The dukedom dates from 1385, when Thomas of Woodstock, a younger son of Edward III., was created duke of Gloucester, but his honours were forfeited when he was found guilty of treason in 1397. The next holder of the title was Humphrey, a son of Henry IV., who was created duke of Gloucester in 1414. He died without sons in 1447, and in 1461 the title was revived in favour of Richard, brother of Edward IV., who became king as Richard III. in 1483.
In 1659 Henry (1639-1660), a brother of Charles II., was formally created duke of Gloucester, a title which he had borne since infancy. This prince, sharing the exile of the Stuarts, had incensed his mother, Queen Henrietta Maria, by his firm adherence to the Protestant religion, and had fought among the Spaniards at Dunkirk in 1658. Having returned to England with Charles II., he died unmarried in London on the 13th of September 1660. The next duke was William (1689-1700), son of the princess Anne, who was, after his mother, the heir to the English throne, and who was declared duke of Gloucester by his uncle, William III., in 1689, but no patent for this creation was ever passed. William died on the 30th of July 1700, and again the title became extinct.
Frederick Louis, the eldest son of George II., was known for some time as duke of Gloucester, but when he was raised to the peerage in 1726 it was as duke of Edinburgh only. In 1764 Frederick's third son, William Henry (1743-1805), was created duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh by his brother, George III. This duke's secret marriage with Maria (d. 1807), an illegitimate daughter of Sir Edward Walpole and widow of James, 2nd Earl Waldegrave, in 1766, greatly incensed his royal relatives and led to his banishment from court. Gloucester died on the 25th of August 1805, leaving an only son, William Frederick (1776-1834), who now became duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh. The duke, who served with the British army in Flanders, married his cousin Mary (1776-1857), a daughter of George III. He died on the 30th of November 1834, leaving no children, and his widow, the last survivor of the family of George III., died on the 30th of April 1857.
GLOUCESTER, GILBERT DE CLARE, EARL OF (1243-1295), was a son of Richard de Clare, 7th earl of Gloucester and 8th earl of Clare, and was born at Christchurch, Hampshire, on the 2nd of September 1243. Having married Alice of Angoulême, half-sister of king Henry III., he became earl of Gloucester and Clare on his father's death in July 1262, and almost at once joined the baronial party led by Simon de Montfort, earl of Leicester. With Simon Gloucester was at the battle of Lewes in May 1264, when the king himself surrendered to him, and after this victory he was one of the three persons selected to nominate a council. Soon, however, he quarrelled with Leicester. Leaving London for his lands on the Welsh border he met Prince Edward, afterwards king Edward I., at Ludlow, just after his escape from captivity, and by his skill contributed largely to the prince's victory at Evesham in August 1265. But this alliance was as transitory as the one with Leicester. Gloucester took up the cudgels on behalf of the barons who had surrendered at Kenilworth in November and December 1266, and after putting his demands before the king, secured possession of London. This happened in April 1267, but the earl quickly made his peace with Henry III. and with Prince Edward, and, having evaded an obligation to go on the Crusade, he helped to secure the peaceful accession of Edward I. to the throne in 1272. Gloucester then passed several years in fighting in Wales, or on the Welsh border; in 1289 when the barons were asked for a subsidy he replied on their behalf that they would grant nothing until they saw the king in person (_nisi prius personaliter viderent in Anglia faciem regis_), and in 1291 he was fined and imprisoned on account of his violent quarrel with Humphrey de Bohun, earl of Hereford. Having divorced his wife Alice, he married in 1290 Edward's daughter Joan, or Johanna (d. 1307). Earl Gilbert, who is sometimes called the "Red," died at Monmouth on the 7th of December 1295, leaving in addition to three daughters a son, Gilbert, earl of Gloucester and Clare, who was killed at Bannockburn.