of Irish peer and British MP Simon Luttrell, and the widow of Christopher Horton of Catton Hall. The marriage caused a rift with the King, who considered it a mismatch, and was the catalyst for 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 ...

, which forbade any descendant of

to marry without the monarch's permission. There were no children from this marriage. The marriage between Anne Horton and the Duke of Cumberland was described as a "conquest at Brighthelmstone" (now

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

) by Mrs. Horton, "who",

Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole (), 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian, and Whigs (British political party), Whig politician. He had Strawb ...

says, "had for many months been dallying with his passion, till she had fixed him to more serious views than he had intended." Anne was however generally thought one of the great beauties of the age (even Walpole found her green eyes "enchanting"), and

Thomas Gainsborough Thomas Gainsborough (14 May 1727 (baptised) – 2 August 1788) was an English portrait and landscape painter, draughtsman, and printmaker. Along with his rival Sir Joshua Reynolds, he is considered one of the most important British artists of ...

painted her several times.

Later life

In 1775, the Duke established the

Cumberland Fleet The Royal Thames Yacht Club (RTYC) is the oldest continuously operating yacht club in the world, and the oldest yacht club in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters are located at 60 Knightsbridge, London, England, overlooking Hyde Park. The club ...

, which would later become the

Royal Thames Yacht Club The Royal Thames Yacht Club (RTYC) is the oldest continuously operating yacht club in the world, and the oldest yacht club in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters are located at 60 Knightsbridge, London, England, overlooking Hyde Park. The club ...

. He was promoted

vice-admiral of the White The Vice-Admiral of the White was a senior rank of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom, immediately outranked by the rank Vice-Admiral of the Red (see order of precedence below). Royal Navy officers holding the ranks of commodore, rear admiral ...

in 1776,

admiral of the Blue The Admiral of the Blue was a senior rank of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom, immediately outranked by the rank Admiral of the White (see order of precedence below). From 1688 to 1805 this rank was in order of precedence third; after 1805 ...

in 1778, and admiral of the White in 1782, though he was forbidden from assuming any command. The Duke was also instrumental in the development of

as a popular resort. He had first visited in 1771, and in 1783, the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

visited his uncle there. The Duke of Cumberland died in

on 18 September 1790. His widow died in 1808.

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Titles

*7 November 1745 – 22 October 1766: ''His Royal Highness'' Prince Henry *22 October 1766 – 18 September 1790: ''His Royal Highness'' The Duke of Cumberland and Strathearn The prince's full style, as recited by Garter King of Arms at his funeral, was the "Most High, Most Mighty and Illustrious Prince Henry Frederick, Duke of Cumberland and Strathearn, Earl of Dublin, Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter".

Arms

Henry was granted use of the arms of the kingdom, differenced by a ''label argent of five points, the centre bearing a cross gules, the other points each bearing a fleur-de-lys azure''.Marks of Cadency in the British Royal Family
/ref>

Ancestors

References

Citations

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cumberland and Strathearn, Prince Henry, Duke of 1745 births 1790 deaths People from Old Windsor House of Hanover Princes of Great Britain 101 Peers of Great Britain created by George III Earls of Dublin Peers of Ireland created by George III Fellows of the Royal Society Grand Masters of the Premier Grand Lodge of England Freemasons of the Premier Grand Lodge of England Burials at Westminster Abbey Children of Frederick, Prince of Wales