125-556: The Royal Scottish Forestry Society was founded in 1854 as the Scottish Arboricultural Society . In 1869, the society received the patronage of Queen Victoria and the "Royal" prefix was added in 1887. The name changed to the current one in 1930. In addition to advising the forestry industry, the RSFS manages its own woodland, Cashel Forest at Cashel, near Milarrochy Bay on the east shore of Loch Lomond . The RSFS purchased
250-533: A Husband ! ... to be called by names of tenderness, I have never yet heard used to me before—was bliss beyond belief! Oh! This was the happiest day of my life! Albert became an important political adviser as well as the Queen's companion, replacing Melbourne as the dominant influential figure in the first half of her life. Victoria's mother was evicted from the palace, to Ingestre House in Belgrave Square . After
375-401: A civil list allowance of £385,000 per year. Financially prudent, she paid off her father's debts. At the start of her reign Victoria was popular, but her reputation suffered in an 1839 court intrigue when one of her mother's ladies-in-waiting, Lady Flora Hastings , developed an abdominal growth that was widely rumoured to be an out-of-wedlock pregnancy by Sir John Conroy. Victoria believed
500-558: A Life in the Highlands , a sequel to her earlier book, which she dedicated to her "devoted personal attendant and faithful friend John Brown". On the day after the first anniversary of Brown's death, Victoria was informed by telegram that her youngest son, Leopold, had died in Cannes . He was "the dearest of my dear sons", she lamented. The following month, Victoria's youngest child, Beatrice, met and fell in love with Prince Henry of Battenberg at
625-530: A bedroom with her mother every night, studied with private tutors to a regular timetable, and spent her play-hours with her dolls and her King Charles Spaniel , Dash . Her lessons included French, German, Italian, and Latin, but she spoke only English at home. In 1830, the Duchess and Conroy took Victoria across the centre of England to visit the Malvern Hills , stopping at towns and great country houses along
750-473: A bill granting Ireland home rule , but to Victoria's glee it was defeated. In the ensuing election , Gladstone's party lost to Salisbury's and the government switched hands again. In 1887, the British Empire celebrated Victoria's Golden Jubilee . She marked the fiftieth anniversary of her accession on 20 June with a banquet to which 50 kings and princes were invited. The following day, she participated in
875-540: A bomb made in England. The ensuing diplomatic crisis destabilised the government, and Palmerston resigned. Derby was reinstated as prime minister. Victoria and Albert attended the opening of a new basin at the French military port of Cherbourg on 5 August 1858, in an attempt by Napoleon III to reassure Britain that his military preparations were directed elsewhere. On her return Victoria wrote to Derby reprimanding him for
1000-699: A brief ministry led by Russell, Derby returned to power. In 1866, Victoria attended the State Opening of Parliament for the first time since Albert's death. The following year she supported the passing of the Reform Act 1867 which doubled the electorate by extending the franchise to many urban working men, though she was not in favour of votes for women. Derby resigned in 1868, to be replaced by Benjamin Disraeli , who charmed Victoria. "Everyone likes flattery," he said, "and when you come to royalty you should lay it on with
1125-531: A charity sermon preached by a Dr Crane before the Duke of Kent" , wrote Adams in a diary entry from August 1815. Following the birth of Princess Victoria in May 1819, the Duke and Duchess, concerned to manage the Duke's great debts, sought to find a place where they could live inexpensively. After the coast of Devon was recommended to them they leased from a General Baynes, intending to remain incognito , Woolbrook Cottage on
1250-418: A consolation for the ending of his active military career when he was 35, he was promoted to the rank of field marshal and appointed Ranger of Hampton Court Park on 5 September 1805. This office provided him with a residence now known as The Pavilion. (His sailor brother, William , with children to provide for, had been made Ranger of Bushy Park in 1797.) The Duke continued to serve as honorary colonel of
1375-452: A crisis involving the repeal of the Corn Laws . Many Tories—by then known also as Conservatives —were opposed to the repeal, but Peel, some Tories (the free-trade oriented liberal conservative " Peelites "), most Whigs and Victoria supported it. Peel resigned in 1846, after the repeal narrowly passed, and was replaced by Lord John Russell . Internationally, Victoria took a keen interest in
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#17330858937311500-695: A formal engagement, but assumed that the match would take place in due time. Victoria turned 18 on 24 May 1837, and a regency was avoided. Less than a month later, on 20 June 1837, William IV died at the age of 71, and Victoria became Queen of the United Kingdom. In her diary she wrote, "I was awoke at 6 o'clock by Mamma, who told me the Archbishop of Canterbury and Lord Conyngham were here and wished to see me. I got out of bed and went into my sitting-room (only in my dressing gown) and alone , and saw them. Lord Conyngham then acquainted me that my poor Uncle,
1625-476: A grand service of thanksgiving in St Paul's Cathedral on 27 February 1872, and republican feeling subsided. On the last day of February 1872, two days after the thanksgiving service, 17-year-old Arthur O'Connor, a great-nephew of Irish MP Feargus O'Connor , waved an unloaded pistol at Victoria's open carriage just after she had arrived at Buckingham Palace. Brown, who was attending the Queen, grabbed him and O'Connor
1750-582: A mason in L'Union , the most important Genevan masonic lodge in the 19th century. In 1789, he was appointed colonel of the 7th Regiment of Foot (Royal Fusiliers) . In 1790, he returned home without leave and, in disgrace, was sent off to Gibraltar as an ordinary officer. He was joined from Marseilles by his mistress Madame de Saint-Laurent . Due to the extreme Mediterranean heat, Edward requested to be transferred to present-day Canada , specifically Quebec , in 1791. Edward arrived in Canada in time to witness
1875-402: A memorial tablet "placed by his grateful Sovereign and Friend, Victoria R.I." On 2 March 1882, Roderick Maclean , a disgruntled poet apparently offended by Victoria's refusal to accept one of his poems, shot at the Queen as her carriage left Windsor railway station . Gordon Chesney Wilson and another schoolboy from Eton College struck him with their umbrellas, until he was hustled away by
2000-469: A month after Leopold's birth Albert complained in a letter to Victoria about her "continuance of hysterics" over a "miserable trifle". In early 1855, the government of Lord Aberdeen , who had replaced Derby, fell amidst recriminations over the poor management of British troops in the Crimean War . Victoria approached both Derby and Russell to form a ministry, but neither had sufficient support, and Victoria
