| Prince Frederick | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duke of York and Albany | |||||
 | |||||
| Prince-Bishop of Osnabrück | |||||
| Reign | 27 February 1764 –24 March 1803 | ||||
| Born | (1763-08-16)16 August 1763 St. James's Palace,London | ||||
| Died | 5 January 1827(1827-01-05) (aged 63) Rutland House, London | ||||
| Burial | 20 January 1827 Royal Vault,St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle | ||||
| Spouse | |||||
| |||||
| House | Hanover | ||||
| Father | George III | ||||
| Mother | Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz | ||||
| Signature |  | ||||
| Military career | |||||
| Allegiance | |||||
| Branch |  British Army | ||||
| Years of active service |
| ||||
| Rank | Field marshal | ||||
| Unit | Life Guards | ||||
| Commands | Commander-in-Chief of the Forces | ||||
| Battles / wars | |||||
Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany (Frederick Augustus; 16 August 1763 – 5 January 1827), was the second son ofGeorge III,King of the United Kingdom andHanover, and his consortCharlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. A soldier by profession, from 1764 to 1803 he wasPrince-Bishop of Osnabrück in theHoly Roman Empire. From the death of his father in 1820 until his own death in 1827, he was theheir presumptive to his elder brother,George IV, in both theUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and theKingdom of Hanover.
Frederick was thrust into theBritish Army at a very early age and was appointed to high command at the age of thirty, when he was given command of a notoriouslyineffectual campaign during theWar of the First Coalition, a continental war following theFrench Revolution. Later, asCommander-in-Chief during theNapoleonic Wars, he oversaw the reorganisation of the British Army, establishing vital structural, administrative and recruiting reforms[1] for which he is credited with having done "more for the army than any one man has done for it in the whole of its history".[2]
Frederick belonged to theHouse of Hanover.[3] He was born on 16 August 1763, atSt. James's Palace,London.[3] His father was the reigning British monarch,King George III.[3] His mother wasQueen Charlotte (née Princess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz).[4]
On 27 February 1764, when Frederick was six months old, he becamePrince-Bishop of Osnabrück upon the death ofClemens August of Bavaria.[3] ThePeace of Westphalia stipulated that the city of Osnabrück would alternate between Catholic and Protestant rulers, with the Protestant bishops to be elected from thecadets of theHouse of Brunswick-Lüneburg.[5] The bishopric of Osnabrück came with a substantial income,[6] which he retained until the city was incorporated into Hanover in 1803 during theGerman mediatisation. He was invested as Knight of theMost Honourable Order of the Bath on 30 December 1767[7] and as a Knight of theOrder of the Garter on 19 June 1771.[8]
George III decided that his second son would pursue an army career and had himgazettedcolonel on 4 November 1780.[9] From 1781 to 1787, Prince Frederick lived in Hanover, where he studied (along with his younger brothers,Prince Edward,Prince Ernest,Prince Augustus andPrince Adolphus) at theUniversity of Göttingen.[10] He was appointed colonel of the 2nd Horse Grenadier Guards (now2nd Life Guards) on 26 March 1782[11] before being promoted tomajor-general on 20 November 1782.[3] Promoted tolieutenant general on 27 October 1784,[3] he was appointed colonel of theColdstream Guards on 28 October 1784.[12]
He was createdDuke of York and Albany andEarl of Ulster on 27 November 1784 and became a member of thePrivy Council.[5] On his return to Great Britain, the Duke took his seat in theHouse of Lords, where, on 15 December 1788 during theRegency crisis, he opposedWilliam Pitt's Regency Bill in a speech which was supposed to have been influenced by thePrince of Wales.[5] On 26 May 1789 he took part in a duel withColonel Charles Lennox, who had insulted him; Lennox missed, and Frederick refused to return fire.[5][13]
On 12 April 1793, Frederick was promoted to full general.[14] That year, he was sent toFlanders in command of the British contingent ofCoburg's army destined for the invasion ofFrance.[14] Frederick and his command fought in theFlanders campaign under extremely trying conditions. He won several notable engagements, such as theSiege of Valenciennes in July 1793,[15] but was defeated at theBattle of Hondschoote in September 1793.[14] In the 1794 campaign he gained a notable success at theBattle of Beaumont in April and another at theBattle of Willems in May but was defeated at theBattle of Tourcoing later that month.[14] The British army was evacuated throughBremen in April 1795.[14]
After his return to Britain, his father George III promoted him to the rank offield marshal on 18 February 1795.[14] On 3 April 1795, George appointed him effectiveCommander-in-Chief in succession toLord Amherst[16] although the title was not confirmed until three years later.[17] He was also colonel of the60th Regiment of Foot from 19 August 1797.[18]
On appointment as Commander-in-Chief he immediately declared, reflecting on theFlanders Campaign of 1793–94, "that no officer should ever be subject to the same disadvantages under which he had laboured".[16]
His second field command was with the army sent for theAnglo-Russian invasion of Holland in August 1799. On 7 September 1799, he was given the honorary title ofCaptain-General.[19] SirRalph Abercromby and Admiral Sir Charles Mitchell, in charge of the vanguard, had succeeded in capturing some Dutch warships inDen Helder. However, following the Duke's arrival with the main body of the army, a number of disasters befell the allied forces, including shortage of supplies.[20] On 17 October 1799, the Duke signed theConvention of Alkmaar, by which the allied expedition withdrew after giving up its prisoners.[20] 1799 also sawFort Frederick in South Africa named after him.[21]
Frederick's military setbacks of 1799 were inevitable given his lack of experience as a field commander, the poor state of the British army at the time, and the conflicting military objectives of the protagonists. After this ineffectual campaign, Frederick was mocked, perhaps unfairly, in the rhyme "The Grand Old Duke of York":
The grand old Duke of York,
He had ten thousand men.
