Princess Augusta of Great Britain

Princess Augusta
Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Consort	26 March 1780[1] – 10 November 1806
Consort to	Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick
Issue
Auguste Caroline Friederike Luise Karl Georg August Caroline Amalie Elisabeth Georg Wilhelm Christian August Friedrich Wilhelm Amelie Karoline Dorothea Luise
Full name
Augusta Frederica
Detail Titles and styles
HRH The Duchess of Brunswick HRH The Hereditary Duchess of Brunswick HRH Princess Augusta[2]
Royal house	House of Hanover House of Brunswick-Bevern
Father	Frederick, Prince of Wales
Mother	Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha
Born	31 August 1737(1737-08-31) St James's Palace, London
Baptised	9 September 1737 St James's Palace, London
Died	23 March 1813 (aged 75) Hanover Square, London
Burial	31 March 1813 St George's Chapel, Windsor

Princess Augusta (Augusta Frederica; 31 August 1737 – 23 March 1813) was a member of the British Royal Family, a granddaughter of George II and sister of George III. She later married into the Ducal House of Brunswick, of which she was already a member. Her daughter Caroline of Brunswick was the Queen consort of George IV.

[edit] Early life

Princess Augusta was born at St James's Palace, London. Her father was The Prince Frederick Lewis, Prince of Wales, the eldest son of George II and Caroline of Ansbach. Her mother was the Princess of Wales (formerly Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha). Twenty-nine days later, she was christened at St James's Palace, by The Archbishop of Canterbury, John Potter, and her godparents were her paternal grandfather The King of Great Britain (represented by his Lord Chamberlain, The Duke of Grafton) and both her grandmothers, The Queen of Great Britain and The Dowager Duchess of Saxe-Gotha (both of whom were represented by a proxies).^[3] She was born second in the line of succession.

[edit] Marriage

On 16 January 1764, Augusta married Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick at the Chapel Royal of St James's Palace.

[edit] Later life

In 1806, when Prussia declared war on France, the Duke of Brunswick, 71 at the time, was appointed commander-in-chief of the Prussian army. On 14 October of that year, at the Battle of Jena, Napoleon defeated the Prussian army, and, on the same day, at the battle of Auerstadt, the Duke of Brunswick was seriously wounded, dying a few days later. The Duchess of Brunswick, with two of her sons, and a widowed daughter-in-law, fled her ruined palace for Altona, and then fled to Augustenborg, a small town east of Jutland.

The Duchess of Brunswick remained here, residing with her niece, Princess Louise Augusta, daughter of her sister Queen Caroline Mathilde of Denmark, until her brother, George III finally relented, in September 1807, and allowed her to move to London. She moved to Montague House, Blackheath, in Greenwich, with her daughter, the Princess of Wales, but soon fell out with her daughter, and purchased the house next door, Brunswick House, as she renamed it. The Duchess of Brunswick lived out her days in Blackheath and died, in 1813, aged 75.

[edit] Titles, styles, honour and arms

[edit] Titles and styles

• 31 August 1737 – 16 January 1764: Her Royal Highness Princess Augusta^[2]
• 16 January 1764 – 26 March 1780: Her Royal Highness The Hereditary Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg
• 26 March 1780 – 10 November 1806: Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg
• 10 November 1806 – 23 March 1813: Her Royal Highness The Dowager Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg

[edit] Arms

Augusta was granted use of the arms of the kingdom, differenced by a label argent of five points, the centre bearing a cross gules, the other points each bearing a rose gules.^[4]

[edit] Ancestors

[edit] Issue

Together the couple had 7 children:

[edit] Sources

• Beckett, William A.: Universal Biography. London: Isaac, 1836.
• Kwan, Elisabeth E.; Röhrig, Anna E.: Frauen vom Hof der Welfen. Göttingen: MatrixMedia 2006, ISBN 3-932313-17-8, p. 115−126.

[edit] References

1. ^ The Peerage – Charles I, Duke of Brunswick
2. ^ ^{a b} The London Gazette, 17 January 1764
3. ^ Yvonne's Royalty Home Page: Royal Christenings
4. ^ Marks of Cadency in the British Royal Family