2125-432: A pistol at the Queen, but it was loaded only with paper and tobacco and had too little charge. Edward Oxford felt that the attempts were encouraged by his acquittal in 1840. Bean was sentenced to 18 months in jail. In a similar attack in 1849, unemployed Irishman William Hamilton fired a powder-filled pistol at Victoria's carriage as it passed along Constitution Hill, London . In 1850, the Queen did sustain injury when she
2250-450: A policeman. Victoria was outraged when he was found not guilty by reason of insanity, but was so pleased by the many expressions of loyalty after the attack that she said it was "worth being shot at—to see how much one is loved". On 17 March 1883, Victoria fell down some stairs at Windsor, which left her lame until July; she never fully recovered and was plagued with rheumatism thereafter. John Brown died 10 days after her accident, and to
2375-620: A polling station in Charlesbourg on 27 June 1792. In the 21st century, he has been styled the "Father of the Canadian Crown" for his contribution to the development of Canada. Edward was also the first British prince to enter the United States since the recognition of American independence in 1783, travelling to Boston on foot from Lower Canada in 1794. Prince Edward was born on 2 November 1767 to King George III and Queen Charlotte . He
2500-469: A private estate on the Isle of Wight that they had purchased in 1845 and redeveloped. Demonstrations by Chartists and Irish nationalists failed to attract widespread support, and the scare died down without any major disturbances. Victoria's first visit to Ireland in 1849 was a public relations success, but it had no lasting impact or effect on the growth of Irish nationalism. Russell's ministry, though Whig,
2625-559: A procession and attended a thanksgiving service in Westminster Abbey . By this time, Victoria was once again extremely popular. Two days later on 23 June, she engaged two Indian Muslims as waiters, one of whom was Abdul Karim . He was soon promoted to " Munshi ": teaching her Urdu and acting as a clerk. Her family and retainers were appalled, and accused Abdul Karim of spying for the Muslim Patriotic League, and biasing
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#17330858937312750-536: A question of the expediency of comprehending the two small islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence with Nova Scotia. Believe me ever to remain, With the most friendly regard, My dear Sewell, Yours faithfully, EDWARD In January 1813, Prince Edward's brother, Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex (sixth son of King George III ), became Grand Master of the Premier Grand Lodge of England (aka "The Moderns") on
2875-420: A relatively balanced view of the conflict, and condemned atrocities on both sides. She wrote of "her feelings of horror and regret at the result of this bloody civil war", and insisted, urged on by Albert, that an official proclamation announcing the transfer of power from the company to the state "should breathe feelings of generosity, benevolence and religious toleration". At her behest, a reference threatening
3000-458: A scientific organization is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days—which was longer than those of any of her predecessors —constituted the Victorian era . It
3125-543: A teenager, Victoria resisted persistent attempts by her mother and Conroy to appoint him to her staff. Once queen, she banned him from her presence, but he remained in her mother's household. By 1836, Victoria's maternal uncle Leopold, who had been King of the Belgians since 1831, hoped to marry her to Prince Albert , the son of his brother Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha . Leopold arranged for Victoria's mother to invite her Coburg relatives to visit her in May 1836, with
3250-494: A trowel." With the phrase "we authors, Ma'am", he complimented her. Disraeli's ministry only lasted a matter of months, and at the end of the year his Liberal rival, William Ewart Gladstone , was appointed prime minister. Victoria found Gladstone's demeanour far less appealing; he spoke to her, she is thought to have complained, as though she were "a public meeting rather than a woman". In 1870 republican sentiment in Britain, fed by
3375-674: A year later, the Princess gave birth to the Queen's first grandchild, Wilhelm , who would become the last German emperor. In March 1861, Victoria's mother died, with Victoria at her side. Through reading her mother's papers, Victoria discovered that her mother had loved her deeply; she was heart-broken, and blamed Conroy and Lehzen for "wickedly" estranging her from her mother. To relieve his wife during her intense and deep grief, Albert took on most of her duties, despite being ill himself with chronic stomach trouble. In August, Victoria and Albert visited their son, Albert Edward, Prince of Wales , who
3500-401: Is so remarkable that no consideration has ever induced him to swerve from a promise he has once given. To these good qualities his Royal Highness united a most benevolent disposition; and amidst all his pecuniary embarrassments he has invariably set apart 500l. a year of his income for the relief of private indigence and distress—throughout all British America he was so universally beloved, that
3625-468: The 1st Regiment of Foot (the Royal Scots) until his death. Though it was a tendency shared to some extent with his brothers, the Duke's excesses as a military disciplinarian may have been due less to natural disposition and more to what he had learned from his tutor Baron Wangenheim. Certainly Wangenheim, by keeping his allowance very small, accustomed Edward to borrowing at an early age. The Duke applied
3750-631: The British Relief Association , more than any other individual famine relief donor, and supported the Maynooth Grant to a Roman Catholic seminary in Ireland, despite Protestant opposition. The story that she donated only £5 in aid to the Irish, and on the same day gave the same amount to Battersea Dogs Home , was a myth generated towards the end of the 19th century. By 1846, Peel's ministry faced
3875-633: The Charlottetown and Quebec Conferences (1864). Edward's 1814 letter to Sewell: My dear Sewell, I have had this day the pleasure of receiving your note of yesterday with its interesting enclosure. Nothing can be better arranged than the whole thing is or more perfectly, and when I see an opening it is fully my intention to point the matter out to Lord Bathurst and put the paper in his hands, without however telling him from whom I have it, though I shall urge him to have some conversation with you relative to it. Permit me, however, just to ask you whether it
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4000-770: The Earl of Huntingdon , Groom of the Stole , stood proxy), the Hereditary Princess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (his paternal aunt, who was represented by a proxy) and the Landgravine of Hesse-Kassel (his paternal grandfather's sister, for whom Elizabeth, Marchioness of Lorne , Lady of the Bedchamber to the Queen, stood proxy). The Prince began his military training in the Electorate of Hanover in 1785. King George III intended to send him to
