William IV, Prince of Orange

William IV, Prince of Orange (September 1, 1711 – October 22, 1751), was the first Hereditary Stadtholder of The Netherlands.

William was born in Leeuwarden, The Netherlands, the son of Johan Willem Friso, Prince of Orange, head of the Frisian branch of the House of Orange-Nassau, and of his wife Marie Luise of Hesse-Cassel. He was born six weeks after the death of his father.

William succeeded his father as Stadtholder of Friesland and also, under the regency of his mother until 1731, as Stadtholder of Groningen. In 1722 he was elected Stadtholder of Guelders.

In 1733 William was named a knight of the Order of the Garter. On March 25, 1734 he married Princess Anne, daughter of King George II of Great Britain and Caroline of Ansbach. William and Anne had five children:

In 1739 William inherited the estates formerly owned by the Nassau-Dillenburg branch of his family, and in 1743 he inherited those formerly owned by the Nassau-Siegen branch of his family.

In April 1747 the French army entered Flanders. In an effort to quell internal strife amongst the various factions, the States-General of the Netherlands appointed William to the hereditary position of General Stadtholder of all seven of the United Provinces. William and his family moved from Leeuwarden to The Hague.

Although he had little experience of state affairs, William was at first popular with the people. He stopped the practice of indirect taxation by which independent contractors managed to make large sums for themselves. Nevertheless, he was also a Director-General of the Dutch East India Company, and his alliance with the business class deepened while the disparity between rich and poor grew.

William served as General Stadtholder of all the Netherlands until his death in 1751 at 's-Gravenhage.


Preceded by:
Johan Willem Friso of Orange		 Stadtholder of Friesland and Groningen
1711–1751		 Succeeded by:
William V of Orange
Preceded by:
William III of Orange		 Stadtholder of Guelders
1722–1751		 Succeeded by:
William V of Orange
Preceded by:
William III of Orange		 Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, and Overijssel
1747–1751		 Succeeded by:
William V of Orange

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