He marched them up to the top of the hill
And he marched them down again.
And when they were up, they were up.
And when they were down, they were down.
And when they were only halfway up,
They were neither up nor down.[22]
Frederick's experience in the Dutch campaign made a strong impression on him. That campaign, and the Flanders campaign, had demonstrated the numerous weaknesses of the British army after years of neglect. Frederick as Commander-in-Chief of the British army carried through a massive programme of reform.[1] He was the person most responsible for the reforms that created the force which served in thePeninsular War. He was also in charge of the preparations againstNapoleon's planned invasion of the United Kingdom in 1803. In the opinion of SirJohn Fortescue, Frederick did "more for the army than any one man has done for it in the whole of its history".[2]
In 1801 Frederick actively supported the foundation of theRoyal Military College, Sandhurst, which promoted the professional, merit-based training of future commissioned officers.[20]
In 1801 touched by the plight of children orphaned as a result of the Napoleonic wars, Frederick issued a Royal Warrant and laid the foundation stone in Chelsea to build the Royal Military Asylum (now known as theDuke of York's Headquarters) for orphaned children.[23] In 1892 the Royal Military Asylum was renamed theDuke of York's Royal Military School. The school relocated to Dover, Kent in 1909.[24]
On 14 September 1805 he was given the honorary title of Warden of Windsor Forest.[25]
Frederick resigned as Commander-in-Chief on 25 March 1809, as the result of a scandal caused by the activities of his latest mistress,Mary Anne Clarke.[20] Clarke was accused of illicitly selling army commissions under Frederick's aegis.[20] A select committee of theHouse of Commons enquired into the matter. Parliament eventually acquitted Frederick of receiving bribes by 278 votes to 196. He nevertheless resigned because of the high tally against him.[20] Two years later, it was revealed that Clarke had received payment for furniture from Frederick's disgraced chief accuser,Gwyllym Wardle,[26] and thePrince Regent reappointed the exonerated Frederick as Commander-in-Chief on 29 May 1811.[27] The Duke's relationship with Mary Anne Clarke is used by Mary Anne's descendant,Daphne du Maurier, in her historical novelMary Anne.[28]
Frederick maintained a country residence atOatlands nearWeybridge,Surrey but he was seldom there, preferring to immerse himself in his administrative work atHorse Guards (the British army's headquarters) and, after hours, in London's high life, with its gaming tables: Frederick was perpetually in debt because of his excessive gambling on cards and racehorses.[5] In 1826 his London residence was8 South Audley Street, Mayfair, which had previously been occupied by his deceased sister-in-lawCaroline of Brunswick.[29][30][31]
Construction of a palatial London residence for Frederick,York House (later Lancaster House) commenced in 1825.[32]: 155 Sir Robert Smirke was originally hired to design the house, until under the influence of the Duke's mistress the Duchess of Rutland, he was replaced byBenjamin Dean Wyatt who mainly designed the exterior.[32]: 155 The house was only a shell when Frederick died in 1827. It is constructed fromBath stone, in aneo-classical style. Thelease of the house was purchased from Frederick's executors by the2nd Marquess of Stafford (later 1stDuke of Sutherland) and was under his direction that it was completed in 1838.[33] It was known as Stafford House for almost a century thereafter.[34]
Following the unexpected death of his niece,Princess Charlotte of Wales, in 1817, Frederick became second in line to the throne, with a serious chance of inheriting it.[35] In 1820, he becameheir presumptive with the death of his father, George III.[5]
Frederick died ofdropsy and apparentcardiovascular disease at the home of theDuke of Rutland in Arlington Street, London, in 1827.[20] Afterlying in state at theChapel Royal in London,[34] Frederick's remains were interred inSt George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, following his funeral there.[5] The chapel was so cold during the funeral, held at night, that the Foreign Secretary,George Canning, contractedrheumatic fever, becoming so ill that he thought he might not recover;[36] Canning died on 8 August the same year.[37][38]
