Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales

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For other people known as Henry, Prince of Wales see Henry, Prince of Wales.
Prince Henry Frederick
Prince of Wales; Duke of Rothesay
Full name
Henry Frederick Stuart
Titles and styles
The Prince of Wales
The Duke of Cornwall
The Duke of Rothesay
Royal house House of Stuart
Father James VI of Scots, I of England
Mother Anne of Denmark
Born 19 February 1594
Stirling Castle, Scotland
Died 6 November 1612 (aged 18)
Burial Westminster Abbey, London

Henry Frederick Stuart, Prince of Wales (19 February 15946 November 1612) was the eldest son of James VI of Scots, I of England and Anne of Denmark. His name comes from grandfathers Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley and Frederick II of Denmark. Prince Henry predeceased his father, and the heirship to the English and Scottish thrones passed to his brother Charles.

Contents

[edit] Early life

He was born at Stirling Castle and became Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the Isles and Prince and Great Steward of Scotland automatically on his birth. His tutor until he went to England was Sir George Lauder of The Bass, a Privy Counsellor - described as the King's "familiar councillor"[1] - and he was also tutored in music by Alfonso Ferrabosco the younger.

[edit] Prince of Wales

Following his father's accession to the throne of England in 1603, he became automatically Duke of Cornwall, and was invested Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester in 1610, thus uniting the six automatic and two traditional Scottish and English titles held by heirs-apparent to the throne(s) ever since that date.

[edit] Later life, early death, consequences

Henry showed great promise. However, he died from typhoid fever at the age of 18. (The diagnosis can be made with reasonable certainty from written records of the post-mortem examination.) Henry was buried in Westminster Abbey. Prince Henry's death was widely regarded as a tragedy for the nation, some may consider prophetic.

All of Henry's automatic titles passed to his younger brother, Charles, who, until then, had lived in Henry's shadow – Charles was created Prince of Wales and Earl of Carrick four years later. Charles was not as well-regarded as Henry had been, and after he assumed the throne following the death of his father in 1625, his reign was marked by controversies, most notably conflicts with the English Parliament. Following several years of the English Civil War, he was tried and convicted of treason and was beheaded in 1649.

For more details on this topic, see Charles I of England.

[edit] Ancestors

Henry Frederick's ancestors in three generations
Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales Father:
James I of England
Paternal Grandfather:
Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley
Paternal Great-grandfather:
4th Earl of Lennox
Paternal Great-grandmother:
Margaret Douglas
Paternal Grandmother:
Mary I, Queen of Scots
Paternal Great-grandfather:
James V of Scotland
Paternal Great-grandmother:
Marie de Guise
Mother:
Anne of Denmark
Maternal Grandfather:
Frederick II of Denmark
Maternal Great-grandfather:
Christian III of Denmark
Maternal Great-grandmother:
Dorothea of Saxe-Lauenburg
Maternal Grandmother:
Sofie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
Maternal Great-grandfather:
Ulrich III of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
Maternal Great-grandmother:
Elizabeth of Denmark

[edit] Legacy

Both Prince Henry's Grammar School in Otley, West Yorkshire, and Prince Henry's High School in Evesham, Worcestershire in England are named after him.

The developments in North America were at an important stage as Henry grew up. In the southern portion of the Colony of Virginia, a part which became now the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States after the American Revolutionary War some years later, three important locations were named in his honor: Cape Henry, Henricus, and Henrico:

For more details on this topic, see Cape Henry.
  • Sir Thomas Dale was recruited for the Virginia Colony through efforts of Prince Henry, a response to management and discipline problems with the earliest colonists. He became the High Marshall of Virginia, effectively the colony's highest ranking law enforcement officer. Dale was discouraged by unhealthy conditions at Jamestown's location, and sought a better site as a potential improved replacement for Jamestown. His progressive but ill-fated Henricus (named for Prince Henry) was established in 1612. Henricus became the major point of Henrico Cittie (sic) in 1619. It was destroyed during the Indian Massacre of 1622. The long-lost site of Henricus was rediscovered in the late 20th century, and was by then located in Chesterfield County, which itself was established in 1749. Henricus is now part of a historical park.
For more details on this topic, see Henricus.
  • Present-day Henrico County was established by order of his younger brother, King Charles I, in 1634 as one of the original eight shires of Virginia. It is located adjacent to the state capital city of Richmond, which was Henrico's county seat for several hundred years, and became separate from it as an independent city in 1871. In the 21st century, Henrico remains extant in its original (county) political form and is regarded as one of the best-managed counties in the United States. In 1992 and again in 1993, City and State magazine ranked Henrico County as the second best fiscally managed county in the United States. [2]
For more details on this topic, see Henrico County, Virginia.

[edit] Titles, styles, honours and arms

[edit] Titles

[edit] Honours

[edit] Arms

As Prince of Wales, Henry Frederick bore the arms of the kingdom, differenced by a label argent of three points.[4]

[edit] References

  1. ^ The Bass Rock in History in Transactions of the East Lothian Antiquarian and Field Naturalists' Society, vol. 5, 1948: 55
  2. ^ Dick Glover - Economic Development
  3. ^ The Prince of Wales – Previous Princes of Wales
  4. ^ Marks of Cadency in the British Royal Family

[edit] Bibliography

  • Roy Strong - Henry, Prince of Wales and England's Lost Renaissance (Pimlico, 2000)
Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales
Born: 19 February 1594 Died: 6 November 1612
Peerage of England
Preceded by
Edward Tudor
Prince of Wales Succeeded by
Charles Stuart, Duke of York
British royalty
Preceded by
No designated heir under Elizabeth I of England. Her potential heirs at the time of death were Lady Anne Stanley by the Third Succession Act and James VI of Scotland by cognatic primogeniture
Heir to the English and Irish Thrones
as heir apparent
24 March 1603-6 November 1612
Succeeded by
Charles Stuart, Duke of York
(combined as Heir to the Thrones)
Preceded by
James Hamilton, 3rd Earl of Arran
Heir to the Scottish throne
as heir apparent
19 February 1594-6 November 1612