William I Frederick, born Willem Frederik Prins van Oranje-Nassau (The Hague, 24 August 1772 - Berlin, 12 December 1843), was a Prince of Orange and the first King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg.
Before succeeding his father in 1806 as head of the House of Orange-Nassau he was for a short while ruler of the principality Nassau-Orange-Fulda in Germany from 1803 till 1806. In 1813 he was named 'Sovereign Prince' of the Netherlands, and proclaimed himself King of the Netherlands and Duke of Luxembourg on 16 March 1815. In the same year on 9 June William I became also the Grand Duke of Luxembourg and after 1839 he was furthermore the Duke of Limburg. After his abdication in 1840 he named himself King William Frederick, Count of Nassau.
Contents
[hide]
1 Biography
1.1 Exile
1.2 Return
1.3 King of the Netherlands
2 Children
3 Principal changes
4 Belgian uprising
5 Constitutional changes and abdication
6 Ancestry
7 External links
[edit] Biography
King William I's parents were the last stadtholder William V, Prince of Orange and his wife Wilhelmina of Prussia. Until 1813, William was known as William VI, Prince of Nassau-Dietz, Prince of Orange. In Berlin on 1 October 1791, William married his first cousin (Frederica Louisa) Wilhelmina, born in Potsdam. She was the daughter of King Frederick William II of Prussia. After Wilhelmina died in 1837, William married Countess Henriette d'Oultremont de W�gimont (Maastricht, 28 February 1792 - Schloss Rahe, 26 October 1864), created Countess of Nassau, on 17 February 1841 in Berlin. This was a morganatic marriage. Two years later, William died.
[edit] Exile
Further information: Government of the Dutch Republic in exile
William V was hereditary stadtholder when the Republic of the Seven United Provinces was invaded by the French Revolutionary armies in 1794. In January 1795 He fled with his son to England. Unlike his father, who gave his people permission to collaborate with the French[citation needed], William was a strong personality and he tried to regain the Republic.
In 1799, William landed in the current North Holland as part of an Anglo-Russian invasion. The local Dutch population was not pleased with the arrival of the prince. Some local Orangists were even executed. After several minor battles he was forced to leave the country again after the Convention of Alkmaar. Napoleon Bonaparte gave him some small German principalities as indemnities for the lost territories. These principalities were confiscated when Napoleon invaded Germany (1806) and William supported his Prussian relatives. He succeeded his father as prince of Orange later that year, after William V's death.
[edit] Return
After Napoleon's defeat at Leipzig (October, 1813), the French troops retreated to France. A provisional government was formed under the lead of some former Patriots who recalled William, in contrast to their 1785 rebellion. In their view, it was taken for granted that William would have to head any new regime, and it would be better in the long term for the Dutch to restore him themselves. The Dutch population was pleased with the departure of the French, who had ruined the Dutch economy, and this time welcomed the prince.
On 30 November 1813 William landed at Scheveningen beach, only a few metres from the place where he had left the country with his father eighteen years previously, and on 6 December the provisional government offered him the title of King. William refused, instead proclaiming himself "sovereign prince". He also wanted the rights of the people to be guaranteed by "a wise constitution".
The constitution offered William extensive (almost absolute) powers. Ministers were only responsible to him, while a two-chambered parliament (the States-General) exercised only limited power. He was inaugurated as sovereign prince in the New Church in Amsterdam. In 1814 he gained sovereignty over the whole of the Low Countries.
[edit] King of the Netherlands
Feeling threatened by Napoleon who had escaped from Elba, William proclaimed himself King of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands on 16 March 1815 at the urging of the powers gathered at the Congress of Vienna. His son, the future king William II, fought as a commander at the Battle of Waterloo. After Napoleon had been sent into exile, William adopted a new constitution which included much of the old constitution, such as extensive royal powers.
He was the 876th Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece in Spain and the 648th Knight of the Order of the Garter in 1814.
[edit] Children
With his wife the Queen Wilhemina, King William I had six children:
Willem Frederik George Lodewijk (b. The Hague, 6 December 1792 - d. Tilburg, 17 March 1849) later King William II of the Netherlands from 1840.
Stillborn son (Hampton Court, Palace, Middlesex, 18 August 1795).
Willem Frederik Karel (b. Berlin, 28 February 1797 - d. Wassenaar, 8 September 1881).
Wilhelmina Frederika Louise Pauline Charlotte (b. Berlin, 1 March 1800 - d. Freienwalde, 22 December 1806).
Stillborn son (Berlin, 30 August 1806).
Wilhelmina Frederika Louise Charlotte Marianne (b. Berlin, 9 May 1810 - d. Schloss Reinhartshausen bei Erbach, 29 May 1883), married on 14 September 1830 with Prince Albert of Prussia. They divorced in 1849.
[edit] Principal changes
The States-General was divided into two chambers. The Eerste Kamer (First Chamber or Senate or House of Lords) was appointed by the King. The Tweede Kamer (Second Chamber or House of Representatives or House of Commons) was elected by the Provincial States, which were in turn chosen by census suffrage. The 110 seats were divided equally between the North and the South (modern-day Belgium), although the population of the North (2 million) was significantly less than that of the South (3.5 million). The States-General's primary function was to approve the King's laws and decrees. The constitution contained many present-day Dutch political institutions; however, their functions and composition have changed greatly over the years.
