William IV of the United Kingdom

a short summary from Wikipedia:

William IV

King of the United Kingdom

Reign: 26 June 1830 – 20 June 1837

Coronation: 8 September 1831

Predecessor: George IV

Successor: Victoria

King of Hanover:

Reign: 26 June 1830 – 20 June 1837

Predecessor: George IV

Successor: Ernest Augustus I

Consort: Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen

Issue:

Legitimate:

Princess Charlotte Augusta Louisa

Princess Elizabeth Georgiana Adelaide

Illegitimate:

George FitzClarence, Earl of Munster

Henry FitzClarence

Sophia Sidney, Baroness De L'Isle and Dudley

Lady Mary Fox

Lord Frederick FitzClarence

Elizabeth Hay, Countess of Erroll

Lord Adolphus FitzClarence

Lady Augusta Gordon

Lord Augustus FitzClarence

Amelia Cary, Viscountess Falkland

Full name:

William Henry

House: House of Hanover

Father: George III

Mother: Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

Born: 21 August 1765

Buckingham House, London

Died: 20 June 1837 (aged 71)

Windsor Castle, Berkshire

Burial: 8 July 1837

St George's Chapel, Windsor

Occupation: Military (Naval)

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"William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death. William, the third son of George III and younger brother and successor to George IV, was the last king and penultimate monarch of Britain's House of Hanover.

He served in the Royal Navy in his youth and was, both during his reign and afterwards, nicknamed the "Sailor King".[1][2] He served in North America and the Caribbean, but saw little actual fighting. Since his two older brothers died without leaving legitimate issue, he inherited the throne when he was 64 years old. His reign saw several reforms: the poor law was updated, child labour restricted, slavery abolished in nearly all the British Empire, and the British electoral system refashioned by the Reform Act 1832. Though William did not engage in politics as much as his brother or his father, he was the last monarch to appoint a Prime Minister contrary to the will of Parliament. Through his brother, the Viceroy of Hanover, he granted that kingdom a short-lived liberal constitution.

At the time of his death, William had no surviving legitimate children but he was survived by eight of the ten illegitimate children he had by the actress Dorothea Jordan, with whom he cohabited for 20 years. William was succeeded in the United Kingdom by his niece, Victoria, and in Hanover by his brother, Ernest Augustus I."

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other links:

http://www.britroyals.com/kings.asp?id=william4

http://www.englishmonarchs.co.uk/hanover_5.htm

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=1984

http://www.nndb.com/people/387/000093108/

http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/printable/29451

http://thepeerage.com/p10085.htm#i100850

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Citations / Sources:

[S4] C.F.J. Hankinson, editor, DeBretts Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage and Companionage, 147th year (London, U.K.: Odhams Press, 1949), page 22. Hereinafter cited as DeBretts Peerage, 1949.

[S5] Dulcie M. Ashdown, Victoria and the Coburgs (London, U.K.: Robert Hale, 1981), page 67. Hereinafter cited as Victoria and the Coburgs.

[S6] G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910-1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume III, page 261, volume IX, page 463. Hereinafter cited as The Complete Peerage.

[S11] Alison Weir, Britain's Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy (London, U.K.: The Bodley Head, 1999), pages 302-304. Hereinafter cited as Britain's Royal Families.

[S18] Matthew H.C.G., editor, Dictionary of National Biography on CD-ROM (Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press, 1995), reference "William IV, 1765-1837". Hereinafter cited as Dictionary of National Biography.

[S21] L. G. Pine, The New Extinct Peerage 1884-1971: Containing Extinct, Abeyant, Dormant and Suspended Peerages With Genealogies and Arms (London, U.K.: Heraldry Today, 1972), page 153. Hereinafter cited as The New Extinct Peerage.