Frederick married his third cousin PrincessFrederica Charlotte of Prussia, the daughter of KingFrederick William II of Prussia andElisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Lüneburg, at Charlottenburg, Berlin, on 29 September 1791 and again on 23 November 1791 atBuckingham Palace.[14] The marriage was not a happy one and the couple soon separated. Frederica retired toOatlands Palace, in Surrey, where she lived until her death in 1820.[5]
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His honours were as follows:[40]
Fredericton, the capital of theCanadian province ofNew Brunswick, was named after Prince Frederick. The city was originally named "Frederick's Town".[49]
Also inCanada,Duke of York Bay,Nunavut was named in his honour, since it was discovered on his birthday, 16 August.[50]
A statue of Prince Frederick, stands on the grounds of Edinburgh Castle, Scotland and was unveiled in 1836. The inscription reads: "Field Marshall His Royal Highness Frederick Duke of York and Albany K.G. Commander and Chief of the British Army MDCCCXXVII."[51]
InWestern Australia,York County and the towns ofYork andAlbany were named after Prince Frederick.[52][53] Albany was originally named "Frederick Town".[54]
The toweringDuke of York Column on Waterloo Place, just offThe Mall, London was completed in 1834 as a memorial to Prince Frederick.[55]
The72nd Regiment of Foot was given the titleDuke of Albany's Own Highlanders in 1823 and, in 1881, became 1st BattalionSeaforth Highlanders (Ross-shire Buffs, The Duke of Albany's).[56]
The first British fortification in southern Africa, Fort Frederick,Port Elizabeth, a city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, was built in 1799 to prevent French assistance for rebellious Boers in the short-lived republic ofGraaff-Reinet.[57]
TheDuke of York's Royal Military School is named in the duke's honour as he was largely responsible for the founding of the school by Royal Warrant in 1801 (it was originally called the Royal Military Asylum for the Children of Soldiers of the Regular Army). The school was moved to its current site near Dover in 1909. The original building still stands in Chelsea, London.[58]
The Yorks had bought Oatlands on their marriage in 1791 with the impressive allowances of £18,000 from the Civil List, £7,000 from Ireland and a full £45,000 a year from the duke's holdings as Prince-Bishop of Osnabruck.
Title within ornamental border.
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listed was invoked but never defined (see thehelp page).[In 1827], St George's Chapel was so cold during the burial of the Duke of York that George Canning, the foreign secretary, contracted rheumatic fever and the bishop of London died.
duke of york's bay.
Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany Cadet branch of theHouse of Welf Born: 16 August 1763 Died: 5 January 1827 | ||
| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Vacant Title last held by Clemens August of Bavaria | Prince-Bishop of Osnabrück 1764–1802 asProtestant Administrator | Vacant Title next held by Paul Melchersas bishop |
| Military offices | ||
| Preceded by | Captain and Colonel of the 2nd Troop Horse Grenadier Guards 1782–1784 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Colonel of theColdstream Guards 1784–1805 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Commander-in-Chief of the Forces 1795–1809 | Succeeded by |
| Colonel-in-Chief of the 60th (Royal American) Regiment of Foot 1797–1827 | Succeeded by | |
| Vacant Title last held by The Duke of Cumberland | Captain-General 1799–1809 | Office abolished |
| Preceded by | Colonel of the1st Regiment of Foot Guards 1805–1827 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Commander-in-Chief of the Forces 1811–1827 | |
| Honorary titles | ||
| Vacant Title last held by The Duke of Montagu | Great Master of the Bath 1767–1827 | Succeeded by The Duke of Clarence and St. Andrews later became King William IV |
| Preceded by The Prince of Wales later became King George IV | President of the Foundling Hospital 1820–1827 | Succeeded by |
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