The constitution was accepted in the North, but not in the South. The under-representation of the South was one of the causes of the Belgian Revolution. Referendum turnout was low, in the Southern provinces, but William interpreted all abstentions to be yes votes. He prepared a lavish inauguration for himself in Brussels, where he gave the people copper coins (leading to his first nickname, the Copper King).
The spearhead of King William's policies was economic progress. As he founded many trade institutions, his second nickname was the King-Merchant. In 1822, he founded the Algemeene Nederlandsche Maatschappij ter Begunstiging van de Volksvlijt, which would become one of the most important institutions of Belgium after its independence. Industry flourished, especially in the South. In 1817, he also founded three universities in the Southern provinces, such as a new University of Leuven, the University of Ghent and the University of Li�ge. The Northern provinces, meanwhile, were the centre of trade. This, in combination with the colonies (Dutch East Indies, Surinam and the Netherlands Antilles) created great wealth for the Kingdom. However, the money flowed into the hands of Dutch directors. Only a few Belgians managed to profit from the economic growth. Feelings of economic inequity were another cause of the Belgian uprising.
Officially, a separation of church and state existed in the kingdom. However, William himself was a strong supporter of the Reformed Church. This led to resentment among the people in the South, who were Roman Catholic. William had also devised controversial language and school policies. Dutch was imposed as the official language in (the Dutch-speaking region of) Flanders; this angered French-speaking aristocrats and industrial workers. Schools throughout the Kingdom were required to instruct students in the Reformed faith and the Dutch language. Many in the South feared that the King sought to exterminate Catholicism and the French language.
[edit] Belgian uprising
Main article: Belgian Revolution
In August 1830 the opera La Muette de Portici, involving the repression of Neapolitans, was staged in Brussels. Performances of this show seemed to crystallise a sense of nationalism and "Hollandophobia" in Brussels, and spread to the rest of the South. Rioting ensued, chiefly aimed at the kingdom's unpopular justice minister, who lived in Brussels. An infuriated William responded by sending troops to repress the riots. However, the riots had spread to other Southern cities. The riots quickly became popular uprisings. Soon an independent state of Belgium was proclaimed.
The next year, William sent his sons to Belgium to repress this state. Although initially victorious, the Dutch army was forced to retreat after the threat of French intervention. Some support for the Orange dynasty (chiefly among Flemings) persisted for years but the Dutch never regained control over Belgium. William nevertheless continued the war for eight years. His economic successes became overshadowed by a perceived mismanagement of the war effort. High costs of the war came to burden the Dutch economy, fueling public resentment. In 1839, William was forced to end the war. The United Kingdom of the Netherlands was dissolved and renamed the "Kingdom of the Netherlands".
[edit] Constitutional changes and abdication
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Statue of Willem I of the Netherlands by Pieter Puype (1913) in Apeldoorn
Constitutional changes were initiated in 1840 because the terms which involved the United Kingdom of the Netherlands had to be removed. These constitutional changes also included the introduction of judicial ministerial responsibility. Although the policies remained uncontrolled by parliament, the prerogative was controllable now. The very conservative William could not live with these constitutional changes. This, the disappointment about the loss of Belgium and William's intention to marry Henrietta d'Oultremont (scandalously both Belgian and Catholic) created desires about abdication. He fulfilled his desires on 7 October 1840 and his eldest son acceded to the throne as king William II.
Hooper, Harry Bartholomew (1887-1974), U.S. baseball outfielder, born in Bell Station, Calif.; with Boston Red Sox 1909-20, Chicago White Sox 1921-25; lifetime batting average .281.
BEERBOHM, Max (1872-1956). Called "the incomparable Max," writer-caricaturist Max Beerbohm perfected a talent for parodying the styles of famous writers. With delicate wit, he also captured whatever was pretentious or absurd in his famous contemporaries, including the British royal family. But Beerbohm usually caricatured without malice. He attacked only two targets with an intent to demean: British imperialism through the image of John Bull, a character often used in art and literature to symbolize England, and the writer Rudyard Kipling, a leading advocate of imperialism.
Henry Maximilian Beerbohm was born in London on Aug. 24, 1872. His family was wealthy, and Max became accustomed to fashionable society from his boyhood. He wrote his first witty essays while a student at Merton College, Oxford. In 1896 he published a literary collection, 'The Works of Max Beerbohm', and his first book of drawings, 'Caricatures of Twenty-five Gentlemen'. Two years later he succeeded George Bernard Shaw as drama critic for the Saturday Review magazine. He was knighted in 1939.
In 1910 Beerbohm married the actress Florence Kahn, and they lived in Rapallo, Italy. After her death in 1951, Beerbohm married Elizabeth Jungmann. He died in Rapallo on May 20, 1956.
James Weddell (Ostend [1], August 24, 1787 � September 9, 1834) was an English navigator, sealer, and explorer of the Antarctic.
