Henry Duke of Cumberland
1745 – 1790 · Generation XXXI · House of Hanover
Henry Duke of Cumberland (1745–1790). A younger brother of George III, born at Leicester House, he was created Duke of Cumberland and Strathearn in 1766. Scandal soon attached to him: in 1769, after he was caught with Lady Grosvenor, her husband sued him for adultery and was awarded £10,000. He came late to the navy, sailing for Corsica as a midshipman in 1768, and was a vice-admiral within two years, rising eventually to admiral of the White, though he was never permitted a command. In 1771 he married Anne Horton, a widow and daughter of Lord Irnham; the king thought the match unworthy, and his displeasure brought about the Royal Marriages Act of 1772, which required royal consent for the marriages of George II’s descendants. He founded the Cumberland Fleet, forerunner of the Royal Thames Yacht Club, helped make Brighton a fashionable resort, and died in London at forty-four.
Place in the family
- Henry Duke of Cumberland was a great-uncle of Queen Victoria.
- Henry Duke of Cumberland was the sixth of 9 children of Frederick Prince of Wales and Augusta of Saxe-Gotha recorded in this archive.
One of 35 people of House of Hanover (from 1700) in this archive. Called from Germany by the Act of Settlement; the Georges, then Victoria.
Line of descent: Owen Tudor → Edmund Tudor → King Henry VII → Margaret Tudor → King James V of Scotland → Mary Queen of Scots → King James I → Elizabeth Stuart → Sophia of Hanover → King George I → King George II → Frederick Prince of Wales → Henry Duke of Cumberland.
Parents
- Frederick Prince of Wales (1707 – 1751)
- Augusta of Saxe-Gotha (1719 – 1772)
Siblings
- Augusta of Great Britain (1737 – 1813)
- King George III (1738 – 1820)
- Edward Duke of York (1739 – 1767)
- Elizabeth of Great Britain (1741 – 1759)
- William Henry Duke of Gloucester (1743 – 1805)
- Louisa of Great Britain (1749 – 1768)
- Frederick of Great Britain (1750 – 1765)
- Caroline Matilda of Great Britain (1751 – 1775)