GEORGE IV (GEORGE AUGUSTUS FRED ERICK ) , King of England: b. London, 12 Aug. 1762; d. Windsor, 26 June 1830. He was the son of George III and the Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. His dissipated life, his extravagance, his marriage with a Roman Catholic, Mrs. Fitzherbert (21 Dec. 1785), in breach of the Royal Marriage Act of 1782, and whom he afterward repudiated and shame lessly deserted, and his connection with the most prominent members of the Opposition, alienated from him the affection of his father and the esteem of the nation. In 1795 he con sented, on condition of the payment of his debts, to marry the Princess Caroline of Bruns wick, but he soon began to treat her with neg lect, and after the birth of their daughter, Char lotte Augusta, abandoned her. (See CAROLINE AMELIA ELIZABETH). On 3 Feb. 1811, he was appointed regent, with limited powers, on ac count of the king being attacked the previous year by a repetition of the mental malady to which he was subject. The Whigs, his former friends, now hoped to come into office, but the prince showed a sudden change of sent;ments, and maintained the Perceval ministry in power. The distress caused by the interruption of the demand for manufactures and the high price of the means of subsistence after the general peace of 1815, occasioned great discontent among the people, and the violent measures adopted by the government increased the unpopularity of the regent, upon whose life an attempt was made in 1817, when he was going to open the session of Parliament. In 1820 he became king,
on the death of George III. In February 1827 Canning became head of the government. The most important event after his attaining the throne was the passing of the Catholic Emanci pation Act by the Wellington ministry, in 1829, and to which he was strongly opposed. Dur ing his reign the Crown suffered not only a serious diminution in power but its personal hold on the people sank low. George IV left no descendants, his only daughter, the Princess Charlotte, wife of Leopold of Saxe-Coburg, having died childless in 1817. He was suc ceeded by his brother William, Duke of Clar ence (William IV). Consult McCarthey, 'His tory of the Four Georges and of William IV) (1884-1901) • Thackeray, 'The Four (1860) • Croly,. 'Life of George IV) (1830) ; Lady Bury, 'Diary of the Times of George IV) (1838) ; Huish, 'Memoirs) (1830) Fitzgerald, 'Life of George IV) (1881) ; Melville, 'The First Gentleman in Europe) (1906).