Contents
[hide]
1 Early life
2 Voyages to the Antarctic
3 Later life
4 Commemorations
5 References
[edit] Early life
He entered the merchant service very early in his life and was apparently bound to the master of a Newcastle collier (a coal transport vessel) for some years. About 1805 he shipped on board a merchantman trading to the West Indies, making several voyages there. James Weddell's father married Sarah Pease.
He was aboard the Hope when in 1813 in the English Channel she captured the True Blooded Yankee, an American privateer. With the end of the Napoleonic War he was laid off on half pay in February 1816, and for a while resumed merchant voyages to the West Indies. In 1820 he volunteered for service in the Royal Navy and subsequently served on several ships.
[edit] Voyages to the Antarctic
In 1819 Weddell was introduced to James Strachan, a shipbuilder of Leith, who together with James Mitchell, a London insurance broker, owned the 160-ton brig Jane, an American-built ship taken during the war of 1812 and re-fitted for sealing. News of the discovery of the South Shetland Islands had just broken, and Weddell suggested that fortunes might be made in the new sealing grounds. His first voyage as the captain of the Jane took him to the Falkland Islands and further south. He returned with the holds full, and the voyage was so profitable, that Strachan and Mitchell had a second ship, the Beaufoy, built.[2]
The next voyage from 1821 and 1822 took both ships to the South Shetland Islands. However, there were some 45 sealers operating in the area and seal were already becoming rare (a mere two years after the discovery of the islands!), and so he scouted for new hunting grounds. Michael McCleod, the captain of the Beaufoy, sighted the South Orkney Islands on November 22, 1821, an independent discovery from that of Powell just a few days earlier. There, they hunted for seals, and arrived back in England in July.
On the third voyage from 1822 to 1824, Weddell again commanded the Jane, while the captain of the Beaufoy was one Matthew Brisbane. Together they sailed to the South Orkneys again. Sealing proved disappointing, though, and after searching for land between the South Shetlands and the South Orkneys (and not finding any), they turned south in the hope to better sealing ground there. The season was unusually mild and tranquil, and on February 20, 1823 the two ships had reached latitude 74�15' S and longitude 34�16'45" W: the southernmost position any ship had ever reached before, a record that would hold for more than 80 years. A few icebergs were sighted but there was still no sight of land, leading Weddell to theorize that the sea continued as far as the South Pole. Another two days' sailing would have brought him to Coat's Land but Weddell decided to turn back.
After deciding to go back, Weddell cheered the crew with the announcement of being southward of any former navigator and a little ceremony; the colors were hoisted, a gun was fired, both crews gave three cheers, and an allowance of grog dispelled the gloom. A hope was infused that fortune might yet favor the crew of sealers. The area was named The Sea of George the Fourth[3] but the naming did not become permanent. The region would not be visited again until 1911, when Wilhelm Filchner discovered the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf.
Weddell returned north and sheltered at South Georgia, where he and his crews searched for the elusive seal. They wintered at the Falklands and sailed again for the South Shetlands in November 1823. At the beginning of 1824, the two ships separated. Weddell returned in March 1824 to the Falklands and headed back to England, where he arrived in July.
His record for a southerly voyage, three degrees beyond that of James Cook, caused some raised eyebrows. Weddell was persuaded by Strachan and Mitchell to incorporate everything in a book. The first edition appeared in 1825, followed by second enlarged edition in 1827, incorporating some information from the Beaufoy which had returned to England in 1826.
Weddell appears to have been resident in Edinburgh, Scotland, in the summer of 1826, when he was cited for non-payment of a debt of �245, loaned to him by the Commercial Bank. Papers now in the National Archives of Scotland show that he and his sponsors appear to have fallen out over liability for payment, and is probably more than coincidence that the navigational instruments taken by Weddell on board, cost, according to his book, �240. The Leith merchants engaging him may have felt that these were unnecessary for a sealing expedition, yet Weddell has been criticised by such historians as David Walton for failing to take more instruments, not fewer. The legal papers fail to indicate what happened to the debt, and Weddell seems to have fled south - failing even to collect Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh from Sir Walter Scott.
[edit] Later life
Weddell offered his services to the Admiralty with a proposal for a return voyage to the high southern latitudes, but was turned down. Instead, he returned to trading along the warmer Atlantic coasts. In 1829 he was still master of the Jane, but on a passage from Buenos Aires to Gibraltar the Jane leaked so badly that she had to be given up at the Azores. Weddell and his cargo were transferred to another ship for the passage to England, but this ran aground on the island of Pico, and Weddell only barely survived.
The loss of the Jane meant financial ruin for Weddell, who was forced to take paid employment as a ship's master. In September 1830 he left England as master of the Eliza, bound for the Swan River Colony in western Australia. From there he proceeded to Tasmania. He sailed back to England in 1832.
Weddell died in 1834 at the age of forty-seven in relative poverty and obscurity in London.
[edit] Commemorations
Two places are named after him - the Weddell Sea, and Weddell Islands in the Falklands.
The Weddell Seal was also named for him.