4125-543: The Field of the Cloth of Gold in 1520. When Louis Philippe made a reciprocal trip in 1844, he became the first French king to visit a British sovereign. Louis Philippe was deposed in the revolutions of 1848 , and fled to exile in England. At the height of a revolutionary scare in the United Kingdom in April 1848, Victoria and her family left London for the greater safety of Osborne House ,
4250-531: The Great Exhibition ) and Napoleon I 's tomb at Les Invalides (to which his remains had only been returned in 1840), and were guests of honour at a 1,200-guest ball at the Palace of Versailles . This marked the first time that a reigning British monarch had been to Paris in over 400 years. On 14 January 1858, an Italian refugee from Britain called Felice Orsini attempted to assassinate Napoleon III with
4375-525: The Hamoaze and set off immediately for Weymouth to pay his respects to their Majesties. While we rejoice in his safe arrival we cannot but regret that ill health should again have been the cause of his Royal Highness's return to this country, especially when we reflect on the motives which induced him to quit England. Before his Royal Highness was created Duke of Kent with a suitable income, he had incurred some debts. On his returning to England on finding that he
4500-616: The University of Göttingen , but decided against it upon the advice of the Duke of York . Instead, Edward went to Lüneburg and later Hanover , accompanied by his German tutor, Lieutenant Colonel George von Wangenheim, Baron Wangenheim . On 30 May 1786, he was appointed a brevet colonel in the British Army. From 1788 to 1789, he completed his education in Geneva . On 5 August 1789, aged 22, he became
4625-458: The abolition of slavery . The Queen commissioned a Tory, Robert Peel , to form a new ministry. At the time, it was customary for the prime minister to appoint members of the Royal Household , who were usually his political allies and their spouses. Many of the Queen's ladies of the bedchamber were wives of Whigs, and Peel expected to replace them with wives of Tories. In what became known as
4750-642: The presbyterian Church of Scotland than the episcopal Church of England . Disraeli also pushed the Royal Titles Act 1876 through Parliament, so that Victoria took the title "Empress of India" from 1 May 1876. The new title was proclaimed at the Delhi Durbar of 1 January 1877. On 14 December 1878, the anniversary of Albert's death, Victoria's second daughter Alice, who had married Louis of Hesse , died of diphtheria in Darmstadt . Victoria noted
4875-535: The " bedchamber crisis ", Victoria, advised by Melbourne, objected to their removal. Peel refused to govern under the restrictions imposed by the Queen, and consequently resigned his commission, allowing Melbourne to return to office. Though Victoria was now queen, as an unmarried young woman she was required by social convention to live with her mother, despite their differences over the Kensington System and her mother's continued reliance on Conroy. The Duchess
5000-535: The "undermining of native religions and customs" was replaced by a passage guaranteeing religious freedom. In the 1874 general election , Disraeli was returned to power. He passed the Public Worship Regulation Act 1874 , which removed Catholic rituals from the Anglican liturgy and which Victoria strongly supported. She preferred short, simple services, and personally considered herself more aligned with
5125-540: The 27-year relationship between Edward Augustus and Madame de Saint-Laurent; although many Canadian families and individuals (including the Nova Scotian soldier Sir William Fenwick Williams , 1st Baronet), have claimed descent from them. Such claims can now be discounted in light of this research. While Prince Edward lived in Quebec (1791–93) he met with Jonathan Sewell , an immigrant American Loyalist who played trumpet in
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5250-478: The British Empire as civilising and benign, protecting native peoples from more aggressive powers or cruel rulers: "It is not in our custom to annexe countries", she said, "unless we are obliged & forced to do so." To Victoria's dismay, Disraeli lost the 1880 general election , and Gladstone returned as prime minister. When Disraeli died the following year, she was blinded by "fast falling tears", and erected
5375-459: The Duchess and her ambitious and domineering comptroller , Sir John Conroy , who was rumoured to be the Duchess's lover. The system prevented the princess from meeting people whom her mother and Conroy deemed undesirable (including most of her father's family), and was designed to render her weak and dependent upon them. The Duchess avoided the court because she was scandalised by the presence of King William's illegitimate children. Victoria shared
5500-512: The Duke of Kent married Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld , a widowed German princess with two children— Carl (1804–1856) and Feodora (1807–1872)—by her first marriage to Emich Carl, 2nd Prince of Leiningen . Her brother Leopold was Princess Charlotte's widower and later the first king of Belgium . The Duke and Duchess of Kent's only child, Victoria was born at 4:15 a.m. on Monday 24 May 1819 at Kensington Palace in London. Victoria
5625-450: The Duke of York , then Commander-in-Chief of the Forces , recalled him in May 1803 after receiving reports of the mutiny, but despite this direct order he refused to return to England until his successor arrived. He was refused permission to return to Gibraltar for an inquiry and, although allowed to continue to hold the governorship of Gibraltar until his death, he was forbidden to return. As
5750-509: The Duke took up with " Madame de Saint-Laurent " (born Thérèse-Bernardine Montgenet), the wife of a French colonel. She went with him to Canada in 1791, where she was known as "Julie de Saint-Laurent". She accompanied the Duke for the next 28 years, until his marriage in 1818. The portrait of the Duke by Beechey was hers. Mollie Gillen , who was granted access to the Royal Archive at Windsor Castle , established that no children were born of
5875-638: The Hanoverian succession. While Victoria inherited the British throne, her father's unpopular younger brother, Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland , became King of Hanover . He was Victoria's heir presumptive until she had a child. At the time of Victoria's accession, the government was led by the Whig prime minister Lord Melbourne . He at once became a powerful influence on the politically inexperienced monarch, who relied on him for advice. Charles Greville supposed that
6000-502: The King, was no more, and had expired at 12 minutes past 2 this morning, and consequently that I am Queen ." Official documents prepared on the first day of her reign described her as Alexandrina Victoria, but the first name was withdrawn at her own wish and not used again. Since 1714, Britain had shared a monarch with Hanover in Germany, but under Salic law , women were excluded from
