William IV, Prince of Orange

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William IV, Prince of Orange
Born	September 1, 1711 Leeuwarden
Died	October 22, 1751 (aged 40) Huis ten Bosch
Title	Prince of Orange

William IV, Prince of Orange and Nassau (September 1, 1711 – October 22, 1751) was the first hereditary stadtholder of the Netherlands.

William was born in Leeuwarden, The Netherlands, the son of Johan Willem Friso, Prince of Orange, head of the Frisian branch of the House of Orange-Nassau, and of his wife Marie Louise of Hesse-Kassel. He was born six weeks after the death of his father.

William succeeded his father as Stadtholder of Friesland and also, under the regency of his mother until 1731, as Stadtholder of Groningen. In 1722 he was elected Stadtholder of Guelders.

In 1733 William was named a knight of the Order of the Garter. On March 25, 1734 he married Anne, Princess Royal, eldest daughter of King George II of Great Britain and Caroline of Ansbach. William and Anne had five children:

• a stillborn daughter (born December 19, 1736)
• a stillborn daughter (born December 22, 1739)
• Princess Carolina of Orange-Nassau (February 28, 1743 - May 6, 1787), married Karl Christian of Nassau-Weilburg
• Princess Anna of Orange-Nassau (November 15, 1746 - December 29, 1746)
• William V, Prince of Orange (1748-1806)

In 1739 William inherited the estates formerly owned by the Nassau-Dillenburg branch of his family, and in 1743 he inherited those formerly owned by the Nassau-Siegen branch of his family.

In April 1747 the French army entered Flanders. In an effort to quell internal strife amongst the various factions, the States-General of the Netherlands appointed William to the hereditary position of General Stadtholder of all seven of the United Provinces. William and his family moved from Leeuwarden to The Hague. William first met Ludwig Ernst von Brunswick-Lüneburg-Bevern in 1747, and 2 years later appointed him a field marshal in the Dutch army, which later led to his being one of the regents to William's heir.

Although he had little experience in state affairs, William was at first popular with the people. He stopped the practice of indirect taxation by which independent contractors managed to make large sums for themselves. Nevertheless, he was also a Director-General of the Dutch East India Company, and his alliance with the business class deepened while the disparity between rich and poor grew.

William served as General Stadtholder of all the Netherlands until his death in 1751 at The Hague.

[edit] Ancestry