Frederick, _eleventh_ Duke of York, was brother of His Majesty King
George IV., and second son of his late Majesty King George III., by whom
he was advanced to the dignities of Duke of the Kingdom of Great
Britain, and of Earl of the Kingdom of Ireland, by the titles of Duke of
York and of Albany in Great Britain, and of Earl of Ulster in Ireland,
and presented to the Bishopric of Osnaburgh. His Royal Highness was
Commander-in-Chief of all the Land Forces of the United Kingdom, Colonel
of the First Regiment of Foot Guards, Colonel-in-chief of the 60th
Regiment of Infantry, Officiating Grand Master of the Order of the Bath,
High Steward of New Windsor, Warden and Keeper of the New Forest
Hampshire, Knight of the Garter, Knight of the Order of the Holy Ghost
in France, of the Black Eagle in Russia, the Red Eagle in Prussia, of
St. Maria Theresa in Austria, of Charles III. in Spain, Doctor of Civil
Law, and Fellow or the Royal Society.
The late duke of York was born on the 16th of August, 1763; he died on
the 5th of January, 1827. A few miscellaneous memoranda are extracted
from journals of the dates they refer to.
* * * * *
The duke of York was sent to Germany to finish his education. On the 1st
of August, 1787, his royal highness, after having been only five days on
the road from Hanover to Calais, embarked at that port, on board a
common packet-boat, for England, and arrived at Dover the same
afternoon. He was at St. James’s-palace the following day by half-past
twelve o’clock; and, on the arrival of the prince of Wales at
Carlton-house, he was visited by the duke, after an absence of four
years, which, far from cooling, had increased the affection of the royal
brothers.
* * * * *
On the 20th of December, in the same year, a grand masonic lodge was
held at the Star and Garter in Pall-mall. The duke of Cumberland as
grand-master, the prince of Wales, and the duke of York, were in the new
uniform of the Britannic-lodge, and the duke of York received another
degree in masonry; he had some time before been initiated in the first
mysteries of the brotherhood.
* * * * *
On the 5th of February, 1788, the duke of York appeared in the Court of
King’s Bench, and was sworn to give evidence before the grand jury of
Middlesex, on an indictment for fraud, in sending a letter to his royal
highness, purporting to be a letter from captain Morris, requesting the
loan of forty pounds. The grand jury found the indictment, and the
prisoner, whose name does not appear, was brought into court by the
keeper of Tothill-fields Bridewell, and pleaded not guilty, whereupon he
was remanded, and the indictment appointed to be tried in the sittings
after the following term; but there is no account of the trial having
been had.
* * * * *
In December of the same year, the duke ordered two hundred and sixty
sacks of coals to be distributed among the families of the married men
of his regiment, and the same to be continued during the severity of the
weather.
* * * * *
In 1788, pending the great question of the regency, it was contended on
that side of the House of Commons from whence extension of royal
prerogative was least expected, that from the moment parliament was made
acquainted with the king’s incapacity, a _right_ attached to the prince
of Wales to exercise the regal functions, in the name of his father. On
the 15th of December, the duke of York rose in the House of Lords, and a
profound silence ensued. His royal highness said, that though perfectly
unused as he was to speak in a public assembly, yet he could not refrain
from offering his sentiments to their lordships on a subject in which
the dearest interests of the country were involved. He said, he entirely
agreed with the noble lords who had expressed their wishes to avoid any
question which tended to induce a discussion on the rights of the
prince. The fact was plain, that no such claim of right had been made on
the part of the prince; and he was confident that his royal highness
understood too well the sacred principles which seated the house of
Brunswick on the throne of Great Britain, ever to assume or exercise any
power, _be his claim what it might_, not derived from the will of the
people, expressed by their representatives and their lordships in
parliament assembled. On this ground his royal highness said, that he
must be permitted to hope that the wisdom and moderation of all
considerate men, at a moment when temper and unanimity were so
peculiarly necessary, on account of the dreadful calamity which every
description of persons must in common lament, but which he more
particularly felt, would make them wish to avoid pressing a decision,
which certainly was not _necessary_ to the great object expected from
parliament, and which must be most painful in the discussion to a family
already sufficiently agitated and afflicted. His royal highness
concluded with saying, that these were the sentiments of an honest
heart, equally influenced by duty and affection to his royal father, and
attachment to the constitutional rights of his subjects; and that he was
confident, if his royal brother were to address them in his place as a
peer of the realm, that these were the sentiments which he would
distinctly avow.
* * * * *
His majesty in council having declared his consent, under the great
seal, to a contract of matrimony between his royal highness the duke of
York and her royal highness the princess Frederique Charlotte Ulrique
Catherine of Prussia, eldest daughter of the king of Prussia, on the
29th of September, 1791, the marriage ceremony was performed at Berlin.
About six o’clock in the afternoon, all the persons of the blood royal
assembled in gala, in the apartments of the dowager queen, where the
diamond crown was put on the head of princess Frederica. The generals,
ministers, ambassadors, and the high nobility, assembled in the white
hall. At seven o’clock, the duke of York, preceded by the gentlemen of
the chamber, and the court officers of state, led the princess his
spouse, whose train was carried by four ladies of the court, through all
the parade apartments; after them went the king, with the queen dowager,
prince Lewis of Prussia, with the reigning queen, and others of the
royal family to the white hall, where a canopy was erected of crimson
velvet, and also a crimson velvet sofa for the marriage ceremony. The
royal couple placed themselves under the canopy, before the sofa, the
royal family stood round them, and the upper counsellor of the
consistory, Mr. Sack, made a speech in German. This being over, rings
were exchanged; and the illustrious couple, kneeling on the sofa, were
married according to the rites of the reformed church. The whole ended
with a prayer. Twelve guns, placed in the garden, fired three rounds,
and the benediction was given. The new-married couple then received the
congratulations of the royal family, and returned in the same manner to
the apartments, where the royal family, and all persons present, sat
down to card-tables; after which, the whole court, the high nobility,
and the ambassadors, sat down to supper, at six tables. The first was
placed under a canopy of crimson velvet, and the victuals served in gold
dishes and plates. The other five tables, at which sat the generals,
ministers, ambassadors, all the officers of the court, and the high
nobility, were served in other apartments.
During supper, music continued playing in the galleries of the first
hall, which immediately began when the company entered the hall. At the
dessert, the royal table was served with a beautiful set of china, made
in the Berlin manufactory. Supper being over, the whole assembly
repaired to the white hall, where the trumpet, timbrel, and other music
were playing; and the _flambeau_ dance was begun, at which the ministers
of state carried the torches. With this ended the festivity. The
ceremony of the re-marriage of the duke and duchess of York took place
at the Queen’s Palace, London, on the 23d of November.
The duchess of York died on the 6th of August, 1820.