William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland

(b. April 15, 1721, Essex House, The Strand, London – d. Oct. 31, 1765, Mayfair, London )

Gender: M

Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland (1721-1765) was the third and youngest son of King George II and Queen Caroline of Ansbach. His early military exploits were undistinguished, and he is best known as commander of the troops that suppressed the Jacobite rising in 1745; this made him enormously popular in England but led to his being given the sobriquet “Butcher Cumberland” for the brutal reprisals that followed the Battle of Culloden. Following an unsuccessful defence of Hanover against the French in 1757, he resigned his military positions, but later became an adviser to his grandson, King George III.

Also known as:

William Augustus
Duke of Cumberland

Mentioned in 5 letters

Title	EMCO ID
Letter from Elizabeth Montagu to Mary Anstey	778
Letter from Elizabeth Montagu to George Lyttelton, 1st Baron Lyttelton of Frankley	989
Letter from Elizabeth Montagu to Frances Boscawen	995
Letter from Elizabeth Montagu to George Lyttelton, 1st Baron Lyttelton of Frankley	1127
Letter from Elizabeth Montagu to Elizabeth Carter	1742

No transcribed letters| show transcribed only

Please note that all dates and location information are provisional, initially taken from the library and archive catalogues. As our section editors continue to work through the material we will update our database and the changes will be reflected across the edition.

Browser support: The website works best using the Chrome, Edge, and Firefox browsers on the PC, and only Chrome and Firefox on the Mac.