Ernest was born in 1771, the fifth son of George III and Queen Charlottee. and brother of George IV and William IV. He should not be confused with William Augustus, an earlier Duke, who after Culloden was given the name "Butcher". He was the second son of George II and died in 1765, before Ernest was born. Like his father and two brothers who were, as well as being Kings of Britain, also Kings of Hanover, Ernest was educated in Germany at Gotinger University, He held army commission, in both British and Hanoverian armies and was wounded at the first Battle of Tournay, near Mons in 1794, with his brother the Duke of York as commander-in-chief, but retreating from Flanders into Germany, with France for the advancing foe. He married on May 29, 1815 Princess Frederica, daughter of the Duke of Meckenburg, a brother of Queen Charlotte of England. Frederica had previously had a disastrous marriage to the Duke of Cambridge but was divorced. It proved to be a genuine marriage of love and affection and it endured harmoniously until Frederica's death in 1841.

 

He married on May 29, 1815 Princess Frederica, daughter of the Duke of Meckenburg, a brother of Queen Charlotte of England. Frederica had previously had a disastrous marriage to the Duke of Cambridge but was divorced. It proved to be a genuine marriage of love and affection and it endured harmoniously until Frederica's death in 1841. They had one son born three days after little Victoria the future Queen in 1819, He was named George in honour of the Prince Regent, the future George IV. Sadly the little boy lost the sight of one eye when six years old and of both eyes seven years later.
The first of the Royal Dukes to join the Orange Order had been the Duke of York who according to the evidence given by Lord Kenyon to the parliamentary inquiry in 1835 said that he joined in 1819, becoming Grand Master of Great Britain in February, 1821.

The Order in England was too precipitate in publicising the fact that they enjoyed Royal patronage and the matter was raised in the House of Commons by Sir John Newport. On the advice of Lord Castlereagh, now Marquis of Londonderry, the Duke decided to resign. This was the famous Duke of York, Commander in Chief of the Army from 1795, who is caricatured in the song the Grand Old Duke of York. The position was allowed to lapse until the death of the Duke in 1827 when it was offered to his brother the Duke of Cumberland and accepted with the approval of the King, As there was no Irish Grand Lodge in operation at the time, he was from 1827 Grand Master of Great Britain and Ireland

Even on September 15, 1825 when the Grand Lodge of Ireland was reformed they chose Ernest to be Grand Master of Ireland with the Earl of Enniskillen as Deputy Grand Master, but in fact carrying out the duties of Grand Master. The fight against Catholic Emancipation was at its height at the time with the Duke leading the resistance and the King declaring that it would be contrary to his Coronation Oath. However, as pressure mounted the Duke of Wellington reluctantly gave way and the King accepted his advice, The Act became law in 1829.

The following Year when Canada was given authority to form its own Grand Lodge of British North America they chose the Duke of Cumberland as their Grand Master with Ogle R.Gowan as his deputy but carrying out the duties of the office, Henceforth, Ernest was called the Grand Master of the Empire, covering all the Orange Jurisdictions, The warrants he signed are known as Ernest warrants and are very rare today.

The next hurdle was the Great Reform Bill of 1832 which Wellington and Cumberland resisted as long as they could but eventually the dam broke and the measure became law. This greatly increased the power of Daniel O'Connell as he could now command about 70 of the 100 Irish Seats. As Melbourne was returned to power with a greatly reduced majority in 1835 he had to rely on assistance from O'Connell. To appease him Melbourne agreed to the setting up of a select committee to inquire into Orangeism.

The report of the committee made no recommendations but it did draw attention to the existence of Orange Lodges in the Army in which the Duke of Cumberland had great influence as a field marshal. In the House of Commons the attack was led by Joseph Hume, the Scottish radical and tireless enemy of the Order, He accused the Duke of forming Orange Lodges in breach of Army regulations and contrary to the orders of the commander-in-chief, and of being party to, an Orange plot to pass over Princess Victoria's claim to the throne on the grounds of her sex, youth, and incapacity, in order to put himself on the throne on the death of his brother. He was followed by Sir William Molesworth, who called for the arrest of the Duke on a charge of high treason.

The Home Secretary, Lord John Russell, the Government leader in the Commons. and Lord Melbourne, the Prime Minister, in the Lords brought the debate back to reality and it was agreed to present a humble address to the King praying that he might take measures to discourage Orange Lodges and societies excluding persons of a different religion and using symbols and passwords. The King agreed and the Duke asked to Grand Lodges to pass resolutions dissolving the organisations. A Royal wish being in command they felt obliged to comply and on April 14, 1836 the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland ceased to exist

The following year King William IV died and the succession passed to Queen Victoria his niece. However the rules of succession in Hanover did not allow the Crown to pass to or through a woman. Consequently the Duke of Cumberland became King of Hanover in 1837 and left England to live permanently in Germany. To begin with he cancelled his brother's liberal constitution but in 1840 he gave Hanover a new constitution on democratic lines. He was more popular than his predecessors as they were absentee monarchs who resided for most of the time in London whereas King Ernest I lived among them.

He died at Herrenhausen in 1851 after a successful reign of 14 years. He was succeeded by his blind son who reigned for 15 years before being deposed and Hanover was annexed by Kaiser William I of Prussia in 1866. In Hanover a huge bronze equestrian statue was raised in memory of King Ernest by public subscription. On the plinth was chiselled in German "To the Father of the Country, from his Faithful People.

Information from

"Steadfast for Faith and Freedom" 200 years of Orangeism, GOLI" with thanks Bro S.Roberts WM. LPLC /GOLE. Feb 2001