Augustus Henry FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton, KG,PC (28 September 1735–14 March 1811), styled Earl of Euston between 1747 and 1757, was a British Whig statesman of the Georgian era. He is one of a handful of dukes who have served as prime minister.
He became prime minister in 1768 at the age of 33, leading the supporters of William Pitt, and was the youngest person to hold the office until the appointment of William Pitt the Younger 15 years later. However, he struggled to demonstrate an ability to counter increasing challenges to Britain's global dominance following the nation's victory in the Seven Years' War. He was widely attacked for allowing France to annex Corsica, and stepped down in 1770, handing over power to Lord North.
In 1756, he entered Parliament as MP for Boroughbridge, a pocket borough; several months later, he switched constituencies to Bury St Edmunds, which was controlled by his family. However, a year later, his grandfather died, and he succeeded as the 3rd Duke of Grafton, which elevated him to the House of Lords.
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Chatham's illness, at the end of 1767, resulted in Grafton becoming the government's effective leader (he is credited with entering the office of prime minister in 1768), but political differences, the impact of the Corsican Crisis and the attacks of "Junius" led to his resignation in January 1770. Also, in 1768, Grafton became Chancellor of Cambridge University.[4] He became Lord Privy Seal in Lord North's ministry (1771) but resigned in 1775, being in favour of conciliatory action towards the American colonists. In the second Rockingham ministry of 1782, he was again Lord Privy Seal and continued in the post in the following Shelburne ministry until March 1783.[3]
Religious interests
In later years, he was a prominent Unitarian, being one of the early members of the inaugural Essex Street Chapel under Rev. Theophilus Lindsey when it was founded in 1774. Grafton had associated with a number of liberal Anglican theologians when at Cambridge, and devoted much time to theological study and writing after leaving office as prime minister. In 1773, in the House of Lords, he supported a bill to release Anglican clergy from subscribing to all the Thirty-nine Articles. He became a supporter of moral reform among the wealthy and of changes to the church. He was the author of:
Hints Submitted to the Serious Attention of the Clergy, Nobility and Gentry, by a Layman (1789).
Serious Reflections of a Rational Christian from 1788–1797.
He was a sponsor of Richard Watson's Consideration of the Expediency of Revising the Liturgy and Articles of the Church of England (published in 1790), and he funded the printing of 700 copies of Griesbach's edition of the Greek New Testament in 1796.[5]
General Lord Charles FitzRoy (14 July 1764–20 December 1829), who married, firstly, Frances Mundy (1773–9 August 1797) on 20 June 1795, and had one son. He married, secondly, Lady Frances Stewart (24 June 1777–9 February 1810) on 10 March 1799 and had three children. His sons Sir Charles FitzRoy (1796–1858), governor of New South Wales, and Robert FitzRoy, the hydrographer, were notable for their achievements.[12]
In 1764, the Duke had a very public affair with the courtesan Nancy Parsons[13] whom he kept at his townhouse and took to the opera, where they allegedly were found in flagrante delicto. This brazen lack of convention offended society's standards. After the Duchess had become pregnant by her own lover, the Earl of Upper Ossory, she and the Duke were divorced by Act of Parliament, passed 23 March 1769.[14][pageneeded] Three months later, on 24 June 1769, the Duke married Elizabeth Wrottesley (1 November 1745–25 May 1822), daughter of the Reverend Sir Richard Wrottesley, Dean of Worcester.[15] They had the following children:
Lord Henry FitzRoy (9 April 1770–7 June 1828), clergyman; he married Caroline Pigot (died 1 January 1835) on 10 September 1800 and had five children. Ancestor of Daisy Greville, Countess of Warwick.
Lord Frederick FitzRoy (born 16 September 1774; died young).
Lady Augusta FitzRoy (1779–29 June 1839), who married Rev. George F. Tavel (died 1829) on 19 November 1811.
Lady Frances FitzRoy (1 June 1780–7 January 1866), who married the 1st Baron Churchill on 25 November 1800.
AdmiralLord William FitzRoy (1 June 1782–13 May 1857), who married Georgiana Raikes (died 2 December 1861) in 1816 and had two children.
Lady Isabella FitzRoy (died 10 December 1866), who married Barrington Pope Blachford (3 December 1783–14 May 1816) on 11 August 1812.
Grafton is thus the first British prime minister before Anthony Eden[16] (and one of only three) to have been divorced, and the second, after Robert Walpole, to marry while in office.[citation needed] Grafton would be the only prime minister to divorce and remarry while in office until Boris Johnson in 2021.[17] FitzRoy died on 14 March 1811.