6125-686: The Prince's regimental band. Sewell would rise in Lower Canadian government to hold such offices as Attorney General, Chief Justice, and Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. In 1814, Sewell forwarded to the Duke a copy of his report "A plan for the federal union of British provinces in North America." The Duke supported Sewell's plan to unify the colonies, offering comments and critiques that would later be cited by Lord Durham (1839) and participants of
6250-600: The Queen against the Hindus. Equerry Frederick Ponsonby (the son of Sir Henry) discovered that the Munshi had lied about his parentage, and reported to Lord Elgin , Viceroy of India , "the Munshi occupies very much the same position as John Brown used to do." Victoria dismissed their complaints as racial prejudice. Abdul Karim remained in her service until he returned to India with a pension, on her death. Victoria's eldest daughter became empress consort of Germany in 1888, but she
6375-582: The Queen as "Mrs. Brown". The story of their relationship was the subject of the 1997 movie Mrs. Brown . A painting by Sir Edwin Henry Landseer depicting the Queen with Brown was exhibited at the Royal Academy , and Victoria published a book, Leaves from the Journal of Our Life in the Highlands , which featured Brown prominently and in which the Queen praised him highly. Palmerston died in 1865, and after
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#17330858937316500-555: The Queen in the spreading of false rumours about Lady Flora. When Lady Flora died in July, the post-mortem revealed a large tumour on her liver that had distended her abdomen. At public appearances, Victoria was hissed and jeered as "Mrs. Melbourne". In 1839, Melbourne resigned after Radicals and Tories (both of whom Victoria detested) voted against a bill to suspend the constitution of Jamaica . The bill removed political power from plantation owners who were resisting measures associated with
6625-761: The Queen proposed to him on 15 October 1839, just five days after he had arrived at Windsor . They were married on 10 February 1840, in the Chapel Royal of St James's Palace , London. Victoria was love-struck. She spent the evening after their wedding lying down with a headache, but wrote ecstatically in her diary: I NEVER, NEVER spent such an evening!!! MY DEAREST DEAREST DEAR Albert ... his excessive love & affection gave me feelings of heavenly love & happiness I never could have hoped to have felt before! He clasped me in his arms, & we kissed each other again & again! His beauty, his sweetness & gentleness—really how can I ever be thankful enough to have such
6750-528: The Queen's seclusion, was boosted after the establishment of the Third French Republic . A republican rally in Trafalgar Square demanded Victoria's removal, and Radical MPs spoke against her. In August and September 1871, she was seriously ill with an abscess in her arm, which Joseph Lister successfully lanced and treated with his new antiseptic carbolic acid spray. In late November 1871, at
6875-539: The aid of the new anaesthetic, chloroform . She was so impressed by the relief it gave from the pain of childbirth that she used it again in 1857 at the birth of her ninth and final child, Beatrice, despite opposition from members of the clergy, who considered it against biblical teaching, and members of the medical profession, who thought it dangerous. Victoria may have had postnatal depression after many of her pregnancies. Letters from Albert to Victoria intermittently complain of her loss of self-control. For example, about
7000-515: The coincidence of the dates as "almost incredible and most mysterious". In May 1879, she became a great-grandmother (on the birth of Princess Feodora of Saxe-Meiningen ) and passed her "poor old 60th birthday". She felt "aged" by "the loss of my beloved child". Between April 1877 and February 1878, she threatened five times to abdicate while pressuring Disraeli to act against Russia during the Russo-Turkish War , but her threats had no impact on
7125-408: The consternation of her private secretary, Sir Henry Ponsonby , Victoria began work on a eulogistic biography of Brown. Ponsonby and Randall Davidson , Dean of Windsor , who had both seen early drafts, advised Victoria against publication, on the grounds that it would stoke the rumours of a love affair. The manuscript was destroyed. In early 1884, Victoria did publish More Leaves from a Journal of
7250-512: The death of Victoria's aunt Princess Augusta in 1840, the Duchess was given both Clarence House and Frogmore House . Through Albert's mediation, relations between mother and daughter slowly improved. During Victoria's first pregnancy in 1840, in the first few months of the marriage, 18-year-old Edward Oxford attempted to assassinate her while she was riding in a carriage with Prince Albert on her way to visit her mother. Oxford fired twice, but either both bullets missed or, as he later claimed,
7375-418: The deaths of her father and grandfather in 1820, she was raised under close supervision by her mother and her comptroller , John Conroy . She inherited the throne aged 18 after her father's three elder brothers died without surviving legitimate issue. Victoria, a constitutional monarch , attempted privately to influence government policy and ministerial appointments; publicly, she became a national icon who
7500-583: The events or their conclusion with the Congress of Berlin . Disraeli's expansionist foreign policy, which Victoria endorsed, led to conflicts such as the Anglo-Zulu War and the Second Anglo-Afghan War . "If we are to maintain our position as a first-rate Power", she wrote, "we must ... be Prepared for attacks and wars , somewhere or other , CONTINUALLY." Victoria saw the expansion of
7625-608: The famous commander was duly honoured after his leadership during the Battle of Chateauguay . The prince was promoted to the rank of major-general in October 1793. He served successfully in the West Indies campaign the following year, and was commander of the British camp at La Coste during the Battle of Martinique , for which he was mentioned in dispatches by General Charles Grey for his "great Spirit and Activity". He subsequently received
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#17330858937317750-423: The fashionable vices of the age; but nothing was ever more remote from the truth—for it may be truly said of the Duke of Kent (what can be said of very few men of Rank) that he never was known to be intoxicated, or ever won or lost a farthing at any kind of play in his life; that he never endeavored to seduce the wife of another, or even made a promise he did not do his utmost to perform—his rigid adherence to his word
7875-424: The following day, Victoria drove the same route, though faster and with a greater escort, in a deliberate attempt to bait Francis into taking a second aim and catch him in the act. As expected, Francis shot at her, but he was seized by plainclothes policemen, and convicted of high treason. On 3 July, two days after Francis's death sentence was commuted to transportation for life , John William Bean also tried to fire
