Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Henry Frederick (1745-1790)
HENRY FREDERICK, Duke of Cumberland and Strathearn (1745–1790), born 27 Oct. 1745, was fourth son of Frederick, prince of Wales, by Augusta, daughter of Frederick II, duke of Saxe-Gotha, and therefore grandson of George II and brother of George III. He was educated by his mother, who allowed him to mix with no sort of society save that of dependents, and when released from her control he became notorious for excesses. In 1765, on the death of his uncle, the well-known Duke of Cumberland, George III made Prince Henry ranger of Windsor Great Park; and when, in 1766, he attained his majority, he was created Duke of Cumberland and Strathearn and Earl of Dublin. In the year following he was nominated a privy councillor and K.G.
His life was always irregular. In 1770 his brothers had to assist him in finding 10,000l., which Richard Grosvenor, first earl Grosvenor [q. v.], recovered against, him for having criminal conversation with the Countess Grosvenor. In 1771 he completely alienated the king by marrying Anne, daughter of Lord Irnham (afterwards Earl of Carhampton) and widow of Andrew Horton of Catton in Derbyshire, clandestinely at the bride's house in Mayfair. Mrs. Horton was the sister of Lieutenant-colonel Luttrell, the opponent of Wilkes, and the notoriety of the affair induced Junius, if the letter signed 'Cumbriensis' be his, to congratulate the parties concerned in no very delicate terms. It is not absolutely certain that this marriage was the first he had contracted, as a lady named Olive Wilmot was alleged to be his wife, and a claim to the dignity of a princess was advanced in 1868 by an Olive Wilmot, a supposed descendant of the marriage, but the suit was not proceeded with. The Duke of Cumberland's marriage, combined with the sudden acknowledgment in 1772 by his brother, the Duke of Gloucester, that he had been married to the Dowager Countess of Waldegrave since 1766, led the king to plan the Royal Marriage Act, which was carried in 1772.
Cumberland, henceforth avoided by the king's friends, had to fall back upon the society of his wife's relations. His mother, when dying, wished to reconcile the brothers, but George III would not give way, and the duke, according to Walpole, was not allowed to see her. However, the duke's influence over the young Prince of Wales (afterwards George IV) was so marked that the king tried to become more intimate; but in 1781 he complained to the Duke of Gloucester that when he went hunting with the duke and the young prince, neither of them would speak to him. Cumberland died, without issue, 18 Sept. 1790, at Cumberland House, Pall Mall. His body lay in state and was buried in the royal vault in Henry VII's Chapel at Westminster. His widow lived until 1803, and was allowed by the king to keep Cumberland Lodge in Windsor Park until her death. Portraits of the duke and duchess by Gainsborough are in the dining-room at Buckingham Palace.
Although coarse and brutal in his everyday life, the Duke of Cumberland was not without taste. He was fond of music, and a patron of Mrs. Billington; after his death, both his collection of musical instruments and library were sold by auction.
[Last Journals of Horace Walpole, i. 16, 29, &c.; Walpole's Letters, v. 347 ; Foster's Peerage, 1882, vol. xcix.; Wraxall's Memoirs, iv. 321; Jesse's Memoirs of the Life and Reign of George III, passim; Papendick's Court and Private Life in the Time of Queen Charlotte, &c, ed. 1887. ii. 239, &c.; Letters of Junius, ed. Wade. ii. 387; Lecky's Hist. of Engl. in the Eighteenth Cent.; Macaulay's Essays, ed. 1880, p. 772; Jameson's Private Picture Galleries, p. 70; London Gazette. 1790, pp. 573, 593, 597; Era, 12 July 1868, p. 6.]