Ancestral Trails 2016 » Adolphus Friedrich of CAMBRIDGE (1774-1850)

Personal data Adolphus Friedrich of CAMBRIDGE 

• He was born on February 24, 1774 in Buckingham House, The Mall, Westminster, Middlesex.
• Title: 1st Duke of Cambridge, Viceroy of Hanover
• (Ancestry) : House of Hanover.
• He died on July 8, 1850 in Cambridge House, Piccadilly, Westminster, Middlesex, he was 76 years old.
• He is buried on January 10, 1930 in St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, Windsor, Berkshire.
• A child of George III William Frederick von HANOVER and Sophie Charlotte von MECKLENBURG-STRELITZ

Household of Adolphus Friedrich of CAMBRIDGE

He is married to Augusta Wilhelmine Luise von HESSE-KASSEL.

They got married on June 1, 1818 at Buckingham Palace, The Mall, London, Middlesex, he was 44 years old.

Child(ren):

1. Mary Adelaide Wilhelmina Elizabeth of CAMBRIDGE  1833-1897 

• The couple has common ancestors.



Notes about Adolphus Friedrich of CAMBRIDGE

The Prince Adolphus, 1st Duke of Cambridge, KG, GCB, GCMG, GCH, PC (Adolphus Frederick; 24 February 1774 - 8 July 1850) was the 10th child and 7th son of George III and Queen Charlotte. He held the title of Duke of Cambridge from 1801 until his death. He also served as Viceroy of Hanover on behalf of his brothers George IV and William IV. He was the great-great-grandfather of the current monarch, Elizabeth II.

Prince Adolphus was born in February 1774 at Buckingham House, then known as the "Queen's House", in the City and Liberty of Westminster, now within Greater London. He was the youngest son of George and Charlotte to survive childhood.

On 24 March 1774, the young prince was christened in the Great Council Chamber at St James's Palace by Frederick Cornwallis, Archbishop of Canterbury. His godparents were Prince John Adolphus of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (his great-uncle, for whom the Earl of Hertford, Lord Chamberlain, stood proxy), Landgrave Charles of Hesse-Kassel (his first cousin once-removed, for whom the Earl of Jersey, Extra Lord of the Bedchamber, stood proxy) and Princess Wilhelmina of Orange (the wife of his first cousin once-removed, for whom Elizabeth Howard, Dowager Countess of Effingham, former Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Charlotte, stood proxy).[2]

He was tutored at home until summer 1786, when he was sent to the University of Göttingen in Germany, along with his brothers Prince Ernest (created Duke of Cumberland in 1799) and Prince Augustus (created Duke of Sussex in 1801).

He was made honorary Colonel-in-Chief of the Hanoverian Guard Foot Regiment 1789-1803, but his military training began in 1791, when he and Prince Ernest went to Hanover to study under the supervision of the Hanoverian commander Field Marshal Wilhelm von Freytag. He remained on Freytag's staff during the Flanders Campaign in 1793. His first taste of action was at Famars on 23 May. He was wounded and captured at the Battle of Hondschoote 6 September, but was quickly rescued. As a Hanovarian General-Major, he commanded a Hessian brigade under his paternal great-uncle, General Johann Ludwig von Wallmoden-Gimborn in Autumn 1794, then commanded the Hanovarian Guards during the retreat through Holland. Remaining in Germany, he commanded a brigade of the Corps of Observation, 22 October 1796 - 12 January 1798. He was made a British army colonel in 1794, and lieutenant general 24 August 1798. In 1800 - stationed in the Electorate of Hanover - he attended the founding of a village (part of the settlement of the moorlands north of Bremen), which was named for him: Adolphsdorf (since 1974 a component locality of Grasberg).