8000-418: The following seventeen years, she and Albert had a further eight children: Albert Edward , Alice , Alfred , Helena , Louise , Arthur , Leopold and Beatrice . The household was largely run by Victoria's childhood governess, Baroness Louise Lehzen from Hanover . Lehzen had been a formative influence on Victoria and had supported her against the Kensington System. Albert, however, thought that Lehzen
8125-409: The fourth son of King George III and Queen Charlotte . Until 1817, King George's only legitimate grandchild was Edward's niece Princess Charlotte of Wales , the daughter of George, Prince Regent (who would become George IV). Princess Charlotte's death in 1817 precipitated a succession crisis that brought pressure on Prince Edward and his unmarried brothers to marry and have children. In 1818,
8250-636: The guns had no shot. He was tried for high treason , found not guilty by reason of insanity , committed to an insane asylum indefinitely, and later sent to live in Australia. In the immediate aftermath of the attack, Victoria's popularity soared, mitigating residual discontent over the Hastings affair and the bedchamber crisis . Her daughter, also named Victoria , was born on 21 November 1840. The Queen hated being pregnant, viewed breast-feeding with disgust, and thought newborn babies were ugly. Nevertheless, over
8375-414: The height of the republican movement, the Prince of Wales contracted typhoid fever, the disease that was believed to have killed his father, and Victoria was fearful her son would die. As the tenth anniversary of her husband's death approached, her son's condition grew no better, and Victoria's distress continued. To general rejoicing, he recovered. Mother and son attended a public parade through London and
8500-596: The improvement of relations between France and Britain. She made and hosted several visits between the British royal family and the House of Orleans , who were related by marriage through the Coburgs. In 1843 and 1845, she and Albert stayed with King Louis Philippe I at Château d'Eu in Normandy; she was the first British or English monarch to visit a French monarch since the meeting of Henry VIII of England and Francis I of France on
8625-497: The kingdom from 1801 to his death, differenced by a label argent of three points, the centre point bearing a cross gules, the outer points each bearing a fleur-de-lys azure . We have the pleasure to announce the safe arrival of the Duke of Kent in England. His Royal Highness landed at Plymouth on Sunday evening under a Royal Salute from the Forts , the ships on the Sound , Cawsand Bay and
8750-428: The ladies of the bedchamber most associated with the Whigs were replaced. In 1845, Ireland was hit by a potato blight . In the next four years, over a million Irish people died and another million emigrated in what became known as the Great Famine . In Ireland, Victoria was labelled "The Famine Queen". In January 1847 she personally donated £2,000 (equivalent to between £230,000 and £8.5 million in 2022) to
8875-441: The late occupant's declining business". Her uncle Leopold wrote to her advising her to appear in public. She agreed to visit the gardens of the Royal Horticultural Society at Kensington and take a drive through London in an open carriage. Through the 1860s, Victoria relied increasingly on a manservant from Scotland, John Brown . Rumours of a romantic connection and even a secret marriage appeared in print, and some referred to
9000-455: The latter half of her reign, her popularity recovered. Her Golden and Diamond jubilees were times of public celebration. Victoria died at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight , at the age of 81. The last British monarch of the House of Hanover , she was succeeded by her son Edward VII of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha . Victoria's father was Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn ,
9125-612: The poor state of the Royal Navy in comparison to the French Navy . Derby's ministry did not last long, and in June 1859 Victoria recalled Palmerston to office. Eleven days after Orsini's assassination attempt in France, Victoria's eldest daughter married Prince Frederick William of Prussia in London. They had been betrothed since September 1855, when Princess Victoria was 14 years old; the marriage
9250-668: The proclamation of the Constitutional Act of 1791 , became the first member of the Royal Family to tour Upper Canada , and became a fixture of British North American society. Edward and his mistress, Julie St. Laurent , became close friends with the French Canadian family of Ignace-Michel-Louis-Antoine d'Irumberry de Salaberry ; the Prince mentored all of the family's sons throughout their military careers. Edward guided Charles de Salaberry throughout his career, and made sure that
9375-501: The prospect of great happiness you have contributed to give me, in the person of dear Albert ... He possesses every quality that could be desired to render me perfectly happy. He is so sensible, so kind, and so good, and so amiable too. He has besides the most pleasing and delightful exterior and appearance you can possibly see." However at 17, Victoria, though interested in Albert, was not yet ready to marry. The parties did not undertake
9500-550: The public diminished the popularity of the monarchy, and encouraged the growth of the republican movement. She did undertake her official government duties, yet chose to remain secluded in her royal residences— Windsor Castle , Osborne House, and the private estate in Scotland that she and Albert had acquired in 1847, Balmoral Castle . In March 1864, a protester stuck a notice on the railings of Buckingham Palace that announced "these commanding premises to be let or sold in consequence of
9625-463: The purpose of introducing Victoria to Albert. William IV, however, disapproved of any match with the Coburgs, and instead favoured the suit of Prince Alexander of the Netherlands , second son of the Prince of Orange . Victoria was aware of the various matrimonial plans and critically appraised a parade of eligible princes. According to her diary, she enjoyed Albert's company from the beginning. After
9750-646: The resignation of his brother, the Prince Regent ; and, in December of that year, Prince Edward became Grand Master of the Antient Grand Lodge of England (aka "The Ancients"). In 1811, both Grand Lodges had appointed Commissioners; and over the ensuing two years, articles of Union were negotiated and agreed upon. On 27 December 1813, the United Grand Lodge of England , formed as a result of these negotiations,
9875-454: The rumours. She hated Conroy, and despised "that odious Lady Flora", because she had conspired with Conroy and the Duchess in the Kensington System. At first, Lady Flora refused to submit to an intimate medical examination, until in mid-February she eventually acquiesced, and was found to be a virgin. Conroy, the Hastings family, and the opposition Tories organised a press campaign implicating
10000-589: The same military discipline to his own duties that he demanded of others. Though it seems inconsistent with his unpopularity among the army's rank and file, his friendliness toward others and popularity with servants has been emphasized. He also introduced the first regimental school . The Duke of Wellington considered him a first-class speaker. He took a continuing interest in the social experiments of Robert Owen , voted for Catholic emancipation , and supported literary, Bible, and abolitionist societies. His daughter, Victoria, after hearing Lord Melbourne 's opinions,
