Lord Charles FitzRoy (politician)

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The Right Honourable
Lord Charles FitzRoy
Lord Charles Fitzroy.jpg
Lord Charles Fitzroy in 1818
Vice-Chamberlain of the Household
In office
29 June 1835 – 27 April 1838
MonarchWilliam IV
Victoria
Prime MinisterThe Viscount Melbourne
Preceded byViscount Castlereagh
Succeeded byThe Earl of Belfast
Personal details
Born28 February 1791
Died17 June 1865 (1865-06-18) (aged 74)
NationalityBritish
Political partyWhig
Spouse(s)
Lady Anne Cavendish
​
(m. 1825)​

Lieutenant-Colonel Lord Charles FitzRoy (28 February 1791 – 17 June 1865), was a British soldier and Whig politician. He fought at the Battle of Waterloo at an early age and later held political office as Vice-Chamberlain of the Household between 1835 and 1838.

Background[]

Fitzroy was the second son of George FitzRoy, 4th Duke of Grafton, and his wife Lady Charlotte Maria Waldegrave, daughter of James Waldegrave, 2nd Earl Waldegrave. Henry FitzRoy, 5th Duke of Grafton, was his elder brother.[1]

Military career[]

He joined the British Army in 1807 and fought in the 1809 Battle of Corunna early in the Peninsular War, before joining the Walcheren Expedition the same year. He subsequently joined Lord Hill's staff in the Peninsular and was present at the Siege and capture of Badajoz (1812) and the 1813-14 battles of Vittoria, Pyrenees, Nivelle, the Nive, Orthes and Toulouse serving as a Deputy Assistant Adjutant General (DAAG).[2] At Waterloo in 1815 he served on Wellington's as a captain in the 1st Foot Guards and an Assistant Adjutant General (AAG). He then served on Wellington's staff in the army of occupation in Paris after Waterloo. His portrait was painted by Edouard Pingret (who also painted a very similar portrait of Col Dawson Kelly CB)[3] in 1818 wearing the Waterloo medal on his AAG uniform. He retired from the army on half pay as a major and brevet lieutenant-colonel of the 27th Regiment of Foot in 1821.[4]

In retirement he was chairman of the Finance Committee and honorary member of the 43rd Middlesex Rifle Volunteers.[2]

Political career[]

FitzRoy was elected as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Thetford at the 1818 general election, and held the seat until the 1830 general election,[5] which he did not contest.[6] He returned to Commons the following year, when he was elected at the 1831 general election as MP for Bury St Edmunds. He held the seat until 1847,[7] when he did not stand again.[8] When the Whigs came to power under Lord Melbourne in 1835, FitzRoy was sworn of the Privy Council[9] and appointed Vice-Chamberlain of the Household, a post he held until 1838.[10]

Family[]

Fitzroy married Lady Anne Cavendish, daughter of George Cavendish, 1st Earl of Burlington and Lady Elizabeth Compton, on 25 October 1825. They had two sons and two daughters. He died on 17 June 1865 at Hampton, aged 74. Lady Charles FitzRoy died in May 1871, aged 83.[1]

References[]

  1. ^ a b thepeerage.com Rt. Hon. Lt.-Col. Lord Charles Fitzroy
  2. ^ a b "Death of Lord Charles Fitzroy". Surrey Comet. 24 June 1865. Retrieved 21 April 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  3. ^ "Colonel Dawson Kelly, CB | Art UK". artuk.org. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  4. ^ Dalton, Charles (1904). The Waterloo roll call. With biographical notes and anecdotes. London: Eyre and Spottiswoode. p. 32& 98.
  5. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "T" (part 1)
  6. ^ Stooks Smith, Henry. (1973) [1844-1850]. Craig, F. W. S. (ed.). The Parliaments of England (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 228. ISBN 0-900178-13-2.
  7. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 6)
  8. ^ Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1977]. British parliamentary election results 1832–1885 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 73. ISBN 0-900178-26-4.
  9. ^ "No. 19290". The London Gazette. 21 July 1835. p. 1399.
  10. ^ Bucholz, R.O. Bucholz (2006). "Chamber Administration: Lord Chamberlain, 1660-1837". Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 11 (revised): Court Officers, 1660-1837. Retrieved 13 February 2011.

External links[]

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Thetford
1818–1830
With: Nicholas Ridley-Colborne 1818–1826
Bingham Baring 1826–1830 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Charles Augustus Fitzroy
The Earl Jermyn
 Member of Parliament for Bury St Edmunds
1831–1847
With: The Earl Jermyn 		Succeeded by
Edward Bunbury
The Earl Jermyn
Political offices
Preceded by Vice-Chamberlain of the Household
1835–1838 		Succeeded by
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