William IV

Names
	William Henry

William IV
William IV
	Portrait of William IV by Martin Archer Shee, 1833
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
Viceroy	Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge
Born	21 August 1765; Buckingham House, London, England
Died	20 June 1837 (aged 71); Windsor Castle, Berkshire, England
Burial	8 July 1837; Royal Vault, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle
Spouse	Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen (m. 1818)
Issue; more...	George FitzClarence, Earl of Munster; 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; Princess Elizabeth of Clarence;
Names
Names
	William Henry
House	Hanover
Father	George III
Mother	Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
Religion	Protestant
Signature
Military career
Allegiance	Great Britain
Service / branch	Royal Navy
Years of active service	1779–1790
Rank	Rear admiral (active service)
Commands	HMS Valiant; HMS Andromeda; HMS Pegasus;
Battles / wars	Battle of Cape St. Vincent

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

William served in the Royal Navy in his youth, spending time in British North America and the Caribbean, and was later nicknamed the "Sailor King". In 1789, he was created Duke of Clarence and St Andrews. Between 1791 and 1811, he cohabited with the actress Dorothea Jordan, with whom he had ten children. In 1818, he married Princess Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen. William remained faithful to Adelaide during their marriage. In 1827, he was appointed Britain's first Lord High Admiral since 1709.

As his two elder brothers died without leaving legitimate issue, William 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 of the British Empire, and the electoral system refashioned by the Reform Acts of 1832. Although William did not engage in politics as much as his brother or his father, he was the last British monarch to appoint a prime minister contrary to the will of Parliament. He granted his German kingdom a short-lived liberal constitution. William had no surviving legitimate children at the time of his death, so he was succeeded by his niece Victoria in the United Kingdom and his brother Ernest Augustus in Hanover.