During my recent blog post about the trip Sue and I made to St Nicholas Church in Plumstead, several of the people whose graves we hoped to find there were members of the Royal Guelphic Order ... but we had no idea what order of chivalry it was.
According to online sources, the Royal Guelphic Order was a chivalric order that was established by the Prince Regent (later King George IV) on 28th April 1815. The name of the Order was derived from the name of the House of Guelph – which was one of the branches of the House of Hanover – of which the British Royal Family formed a part. The Order was awarded in two Divisions – Civilian and Military – to people who had performed distinguished service to the United Kingdom or the Kingdom of Hanover.
When it was instigated, the Order had three classes:
- Knight Grand Cross (GCH)
- Knight Commander (KCH)
- Knight (KH)
When William IV died and Queen Victoria became queen of the United Kingdom, the Salic Law prevented her from also becoming Queen of Hanover, and therefore her uncle – Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale – became King of Hanover. As a result, the link between the two thrones – which had existed since 1717 – was broken and no more UK citizens were awarded any of the classes of the Order.
After 1841, the Order's classes were reorganised and additional classes were added. These were now:
- Grand Cross
- Commander 1st Class
- Commander 2nd Class
- Knight
- Cross of Merit.
After Hanover was annexed by Prussia after the Austro-Prussian War (14th June to 22nd July 1866), the Order continued to be awarded by the reigning head of the Royal House of Hanover, even though they were in exile in Austria.
After Hanover's annexation by Prussia, a number of former Hanoverian soldiers gathered at Arnhem in the Netherlands and the ex-King of Hanover – George V – formed them into the Guelphic Legion.
In May 1867 the Dutch government ordered the Legion to leave the country, and it moved to Switzerland where it continued to recruit members until it reached a strength of 700. The Legion then moved to France in February 1868, and by 1870 it had 1400 members. When the Prussian House of Representatives passed a law that sequestered the funds of the former King of Hanover because of his anti-Prussian activities, he was no longer able to fund the Legion, and on 15th April 1870 the Guelphic Legion was dissolved.
The Legion's uniform appears to have been similar to that worn by the pre-1866 Hanoverian Army, and probably included a blue coat with red facings and gold trim, grey trousers, white belts, and a tall, tapering kepi that was similar to that worn by the Austrian army.
It is interesting to note thet the current head of the House of Hanover – Ernst August von Hannover – has both a German and British nationality. His father successfully claimed British nationality under the Sophia Naturalisation Act 1705 and was awarded a British passport in the name of Ernest Augustus Guelph. As a result, his children, including Ernst August, were recognised as having British nationality.
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Bob -
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting post! Quite a story behind the Order. It occurred to me that had the Guelphic Legion not been dissolved when it was, perhaps it might have involved itself in France's war against Prussia...
Cheers,
Ion
Archduke Piccolo (Ion),
DeleteI’m very pleased that you enjoyed this blog post.
The Legion only missed taking part in the Franco-Prussian War by a couple of months, and I wonder how any members who were captured would have been dealt with by the Prussian. As the Prussians thought of Hanover as being theirs, any Hanoverian serving in a foreign army would have been seen as traitors … and probably court-martialled and executed.
All the best,
Bob