Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Grafton
His Grace The Duke of Grafton KG | |
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Personal details | |
Born |
Henry FitzRoy 28 September 1663 |
Died | 9 October 1690 27) | (aged
Spouse(s) | Isabella Bennet, 2nd Countess of Arlington |
Children | Charles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Grafton |
Parents |
Charles II of England Barbara Villiers, 1st Duchess of Cleveland |
Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Grafton KG (28 September 1663 – 9 October 1690) was the illegitimate son of King Charles II of England. A military man, Henry FitzRoy was appointed colonel of the Grenadier Guards in 1681 and Vice-Admiral of England in 1682. He was killed in the storming of Cork during the Williamite–Jacobite War in 1690.
Early life and military career
Born to Barbara Villiers, Countess of Castlemaine in 1663, Henry FitzRoy was the illegitimate son of King Charles II of England.[1] His grandparents included King Charles I and William Villiers, 2nd Viscount Grandison, colonel of one of the king's regiments, who was killed in action during the Civil War.
On 1 August 1672 he was married at the age of nine to the five-year-old Isabella,[2] the daughter and heiress of Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington. The wedding ceremony was repeated on 7 November 1679,[2] and through their son Charles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Grafton, the couple were ancestors of Diana, Princess of Wales.
At the time of his marriage, Henry FitzRoy was created Baron Sudbury, Viscount Ipswich, and Earl of Euston; in 1675 he was created Duke of Grafton,[2] and Charles II made him a Knight of the Garter in 1680. He was appointed colonel of the Grenadier Guards in 1681.[1]
FitzRoy was brought up as a sailor and saw military action at the siege of Luxembourg in 1684.[3] In that year, he received a warrant to supersede Sir Robert Holmes as Governor of the Isle of Wight, when the latter was charged with making false musters. However, Holmes was acquitted by court-martial and retained the governorship. In 1686 he killed John Talbot, brother of the Earl of Shrewsbury, in a duel.
At King James II's coronation, Grafton was Lord High Constable. During the rebellion of the Duke of Monmouth he commanded the royal troops in Somerset; but later acted with John Churchill, and joined William of Orange to overthrow the King in the Glorious Revolution of 1688.[3]
Death
FitzRoy died in Ireland in 1690 of a wound received at the storming of Cork while leading William's forces,[3] aged 27. His body was returned to England for burial.[4]
In October 1697 his widow married Sir Thomas Hanmer,[1] a young Buckinghamshire baronet, who became Speaker of the House of Commons and an authority on the works of William Shakespeare. She died in 1723.
Legacy
The Duke of Grafton owned land in what was then the countryside near Dublin, Ireland, which later became part of the city. A country lane on this land eventually developed into Grafton Street,[5] one of Dublin's main streets. Grafton Alley in Cork, close to where he was shot, also bears his name.[6]
He is an ancestor of the Earls Spencer of Althorp, Diana, Princess of Wales, and also Diana's sons, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and his younger brother, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex.
Ancestry
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See also
Notes and references
- 1 2 3
Stephen, Leslie, ed. (1889). "Fitzroy, Henry (1663-1690)". Dictionary of National Biography. 19. London: Smith, Elder & Co. - 1 2 3 John Harold Wilson. "Selected Brief Biographies" (PDF). Court Satires of the Restoration. p. 232. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
- 1 2 3
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Grafton, Dukes of". Encyclopædia Britannica. 12 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 316–317. - ↑ Grafton's body was returned to England - with some internal organs removed and buried (in Ballintemple, Cork) to preserve his remains for transport. See: Garnet Joseph Wolseley (1894). The life of John Churchill, duke of Marlborough, to the accession of Queen Anne. R. Bentley and Son. p. 201.
- ↑ "Grafton Street". The Irish Times. 27 January 1931.
- ↑ Gina Johnson (2002). The Laneways of Medieval Cork (PDF). Cork City Council. p. 122.
Political offices | ||
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Preceded by The Duke of Cumberland |
Vice-Admiral of England 1682–1689 |
Succeeded by The Earl of Torrington |
Honorary titles | ||
Vacant Title last held by The Earl of Northumberland |
Lord High Constable of England 1685 |
Vacant Title next held by The Duke of Ormonde |
Preceded by The Earl of Arlington |
Lord Lieutenant of Suffolk 1685–1689 |
Succeeded by The Lord Cornwallis |
Military offices | ||
Preceded by John Russell |
Colonel of the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards 1681–1688 |
Succeeded by The Earl of Lichfield |
Preceded by The Earl of Lichfield |
Colonel of the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards 1688–1689 |
Succeeded by Henry Sydney |
Peerage of England | ||
New creation | Duke of Grafton 1675–1690 |
Succeeded by Charles FitzRoy |
Earl of Euston 1672–1690 |