10125-485: The seaside by Sidmouth . The Duke of Kent died of pneumonia on 23 January 1820 at Woolbrook Cottage, Sidmouth, and was interred in St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle . He died six days before his father, George III, and less than a year after his daughter's birth. He predeceased his father and his three elder brothers but, as none of his elder brothers had any surviving legitimate children, his daughter Victoria succeeded to
10250-461: The site in 1996 and since then has been establishing a native woodland to demonstrate best practice in woodland management and growing timber . The RSFS publishes a journal , Scottish Forestry . Among its past presidents was the Scottish botanist Dr. Hugh Cleghorn . This article about an organisation in Scotland is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about
10375-503: The statue is seven feet two inches (2.18 m) tall and represents the Duke in his Field Marshal's uniform, over which he wears his ducal dress and the regalia of the Order of the Garter . He is the namesake of Prince Edward Island , Prince Edward Islands , Prince Edward County , and Duke Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia . As a son of the sovereign, the Duke of Kent had use of the arms of
10500-681: The thanks of Parliament. After 1794, Prince Edward lived at the headquarters of the Royal Navy 's North American Station located in Halifax , Nova Scotia. He was instrumental in shaping that settlement's military defences, protecting its important Royal Navy base, as well as influencing the city's and colony's socio-political and economic institutions. Edward was responsible for the construction of Halifax's iconic Garrison Clock , as well as numerous other civic projects such as St. George's Round Church . Lieutenant Governor Sir John Wentworth and Lady Francis Wentworth provided their country residence for
10625-570: The throne on the death of her uncle King William IV in 1837, and reigned until 1901. In 1829, the Duke's former aide-de-camp purchased the unoccupied Castle Hill Lodge from the Duchess in an attempt to reduce her debts; the debts were finally discharged after Victoria took the throne and paid them over time from her income. There is a bronze statue of the prince in Park Crescent , London. Sculpted by Sebastian Gahagan and installed in January 1824,
10750-401: The throne. For his part the Duke of Kent, aged 50, was already considering marriage, and he became engaged to Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld , who had been the sister-in-law of his now-deceased niece Princess Charlotte. They were married on 29 May 1818 at Schloss Ehrenburg , Coburg , in a Lutheran rite, and again on 11 July 1818 at Kew Palace , Kew , Surrey. Princess Victoria
10875-446: The two eldest brothers were unlikely to have any further legitimate children. William married in 1818, in a joint ceremony with his brother Edward, but both of William's legitimate daughters died as infants. The first of these was Princess Charlotte, who was born and died on 27 March 1819, two months before Victoria was born. Victoria's father died in January 1820, when Victoria was less than a year old. A week later her grandfather died and
11000-513: The use of Prince Edward and Julie St. Laurent. Extensively renovated, the estate became known as " Prince's Lodge " as the couple hosted numerous dignitaries, including Louis-Phillippe of Orléans (the future King of the French). All that remains of the residence is a small rotunda built by Edward for his regimental band to play music. After suffering a fall from his horse in late 1798, he was allowed to return to England. On 24 April 1799, Prince Edward
11125-440: The visit she wrote, "[Albert] is extremely handsome; his hair is about the same colour as mine; his eyes are large and blue, and he has a beautiful nose and a very sweet mouth with fine teeth; but the charm of his countenance is his expression, which is most delightful." Alexander, on the other hand, she described as "very plain". Victoria wrote to King Leopold, whom she considered her "best and kindest adviser", to thank him "for
11250-441: The way. Similar journeys to other parts of England and Wales were taken in 1832, 1833, 1834 and 1835. To the King's annoyance, Victoria was enthusiastically welcomed in each of the stops. William compared the journeys to royal progresses and was concerned that they portrayed Victoria as his rival rather than his heir presumptive. Victoria disliked the trips; the constant round of public appearances made her tired and ill, and there
11375-446: The wedding of Victoria's granddaughter Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine to Henry's brother Prince Louis of Battenberg . Beatrice and Henry planned to marry, but Victoria opposed the match at first, wishing to keep Beatrice at home to act as her companion. After a year, she was won around to the marriage by their promise to remain living with and attending her. Victoria was pleased when Gladstone resigned in 1885 after his budget
11500-481: The whole, namely one for the two Canadas, and one for New Brunswick and the two small dependencies of Cape Breton and Prince Edward Island, the former to reside in Montreal, and the latter at whichever of the two (following) situations may be considered most central for the two provinces whether Annapolis Royal or Windsor. But, at all events, should you consider in your Executive Councils requisite I presume there cannot be
11625-464: The widowed and childless Melbourne was "passionately fond of her as he might be of his daughter if he had one", and Victoria probably saw him as a father figure. Her coronation took place on 28 June 1838 at Westminster Abbey . Over 400,000 visitors came to London for the celebrations. She became the first sovereign to take up residence at Buckingham Palace and inherited the revenues of the duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall as well as being granted
11750-429: Was 51 years old at the time of her birth. The Duke took great pride in his daughter, telling his friends to look at her well, for she would be Queen of the United Kingdom. Various sources report that the Duke of Kent had mistresses. In Geneva, he had two mistresses, Adelaide Dubus and Anne Moré. Dubus died at the birth of her daughter Adelaide Dubus (1789 – in or after 1832). Anne Gabrielle Alexandrine Moré
11875-543: Was a period of industrial, political, scientific, and military change within the United Kingdom , and was marked by a great expansion of the British Empire . In 1876, the British Parliament voted to grant her the additional title of Empress of India . Victoria was the daughter of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn (the fourth son of King George III ), and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld . After