Arms
Coat of arms of Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton
Crest
On a Chapeau Gules doubled Ermine a Lion statant guardant Or crowned with a ducal-coronet Azure and gorged with a Collar countercompony Argent and of the Fourth
↑ The Register of Marriages solemnized in the Parish Church of St James within the Liberty of Westminster & County of Middlesex. 1754-1765. No. 406. 29 January 1756.
Duke of Grafton is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1675 by Charles II of England for Henry FitzRoy, his second illegitimate son by the Duchess of Cleveland. The most notable duke of Grafton was Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton, who served as Prime Minister from 1768–1770.
Charles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Grafton, was an Irish and English politician.
Fitzroy or FitzRoy may refer to:
Hugh Denis Charles FitzRoy, 11th Duke of Grafton was the son of Charles FitzRoy, 10th Duke of Grafton, and his first wife Lady Doreen Maria Josepha Sydney Buxton, second daughter of Sydney Buxton, 1st Earl Buxton. He was known from 1936 to 1970 as the Earl of Euston.
George Henry FitzRoy, 4th Duke of Grafton, KG, styled Earl of Euston until 1811, was a British peer and Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1782 to 1811 when he succeeded to the Dukedom.
Henry FitzRoy, 5th Duke of Grafton, styled Viscount Ipswich until 1811 and Earl of Euston between 1811 and 1844, was a British peer and politician.
Augustus Charles Lennox FitzRoy, 7th Duke of Grafton, styled Lord Augustus FitzRoy before 1882, was a British Army officer. He was the second son of Henry FitzRoy, 5th Duke of Grafton, and his wife Mary Caroline Cranfield Berkeley, daughter of Admiral the Hon. Sir George Cranfield Berkeley.
Alfred William Maitland FitzRoy, 8th Duke of Grafton, styled Lord Alfred FitzRoy between 1882 and 1912 and Earl of Euston between 1912 and 1918, was the second son of Augustus FitzRoy, 7th Duke of Grafton and his wife Anna Balfour, daughter of James Balfour (-1845) and aunt of Arthur Balfour. His elder brother and heir to the dukedom Henry James FitzRoy, Earl of Euston died in 1912, before their father's death. He was a lieutenant in the Coldstream Guards, and deputy lieutenant for Suffolk
Sir Charles Augustus FitzRoy, was a British military officer, politician and member of the aristocracy, who held governorships in several British colonies during the 19th century.
General Charles FitzRoy, 1st Baron Southampton was a British Army officer who served in the Seven Years' War and a politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1759 to 1780. The second son of Lord Augustus FitzRoy, FitzRoy joined the 1st Foot Guards as an ensign in 1752 and was promoted to lieutenant-colonel in 1758. In the following year he fought at the Battle of Minden as an aide de camp, where he was a part of the controversy surrounding Lord George Sackville's slow reaction to orders sent to him. FitzRoy was also present at the Battle of Vellinghausen in 1761. Having been quickly promoted through the ranks with the support of his powerful family, he was promoted to major-general in 1772 and became a general in 1793.
John FitzPatrick, 2nd Earl of Upper Ossory FRS DL, styled 'Lord Gowran' from 1751 to 1758, was an Irish peer and member of parliament.
General Lord Charles FitzRoy was a British Army officer and politician.
Edward Miller Mundy was an English landowner and Tory politician who was MP for the Derbyshire constituency.
Lord Augustus FitzRoy was a British officer of the Royal Navy. He served during the War of the Austrian Succession, and was involved in the capture of the Spanish ship of the line, Princesa, a major prize in the war. He was also the father of Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton, who became Prime Minister of Great Britain.
Lord John Edward FitzRoy, was a British politician.
Anne, Viscountess Maynard was a Kingdom of Great Britain successful courtesan and political mistress. She was de facto first lady, entertaining guests for her lover the Duke of Grafton, the First Minister.
Anne FitzPatrick, Countess of Upper Ossory was an English noblewoman and the first wife of Augustus Henry FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton. Grafton divorced her while serving as prime minister. She was a noted correspondent of Horace Walpole.
Charlotte Fitzroy, Countess of Euston, formerly Lady Charlotte Maria Waldegrave, was the wife of George FitzRoy, 4th Duke of Grafton. Although she is sometimes referred to as "Duchess of Grafton", her husband did not inherit the dukedom until 1811, after his wife's death.
Elizabeth Wrottesley, Duchess of Grafton (1745–1822) married Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton on 24 June 1769 at Woburn Abbey in Bedfordshire, England.
John Henry Smyth was a Whig member of Parliament for Cambridge University from 9 June 1812 until his death.
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