During the War of the Second Coalition against France (1799-1802), he traveled to Berlin in 1801, in order to prevent the impending Prussian occupation of the Electorate. France demanded it, as it was stipulated in the Peace of Basel (1795), obliging Prussia to ensure the Holy Roman Empire's neutrality in all the latter's territories north of the demarcation line at the river Main, including Hanover. Regular Hanoverian troops, therefore, had been commandeered to join the multilateral so-called "Demarcation Army." His efforts were in vain. In 1803, he was senior army commander, and replaced Wallmoden as commander on the Weser on 1 June. With the advance of French forces on one side and 24,000 Prussian soldiers on the other, the situation was hopeless. Cambridge refused to become involved in discussions of capitulation, handed over his command to Hammerstein (Ompteda claims he was forced to resign), and withdrew to England. A plan to recruit additional soldiers in Hanover to be commanded by the Prince had also failed.

In 1803, he was appointed as commander-in-chief of the newly founded King's German Legion, and in 1813, he became field marshal. George III appointed Prince Adolphus a Knight of the Garter on 6 June 1786, and created him Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Tipperary, and Baron Culloden on 17 November 1801.

The Duke served as colonel-in-chief of the Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards (Coldstream Guards after 1855) from September 1805, and as colonel-in-chief of the 60th (The Duke of York's Own Rifle Corps) Regiment of Foot from January 1824. After the collapse of Napoleon's empire, he was Military Governor of Hanover from 4 November 1813 - 24 October 1816, then Governor General of Hanover from 24 October 1816 - 20 June 1837 (viceroy from 22 February 1831). He was made Field Marshal 26 November 1813. While he was Viceroy, the Duke became patron of the Cambridge-Dragoner ("Cambridge Dragoons") Regiment of the Hanoverian army. This regiment was stationed in Celle, and their barracks, the Cambridge-Dragoner Kaserne, were used by the Bundeswehr until 1995. The "March of the Hannoversches Cambridge-Dragoner-Regiment" is part of the Bundeswehr's traditional music repertoire.

Marriage
After the death of Princess Charlotte in 1817, the Duke was set the task of finding a bride for his eldest unmarried brother, the Duke of Clarence (later William IV), in the hope of securing heirs to the throne-Charlotte had been the only legitimate grandchild of George III, despite the fact that the King had twelve surviving children. After several false starts, the Duke of Clarence settled on Princess Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen. The way was cleared for the Duke of Cambridge to find a bride for himself.

The Duke of Cambridge was married first at Kassel, Hesse on 7 May and then at Buckingham Palace on 1 June 1818 to his second cousin Augusta (25 July 1797 - 6 April 1889), the third daughter of Prince Frederick of Hesse.

He was, as is shown in the list of issue below, the maternal grandfather of Mary of Teck, consort of George V. Thus Adolphus was the great-great-grandfather of the present British monarch, Elizabeth II.

From 1816 to 1837, the Duke of Cambridge served as viceroy of the Kingdom of Hanover on behalf of his elder brothers, George IV and later William IV. When his niece, Queen Victoria succeeded to the British throne on 20 June 1837, the 22-year union of the crowns the United Kingdom and Hanover ended, due to Hanover being under Salic Law. The Duke of Cumberland became King Ernest Augustus I of Hanover and the Duke of Cambridge returned to Britain.

The Duke of Cambridge died on 8 July 1850 at Cambridge House, Piccadilly, London, and was buried at St Anne's Church, Kew. His remains were later removed to St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. His only son, Prince George, succeeded to his peerages.

Issue
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge had three children:

Prince George, Duke of Cambridge 26 March 1819-17 March 1904 married 1847, Sarah Louisa Fairbrother; had issue (this marriage was contracted in contravention of the Royal Marriages Act and was not recognized in law).
Princess Augusta of Cambridge 19 July 1822-4 December 1916 married 1843, Friedrich Wilhelm, Grand Duke of Mecklenberg-Strelitz; had issue
Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge 27 November 1833-27 October 1897 married 1866, Francis, Duke of Teck; had issue, including Mary of Teck, later Queen consort of the United Kingdom.
SOURCE: Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Adolphus,_Duke_of_Cambridge


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Timeline Adolphus Friedrich of CAMBRIDGE

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