12000-596: Was able to add to her private journal of 1 August 1838 "from all what I heard, he was the best of all". Following the death of Princess Charlotte of Wales in November 1817, the only legitimate grandchild of George III at the time, the royal succession began to look uncertain. The Prince Regent (later King George IV ) and his younger brother Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany , though married, were estranged from their wives and had no surviving legitimate children. The King's fifth son, Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland ,
12125-575: Was already married but had no living children at that time, whilst the marriage of the sixth son, Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex , was void because he had married in contravention of the Royal Marriages Act 1772 . The king's surviving daughters were all childless and past likely childbearing age. The King's unmarried sons, the Duke of Clarence (later King William IV ), Edward, Duke of Kent, and Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge , all rushed to contract lawful marriages and provide an heir to
12250-507: Was appointed Governor of Gibraltar and nominally retained that post until his death. The Duke was appointed Field-Marshal of the Forces on 3 September 1805. Edward lived in Lower Canada and Nova Scotia from 1791 to 1800. He is credited with the first use of the term Canadian to mean both French and English settlers in the Canadas, using the term to quell a riot between the two groups at
12375-541: Was assaulted by a possibly insane ex-army officer, Robert Pate . As Victoria was riding in a carriage, Pate struck her with his cane, crushing her bonnet and bruising her forehead. Both Hamilton and Pate were sentenced to seven years' transportation. Melbourne's support in the House of Commons weakened through the early years of Victoria's reign, and in the 1841 general election the Whigs were defeated. Peel became prime minister, and
12500-476: Was attending army manoeuvres near Dublin, and spent a few days holidaying in Killarney . In November, Albert was made aware of gossip that his son had slept with an actress in Ireland. Appalled, he travelled to Cambridge, where his son was studying, to confront him. By the beginning of December, Albert was very unwell. He was diagnosed with typhoid fever by William Jenner , and died on 14 December 1861. Victoria
12625-487: Was christened privately by the Archbishop of Canterbury , Charles Manners-Sutton , on 24 June 1819 in the Cupola Room at Kensington Palace. She was baptised Alexandrina after one of her godparents, Tsar Alexander I of Russia , and Victoria , after her mother. Additional names proposed by her parents—Georgina (or Georgiana), Charlotte, and Augusta—were dropped on the instructions of the Prince Regent. At birth, Victoria
12750-479: Was confidently expected his next appointment would be Lord Lieutenant of Ireland . Appointed Governor of Gibraltar by the War Office, gazetted 23 March 1802, the Duke took up his post on 24 May with express orders from the government to restore discipline among the drunken troops. The Duke's harsh discipline precipitated a mutiny by soldiers in his own and the 25th Regiment on Christmas Eve. His brother Frederick,
12875-666: Was consigned to a remote apartment in Buckingham Palace, and Victoria often refused to see her. When Victoria complained to Melbourne that her mother's proximity promised "torment for many years", Melbourne sympathised but said it could be avoided by marriage, which Victoria called a "schocking [ sic ] alternative". Victoria showed interest in Albert's education for the future role he would have to play as her husband, but she resisted attempts to rush her into wedlock. Victoria continued to praise Albert following his second visit in October 1839. They felt mutual affection and
13000-665: Was constituted at Freemasons' Hall, London with the younger Duke of Sussex as Grand Master. A Lodge of Reconciliation was formed a few weeks prior to reconcile the rituals worked under the two former Grand Lodges. The Duke of Kent purchased a house of his own from Maria Fitzherbert in 1801. Castle Hill Lodge on Castlebar Hill , Ealing ( West London ), was then placed in the hands of architect James Wyatt and more than £100,000 spent (£9.62 million in 2023). Near neighbours from 1815 to 1817 at Little Boston House were US envoy and future US President John Quincy Adams and his English wife Louisa . "We all went to church and heard
13125-463: Was created Duke of Kent and Strathearn and Earl of Dublin , and received the thanks of parliament and an income of £12,000 (£1.49 million in 2023). In May that same year, the Duke was promoted to the rank of general and appointed Commander-in-Chief of British forces in North America . He took leave of his parents on 22 July 1799 and sailed to Halifax. Just over twelve months later he left Halifax and arrived in England on 31 August 1800 where it
13250-464: Was defeated. She thought his government was "the worst I have ever had", and blamed him for the death of General Gordon during the Siege of Khartoum . Gladstone was replaced by Lord Salisbury . Salisbury's government only lasted a few months, however, and Victoria was forced to recall Gladstone, whom she referred to as a "half crazy & really in many ways ridiculous old man". Gladstone attempted to pass
13375-506: Was delayed by the Queen and her husband Albert until the bride was 17. The Queen and Albert hoped that their daughter and son-in-law would be a liberalising influence in the enlarging Prussian state. The Queen felt "sick at heart" to see her daughter leave England for Germany; "It really makes me shudder", she wrote to Princess Victoria in one of her frequent letters, "when I look round to all your sweet, happy, unconscious sisters, and think I must give them up too – one by one." Almost exactly
13500-523: Was devastated. She blamed her husband's death on worry over the Prince of Wales's philandering . He had been "killed by that dreadful business", she said. She entered a state of mourning and wore black for the remainder of her life. She avoided public appearances and rarely set foot in London in the following years. Her seclusion earned her the nickname "widow of Windsor". Her weight increased through comfort eating, which reinforced her aversion to public appearances. Victoria's self-imposed isolation from
13625-421: Was fifth in the line of succession after the four eldest sons of George III: George, Prince Regent (later George IV); Frederick, Duke of York ; William, Duke of Clarence (later William IV); and Victoria's father, Edward, Duke of Kent. Prince George had no surviving children, and Prince Frederick had no children; further, both were estranged from their wives, who were both past child-bearing age, so
13750-516: Was forced to appoint Palmerston as prime minister. Napoleon III, Britain's closest ally as a result of the Crimean War, visited London in April 1855, and from 17 to 28 August the same year Victoria and Albert returned the visit. Napoleon III met the couple at Boulogne and accompanied them to Paris. They visited the Exposition Universelle (a successor to Albert's 1851 brainchild
