William IV, king of Great Britain and Ireland

William IV, 1765–1837, king of Great Britain and Ireland (1830–37), third son of George III. He went to sea in 1779, served under Admiral George Rodney in action off Cape St. Vincent (1780), and by 1786 was a captain. William became duke of Clarence in 1789 and was advanced by 1799 to the rank of admiral, but he saw little active service after 1790. Meanwhile in the House of Lords he opposed the antislavery movement and supported the extravagances of his oldest brother (later George IV). About 1791 he formed a liaison with Mrs. Jordan, an actress, with whom he lived for over 20 years. He married (1818) Adelaide, daughter of the duke of Saxe-Meiningen, and on the death (1827) of the duke of York, second son of George III, he became heir presumptive to the throne. Made lord high admiral in 1827, he tried to run naval affairs without his council, contrary to law, and was forced to resign (1828). In 1830 he succeeded George IV as king. His most important public act was his promise, given most reluctantly, to the 2d Earl Grey Grey, Charles Grey, 2d Earl, 1764–1845, British statesman. Elected to Parliament in 1786, he was one of those appointed to manage the impeachment of Warren Hastings .
..... Click the link for more information. that he would, if necessary, create enough Whig peers to pass the Reform Bill of 1832 (see under Reform Acts Reform Act of 1832, enacted under the Whig administration of the 2d Earl Grey , redistributed seats in the interest of larger communities; it also extended the franchise in the boroughs to those who occupied premises of an annual value of £10 and in the counties to similar
..... Click the link for more information. ). This bill and such reforms as the education act, the new poor law, the municipal corporations act, and the abolition of slavery in the empire marked his reign, but he maintained the generally passive attitude toward politics formed during his many years as younger son and later younger brother of the king. Political leadership was left to the duke of Wellington Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, 1st duke of, 1769–1852, British soldier and statesman.

Military Achievements

..... Click the link for more information. , Earl Grey, Viscount Melbourne Lady Caroline Lamb, 1785–1828, was clever and beautiful, but also eccentric, impulsive, and indiscreet. She is remembered less for the minor novels that she wrote than for her love affair with Lord Byron . Lady Caroline and her husband separated in 1825.
..... Click the link for more information. , and Sir Robert Peel Peel, Sir Robert, 1788–1850, British statesman. The son of a rich cotton manufacturer, whose baronetcy he inherited in 1830, Peel entered Parliament as a Tory in 1809.
..... Click the link for more information. . Good-natured but eccentric and given to ill-considered public utterances, William was only moderately popular. He was succeeded by his niece, Victoria.

Bibliography

See biographies by W. G. Allen (1960) and P. Ziegler (1971).

William IV

(born Aug. 21, 1765, London, Eng.—died June 20, 1837, Windsor Castle, near London) King of Great Britain and Ireland and of Hanover (1830–37). The son of George III, he entered the royal navy at age 13, fought in the American Revolution, and served in the West Indies, leaving the navy as a rear admiral in 1790 (he was later called “the Sailor King”). He angered his father by his numerous love affairs and fathered 10 illegitimate children by the actress Dorothea Jordan (1761–1816). In 1830 he succeeded his brother George IV as king. Opposed to parliamentary reform, William delayed consideration of the Reform Bill of 1832, but his prime minister, Earl Grey, persuaded him to promise to create enough peers in the House of Lords to carry it, forcing its passage. On William's death, the British crown passed to his niece, Victoria, and the Hanoverian crown to his brother Ernest Augustus, duke of Cumberland (1771–1851).

William IV

known as the Sailor King. 1765--1837, king of the United Kingdom and of Hanover (1830--37), succeeding his brother George IV; the third son of George III