13875-573: Was fourth in the line of succession to the British throne . He was named after his uncle Prince Edward, Duke of York and Albany , who had died several weeks earlier and was buried at Westminster Abbey the day before Edward's birth. Edward was baptised on 30 November 1767; his godparents were the Hereditary Prince of Brunswick-Lüneburg (his paternal uncle by marriage, for whom the Earl of Hertford , Lord Chamberlain , stood proxy), Duke Charles of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (his maternal uncle, for whom
14000-478: Was identified with strict standards of personal morality . Victoria married her first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha , in 1840. Their nine children married into royal and noble families across the continent, earning Victoria the sobriquet " grandmother of Europe ". After Albert's death in 1861, Victoria plunged into deep mourning and avoided public appearances. As a result of her seclusion, British republicanism temporarily gained strength, but in
14125-402: Was incompetent and that her mismanagement threatened his daughter Victoria's health. After a furious row between Victoria and Albert over the issue, Lehzen was pensioned off in 1842, and Victoria's close relationship with her ended. On 29 May 1842, Victoria was riding in a carriage along The Mall, London , when John Francis aimed a pistol at her, but the gun did not fire. The assailant escaped;
14250-573: Was later sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment, and a birching . As a result of the incident, Victoria's popularity recovered further. After the Indian Rebellion of 1857 , the British East India Company , which had ruled much of India, was dissolved, and Britain's possessions and protectorates on the Indian subcontinent were formally incorporated into the British Empire . The Queen had
14375-441: Was little time for her to rest. She objected on the grounds of the King's disapproval, but her mother dismissed his complaints as motivated by jealousy and forced Victoria to continue the tours. At Ramsgate in October 1835, Victoria contracted a severe fever, which Conroy initially dismissed as a childish pretence. While Victoria was ill, Conroy and the Duchess unsuccessfully badgered her to make Conroy her private secretary . As
14500-693: Was not an oversight in you to state that there are five Houses of Assembly in the British Colonies in North America. If I am not under an error there are six, viz., Upper and Lower Canada, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and the islands of Prince Edward and Cape Breton. Allow me to beg of you to put down the proportions in which you think the thirty members of the Representatives Assembly ought to be furnished by each Province, and to suggest whether you would not think two Lieutenant-Governors with two Executive Councils sufficient for an executive government of
14625-592: Was not favoured by the Queen. She found particularly offensive the Foreign Secretary , Lord Palmerston , who often acted without consulting the Cabinet, the Prime Minister, or the Queen. Victoria complained to Russell that Palmerston sent official dispatches to foreign leaders without her knowledge, but Palmerston was retained in office and continued to act on his own initiative, despite her repeated remonstrances. It
14750-458: Was only in 1851 that Palmerston was removed after he announced the British government's approval of President Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte 's coup in France without consulting the Prime Minister. The following year, President Bonaparte was declared Emperor Napoleon III, by which time Russell's administration had been replaced by a short-lived minority government led by Lord Derby . In 1853, Victoria gave birth to her eighth child, Leopold, with
14875-472: Was still a minor. King William distrusted the Duchess's capacity to be regent, and in 1836 he declared in her presence that he wanted to live until Victoria's 18th birthday, so that a regency could be avoided. Victoria later described her childhood as "rather melancholy". Her mother was extremely protective, and Victoria was raised largely isolated from other children under the so-called " Kensington System ", an elaborate set of rules and protocols devised by
15000-558: Was succeeded by his eldest son as George IV. Victoria was then third in line to the throne after Frederick and William. She was fourth in line while William's second daughter, Princess Elizabeth , lived, from 10 December 1820 to 4 March 1821. Prince Frederick died in 1827, followed by George IV in 1830; their next surviving brother succeeded to the throne as William IV, and Victoria became heir presumptive . The Regency Act 1830 made special provision for Victoria's mother to act as regent in case William died while Victoria
15125-449: Was the daughter of Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld , and the sister of Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld , husband of the recently deceased Princess Charlotte. She was a widow: her first husband had been Emich Karl, 2nd Prince of Leiningen , with whom she had had two children: a son, Karl, 3rd Prince of Leiningen , and a daughter, Princess Feodora of Leiningen . They had one child, Alexandrina Victoria , born 24 May 1819. He
15250-480: Was the fourth son and fifth child of King George III and Queen Charlotte . His only child, Victoria , became Queen of the United Kingdom 17 years after his death. Prince Edward was created Duke of Kent and Strathearn and Earl of Dublin on 23 April 1799 and, a few weeks later, appointed a General and commander-in-chief of British forces in the Maritime Provinces of North America . On 23 March 1802, he
15375-634: Was the mother of Edward Schenker Scheener (1789–1853). Brought up in Geneva as the ostensible son of Thimothée Schencker, his father promised to find him a post in the UK civil service and in 1809 he was appointed a clerk in the Foreign Office, being retired with a pension in 1826. When his half-sister Victoria became Queen in 1837, with his English wife Harriet Boyn (1781-1852) he returned to Geneva, where he died in 1853. He had no children. In 1790, while still in Geneva,
15500-546: Was unable to live in any degree suitable to his rank, and at the same time to discharge his debts, he generously resolved again to go to America, and to remain there, living solely on his pay as an Officer, till his debts were entirely liquidated, to which purpose he gave up the whole of his income allowed him by Government, and in this resolution he persisted, till repeated bilious attacks compelled him to quit that country. We are sensible that an idea once prevailed that his Royal Highness, in early life, had participated in several of
15625-556: Was widowed a little over three months later, and Victoria's eldest grandchild became German Emperor as Wilhelm II . Victoria and Albert's hopes of a liberal Germany would go unfulfilled, as Wilhelm was a firm believer in autocracy . Victoria thought he had "little heart or Zartgefühl [tact] – and ... his conscience & intelligence have been completely wharped [ sic ]". Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn (Edward Augustus; 2 November 1767 – 23 January 1820)
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